Hierarchical inorganic-organic multi-shell nanospheres for intervention and treatment of lead-contaminated blood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khairy, Mohamed; El-Safty, Sherif A.; Shenashen, Mohamed. A.; Elshehy, Emad A.

2013-08-01

The highly toxic properties, bioavailability, and adverse effects of Pb2+ species on the environment and living organisms necessitate periodic monitoring and removal whenever possible of Pb2+ concentrations in the environment. In this study, we designed a novel optical multi-shell nanosphere sensor that enables selective recognition, unrestrained accessibility, continuous monitoring, and efficient removal (on the order of minutes) of Pb2+ ions from water and human blood, i.e., red blood cells (RBCs). The consequent decoration of the mesoporous core/double-shell silica nanospheres through a chemically responsive azo-chromophore with a long hydrophobic tail enabled us to create a unique hierarchical multi-shell sensor. We examined the efficiency of the multi-shell sensor in removing lead ions from the blood to ascertain the potential use of the sensor in medical applications. The lead-induced hemolysis of RBCs in the sensing/capture assay was inhibited by the ability of the hierarchical sensor to remove lead ions from blood. The results suggest the higher flux and diffusion of Pb2+ ions into the mesopores of the core/multi-shell sensor than into the RBC membranes. These findings indicate that the sensor could be used in the prevention of health risks associated with elevated blood lead levels such as anemia.The highly toxic properties, bioavailability, and adverse effects of Pb2+ species on the environment and living organisms necessitate periodic monitoring and removal whenever possible of Pb2+ concentrations in the environment. In this study, we designed a novel optical multi-shell nanosphere sensor that enables selective recognition, unrestrained accessibility, continuous monitoring, and efficient removal (on the order of minutes) of Pb2+ ions from water and human blood, i.e., red blood cells (RBCs). The consequent decoration of the mesoporous core/double-shell silica nanospheres through a chemically responsive azo-chromophore with a long hydrophobic tail enabled us to create a unique hierarchical multi-shell sensor. We examined the efficiency of the multi-shell sensor in removing lead ions from the blood to ascertain the potential use of the sensor in medical applications. The lead-induced hemolysis of RBCs in the sensing/capture assay was inhibited by the ability of the hierarchical sensor to remove lead ions from blood. The results suggest the higher flux and diffusion of Pb2+ ions into the mesopores of the core/multi-shell sensor than into the RBC membranes. These findings indicate that the sensor could be used in the prevention of health risks associated with elevated blood lead levels such as anemia. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The experimental procedures for synthesis of AC-LHT, mesoporous core/double shell silica, and optical core/multi-shell sensors. The adsorption capacity, optical recognition of Pb ions, colorimetric response of Pb ions in ethanol medium, Langmuir adsorption isotherm and reusability of captor are addressed. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr02403b

T-L Plane Abstraction-Based Energy-Efficient Real-Time Scheduling for Multi-Core Wireless Sensors

PubMed Central

Kim, Youngmin; Lee, Ki-Seong; Pham, Ngoc-Son; Lee, Sun-Ro; Lee, Chan-Gun

2016-01-01

Energy efficiency is considered as a critical requirement for wireless sensor networks. As more wireless sensor nodes are equipped with multi-cores, there are emerging needs for energy-efficient real-time scheduling algorithms. The T-L plane-based scheme is known to be an optimal global scheduling technique for periodic real-time tasks on multi-cores. Unfortunately, there has been a scarcity of studies on extending T-L plane-based scheduling algorithms to exploit energy-saving techniques. In this paper, we propose a new T-L plane-based algorithm enabling energy-efficient real-time scheduling on multi-core sensor nodes with dynamic power management (DPM). Our approach addresses the overhead of processor mode transitions and reduces fragmentations of the idle time, which are inherent in T-L plane-based algorithms. Our experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to other energy-aware scheduling methods on T-L plane abstraction. PMID:27399722

Niphargus: a silicon band-gap sensor temperature logger for high-precision environmental monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burlet, Christian; Vanbrabant, Yves; Piessens, Kris; Welkenhuysen, Kris; Verheyden, Sophie

2014-05-01

A temperature logger, called 'Niphargus', was developed at the Geological Survey of Belgium to monitor temperature of local natural processes with sensitivity of the order of a few hundredths of degrees to monitor temperature variability in open air, caves, soils and rivers. The newly developed instrument uses a state-of-the-art band-gap silicon temperature sensor with digital output. This sensor reduces the risk of drift associated with thermistor-based sensing devices, especially in humid environments. The Niphargus is designed to be highly reliable, low-cost and powered by a single lithium cell with up to several years autonomy depending on the sampling rate and environmental conditions. The Niphargus was evaluated in an ice point bath experiment in terms of temperature accuracy and thermal inertia. The small size and low power consumption of the logger allow its use in difficult accessible environments, e.g. caves and space-constrained applications, inside a rock in a water stream. In both cases, the loggers have proven to be reliable and accurate devices. For example, spectral analysis of the temperature signal in the Han caves (Belgium) allowed detection and isolation of a 0.005° C amplitude day-night periodic signal in the temperature curve. PIC Figure 1: a Niphargus logger in its standard size. SMD components side. Photo credit: W. Miseur

75 FR 25246 - Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-07

... purchase of three hundred acoustic leak detection sensors/loggers (``loggers'') and one fully programmable... and one programmable radio transceiver (Model: Gutermann Zonescan 820) on the basis that there are no...

A portable data-logging system for industrial hygiene personal chlorine monitoring.

PubMed

Langhorst, M L; Illes, S P

1986-02-01

The combination of suitable portable sensors or instruments with small microprocessor-based data-logger units has made it possible to obtain detailed monitoring data for many health and environmental applications. Following data acquisition in field use, the logged data may be transferred to a desk-top personal computer for complete flexibility in manipulation of data and formating of results. A system has been assembled from commercial components and demonstrated for chlorine personal monitoring applications. The system consists of personal chlorine sensors, a Metrosonics data-logger and reader unit, and an Apple II Plus personal computer. The computer software was developed to handle sensor calibration, data evaluation and reduction, report formating and long-term storage of raw data on a disk. This system makes it possible to generate time-concentration profiles, evaluate dose above a threshold, quantitate short-term excursions and summarize time-weighted average (TWA) results. Field data from plant trials demonstrated feasibility of use, ruggedness and reliability. No significant differences were found between the time-weighted average chlorine concentrations determined by the sensor/logger system and two other methods: the sulfamic acid bubbler reference method and the 3M Poroplastic diffusional dosimeter. The sensor/data-logger system, however, provided far more information than the other two methods in terms of peak excursions, TWAs and exposure doses. For industrial hygiene applications, the system allows better definition of employee exposures, particularly for chemicals with acute as well as chronic health effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dual-core optical fiber based strain sensor for remote sensing in hard-to-reach areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MÄ kowska, Anna; Szostkiewicz, Łukasz; Kołakowska, Agnieszka; Budnicki, Dawid; Bieńkowska, Beata; Ostrowski, Łukasz; Murawski, Michał; Napierała, Marek; Mergo, Paweł; Nasiłowski, Tomasz

2017-10-01

We present research on optical fiber sensors based on microstructured multi-core fiber. Elaborated sensor can be advantageously used in hard-to-reach areas by taking advantage of the fact, that optical fibers can play both the role of sensing elements and they can realize signal delivery. By using the sensor, it is possible to increase the level of the safety in the explosive endangered areas, e.g. in mine-like objects. As a base for the strain remote sensor we use dual-core fibers. The multi-core fibers possess a characteristic parameter called crosstalk, which is a measure of the amount of signal which can pass to the adjacent core. The strain-sensitive area is made by creating the tapered section, in which the level of crosstalk is changed. Due to this fact, we present broadened conception of fiber optic sensor designing. Strain measurement is realized thanks to the fact, that depending on the strain applied, the power distribution between the cores of dual-core fibers changes. Principle of operation allows realization of measurements both in wavelength and power domain.

Luminescence signal profiling: a new proxy for sedimentologically "invisible" marine Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, Gloria I.; Bialik, Or; Waldmann, Nicolas

2017-04-01

When dealing with fine-grained, organic-rich, colour-monotone, underwater marine sediment cores retrieved from the continental shelf or slope, the initial visual impression, upon split-opening the vessels, is often of a "disappointing" homogeneous, monotonous, continuous archive. Only after thorough, micro- to macro-scale, multi-parameter investigations the sediment reveals its treasures, initially by performing some measurements on the intact core itself, hence depicting for the first time its contents, and subsequently by carrying out the destructive, multi-proxy sample-based analyses. Usually, routine Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) measurements of petrophysical parameters (e.g. magnetic susceptibility, density, P-Wave velocity) on un-split sediment cores are the first undertaken while still on-board in the field or back at the laboratory. Less often done, but equally valuable, are continuous X-Ray and CT scan imaging of the same intact archives. Upon splitting, routine granulometry, micro- and macro-fossil and invertebrate identification, total organic / inorganic carbon content (TOC / TIC), amid other analyses take place. The geochronology component is also established usually by AMS 14C on selected organic-rich units, and less common is Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating used on the coarser-grained, siliciclastic layers. A relatively new tool used in Luminescence, the Portable OSL Reader, employed to rapidly assess the luminescence signal of untreated poly-mineral samples to assist with targeted field sampling for full OSL dating, was used for the first time in marine sediment cores as a novel petrophysical characterization tool with astonishing results. In this study, two 2 m-long underwater piston sediment cores recovered from 200 m depths on the continental shelf off-southern Israel, were subjected to pulsed-photon stimulation (PPSL) obtaining favourable luminescence signals along their entire lengths. Astoundingly, luminescence signals were obtained on both, already split-opened cores. Both cores depicted the monotonous characteristics of homogeneousness down-core as per most of the results obtained from the non-destructive and destructive tests. One of the cores showed several small higher energy events, including a Mass Transport Deposit (MTD) within its first 10 cm, only fully visible on the CT scan imaging, the PPSL profile and particle size distribution plot. This initial investigation demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of luminescence profiling as a new sedimentological and petrophysical proxy to better visualize homogeneous yet complex, fine-grained, underwater archives. Moreover, it helps to understand the continuity of the stratigraphy and linearity of deposition of the sediment, besides assisting on the estimation of relative ages provided that good OSL ages are obtained throughout the recovered archive.

Searching for Last Glacial Deep-Sea Polar Carbonates in the Ross Sea Continental slope and Their Relevance to Chronological Constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brambati, A.; Bonaccorsi, R.; Quaia, T.; Busetti, M.

2003-12-01

Ice-proximal glacial marine sediments from the Antarctic continental margin retain ice rafting events as proxy record for change in the volume and extension of the Antarctic ice sheet throughout glacial-interglacial cycles. However, the sedimentary sequences from the Ross Sea continental margin remain relatively poorly understood and most research has been focused mainly on continental shelf sequences during the last past decades. We present a data set (i.e., X-ray lithology, Multi Sensor Core Logger physical data, and preservation of biogenic carbonates), obtained from six deep-sea cores (1991-1999 Italian Antarctic Research Programme, PNRA - Summer cruises). Specifically, the cores were collected from a) the central Eastern sector (i.e., Core ANTA95-89C, depth: 2056 m, length: 401 cm and Core ANTA99-c22, depth: 2650 m, length: 851 cm); b) the central Western sector (i.e., Core ANTA99-c23; water depth: 2158 m, length: 548 cm; and ANTA99-c24, water depth: 2750 m, length: 811 cm); and c) the North Western sector (i.e., Core ANTA91-08C, and ANTA91-02C) of the Ross Sea Continental slope. Well-preserved calcareous foraminifers (N. pachyderma, sx) in coarse-grained IRD materials sparsely occur and/or are concentrated in discrete layers (i.e., up to 22 cm-thick) of at least three cores (i.e., Cores ANTA91-08, ANTA91-02, and ANTA95-89C, e.g., at 217-238 cm-depth). Some carbonate layers were deposited during a period of time bracketing Stage3/Stage2. In Core 89C foraminifers are associated to multiple ice rafting episodes and likely occurred with oceanographic changes in the properties of slope water masses. The search of well-preserved, in situ-deposited, polar carbonates is demanded for a reliable C-14 AMS dating of late Pleistocene events in the Ross Sea.

Earthquake Records of North Anatolian Fault from Sapanca Lake Sediments, NW Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yalamaz, Burak; Cagatay, Namık; Acar, Dursun; Demirbag, Emin; Gungor, Emin; Gungor, Nurdan; Gulen, Levent

2014-05-01

We determined earthquake records in sediment cores of Sapanca Lake which is a pull-apart basin located along the North Anatolian Fault zone in NW Anatolia. The lake has a maximum depth of 55 m, and a surface area of 46.8 km2, measuring 16 km in E-W and 5 km in N-S directions. A systematic study of the sedimentological, physical and geochemical properties of three water-sediment interface cores, up to 75.7 cm long, located along depth transects ranging from 43 to 51.5 m water depths. The cores were analyzed using Geotek Multi Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) for physical properties, laser particle size analyzer for granulometry, TOC Analyzer for Total Organic Content (TOC) and Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC) analysis, Itrax-XRF Core Scanner for elemental analysis and digital X-RAY Radiography. The geochronology was determined using AMS radiocarbon and radionuclide methods. The Sapanca Lake earthquake records are characterized by mass flow units consisting of grey or dark grey coarse to fine sand and silty mud with sharp basal and transional upper boundaries. The units commonly show normal size grading with their basal parts showing high density, and high magnetic susceptibility and enrichment in one or more elements, such as Si, Ca, Tİ, K, Rb, Zr and Fe, indicative of coarse detrial input. Based on radionuclide and radiocarbon analyses the mass flow units are correlated with 1999 İzmit and Düzce earthquakes (Mw=7.4 and 7.2, respectively) , 1967 Mudurnu earthquake (Mw= 6,8), and 1957 Abant (Mw= 7.1) earthquake. Keywords: Sapanca Lake, North Anatolian Fault, Earthquake, Grain size, Itrax-XRF, MSCL

Computed Tomography Scanning and Geophysical Measurements of Core from the Coldstream 1MH Well

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

Crandall, Dustin M.; Brown, Sarah; Moore, Johnathan E.

The computed tomography (CT) facilities and the Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Morgantown, West Virginia site were used to characterize core of the Marcellus Shale from a vertical well, the Coldstream 1MH Well in Clearfield County, PA. The core is comprised primarily of the Marcellus Shale from a depth of 7,002 to 7,176 ft. The primary impetus of this work is a collaboration between West Virginia University (WVU) and NETL to characterize core from multiple wells to better understand the structure and variation of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. As part of thismore » effort, bulk scans of core were obtained from the Coldstream 1MH well, provided by the Energy Corporation of America (now Greylock Energy). This report, and the associated scans, provide detailed datasets not typically available from unconventional shales for analysis. The resultant datasets are presented in this report, and can be accessed from NETL's Energy Data eXchange (EDX) online system using the following link: https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/coldstream-1mh-well. All equipment and techniques used were non-destructive, enabling future examinations to be performed on these cores. None of the equipment used was suitable for direct visualization of the shale pore space, although fractures and discontinuities were detectable with the methods tested. Low resolution CT imagery with the NETL medical CT scanner was performed on the entire core. Qualitative analysis of the medical CT images, coupled with x-ray fluorescence (XRF), P-wave, and magnetic susceptibility measurements from the MSCL were useful in identifying zones of interest for more detailed analysis as well as fractured zones. En echelon fractures were observed at 7,100 ft and were CT scanned using NETL’s industrial CT scanner at higher resolution. The ability to quickly identify key areas for more detailed study with higher resolution will save time and resources in future studies. The combination of methods used provided a multi-scale analysis of this core and provides both a macro and micro description of the core that is relevant for many subsurface energy-related examinations that have traditionally been performed at NETL.« less

Architecture of optical sensor for recognition of multiple toxic metal ions from water.

PubMed

Shenashen, M A; El-Safty, S A; Elshehy, E A

2013-09-15

Here, we designed novel optical sensor based on the wormhole hexagonal mesoporous core/multi-shell silica nanoparticles that enabled the selective recognition and removal of these extremely toxic metals from drinking water. The surface-coating process of a mesoporous core/double-shell silica platforms by several consequence decorations using a cationic surfactant with double alkyl tails (CS-DAT) and then a synthesized dicarboxylate 1,5-diphenyl-3-thiocarbazone (III) signaling probe enabled us to create a unique hierarchical multi-shell sensor. In this design, the high loading capacity and wrapping of the CS-DAT and III organic moieties could be achieved, leading to the formation of silica core with multi-shells that formed from double-silica, CS-DAT, and III dressing layers. In this sensing system, notable changes in color and reflectance intensity of the multi-shelled sensor for Cu(2+), Co(2+), Cd(2+), and Hg(2+) ions, were observed at pH 2, 8, 9.5 and 11.5, respectively. The multi-shelled sensor is added to enable accessibility for continuous monitoring of several different toxic metal ions and efficient multi-ion sensing and removal capabilities with respect to reversibility, selectivity, and signal stability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-Sensor Systems and Data Fusion for Telecommunications, Remote Sensing and Radar (les Systemes multi-senseurs et le fusionnement des donnees pour les telecommunications, la teledetection et les radars)

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-04-01

The result of the project is a demonstration of the fusion process, the sensors management and the real-time capabilities using simulated sensors...demonstrator (TAD) is a system that demonstrates the core ele- ment of a battlefield ground surveillance system by simulation in near real-time. The core...Management and Sensor/Platform simulation . The surveillance system observes the real world through a non-collocated heterogene- ous multisensory system

Automatic Quantification of X-ray Computed Tomography Images of Cores: Method and Application to Shimokita Cores (Northeast Coast of Honshu, Japan)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaillot, P.

2007-12-01

X-ray computed tomography (CT) of rock core provides nondestructive cross-sectional or three-dimensional core representations from the attenuation of electromagnetic radiation. Attenuation depends on the density and the atomic constituents of the rock material that is scanned. Since it has the potential to non-invasively measure phase distribution and species concentration, X-ray CT offers significant advantages to characterize both heterogeneous and apparently homogeneous lithologies. In particular, once empirically calibrated into 3D density images, this scanning technique is useful in the observation of density variation. In this paper, I present a procedure from which information contained in the 3D images can be quantitatively extracted and turned into very-high resolution core logs and core image logs including (1) the radial and angular distributions of density values, (2) the histogram of distribution of the density and its related statistical parameters (average, 10- 25- 50, 75 and 90 percentiles, and width at half maximum), and (3) the volume, the average density and the mass contribution of three core fractions defined by two user-defined density thresholds (voids and vugs < 1.01 g/cc ≤ damaged core material < 1.25 g/cc < non-damaged core material). In turn, these quantitative outputs (1) allow the recognition of bedding and sedimentary features, as well as natural and coring-induced fractures, (2) provide a high-resolution bulk density core log, and (3) provide quantitative estimates of core voids and core damaged zones that can further be used to characterize core quality and core disturbance, and apply, where appropriate, volume correction on core physical properties (gamma-ray attenuation density, magnetic susceptibility, natural gamma radiation, non-contact electrical resistivity, P-wave velocity) acquired via Multi- Sensors Core loggers (MSCL). The procedure is illustrated on core data (XR-CT images, continuous MSCL physical properties and discrete Moisture and Density measurements) from the Hole C9001C drilled off-shore Shimokita (northeast coast of Honshu, Japan) during the shake-down cruise (08-11/2006) of the scientific drilling vessel, Chikyu.

Open Source Hardware for DIY Environmental Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aufdenkampe, A. K.; Hicks, S. D.; Damiano, S. G.; Montgomery, D. S.

2014-12-01

The Arduino open source electronics platform has been very popular within the DIY (Do It Yourself) community for several years, and it is now providing environmental science researchers with an inexpensive alternative to commercial data logging and transmission hardware. Here we present the designs for our latest series of custom Arduino-based dataloggers, which include wireless communication options like self-meshing radio networks and cellular phone modules. The main Arduino board uses a custom interface board to connect to various research-grade sensors to take readings of turbidity, dissolved oxygen, water depth and conductivity, soil moisture, solar radiation, and other parameters. Sensors with SDI-12 communications can be directly interfaced to the logger using our open Arduino-SDI-12 software library (https://github.com/StroudCenter/Arduino-SDI-12). Different deployment options are shown, like rugged enclosures to house the loggers and rigs for mounting the sensors in both fresh water and marine environments. After the data has been collected and transmitted by the logger, the data is received by a mySQL-PHP stack running on a web server that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Once there, the data can be visualized on web pages or served though REST requests and Water One Flow (WOF) services. Since one of the main benefits of using open source hardware is the easy collaboration between users, we are introducing a new web platform for discussion and sharing of ideas and plans for hardware and software designs used with DIY environmental sensors and data loggers.

Polytopol computing for multi-core and distributed systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spaanenburg, Henk; Spaanenburg, Lambert; Ranefors, Johan

2009-05-01

Multi-core computing provides new challenges to software engineering. The paper addresses such issues in the general setting of polytopol computing, that takes multi-core problems in such widely differing areas as ambient intelligence sensor networks and cloud computing into account. It argues that the essence lies in a suitable allocation of free moving tasks. Where hardware is ubiquitous and pervasive, the network is virtualized into a connection of software snippets judiciously injected to such hardware that a system function looks as one again. The concept of polytopol computing provides a further formalization in terms of the partitioning of labor between collector and sensor nodes. Collectors provide functions such as a knowledge integrator, awareness collector, situation displayer/reporter, communicator of clues and an inquiry-interface provider. Sensors provide functions such as anomaly detection (only communicating singularities, not continuous observation), they are generally powered or self-powered, amorphous (not on a grid) with generation-and-attrition, field re-programmable, and sensor plug-and-play-able. Together the collector and the sensor are part of the skeleton injector mechanism, added to every node, and give the network the ability to organize itself into some of many topologies. Finally we will discuss a number of applications and indicate how a multi-core architecture supports the security aspects of the skeleton injector.

Evaluation of measurement errors of temperature and relative humidity from HOBO data logger under different conditions of exposure to solar radiation.

PubMed

da Cunha, Antonio Ribeiro

2015-05-01

This study aimed to assess measurements of temperature and relative humidity obtained with HOBO a data logger, under various conditions of exposure to solar radiation, comparing them with those obtained through the use of a temperature/relative humidity probe and a copper-constantan thermocouple psychrometer, which are considered the standards for obtaining such measurements. Data were collected over a 6-day period (from 25 March to 1 April, 2010), during which the equipment was monitored continuously and simultaneously. We employed the following combinations of equipment and conditions: a HOBO data logger in full sunlight; a HOBO data logger shielded within a white plastic cup with windows for air circulation; a HOBO data logger shielded within a gill-type shelter (multi-plate prototype plastic); a copper-constantan thermocouple psychrometer exposed to natural ventilation and protected from sunlight; and a temperature/relative humidity probe under a commercial, multi-plate radiation shield. Comparisons between the measurements obtained with the various devices were made on the basis of statistical indicators: linear regression, with coefficient of determination; index of agreement; maximum absolute error; and mean absolute error. The prototype multi-plate shelter (gill-type) used in order to protect the HOBO data logger was found to provide the best protection against the effects of solar radiation on measurements of temperature and relative humidity. The precision and accuracy of a device that measures temperature and relative humidity depend on an efficient shelter that minimizes the interference caused by solar radiation, thereby avoiding erroneous analysis of the data obtained.

Wireless sensor network for monitoring soil moisture and weather conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A wireless sensor network (WSN) was developed and deployed in three fields to monitor soil water status and collect weather data for irrigation scheduling. The WSN consists of soil-water sensors, weather sensors, wireless data loggers, and a wireless modem. Soil-water sensors were installed at three...

Inexpensive, Low Power, Open-Source Data Logging hardware development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandell, C. T.; Schulz, B.; Wickert, A. D.

2017-12-01

Over the past six years, we have developed a suite of open-source, low-cost, and lightweight data loggers for scientific research. These loggers employ the popular and easy-to-use Arduino programming environment, but consist of custom hardware optimized for field research. They may be connected to a broad and expanding range of off-the-shelf sensors, with software support built in directly to the "ALog" library. Three main models exist: The ALog (for Autonomous or Arduino Logger) is the extreme low-power model for years-long deployments with only primary AA or D batteries. The ALog shield is a stripped-down ALog that nests with a standard Arduino board for prototyping or education. The TLog (for Telemetering Logger) contains an embedded radio with 500 m range and a GPS for communications and precision timekeeping. This enables meshed networks of loggers that can send their data back to an internet-connected "home base" logger for near-real-time field data retrieval. All boards feature feature a high-precision clock, full size SD card slot for high-volume data storage, large screw terminals to connect sensors, interrupts, SPI and I2C communication capability, and 3.3V/5V power outputs. The ALog and TLog have fourteen 16-bit analog inputs with a precision voltage reference for precise analog measurements. Their components are rated -40 to +85 degrees C, and they have been tested in harsh field conditions. These low-cost and open-source data loggers have enabled our research group to collect field data across North and South America on a limited budget, support student projects, and build toward better future scientific data systems.

UAS-NAS Live Virtual Constructive Distributed Environment (LVC): LVC Gateway, Gateway Toolbox, Gateway Data Logger (GDL), SaaProc Software Design Description

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jovic, Srboljub

2015-01-01

This document provides the software design description for the two core software components, the LVC Gateway, the LVC Gateway Toolbox, and two participants, the LVC Gateway Data Logger and the SAA Processor (SaaProc).

Micro CT characterization of a coastal mine tailings deposit, Portmán Bay, SE Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frigola, Jaime; Cerdà-Domènech, Marc; Barriuso, Eduardo; Sanchez-Vidal, Anna; Amblas, David; Canals, Miquel

2017-04-01

Scanning of sediment cores by means of high-resolution non-destructive techniques provides researchers with huge amounts of highly valuable data allowing fast and detailed characterization of the materials. In the last decades several devoted instruments have been developed and applied to the study of sedimentary sequences, mainly multi-sensor core loggers (MSCL) for the physical properties and XRF core scanners for the chemical elemental composition. The geoscientific community started using computed tomography (CT) systems about two decades ago. These were mainly medical systems as dedicated instruments were essentially lacking by that time. The resolution of those medical systems was limited to several hundreds of micrometres voxel size. Micro computed tomography (micro-CT) systems have also spread into geoscientific research, although their limited workspace dimensions prevents their use for large objects, such as long sediment cores. Recently, a new micro-CT system, the MultiTom Core X-ray CT, conceived by University of Barcelona (UB) researchers and developed by X-ray Engineering, became operational. It is able of scanning sediment cores up to 1.5 m long, and allows adjustable resolutions from 300 microns down to 3-4 microns. The system is now installed at UB's CORELAB Laboratory for non-destructive analyses of geological materials. Here we present, as an example, the results of MultiTom scans of a set of sediment cores recovered offshore Portmán Bay, SE Spain, in order to characterize at very high-resolution the metal-enriched deposit generated after 33 years of direct discharge into the sea of mine tailings resulting from the exploitation of Pb and Zn ores. In total 52 short cores and 6 long gravity cores from the mine tailings infilled bay were scanned with the MultiTom system at a mean voxel resolution of 125 microns. The integrated study of micro-CT data allowed differentiating the main tailings units from deposits formed after disposal cessation. Tailings units show higher radio-density values, which correspond to metal enrichments. A lower unit consists of highly laminated interbedded low radio-density and very high radio-density layers, while an upper mine tailings unit is more homogeneous and shows intermediate radio-density values. The limit between the tailings and the post-mining deposits is defined by a sharp surface associated with an abrupt decrease in the radio-densities. Post-mining deposits are also characterized by an increment in bioturbation marks, which are practically absent in the tailings units, and an increase in carbonate particles and organic matter patches. Micro CT scans allow observation of very small structures, which are indicative of the complexity of the sedimentation processes involved in the transport and final deposition of the mine tailings. Integration of micro CT scans together with XRF core scanner and MSCL data allows a better characterization of the metal concentrations and their distribution within the deposit, directly demonstrating the great value of non-destructive techniques for actually high-resolution sedimentological studies.

NanTroSEIZE observatories: Installation of a long-term borehole monitoring systems offshore the Kii Peninsula, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopf, A.; Saffer, D. M.; Davis, E. E.; Araki, E.; Kinoshita, M.; Lauer, R. M.; Wheat, C. G.; Kitada, K.; Kimura, T.; Toczko, S.; Eguchi, N. O.; Science Parties, E.

2010-12-01

The IODP Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is a multi-expedition drilling program designed to investigate fault mechanics, fault slip behavior, and strain accumulation along subduction megathrusts, through coring, logging, and long-term monitoring experiments. One key objective is the development and installation of a borehole observatory network extending from locations above the outer, presumably aseismic accretionary wedge to the seismogenic and interseismically locked plate interface, to record seismicity and slip transients, monitor strain accumulation, document hydraulic transients associated with deformation events, and quantify in situ pore fluid pressure and temperature. As part of recent NanTroSEIZE operations, borehole instruments have been developed for deployment at two sites: (1) Site C0010, which penetrates a major out-of-sequence thrust fault termed the “megasplay” at ca. 400 mbsf, and (2) Site C0002 in the Kumano forearc basin at a location that overlies both the updip edge of the inferred interseismically locked portion of the plate interface, and clusters of very low frequency thrust and reverse earthquakes located within the accretionary prism and potentially on the megasplay fault. In 2009, Site C0010 was drilled and cased with screens to access the megasplay fault, and a simple pore pressure and temperature monitoring system (a ”smartplug”) was installed. The simple observatory unit includes pressure and temperature sensors and a data logging package mounted beneath a mechanically set retrievable casing packer, and includes two pressure sensors, one in hydraulic communication with the formation through the casing screens below the packer, and the other to the open borehole above the packer to record hydrostatic reference pressure and ocean loading signals. Temperatures are recorded within the instrument package using a platinum thermometer and by a self-contained miniature temperature logger (MTL). In fall 2010, the smartplug will be retrieved and replaced with an upgraded instrument package that also includes an autonomous osmotic geochemical sampling system and microbial colonization experiment. Fall 2010 operations will also drill and case Site C0002 to ca. 1000 m depth and install a newly developed multi-sensor permanent observatory system, which includes a volumetric strainmeter, a broadband seismometer, tiltmeter, thermister string, and multi-level pore-pressure sensors. The strain, seismometer, and tilt sensors will be cemented with the basal mudstones of the Kumano basin, and pore pressure will be monitored within both the underlying accretionary prism and within the lower basin sediments. The observatory will ultimately be connected to the seafloor fiber-optic cable network DONET. Here, we report on the retrieval of the smartplug, installation and configuration of the new multi-sensor permanent observatory, and preliminary data obtained from the smartplug deployment.

Sensor Networks, Dataloggers, and Other Handy Gadgets Using Open-Source Electronics for the Christina River Basin CZO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hicks, S. D.; Aufdenkampe, A. K.; Montgomery, D. S.

2011-12-01

The search for biogeochemical "hot spots" and "hot moments" that control ecosystem-level processes requires a rethinking of how we observe the environment. Extensive multi-sensor/measurement arrays are required to realize 2D, 3D, or 4D maps of environmental properties with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to find and understand hot spots and hot moments. To date, the cost of the data logging and communication infrastructure has been a major limitation to large-scale sensor deployment, especially for near-real-time (NRT) wireless networks. A low-cost, user-friendly alternative is needed so that resources can be prioritized toward sensor hardware rather than data acquisition and communication hardware. A flexible development platform would also allow for easy creation of other useful devices in addition to the already apparent need for economical dataloggers. The recent proliferation of open-source electronics platforms offers an opportunity for environmental observatories to deploy sensors at large scales by reducing data logging and communications costs by more than an order of magnitude. Leading the open-source electronics revolution is the Arduino project, designed to make the process of using electronics in multidisciplinary projects more accessible to hobbyists and professionals alike. A large user community has developed and shared hundreds of practical applications for projects that interface with a variety of sensors and use embedded logic to control external hardware. Likewise, dozens of companies and individuals sell low-cost Arduino-compatible boards that can connect together in a modular framework, allowing the user to quickly create devices for a wide range of applications. Based on these open-source technologies and products, we are designing and building a variety of circuit devices for use in our research watersheds. One Arduino-based device is a multi-channel datalogger that can be used with a variety of analog and digital sensors, such as pressure transducers, conductivity sensors, soil moisture and temperature probes, and redox probes. Radio modules can be added to the loggers to create a self-meshing wireless network for streaming live sensor data. A variation of the logger circuit is a smaller handheld unit with a text display that can be used when testing sensors in the field. Another useful custom device is a remote streamwater sampling system, made up of an Arduino circuit and a prepaid cell phone, allowing a user to remotely control multiple pumps by following interactive voice menus and hearing live sensor value readouts. In the lab, an Arduino circuit is used in a multi-chamber CO2 respiration experiment where it is controlling dozens of solenoid valves and logging the data from the analytical instruments. One of the biggest benefits of open source hardware is the low cost of the components. Each of the devices we have built costs less than $100 and can be assembled in a few hours. These circuits could easily be adapted to other applications or interfaced with other sensors in a variety of configurations, making the Arduino platform an incredibly useful tool for researchers.

Real-Time Field Data Acquisition and Remote Sensor Reconfiguration Using Scientific Workflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, F.; Mehta, G.; Vahi, K.; Deelman, E.

2010-12-01

Despite many technological advances, field data acquisition still consists of several manual and laborious steps. Once sensors and data loggers are deployed in the field, scientists often have to periodically return to their study sites in order to collect their data. Even when field deployments have a way to communicate and transmit data back to the laboratory (e.g. by using a satellite or a cellular modem), data analysis still requires several repetitive steps. Because data often needs to be processed and inspected manually, there is usually a significant time delay between data collection and analysis. As a result, sensor failures that could be detected almost in real-time are not noted for weeks or months. Finally, sensor reconfiguration as a result of interesting events in the field is still done manually, making rapid response nearly impossible and causing important data to be missed. By working closely with scientists from different application domains, we identified several tasks that, if automated, could greatly improve the way field data is collected, processed, and distributed. Our goals are to enable real-time data collection and validation, automate sensor reconfiguration in response to interest events in the field, and allow scientists to easily automate their data processing. We began our design by employing the Sensor Processing and Acquisition Network (SPAN) architecture. SPAN uses an embedded processor in the field to coordinate sensor data acquisition from analog and digital sensors by interfacing with different types of devices and data loggers. SPAN is also able to interact with various types of communication devices in order to provide real-time communication to and from field sites. We use the Pegasus Workflow Management System (Pegasus WMS) to coordinate data collection and control sensors and deployments in the field. Because scientific workflows can be used to automate multi-step, repetitive tasks, scientists can create simple workflows to download sensor data, perform basic QA/QC, and identify events of interest as well as sensor and data logger failures almost in real-time. As a result of this automation, scientists can quickly be notified (e.g. via e-mail or SMS) so that important events are not missed. In addition, Pegasus WMS has the ability to abstract the execution environment of where programs run. By placing a Pegasus WMS agent inside an embedded processor in the field, we allow scientists to ship simple computational models to the field, enabling remote data processing at the field site. As an example, scientists can send an image processing algorithm to the field so that the embedded processor can analyze images, thus reducing the bandwidth necessary for communication. In addition, when real-time communication to the laboratory is not possible, scientists can create simple computational models that can be run on sensor nodes autonomously, monitoring sensor data and making adjustments without any human intervention. We believe our system lowers the bar for the adoption of reconfigurable sensor networks by field scientists. In this poster, we will show how this technology can be used to provide not only data acquisition, but also real-time data validation and sensor reconfiguration.

Eco-hydrological Wireless Sensor Network and upscaling method research in the Heihe River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Rui; kang, Jian

2017-04-01

Wireless Sensor Networks are recognized as one of most important near-surface components of GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems), with flourish development of low-cost, robust and integrated data loggers and sensors. A nested eco-hydrological wireless sensor network (EHWSN) was installed in the up- and middle-reaches of the Heihe River Basin, operated to obtain multi-scale observation of soil moisture, soil temperature and land surface temperature from 2012 till now. The spatial distribution of EHWSN was optimally designed based on the geo-statistical theory, with the aim to capture the spatial variations and temporal dynamics of soil moisture and soil temperature, and to produce ground truth at grid scale for validating the related remote sensing products and model simulation in the heterogeneous land surface. In terms of upscaling research, we have developed a set of method to aggregate multi-point WSN observations to grid scale ( 1km), including regression kriging estimation to utilize multi-resource remote sensing auxiliary information, block kriging with homogeneous measurement errors, and bayesian-based upscaling algorithm that utilizes MODIS-derived apparent thermal inertia. All the EHWSN observation are organized as datasets to be freely published at http://westdc.westgis.ac.cn/hiwater. EHWSN integrates distributed observation nodes to achieve an automated, intelligent and remote-controllable network that provides superior integrated, standardized and automated observation capabilities for hydrological and ecological processes research at the basin scale.

Novel techniques for optical sensor using single core multi-layer structures for electric field detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Amir R.; Kamel, Mohamed A.

2017-05-01

This paper studies the effect of the electrostriction force on the single optical dielectric core coated with multi-layers based on whispering gallery mode (WGM). The sensing element is a dielectric core made of polymeric material coated with multi-layers having different dielectric and mechanical properties. The external electric field deforming the sensing element causing shifts in its WGM spectrum. The multi-layer structures will enhance the body and the pressure forces acting on the core of the sensing element. Due to the gradient on the dielectric permittivity; pressure forces at the interface between every two layers will be created. Also, the gradient on Young's modulus will affect the overall stiffness of the optical sensor. In turn the sensitivity of the optical sensor to the electric field will be increased when the materials of each layer selected properly. A mathematical model is used to test the effect for that multi-layer structures. Two layering techniques are considered to increase the sensor's sensitivity; (i) Pressure force enhancement technique; and (ii) Young's modulus reduction technique. In the first technique, Young's modulus is kept constant for all layers, while the dielectric permittivity is varying. In this technique the results will be affected by the value dielectric permittivity of the outer medium surrounding the cavity. If the medium's dielectric permittivity is greater than that of the cavity, then the ascending ordered layers of the cavity will yield the highest sensitivity (the core will have the smallest dielectric permittivity) to the applied electric field and vice versa. In the second technique, Young's modulus is varying along the layers, while the dielectric permittivity has a certain constant value per layer. On the other hand, the descending order will enhance the sensitivity in the second technique. Overall, results show the multi-layer cavity based on these techniques will enhance the sensitivity compared to the typical polymeric optical sensor.

A micro-power precision amplifier for converting the output of light sensors to a voltage readable by miniature data loggers.

PubMed

Phillips, Nathan; Bond, Barbara J.

1999-07-01

To record photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) simultaneously at a number of points throughout a forest canopy, we developed a simple, inexpensive (< $10 US) current-to-voltage converter that processes the current generated by a photodiode radiation sensor to a voltage range that is recordable with a miniature data logger. The converter, which weighs less than 75 g and has a volume of only 100 cm(3), is built around an ultra-low power OP-90 precision operational amplifier, which consumes less than 0.5 mA at 9 V when converting the output of a Li-Cor LI-190SA quantum sensor exposed to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) of 2500 &mgr;mol m(-2) s(-1) or only 5 &mgr;A in low light. A small 9-V battery thus powers the amplifier for more than 1000 h of continuous operation. Correlations between photometer readings and voltage output from the current-to-voltage converter were high and linear at both high and low PAR. Sixteen Li-Cor LI-190SA quantum sensors each equipped with current-to-voltage converters and connected to a miniature data logger were deployed in the upper branches of a Panamanian tropical rainforest canopy. Each unit performed reliably during a one- or two-week evaluation.

Improved Sensitivity Spontaneous Raman Scattering Multi-Gas Sensor

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

Buric, Michael P.; Chen, Kevin P.; Falk, Joel

2009-01-01

We report a backward-wave spontaneous-Raman multi-gas sensor employing a hollow-core photonic-bandgap-fiber to contain gasses and increase interaction length. Silica Raman noise and detection speed are reduced using a digital spatial filter and a cladding seal.

Wireless sensor network for irrigation application in cotton

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A wireless sensor network was deployed in a cotton field to monitor soil water status for irrigation. The network included two systems, a Decagon system and a microcontroller-based system. The Decagon system consists of soil volumetric water-content sensors, wireless data loggers, and a central data...

Temperature- and phase-independent lateral force sensor based on a core-offset multi-mode fiber interferometer.

PubMed

Dong, Bo; Zhou, Da-Peng; Wei, Li; Liu, Wing-Ki; Lit, John W Y

2008-11-10

A novel lateral force sensor based on a core-offset multi-mode fiber (MMF) interferometer is reported. High extinction ratio can be obtained by misaligning a fused cross section between the single-mode fiber (SMF) and MMF. With the variation of the lateral force applied to a short section of the MMF, the extinction ratio changes while the interference phase remains almost constant. The change of the extinction ratio is independent of temperature variations. The proposed force sensor has the advantages of temperature- and phase-independency, high extinction ratio sensitivity, good repeatability, low cost, and simple structure. Moreover, the core-offset MMF interferometer is expected to have applications in fiber filters and tunable phase-independent attenuators.

Development of SPR temperature sensor using Au/TiO2 on hetero-core optical fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitagawa, Sho; Yamazaki, Hiroshi; Hosoki, Ai; Nishiyama, Michiko; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2016-03-01

This paper describes a novel temperature sensor based on a hetero-core structured fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with multi-layer thin film of gold (Au) and titanium dioxide (TiO2). Temperature condition is an essential parameter in chemical plants for avoiding fire accident and controlling qualities of chemical substances. Several fiber optic temperature sensors have been developed for some advantages such as immunity to electromagnetic interference, corrosion resistance and no electrical leakage. The proposed hetero-core fiber optic SPR sensor detects temperature condition by measuring slight refractive index changes of TiO2 which has a large thermo-optic coefficient. We experimentally confirmed that the SPR resonant wavelength in the hetero-core SPR sensor with coating an Au film which slightly depended on temperature changes in the range from 20 °C to 80 °C. In addition, it was experimentally shown that the proposed SPR temperature sensor with multi-layer film of Au and TiO2 had the SPR resonant wavelength shift of 1.6 nm due to temperature change from -10 °C to 50 °C. As a result, a series of experiments successfully demonstrated that the proposed sensor was able to detect temperature directly depending on the thermo-optic effect of TiO2.

Facies-dependent variations in sediment physical properties on the Mississippi River Delta Front, USA: evidence for depositional and post-depositional processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, J. E., IV; Bentley, S. J.; Courtois, A. J.; Obelcz, J.; Chaytor, J. D.; Maloney, J. M.; Georgiou, I. Y.; Xu, K.; Miner, M. D.

2017-12-01

Recent studies on Mississippi River Delta have documented sub-aerial land loss, driven in part by declining sediment load over the past century. Impacts of changing sediment load on the subaqueous delta are less well known. The subaqueous Mississippi River Delta Front is known to be shaped by extensive submarine mudflows operating at a range of temporal and spatial scales, however impacts of changing sediment delivery on mudflow deposits have not been investigated. To better understand seabed morphology and stratigraphy as impacted by plume sedimentation and mudflows, an integrated geological/geophysical study was undertaken in delta front regions offshore the three main passes of the Mississippi River Delta. This study focuses on stratigraphy and physical properties of 30 piston cores (5-9 m length) collected in June 2017. Coring locations were selected in gully, lobe and prodelta settings based on multibeam bathymetry and seismic profiles collected in mid-May 2017. Cores were analyzed for density, magnetic susceptibility, P-wave speed, and resistivity using a Geotek multi sensor core logger; here, we focus on density data. Core density profiles generally vary systematically across facies. Density profiles of gully cores are nearly invariant with some downward stepwise increases delineating units meters thick, and abundant gaps likely caused by gas expansion. Lobe cores generally have subtle downward increases in density, some stepwise density increases, and fewer gaps. Prodelta cores show more pronounced downward density increases, decimeter-scale peaks and valleys in density profiles, but stepwise increases are less evident. We hypothesize that density profiles in gully and lobe settings (uniform profiles except for stepwise increases) reflect remolding by mudflows, whereas density variations in prodelta settings instead reflect grain size variations (decimeter-scale) and more advanced consolidation (overall downward density increase) consistent with slower sediment deposition. These hypotheses will be evaluated by a more detailed study of seismic stratigraphy and core properties, including geochronology, grain size distribution and X-radiographic imaging, to further relate important sedimentary processes with resulting deposits.

Drilling the Thuringian Syncline, Germany: core processing during the INFLUINS scientific deep drilling campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abratis, Michael; Methe, Pascal; Aehnelt, Michaela; Kunkel, Cindy; Beyer, Daniel; Kukowski, Nina; Totsche, Kai Uwe

2014-05-01

Deep drilling of the central Thuringian Syncline was carried out in order to gather substantial knowledge of subsurface fluid dynamics and fluid rock interaction within a sedimentary basin. The final depth of the borehole was successfully reached at 1179 m, just a few meters above the Buntsandstein - Zechstein boundary. One of the aspects of the scientific drilling was obtaining sample material from different stratigraphic units for insights in genesis, rock properties and fluid-rock interactions. Parts of the section were cored whereas cuttings provide record of the remaining units. Coring was conducted in aquifers and their surrounding aquitards, i.e. parts of the Upper Muschelkalk (Trochitenkalk), the Middle Muschelkalk, the Upper Buntsandstein (Pelitrot and Salinarrot) and the Middle Buntsandstein. In advance and in cooperation with the GFZ Potsdam team "Scientific Drilling" core handling was discussed and a workflow was developed to ensure efficient and appropriate processing of the valuable core material and related data. Core curation including cleaning, fitting, marking, measuring, cutting, boxing, photographing and unrolled scanning using a DMT core scanner was carried out on the drilling site in Erfurt. Due care was exercised on samples for microbiological analyses. These delicate samples were immediately cut when leaving the core tube and stored within a cooling box at -78°C. Special software for data input was used developed by smartcube GmbH. Advantages of this drilling information system (DIS) are the compatibility with formats of international drilling projects from the IODP and ICDP drilling programs and thus options for exchanges with the international data bases. In a following step, the drill cores were brought to the national core repository of the BGR in Berlin Spandau where the cores were logged for their physical rock properties using a GeoTek multi sensor core logger (MSCL). After splitting the cores into a working and archive half, the cores were scanned for compositional variations using an XRF core scanner at the BGR lab and scan images of the slabbed surfaces were performed. The average core recovery rate was very high at nearly 100%. Altogether, we gained 533 m of excellent core material including sandstones, siltstones and claystones, carbonates, sulfates and chlorides. This provides valuable insight into the stratigraphic column of the Thuringian Syncline.

Preliminary Facies Reconstruction of a Late Pleistocene Cypress Forest Discovered on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez Rodriguez, S. M.; Bentley, S. J.; DeLong, K. L.; Xu, K.; Caporaso, A.; Obelcz, J. B.; Harley, G. L.; Reese, C. A.; Truong, J. T.

2016-12-01

We are investigating the origin and preservation of an ancient bald cypress forest (Taxodium distichum) discovered on the continental shelf seafloor, offshore of Gulf Shores, Alabama, USA, in 20 m water depth. The forest was likely buried in the late Pleistocene, possibly exhumed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and is now exposed as stumps in life position with little evidence of decay before recent marine exposure. Radiocarbon analyses show that the forest age is near (and in some cases beyond) the limits of 14C dating, at least 41-45 ky BP. In August 2015 and July 2016, submersible vibracores (up to 5 m in length) were collected. Ongoing core analyses include: organic content (loss on ignition), granulometry, and core logging using a Geotek Multi Sensor Core Logger to generate imagery, bulk density, and x-ray fluorescence data. To bolster 14C analyses, cores collected in 2016 are presently being dated using optically stimulated luminescence. Local stratigraphy consists of a surface facies of Holocene transgressive sands, underlain by possible estuarine sediments of interbedded sand and mud (potentially Holocene or Pleistocene), overlying a swamp or delta plain facies (likely Pleistocene) containing woody debris and mud. Deeper woody facies are thought to include the soil horizons of the ancient cypress forest. Cores collected in 2016 revealed a Pleistocene paleosol beneath Holocene sands in a nearby trough. Elevation differences between swamp and paleosol horizons will be evaluated from bathymetric and subbottom data, to help characterize the preserved ancient landscape. Initial interpretation based on close proximity of Pleistocene swamp and oxidized paleosol sediments, and regional geomorphic gradients suggest that this relatively diverse assemblage of facies developed up to tens of km from the glacial-age coastline, and relatively rapid burial prevented erosion by coastal processes during the Holocene transgression thus preserving the tree stumps and wood debris.

Delineation of the North Anatolian Fault Within the Sapanca Lake and Correlation of Seismo-Turbidites With Major Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulen, L.; Demirbağ, E.; Cagatay, M. N.; Yıldırım, E.; Yalamaz, B.

2015-12-01

Seismic reflection studies have been carried out in the Sapanca Lake to delineate the geometry of the North Anatolian Fault. A total of 28 N-S and 2 E-W trending seismic profiles were obtained. The interpretation of seismic reflection profiles have revealed that the North Anatolian Fault Zone exhibits a pull-apart fault geometry within the Sapanca Lake and the active fault segments have been mapped. A bathymetry map of the Sapanca Lake is also generated and the maximum depth is determined to be 54 m. A systematic study of the sedimentological, physical and geochemical properties of three up to 75.7 cm long water-sediment interface cores located along depth transects ranging from 43 to 5.1.5 m water depth. The cores were analyzed using Geotek Multi Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) for physical properties, laser particle size analyzer for granulometry, TOC Analyzer for Total Organic Organic (TOC) and Total Inorganic carbon (TIC) analysis and Itrax-XRF Core Scanner for elemental analysis and digital X-RAY Radiography. The Sapanca Lake earthquake records are characterized by seismo-turbidites consisting of grey or dark grey coarse to fine sand and silty mud with a sharp basal and transitional upper boundaries. The units commonly show normal size grading with their basal parts showing high density and magnetic susceptibility and enrichment in one or more of elements, such as Si, Ca, Tİ, K, Rb, Zr and Fe, indicative of coarse detrial input. Based on radionuclide and radiocarbon analyses the seismo-turbidites are correlated with the 1999 İzmit and Düzce (Mw=7.4 and 7.2), 1967 Mudurnu (Mw= 6.8), and 1957 Abant (Mw= 7.1) Earthquakes. Additionally a prominent Cs137 peak was found in the Sapanca Lake sediment cores at a depth of 12 cm. indicating that a radioactive fallout occurred in the region as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in Ukraine.

The Inverse-Square Law with Data Loggers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Alan

2013-01-01

The inverse-square law for the intensity of light received at a distance from a light source has been verified using various experimental techniques. Typical measurements involve a manual variation of the distance between a light source and a light sensor, usually by sliding the sensor or source along a bench, measuring the source-sensor distance…

Is propensity to obesity associated with the diurnal pattern of core body temperature?

PubMed

Hynd, P I; Czerwinski, V H; McWhorter, T J

2014-02-01

Obesity affects more than half a billion people worldwide, but the underlying causes remain unresolved. It has been proposed that propensity to obesity may be associated with differences between individuals in metabolic efficiency and in the energy used for homeothermy. It has also been suggested that obese-prone individuals differ in their responsiveness to circadian rhythms. We investigated both these hypotheses by measuring the core body temperature at regular and frequent intervals over a diurnal cycle, using indigestible temperature loggers in two breeds of canines known to differ in propensity to obesity, but prior to divergence in fatness. Greyhounds (obesity-resistant) and Labradors (obesity-prone) were fed indigestible temperature loggers. Gastrointestinal temperature was recorded at 10-min intervals for the period of transit of the logger. Diet, body condition score, activity level and environment were similar for both groups. Energy digestibility was also measured. The mean core body temperature in obesity-resistant dogs (38.27 °C) was slightly higher (P<0.001) than in obesity-prone dogs (38.18 °C) and the former had a greater variation (P<0.001) in 24h circadian core temperature. There were no differences in diet digestibility. Canines differing in propensity to obesity, but prior to its onset, differed little in mean core temperature, supporting similar findings in already-obese and lean humans. Obese-prone dogs were less variable in daily core temperature fluctuations, suggestive of a degree of circadian decoupling.

A Networked Sensor System for the Analysis of Plot-Scale Hydrology.

PubMed

Villalba, German; Plaza, Fernando; Zhong, Xiaoyang; Davis, Tyler W; Navarro, Miguel; Li, Yimei; Slater, Thomas A; Liang, Yao; Liang, Xu

2017-03-20

This study presents the latest updates to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP) testbed, a $50,000 USD, 104-node outdoor multi-hop wireless sensor network (WSN). The network collects environmental data from over 240 sensors, including the EC-5, MPS-1 and MPS-2 soil moisture and soil water potential sensors and self-made sap flow sensors, across a heterogeneous deployment comprised of MICAz, IRIS and TelosB wireless motes. A low-cost sensor board and software driver was developed for communicating with the analog and digital sensors. Innovative techniques (e.g., balanced energy efficient routing and heterogeneous over-the-air mote reprogramming) maintained high success rates (>96%) and enabled effective software updating, throughout the large-scale heterogeneous WSN. The edaphic properties monitored by the network showed strong agreement with data logger measurements and were fitted to pedotransfer functions for estimating local soil hydraulic properties. Furthermore, sap flow measurements, scaled to tree stand transpiration, were found to be at or below potential evapotranspiration estimates. While outdoor WSNs still present numerous challenges, the ASWP testbed proves to be an effective and (relatively) low-cost environmental monitoring solution and represents a step towards developing a platform for monitoring and quantifying statistically relevant environmental parameters from large-scale network deployments.

A Networked Sensor System for the Analysis of Plot-Scale Hydrology

PubMed Central

Villalba, German; Plaza, Fernando; Zhong, Xiaoyang; Davis, Tyler W.; Navarro, Miguel; Li, Yimei; Slater, Thomas A.; Liang, Yao; Liang, Xu

2017-01-01

This study presents the latest updates to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP) testbed, a $50,000 USD, 104-node outdoor multi-hop wireless sensor network (WSN). The network collects environmental data from over 240 sensors, including the EC-5, MPS-1 and MPS-2 soil moisture and soil water potential sensors and self-made sap flow sensors, across a heterogeneous deployment comprised of MICAz, IRIS and TelosB wireless motes. A low-cost sensor board and software driver was developed for communicating with the analog and digital sensors. Innovative techniques (e.g., balanced energy efficient routing and heterogeneous over-the-air mote reprogramming) maintained high success rates (>96%) and enabled effective software updating, throughout the large-scale heterogeneous WSN. The edaphic properties monitored by the network showed strong agreement with data logger measurements and were fitted to pedotransfer functions for estimating local soil hydraulic properties. Furthermore, sap flow measurements, scaled to tree stand transpiration, were found to be at or below potential evapotranspiration estimates. While outdoor WSNs still present numerous challenges, the ASWP testbed proves to be an effective and (relatively) low-cost environmental monitoring solution and represents a step towards developing a platform for monitoring and quantifying statistically relevant environmental parameters from large-scale network deployments. PMID:28335534

Ethernet based data logger for gaseous detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swain, S.; Sahu, P. K.; Sahu, S. K.

2018-05-01

A data logger is designed to monitor and record ambient parameters such as temperature, pressure and relative humidity along with gas flow rate as a function of time. These parameters are required for understanding the characteristics of gas-filled detectors such as Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) and Multi-Wire Proportional Counter (MWPC). The data logger has different microcontrollers and has been interfaced to an ethernet port with a local LCD unit for displaying all measured parameters. In this article, the explanation of the data logger design, hardware, and software description of the master microcontroller and the DAQ system along with LabVIEW interface client program have been presented. We have implemented this device with GEM detector and displayed few preliminary results as a function of above parameters.

Fiber-based three-dimensional multi-mode interference device as efficient power divider and vector curvature sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ziyang; Fiebrandt, Julia; Haynes, Dionne; Sun, Kai; Madhav, Kalaga; Stoll, Andreas; Makan, Kirill; Makan, Vadim; Roth, Martin

2018-03-01

Three-dimensional multi-mode interference devices are demonstrated using a single-mode fiber (SMF) center-spliced to a section of polygon-shaped core multimode fiber (MMF). This simple structure can effectively generate well-localized self-focusing spots that match to the layout of a chosen multi-core fiber (MCF) as a launcher device. An optimized hexagon-core MMF can provide efficient coupling from a SMF to a 7-core MCF with an insertion loss of 0.6 dB and a power imbalance of 0.5 dB, while a square-core MMF can form a self-imaging pattern with symmetrically distributed 2 × 2, 3 × 3 or 4 × 4 spots. These spots can be directly received by a two-dimensional detector array. The device can work as a vector curvature sensor by comparing the relative power among the spots with a resolution of ∼0.1° over a 1.8 mm-long MMF.

A fiber optic temperature sensor based on multi-core microstructured fiber with coupled cores for a high temperature environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makowska, A.; Markiewicz, K.; Szostkiewicz, L.; Kolakowska, A.; Fidelus, J.; Stanczyk, T.; Wysokinski, K.; Budnicki, D.; Ostrowski, L.; Szymanski, M.; Makara, M.; Poturaj, K.; Tenderenda, T.; Mergo, P.; Nasilowski, T.

2018-02-01

Sensors based on fiber optics are irreplaceable wherever immunity to strong electro-magnetic fields or safe operation in explosive atmospheres is needed. Furthermore, it is often essential to be able to monitor high temperatures of over 500°C in such environments (e.g. in cooling systems or equipment monitoring in power plants). In order to meet this demand, we have designed and manufactured a fiber optic sensor with which temperatures up to 900°C can be measured. The sensor utilizes multi-core fibers which are recognized as the dedicated medium for telecommunication or shape sensing, but as we show may be also deployed advantageously in new types of fiber optic temperature sensors. The sensor presented in this paper is based on a dual-core microstructured fiber Michelson interferometer. The fiber is characterized by strongly coupled cores, hence it acts as an all-fiber coupler, but with an outer diameter significantly wider than a standard fused biconical taper coupler, which significantly increases the coupling region's mechanical reliability. Owing to the proposed interferometer imbalance, effective operation and high-sensitivity can be achieved. The presented sensor is designed to be used at high temperatures as a result of the developed low temperature chemical process of metal (copper or gold) coating. The hermetic metal coating can be applied directly to the silica cladding of the fiber or the fiber component. This operation significantly reduces the degradation of sensors due to hydrolysis in uncontrolled atmospheres and high temperatures.

Reconstructing Holocene hematite and goethite variations in the Indus Canyon to trace changes in the Asian monsoon system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koehler, Cornelia; Clift, Peter; Pressling, Nicola; Limmer, David; Giosan, Liviu; Tabrez, Ali

2010-05-01

In order to study Holocene Asian monsoon variations, we reconstructed changes in chemical weathering by examining sediments from the Indus Canyon. During the late Holocene, the Asian monsoon system had periods of high and low intensities that influenced the civilisations living in its realm. For example, the demise of the Harappan civilisation has been linked to a weakened monsoon system around 4 ka. The sediments in the Indus Canyon, which originate from the River Indus and its Himalayan tributaries, provide an ideal, natural environmental archive of the South Asian monsoon system. In order to investigate the alternation between arid and humid monsoonal climatic conditions, variations are traced using the magnetic minerals hematite and goethite, which form under distinct environmental conditions: goethite is stable under humid conditions, whereas hematite forms from the dehydration of goethite under arid conditions. The two minerals are characterised and quantified using environmental magnetic measurements, as well as diffuse reflectance spectrometry. Combining both approaches will enable us to reconstruct variations in chemical weathering over time. Furthermore, because this is governed by temperature and the availability of moisture, our weathering record will allow us to understand monsoon variability during the Holocene and test whether summer rain intensity has been decreasing in SW Asia since 8 ka. In addition, the multi-component analysis of colour reflectance spectra identifies different mineral components including hematite/goethite, clay mineral mixtures, calcite and organics. We will present our results from the multi-sensor core logger equipped with a Minolta spectrometer, measuring both magnetic susceptibility and the optical properties of the split sediment cores. Initial results indicate the presence of hematite and goethite in the sediment. There is an increasing hematite content up the cores, indicating an aridification trend during the Holocene. The sediments are further analysed using the environmental magnetic proxies NRM, ARM and IRM to fully understand the mineral magnetic variations and to quantify hematite and goethite contributions. This work plays an integral part of a larger scale palaeoenvironmental project on Indus Canyon sediments.

Operating manual for the RRL 8 channel data logger

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paluch, E. J.; Shelton, J. D.; Gardner, C. S.

1979-01-01

A data collection device which takes measurements from external sensors at user specified time intervals is described. Three sensor ports are dedicated to temperature, air pressure, and dew point. Five general purpose sensor ports are provided. The user specifies when the measurements are recorded as well as when the information is read or stored in a minicomputer or a paper tape.

Soil moisture and plant canopy temperature sensing for irrigation application in cotton

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A wireless sensor network was deployed in a cotton field to monitor soil water status for irrigation. The network included two systems, a Decagon system and a microcontroller-based system. The Decagon system consists of soil volumetric water-content sensors, wireless data loggers, and a central data...

Cave Pearl Data Logger: A Flexible Arduino-Based Logging Platform for Long-Term Monitoring in Harsh Environments.

PubMed

Beddows, Patricia A; Mallon, Edward K

2018-02-09

A low-cost data logging platform is presented that provides long-term operation in remote or submerged environments. Three premade "breakout boards" from the open-source Arduino ecosystem are assembled into the core of the data logger. Power optimization techniques are presented which extend the operational life of this module-based design to >1 year on three alkaline AA batteries. Robust underwater housings are constructed for these loggers using PVC fittings. Both the logging platform and the enclosures, are easy to build and modify without specialized tools or a significant background in electronics. This combination turns the Cave Pearl data logger into a generalized prototyping system and this design flexibility is demonstrated with two field studies recording drip rates in a cave and water flow in a flooded cave system. This paper describes a complete DIY solution, suitable for a wide range of challenging deployment conditions.

Cave Pearl Data Logger: A Flexible Arduino-Based Logging Platform for Long-Term Monitoring in Harsh Environments

PubMed Central

Mallon, Edward K.

2018-01-01

A low-cost data logging platform is presented that provides long-term operation in remote or submerged environments. Three premade “breakout boards” from the open-source Arduino ecosystem are assembled into the core of the data logger. Power optimization techniques are presented which extend the operational life of this module-based design to >1 year on three alkaline AA batteries. Robust underwater housings are constructed for these loggers using PVC fittings. Both the logging platform and the enclosures, are easy to build and modify without specialized tools or a significant background in electronics. This combination turns the Cave Pearl data logger into a generalized prototyping system and this design flexibility is demonstrated with two field studies recording drip rates in a cave and water flow in a flooded cave system. This paper describes a complete DIY solution, suitable for a wide range of challenging deployment conditions. PMID:29425185

Creative Uses of Custom Electronics for Environmental Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hicks, S.; Aufdenkampe, A. K.; Montgomery, D. S.

2012-12-01

The ability to build custom electronic devices specifically suited to a unique task has gotten easier and cheaper, thanks to the recent popularity of open source electronics platforms like Arduino. Using Arduino-based processor boards, we have been creating a variety of helpful devices to perform functions that would have been too expensive to implement with standard methods and commercial hardware. The Christina River Basin CZO is currently operating dozens of homemade dataloggers that are connected to different types of environmental sensors. Most of these Arduino loggers have been deployed for over a year, so our experiences with them and their sensors have taught us a lot about the reliability and accuracy of both the loggers and the sensors. Some loggers also have the capability for wireless radio or ethernet data transmission for reporting live data to web sites for instant graphing or archiving. Other Arduino devices have the ability to be controlled remotely through web sites or telephones, making it easy to remotely trigger sample pumps or valves. The open-source nature of Arduino means collaboration is easy because the circuit schematics and source code for programming the boards can be shared between users. And because Arduino devices are easy to use and program, we developed an interface board that allows educators to easily connect a variety of inexpensive environmental sensors to an Arduino board. Then the students can write and upload simple programs to interact with the sensors, making it a very effective tool for teaching electronics and environmental science at the same time. The flexibility and capability of electronics prototyping platforms like Arduino mean these simple boards can cheaply and effectively perform a countless number of tasks for projects in environmental science and education.

On the frequency response of a Wenglor particle-counting system for aeolian transport measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Bernard O.; Davidson-Arnott, Robin G. D.; Hilton, Michael J.; Fraser, Douglas

2018-06-01

A commonly deployed particle-counting system for aeolian saltation flux, consisting of a Wenglor fork sensor and an Onset Hobo Pulse Input Adapter linked to an Onset Hobo Energy Logger Pro data logger, was tested for frequency response. The Wenglor fork sensor is an optical gate device that has very fast switching capacity that can accommodate the time of flight of saltating sand particles through the sensing volume with the exception of very fine sand or silt and very quickly moving particles. The Pulse Input Adapter, in contrast, imposes limitations on the frequency response of the system. The manufacturer of the pulse adapter specifies an upper limit of 120 Hz, although bench tests with an electronic pulse generator indicate that the frequency response of the Pulse Input Adapter, in isolation, is excellent up to 3000 Hz, with only small error (less than 1.6%) due to under-counting during data transfer intervals. A mechanical test of the integrated system (fork sensor, pulse input adapter, and data logger) demonstrates excellent performance up to about 700 Hz (less than 2% error), but significant under-counting above 1000 Hz for unknown reasons. This specific particle-counting system therefore has a frequency response that is well suited for investigation of the dynamics of aeolian saltation as typically encountered in most field conditions on coastal beaches with the exception of extreme wind events and very small particle sizes.

Sedimentary records of Typhoon Haiyan in the South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, C. C.; Chen, Y. H.; Chang, J. H.; Hsu, H. H.; Yu, P. S.; Liu, C. S.

2016-12-01

South China Sea (SCS), which is located at the boundary of the Eurasian, Philippine Sea, and Indian plates, is the largest marginal sea of the northwest Pacific and also on the North Western Pacific corridor of typhoons. The unique tectonic setting and climatic conditions make it has to face the severe natural hazards, like submarine landslides, and high sediment discharges which induced by typhoon. On November 8, 2013, the Typhoon Haiyan, which was one of the largest tropical cyclones ever recorded in western Pacific, devastated Philippines and caused catastrophic destruction. Before the Typhoon Haiyan reached Hainan Province, China and Quangninh Province, Vietnam, it emerged over the SCS. How was the large amount of terrestrial materials distributed and recorded in deep sea sediments by such intense typhoon? Is it possible for us to reconstruct the history of extreme tropical cyclones by using deep sea cores? In this study, twelve gravity cores were collected in the Central SCS Basin and around Taiping Island (Itu Aba Island) from 2014 to 2015 and a series of analysis including Multi-Sensor Core Logger, XRF Core Scanner, core surface and X-radiograph images, grain size, and excess 210Pb chronology were conducted for modern extreme event records in cores and attempt to evaluate the possibility of reconstructed extreme typhoon records in cores from the SCS. On core surface images, an obvious brownish oxidized layer exist in core top with higher 210Pb activities beneath the layer. According to the sampling time, we conjecture the oxidized layer might formed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. In addition, the Itrax data shows high manganese content only exist in this layer which might related to the modern industrial pollution delivered by typhoon induced flooding from Philippines. The Power Barge 103 of Napocor in Estancia IIoilo was dislodged from its mount by Typhoon Haiyan and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team reported 600,000 liters of bunker fuel had spilled. To clarify the relationship between the oil spill and high manganese records in sediments, some further analysis is needed. Our analysis result shows, in the Central SCS Basin, over 80 cm turbidite layer was deposited by Typhoon Haiyan and it will take more than 4000 years to deposit on seafloor without the impact of extreme events.

Improving Attachments of Non-Invasive (Type III) Electronic Data Loggers to Cetaceans

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

logged using a netbook and USB analog to digital converter. Initial testing of the SSSCup was conducted on a common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) cadaver...cell and five pressure sensors (four to measure internal cup pressure and one for atmospheric pressure). Sensor data are logged using a netbook and

A Robust, Microwave Rain Gauge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansheim, T. J.; Niemeier, J. J.; Kruger, A.

2008-12-01

Researchers at The University of Iowa have developed an all-electronic rain gauge that uses microwave sensors operating at either 10 GHz or 23 GHz, and measures the Doppler shift caused by falling raindrops. It is straightforward to interface these sensors with conventional data loggers, or integrate them into a wireless sensor network. A disadvantage of these microwave rain gauges is that they consume significant power when they are operating. However, this may be partially negated by using data loggers' or sensors networks' sleep-wake-sleep mechanism. Advantages of the microwave rain gauges are that one can make them very robust, they cannot clog, they don't have mechanical parts that wear out, and they don't have to be perfectly level. Prototype microwave rain gauges were collocated with tipping-bucket rain gauges, and data were collected for two seasons. At higher rain rates, microwave rain gauge measurements compare well with tipping-bucket measurements. At lower rain rates, the microwave rain gauges provide more detailed information than tipping buckets, which quantize measurement typically in 1 tip per 0.01 inch, or 1 tip per mm of rainfall.

New hydrologic instrumentation in the U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Latkovich, V.J.; Shope, W.G.; ,

1991-01-01

New water-level sensing and recording instrumentation is being used by the U.S. Geological Survey for monitoring water levels, stream velocities, and water-quality characteristics. Several of these instruments are briefly described. The Basic Data Recorder (BDR) is an electronic data logger, that interfaces to sensor systems through a serial-digital interface standard (SDI-12), which was proposed by the data-logger industry; the Incremental Shaft Encoder is an intelligent water-level sensor, which interfaces to the BDR through the SDI-12; the Pressure Sensor is an intelligent, nonsubmersible pressure sensor, which interfaces to the BDR through the SDI-12 and monitors water levels from 0 to 50 feet; the Ultrasonic Velocity Meter is an intelligent, water-velocity sensor, which interfaces to the BDR through the SDI-12 and measures the velocity across a stream up to 500 feet in width; the Collapsible Hand Sampler can be collapsed for insertion through holes in the ice and opened under the ice to collect a water sample; the Lighweight Ice Auger, weighing only 32 pounds, can auger 6- and 8-inch holes through approximately 3.5 feet of ice; and the Ice Chisel has a specially hardened steel blade and 6-foot long, hickory D-handle.

Air-dropped sensor network for real-time high-fidelity volcano monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Song, W.-Z.; Huang, R.; Xu, M.; Ma, A.; Shirazi, B.; LaHusen, R.

2009-01-01

This paper presents the design and deployment experience of an air-dropped wireless sensor network for volcano hazard monitoring. The deployment of five stations into the rugged crater of Mount St. Helens only took one hour with a helicopter. The stations communicate with each other through an amplified 802.15.4 radio and establish a self-forming and self-healing multi-hop wireless network. The distance between stations is up to 2 km. Each sensor station collects and delivers real-time continuous seismic, infrasonic, lightning, GPS raw data to a gateway. The main contribution of this paper is the design and evaluation of a robust sensor network to replace data loggers and provide real-time long-term volcano monitoring. The system supports UTC-time synchronized data acquisition with 1ms accuracy, and is online configurable. It has been tested in the lab environment, the outdoor campus and the volcano crater. Despite the heavy rain, snow, and ice as well as gusts exceeding 120 miles per hour, the sensor network has achieved a remarkable packet delivery ratio above 99% with an overall system uptime of about 93.8% over the 1.5 months evaluation period after deployment. Our initial deployment experiences with the system have alleviated the doubts of domain scientists and prove to them that a low-cost sensor network system can support real-time monitoring in extremely harsh environments. Copyright 2009 ACM.

Sedimentation of the mud belt along the coast of China from the mouth of the Yangtze (Changjiang) River to northern Taiwan Strait: An Source-to-Sink Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chien, C. C.; Liu, J. T.; Yang, R.; Huh, C. A.; Su, C. C.

2016-02-01

Sediments in the Taiwan Strait are originated from Mainland China and Taiwan. The China Coastal Current, influenced by the northeast monsoon in winter, becomes enhanced, which caries the sediments exported from the Yangtze River to the southern East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait along the Zhemin-Taiwan Strait mud belt. The sediment transport process is also influenced by tidal current and Kuroshio Branch Current and Taiwan Warm Current, making the seafloor sediment signals complex. This study used R/V Ocean Researcher V (Cruise 0032), to collect six box cores and three gravity cores along the Zhemin mud belt and the mud belt in northern Taiwan Strait in the winter of 2014. From the core samples, grain-size distribution, Multi-Sensor Core Logger, and 7Be activity were measured to investigate the sedimentation process along the mud belts. The box core taken at the mouth of the Changjiang- is composed of homogeneous clay and rich in shell fragments. The core off the mouth of Ou River is composed of homogeneous clay, but showing horizontal laminations. Near the Taishan Island off the coast of Zhejiang the core is consisted of a homogeneous sandy sediments that turned into clay. Off the mouth of the Min River the core consists of clay with shell fragments. Off the coast of the Wu River on the west coast of the Taiwan, the core is mainly composed of muddy sediments, which has the siltstone layers of oblique bedding. Off the mouth of Zhuoshui River in central Taiwan, the core is composed of sandy sediments. From the mouth of the Changhjiang, Zhemin mud belt, the northern Taiwan Strait mud belt, to the central Taiwan Strait, 7Be activity in the seafloor sediment indicates that the freshness of the terrigenous sediments decreased. The Mass Magnetic Susceptiblity (MSI) demonstrates that the terrigenous sediments decreased from north to south. The MSI signals in the core off the mouth of the Minjiang are different from those in the neighboring cores. This is suspected due to the convergence of sediments from the Changjiang and Taiwan. The particle sizes of the cores show that the sediment became coarser from the north to south. In the future the study will make use of 210Pbex, and other environmental and provenance such as water dynamic mechanism variables to explore the sediment source and sink patterns along with the Zhemin-Taiwan Strait mud belts.

Nanosized TiO[subscript 2] for Photocatalytic Water Splitting Studied by Oxygen Sensor and Data Logger

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Ruinan; Liu, Song; Yuan, Hongyan; Xiao, Dan; Choi, Martin M. F.

2012-01-01

Photocatalytic water splitting by semiconductor photocatalysts has attracted considerable attention in the past few decades. In this experiment, nanosized titanium dioxide (nano-TiO[subscript 2]) particles are used to photocatalytically split water, which is then monitored by an oxygen sensor. Sacrificial reagents such as organics (EDTA) and metal…

Time Series Analysis of Water Level and Temperature in the St Louis River Estuary

EPA Science Inventory

Pressure and temperature loggers were deployed at 9 sites in the St Louis River estuary between 6/23 10/31 2011. A reference sensor was place on the shore to correct pressure data. Sensors were paced at <1 m depth in Allouez Bay, Superior Bay, near Hearding Island, WLSSD Bay, th...

A ocean bottom vector magnetometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaomei; Teng, Yuntian; Wang, Chen; Ma, Jiemei

2017-04-01

The new development instrument with a compact spherical coil system and Overhauser magnetometer for measuring the total strength of the magnetic field and the vectors of strength, Delta inclination - Delta declination, meanwhile we also use a triaxial fluxgate instrument of the traditional instrument for geomagnetic vector filed measurement. The advantages of this method are be calibrated by each other and get good performances with automatic operation, good stability and high resolution. Firstly, a brief description of the instrument measurement principles and the key technologies are given. The instrument used a spherical coil system with 34 coils to product the homogeneous volume inside the coils which is large enough to accommodate the sensor of Overhauser total field sensor; the rest of the footlocker-sized ocean-bottom vector magnetometer consists of equipment to run the sensors and records its data (batteries and a data logger), weight to sink it to the sea floor, a remote-controlled acoustic release and flotation to bring the instrument back to the surface. Finally, the accuracy of the instrument was tested in the Geomagnetic station, and the measurement accuracies of total strength and components were better than 0.2nT and 1nT respectively. The figure 1 shows the development instrument structure. it includes six thick glass spheres which protect the sensor, data logger and batteries from the pressures of the deep sea, meanwhile they also provide recycling positive buoyancy; To cushion the glass, the spheres then go inside yellow plastic "hardhats". The triaxial fluxgate is inside No.1 glass spheres, data logger and batteries are inside No.2 glass spheres, the new vector sensor is inside No.3 glass spheres, acoustic communication unit is inside No.4 glass spheres, No.5 and No.6 glass spheres are empty which only provide recycling positive buoyancy. The figure 2 shows the development instrument Physical photo.

Late Glacial to Holocene evolution and sea-level history of Gulf of Gemlik, Sea of Marmara, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabuncu, Asen; Kadir Eriş, K.; Kaslilar, Ayse; Namık Çaǧatay, M.; Gasperini, Luca; Filikçi, Betül

2016-04-01

The Gulf of Gemlik is an E-W elongated trans-tensional basin with a maximum depth of 113 m, located on the middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the south eastern part of the Sea of Marmara (SoM). While during the Holocene the sea level in the Gulf of Gemlik changed in tandem with the water level changes in the SoM, it may have been different in the late glacial when the Sea of Marmara was lacustrine. Beside the tectonic activity related to the NAFZ, eustatic sea level changes would have controlled the basin evolution and consequent sedimentary history during the different paleocanographic phases of the SoM. Considering the limited studies on the late glacial-Holocene stratigraph of the Gulf of Gemlik, this study aims to investigate the depositional units and their environments with respect to different allogenic and autogenic controls. For these purposes, we analyzed over 300 2 - 7 kHz bandwidth high-resolution gridded seismic sub-bottom CHIRP profiles together with 70 kHz high resolution multibeam bathymetry with backscatter data. Four seismic stratigraphic units were defined and correlated with chronstratigraphic units in five piston cores covering the last 15.8 ka BP according to radiocarbon ages (14C). The depth-scale accuracy of chronostratigraphic units in cores is of key importance for the precise calculation of sedimentation rates. Correlation between the seismic profiles and cores were made by matching Multi-Sensor Core-Logger (MSCL) data and seismic reflection coefficients and amplitudes for different stratigraphic units. The impedance data derived from the logger were used to generate a synthetic seismogram. We used an approach to display, estimate, and correct the depth-scale discrepancies due to oversampling affecting the upper part of sedimentary series during piston coring. The method is based on the resynchronization of synthetic seismograms computed from high-quality physical property logs to the corresponding CHIRP profiles. Each sequence boundary represented by different reflection coefficient and various amplitude values were mapped for the whole gulf area from the pseudo-3D seismic data. Isopach and isochron maps were generated using 2-D cubic B-spline interpolation method to reconstruct basin evolution models through late glacial to Holocene. Each map shows various depositional period with respect to water level changes that has been controlled by sea level fluctuations in the SoM. The seismic units labeled as Unit S1-S4 from top to bottom display different seismic facies and geometries. Unit S1 is a transgressive marine mud drape younger than 10.6 ka BP, which lacustrine sediments, Unit S2 is a parallel bedded mud drape in the basin and progradational clinoforms on the shelf edge. It is dated between 13.9-10.6 ka BP, Unit S3 is characterized by erosional gullies and a clinoform architecture indicating a deltaic system dated between 15.8-13.9 ka BP. Unit S4 represents mounded sediments that are truncated by erosional gullies and dated >15.8 ka BP. Key words: Gulf of Gemlik, Seismic Stratigraphy, Numerical Modelling, Late Pleistocene to Holocene

On-Line Temperature Estimation for Noisy Thermal Sensors Using a Smoothing Filter-Based Kalman Predictor

PubMed Central

Li, Zhi; Wei, Henglu; Zhou, Wei; Duan, Zhemin

2018-01-01

Dynamic thermal management (DTM) mechanisms utilize embedded thermal sensors to collect fine-grained temperature information for monitoring the real-time thermal behavior of multi-core processors. However, embedded thermal sensors are very susceptible to a variety of sources of noise, including environmental uncertainty and process variation. This causes the discrepancies between actual temperatures and those observed by on-chip thermal sensors, which seriously affect the efficiency of DTM. In this paper, a smoothing filter-based Kalman prediction technique is proposed to accurately estimate the temperatures from noisy sensor readings. For the multi-sensor estimation scenario, the spatial correlations among different sensor locations are exploited. On this basis, a multi-sensor synergistic calibration algorithm (known as MSSCA) is proposed to improve the simultaneous prediction accuracy of multiple sensors. Moreover, an infrared imaging-based temperature measurement technique is also proposed to capture the thermal traces of an advanced micro devices (AMD) quad-core processor in real time. The acquired real temperature data are used to evaluate our prediction performance. Simulation shows that the proposed synergistic calibration scheme can reduce the root-mean-square error (RMSE) by 1.2 ∘C and increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by 15.8 dB (with a very small average runtime overhead) compared with assuming the thermal sensor readings to be ideal. Additionally, the average false alarm rate (FAR) of the corrected sensor temperature readings can be reduced by 28.6%. These results clearly demonstrate that if our approach is used to perform temperature estimation, the response mechanisms of DTM can be triggered to adjust the voltages, frequencies, and cooling fan speeds at more appropriate times. PMID:29393862

On-Line Temperature Estimation for Noisy Thermal Sensors Using a Smoothing Filter-Based Kalman Predictor.

PubMed

Li, Xin; Ou, Xingtao; Li, Zhi; Wei, Henglu; Zhou, Wei; Duan, Zhemin

2018-02-02

Dynamic thermal management (DTM) mechanisms utilize embedded thermal sensors to collect fine-grained temperature information for monitoring the real-time thermal behavior of multi-core processors. However, embedded thermal sensors are very susceptible to a variety of sources of noise, including environmental uncertainty and process variation. This causes the discrepancies between actual temperatures and those observed by on-chip thermal sensors, which seriously affect the efficiency of DTM. In this paper, a smoothing filter-based Kalman prediction technique is proposed to accurately estimate the temperatures from noisy sensor readings. For the multi-sensor estimation scenario, the spatial correlations among different sensor locations are exploited. On this basis, a multi-sensor synergistic calibration algorithm (known as MSSCA) is proposed to improve the simultaneous prediction accuracy of multiple sensors. Moreover, an infrared imaging-based temperature measurement technique is also proposed to capture the thermal traces of an advanced micro devices (AMD) quad-core processor in real time. The acquired real temperature data are used to evaluate our prediction performance. Simulation shows that the proposed synergistic calibration scheme can reduce the root-mean-square error (RMSE) by 1.2 ∘ C and increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by 15.8 dB (with a very small average runtime overhead) compared with assuming the thermal sensor readings to be ideal. Additionally, the average false alarm rate (FAR) of the corrected sensor temperature readings can be reduced by 28.6%. These results clearly demonstrate that if our approach is used to perform temperature estimation, the response mechanisms of DTM can be triggered to adjust the voltages, frequencies, and cooling fan speeds at more appropriate times.

Analyzing planetary transits with a smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrera-Garrido, Azael

2015-03-01

Today's smartphones are getting more sensors than ever as factory-installed accessories. The time when a luxury mobile phone had only vertical and GPS sensors is gone. New smartphones come equipped with multiple sensors for many physical parameters. Smartphones are becoming portable physics laboratory data loggers for a variety of measurements in mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and optics. All sorts of possibilities are now open, provided their sensors are calibrated. Many examples using the sensors available in smartphones have been presented, mostly in this column and a few other publications, such as acceleration sensors,1-3 microphones,4,5 camera,6-8 and light sensors.9,10

Microclimate monitoring of Ariadne's house (Pompeii, Italy) for preventive conservation of fresco paintings.

PubMed

Merello, Paloma; García-Diego, Fernando-Juan; Zarzo, Manuel

2012-11-28

Ariadne's house, located at the city center of ancient Pompeii, is of great archaeological value due to the fresco paintings decorating several rooms. In order to assess the risks for long-term conservation affecting the valuable mural paintings, 26 temperature data-loggers and 26 relative humidity data-loggers were located in four rooms of the house for the monitoring of ambient conditions. Data recorded during 372 days were analyzed by means of graphical descriptive methods and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed an effect of the roof type and number of walls of the room. Excessive temperatures were observed during the summer in rooms covered with transparent roofs, and corrective actions were taken. Moreover, higher humidity values were recorded by sensors on the floor level. The present work provides guidelines about the type, number, calibration and position of thermohygrometric sensors recommended for the microclimate monitoring of mural paintings in outdoor or semi-confined environments.

Development open source microcontroller based temperature data logger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, M. H.; Che Ghani, S. A.; Zaulkafilai, Z.; Tajuddin, S. N.

2017-10-01

This article discusses the development stages in designing, prototyping, testing and deploying a portable open source microcontroller based temperature data logger for use in rough industrial environment. The 5V powered prototype of data logger is equipped with open source Arduino microcontroller for integrating multiple thermocouple sensors with their module, secure digital (SD) card storage, liquid crystal display (LCD), real time clock and electronic enclosure made of acrylic. The program for the function of the datalogger is programmed so that 8 readings from the thermocouples can be acquired within 3 s interval and displayed on the LCD simultaneously. The recorded temperature readings at four different points on both hydrodistillation show similar profile pattern and highest yield of extracted oil was achieved on hydrodistillation 2 at 0.004%. From the obtained results, this study achieved the objective of developing an inexpensive, portable and robust eight channels temperature measuring module with capabilities to monitor and store real time data.

Robust, low-cost data loggers for stream temperature, flow intermittency, and relative conductivity monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chapin, Thomas; Todd, Andrew S.; Zeigler, Matthew P.

2014-01-01

Water temperature and streamflow intermittency are critical parameters influencing aquatic ecosystem health. Low-cost temperature loggers have made continuous water temperature monitoring relatively simple but determining streamflow timing and intermittency using temperature data alone requires significant and subjective data interpretation. Electrical resistance (ER) sensors have recently been developed to overcome the major limitations of temperature-based methods for the assessment of streamflow intermittency. This technical note introduces the STIC (Stream Temperature, Intermittency, and Conductivity logger); a robust, low-cost, simple to build instrument that provides long-duration, high-resolution monitoring of both relative conductivity (RC) and temperature. Simultaneously collected temperature and RC data provide unambiguous water temperature and streamflow intermittency information that is crucial for monitoring aquatic ecosystem health and assessing regulatory compliance. With proper calibration, the STIC relative conductivity data can be used to monitor specific conductivity.

Optical properties of core-shell and multi-shell nanorods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokkath, Junais Habeeb; Shehata, Nader

2018-05-01

We report a first-principles time dependent density functional theory study of the optical response modulations in bimetallic core-shell (Na@Al and Al@Na) and multi-shell (Al@Na@Al@Na and Na@Al@Na@Al: concentric shells of Al and Na alternate) nanorods. All of the core-shell and multi-shell configurations display highly enhanced absorption intensity with respect to the pure Al and Na nanorods, showing sensitivity to both composition and chemical ordering. Remarkably large spectral intensity enhancements were found in a couple of core-shell configurations, indicative that optical response averaging based on the individual components can not be considered as true as always in the case of bimetallic core-shell nanorods. We believe that our theoretical results would be useful in promising applications depending on Aluminum-based plasmonic materials such as solar cells and sensors.

Physical property data from the ICDP-USGS Eyreville cores A and B, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA, acquired using a multisensor core logger

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pierce, H.A.; Murray, J.B.

2009-01-01

The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) drilled three core holes to a composite depth of 1766 m within the moat of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. Core recovery rates from the drilling were high (??90%), but problems with core hole collapse limited the geophysical downhole logging to natural-gamma and temperature logs. To supplement the downhole logs, ??5% of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure cores was processed through the USGS GeoTek multisensor core logger (MSCL) located in Menlo Park, California. The measured physical properties included core thickness (cm), density (g cm-3), P-wave velocity (m s-1), P-wave amplitude (%), magnetic susceptibility (cgs), and resistivity (ohm-m). Fractional porosity was a secondary calculated property. The MSCL data-sampling interval for all core sections was 1 cm longitudinally. Photos of each MSCL sampled core section were imbedded with the physical property data for direct comparison. These data have been used in seismic, geologic, thermal history, magnetic, and gravity models of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. Each physical property curve has a unique signature when viewed over the full depth of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure core holes. Variations in the measured properties reflect differences in pre-impact target-rock lithologies and spatial variations in impact-related deformation during late-stage crater collapse and ocean resurge. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

In-Situ Three-Dimensional Shape Rendering from Strain Values Obtained Through Optical Fiber Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, Hon Man (Inventor); Parker, Jr., Allen R. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A method and system for rendering the shape of a multi-core optical fiber or multi-fiber bundle in three-dimensional space in real time based on measured fiber strain data. Three optical fiber cores arc arranged in parallel at 120.degree. intervals about a central axis. A series of longitudinally co-located strain sensor triplets, typically fiber Bragg gratings, are positioned along the length of each fiber at known intervals. A tunable laser interrogates the sensors to detect strain on the fiber cores. Software determines the strain magnitude (.DELTA.L/L) for each fiber at a given triplet, but then applies beam theory to calculate curvature, beading angle and torsion of the fiber bundle, and from there it determines the shape of the fiber in s Cartesian coordinate system by solving a series of ordinary differential equations expanded from the Frenet-Serrat equations. This approach eliminates the need for computationally time-intensive curve-tilting and allows the three-dimensional shape of the optical fiber assembly to be displayed in real-time.

Quaternary Turbidite Sedimentation in the Moresby Trough, Preliminary Observations from the Papua New Guinea S2S Study Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bentley, S. J.; Muhammad, Z.; Dickens, J.; Droxler, A.; Peterson, L.; Opdyke, B.

2004-12-01

Multicores and jumbo piston cores were collected from the Moresby Trough from the R/V Melville in March-April 204 to study patterns of off-shelf sediment flux from the Gulf of Papua to the deep sea over Pleistocene-Holocene timescales. The Moresby Trough represents the primary deep-sea sediment conduit linking the Source to Sink Gulf of Papua study area to the north with the Coral Sea Basin to the south. Core locations were navigated from the surface using dynamic positioning and multibeam bathymetric mosaics collected during the cruise. Selected cores have been analyzed using a multi-sensor core logger, X-radiography, granulometry, and Pb-210 geochronology. Most piston cores collected from the Moresby Trough contain abundant mafic sandy turbidites overlain by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits 1-2 m thick. X-radiographs of multicores reveal mostly bioturbated hemipelagics. However, one core, MV25-0403-24MC, was collected from the axis of a primary channel, and contains at least two fine-grained turbidites within the upper 0.5 m of sediment. The uppermost turbidite contains low but uniform activities of excess Pb-210, and may have been 15-20 cm thick at the time of deposition (i.e., before subsequent disruption by bioturbation), based on fabric and radiochemical evidence. Application of a simple box-model for physical mixing (i.e., during the flow) and subsequent decay suggests that the uppermost turbidite was deposited 70-120 years before present. Bioturbation has since reworked about 60% of the bed, suggesting that such beds will only escape destruction by bioturbation if they are > 10 cm thick, and are deposited more frequently than once per century. Based on these observations, we suggest that gravity flows are presently active in the Moresby trough, and may account for a significant fraction of the hemipelagic drape present in channel systems. However, fabric evidence for these thin, fine-grained beds may be obscured by subsequent bioturbation. Also, at some point in the past, possibly at the onset of the Holocene Transgression, the character of sediment flux to the Moresby Trough shifted from sandy mafic-rich sandy turbidity currents to much finer sediments, delivered downslope by both benthic flows and vertical flux through the water column.

An embedded multi-core parallel model for real-time stereo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wenjing; Hu, Jian; Niu, Jingyu; Li, Chuanrong; Liu, Guangyu

2018-04-01

The real-time processing based on embedded system will enhance the application capability of stereo imaging for LiDAR and hyperspectral sensor. The task partitioning and scheduling strategies for embedded multiprocessor system starts relatively late, compared with that for PC computer. In this paper, aimed at embedded multi-core processing platform, a parallel model for stereo imaging is studied and verified. After analyzing the computing amount, throughout capacity and buffering requirements, a two-stage pipeline parallel model based on message transmission is established. This model can be applied to fast stereo imaging for airborne sensors with various characteristics. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the parallel model, a parallel software was designed using test flight data, based on the 8-core DSP processor TMS320C6678. The results indicate that the design performed well in workload distribution and had a speed-up ratio up to 6.4.

[Nitrogen stress measurement of canola based on multi-spectral charged coupled device imaging sensor].

PubMed

Feng, Lei; Fang, Hui; Zhou, Wei-Jun; Huang, Min; He, Yong

2006-09-01

Site-specific variable nitrogen application is one of the major precision crop production management operations. Obtaining sufficient crop nitrogen stress information is essential for achieving effective site-specific nitrogen applications. The present paper describes the development of a multi-spectral nitrogen deficiency sensor, which uses three channels (green, red, near-infrared) of crop images to determine the nitrogen level of canola. This sensor assesses the nitrogen stress by means of estimated SPAD value of the canola based on canola canopy reflectance sensed using three channels (green, red, near-infrared) of the multi-spectral camera. The core of this investigation is the calibration methods between the multi-spectral references and the nitrogen levels in crops measured using a SPAD 502 chlorophyll meter. Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that a multi-spectral CCD camera can provide sufficient information to perform reasonable SPAD values estimation during field operations.

A new data logger for integrated geophysical monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orazi, Massimo; Peluso, Rosario; Caputo, Antonio; Giudicepietro, Flora; Martini, Marcello

2015-04-01

GILDA digital recorder is a data logger developed at Osservatorio Vesuviano (INGV). It provides excellent data quality with low power consumption and low production cost. It is widely used in the multi-parametric monitoring networks of Neapolitan volcanoes and Stromboli volcano. We have improved the characteristics of GILDA recorder to realize a robust user-oriented acquisition system for integrated geophysical monitoring. We have designed and implemented new capabilities concerning the use of the low rate channels to get data of environmental parameters of the station. We also improved the stand-alone version of the data logger. This version can be particularly useful for scientific experiments and to rapidly upgrade permanent monitoring networks. Furthermore, the local storage can be used as back-up for the monitoring systems in continuous transmission, in case of failure of the transmission system. Some firmware changes have been made in order to improve the performance of the instrument. In particular, the low rate acquisition channels were conditioned to acquire internal parameters of the recorder such as the temperature and voltage. A prototype of the new version of the logger is currently installed at Campi Flegrei for a experimental application. Our experiment is aimed at testing the new version of GILDA data logger in multi-board configuration for multiparametric acquisitions. A second objective of the experiment is the comparison of the recorded data with geochemical data acquired by a multiparametric geochemical station to investigate possible correlations between seismic and geochemical parameters. The target site of the experiment is "Bocca Grande" fumarole in Solfatara volcano. By exploiting the modularity of GILDA, for the experiment has been realized an acquisition system based on three dataloggers for a total of 12 available channels. One of GILDA recorders is the Master and the other two are Slaves. The Master is responsible for the initial configuration of the GPS receiver for timing data. The two data loggers configured in slave mode await the end of the initial configuration and then receive the GPS timing data and PPS from the Master. This allows you to use one GPS receiver and optimize power consumption. The whole system is configured to continuously transmit data via WiFi and to locally store data.

Evaluation of a low cost wireless heat ratio method system for measuring transpiration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eiriksson, D.; Boyer, B.; Aishlin, P. S.; Bowling, D. R.

2016-12-01

For decades, environmental measurements in remote locations have consisted of sensors hard wired to loggers that send data to central servers via radio, satellite, or cellular telemetry. This model of data collection is effective when all sensors are located in close proximity to the central data logger, such as on a weather station. Frequently, however, in order to adequately capture the spatial heterogeneity associated with environmental processes (e.g., transpiration, soil moisture, or snow depth), it is necessary to install many sensors 10's to 100's of meters from a central data logging station. This presents a practical and financial obstacle when considering the cost of cabling and conduit, in addition to the potential data collection and data quality problems associated with long cable runs. We offer a solution to this persistent challenge with a hybrid datalogging system that combines the power and reliability of Campbell Scientific logging and telemetry equipment with low cost Xbee radios and Arduino based data logging platforms. To evaluate the promise of this hybrid datalogging concept we developed a new generation of low cost, homemade heat ratio sapflux sensors and tested them at a forested site in the Wasatch Mountains, near Salt Lake City, Utah. We present data from this test site, heat ratio method sensor construction details, and example code that merges the capabilities of Arduino and Campbell Scientific datalogging systems.

Software defined multi-spectral imaging for Arctic sensor networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siewert, Sam; Angoth, Vivek; Krishnamurthy, Ramnarayan; Mani, Karthikeyan; Mock, Kenrick; Singh, Surjith B.; Srivistava, Saurav; Wagner, Chris; Claus, Ryan; Vis, Matthew Demi

2016-05-01

Availability of off-the-shelf infrared sensors combined with high definition visible cameras has made possible the construction of a Software Defined Multi-Spectral Imager (SDMSI) combining long-wave, near-infrared and visible imaging. The SDMSI requires a real-time embedded processor to fuse images and to create real-time depth maps for opportunistic uplink in sensor networks. Researchers at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University working with University of Alaska Anchorage at the Arctic Domain Awareness Center and the University of Colorado Boulder have built several versions of a low-cost drop-in-place SDMSI to test alternatives for power efficient image fusion. The SDMSI is intended for use in field applications including marine security, search and rescue operations and environmental surveys in the Arctic region. Based on Arctic marine sensor network mission goals, the team has designed the SDMSI to include features to rank images based on saliency and to provide on camera fusion and depth mapping. A major challenge has been the design of the camera computing system to operate within a 10 to 20 Watt power budget. This paper presents a power analysis of three options: 1) multi-core, 2) field programmable gate array with multi-core, and 3) graphics processing units with multi-core. For each test, power consumed for common fusion workloads has been measured at a range of frame rates and resolutions. Detailed analyses from our power efficiency comparison for workloads specific to stereo depth mapping and sensor fusion are summarized. Preliminary mission feasibility results from testing with off-the-shelf long-wave infrared and visible cameras in Alaska and Arizona are also summarized to demonstrate the value of the SDMSI for applications such as ice tracking, ocean color, soil moisture, animal and marine vessel detection and tracking. The goal is to select the most power efficient solution for the SDMSI for use on UAVs (Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles) and other drop-in-place installations in the Arctic. The prototype selected will be field tested in Alaska in the summer of 2016.

Dominance of debonding defect of CFST on PZT sensor response considering the meso-scale structure of concrete with multi-scale simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Bin; Chen, Hongbing; Mo, Y.-L.; Zhou, Tianmin

2018-07-01

Piezoelectric-lead-zirconate-titanate(PZT)-based interface debonding defects detection for concrete filled steel tubulars (CFSTs) has been proposed and validated through experiments, and numerical study on its mechanism has been carried out recently by assuming that concrete material is homogenous. However, concrete is composed of coarse and fine aggregates, mortar and interface transition zones (ITZs) and even initial defects and is a typical nonhomogeneous material and its mesoscale structure might affect the wave propagation in the concrete core of CFST members. Therefore, it is significantly important to further investigate the influence of mesoscale structure of concrete on the stress wave propagation and the response of embedded PZT sensor for the interface debonding detection. In this study, multi-physical numerical simulation on the wave propagation and embedded PZT sensor response of rectangular CFST members with numerical concrete core considering the randomness in circular aggregate distribution, and coupled with surface-mounted PZT actuator and embedded PZT sensor is carried out. The effect of randomness in the circular aggregates distribution and the existence of ITZs are discussed. Both a local stress wave propagation behavior including transmission, reflection, and diffraction at the interface between concrete core and steel tube under a pulse signal excitation and a global wave field in the cross-section of the rectangular CFST models without and with interface debonding defects under sweep frequency excitation are simulated. The sensitivity of an evaluation index based on wavelet packet analysis on the embedded PZT sensor response on the variation of mesoscale parameters of concrete core without and with different interface debonding defects under sweep frequency voltage signal is investigated in details. The results show that the effect of the interface debondings on the embedded PZT measurement is dominant when compared to the meso-scale structures of concrete core. This study verified the feasibility of the PZT based debonding detection for rectangular CFST members even the meso-scale structure of concrete core is considered.

Low-cost multi-vehicle air temperature measurements for heat load assessment in local-scale climate applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuvela-Aloise, Maja; Weyss, Gernot; Aloise, Giulliano; Mifka, Boris; Löffelmann, Philemon; Hollosi, Brigitta; Nemec, Johana; Vucetic, Visnja

2014-05-01

In the recent years there has been a strong interest in exploring the potential of low-cost measurement devices as alternative source of meteorological monitoring data, especially in the urban areas where high-density observations become crucial for appropriate heat load assessment. One of the simple, but efficient approaches for gathering large amount of spatial data is through mobile measurement campaigns in which the sensors are attached to driving vehicles. However, non-standardized data collecting procedure, instrument quality, their response-time and design, variable device ventilation and radiation protection influence the reliability of the gathered data. We investigate what accuracy can be expected from the data collected through low-cost mobile measurements and whether the achieved quality of the data is sufficient for validation of the state-of-the-art local-scale climate models. We tested 5 types of temperature sensors and data loggers: Maxim iButton, Lascar EL-USB-2-LCD+ and Onset HOBO UX100-003 as market available devices and self-designed solar powered Arduino-based data loggers combined with the AOSONG AM2315 and Sensirion SHT21 temperature and humidity sensors. The devices were calibrated and tested in stationary mode at the Austrian Weather Service showing accuracy between 0.1°C and 0.8°C, which was mostly within the device specification range. In mobile mode, the best response-time was found for self-designed device with Arduino-based data logger and Sensirion SHT21 sensor. However, the device lacks the mechanical robustness and should be further improved for broad-range applications. We organized 4 measurement tours: two taking place in urban environment (Vienna, Austria in July 2011 and July 2013) and two in countryside with complex terrain of Mid-Adriatic islands (Hvar and Korcula, Croatia in August 2013). Measurements were taken on clear-sky, dry and hot days. We combined multiple devices attached to bicycle and cars with different radiation protection. Duration of each measurement tour lasted approximately 2 hours covering the distances in radius of about 10-30 km, logging the air temperature and geographical positioning in intervals of 1-5 seconds. The collected data were aggregated on a 100 m horizontal resolution grid and compared with the local-scale climate modelling simulations with the urban climate model MUKLIMO3 initialized with the atmospheric conditions for a given day. Both measurement and modelling results show similar features for distinct local climate zones (built-up area, near water environment, forest, parks, agricultural area, etc). The spatial gradients in temperature can be assigned to different orographical and land use characteristics. Even if many ambiguities remain in both modelling and the measurement approach, the collected data provide useful information for local-scale heat assessment and can serve as a base to increase the model reliability, especially in areas with low data coverage.

Design and Deployment of a General Purpose, Open Source LoRa to Wi-Fi Hub and Data Logger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeBell, T. C.; Udell, C.; Kwon, M.; Selker, J. S.; Lopez Alcala, J. M.

2017-12-01

Methods and technologies facilitating internet connectivity and near-real-time status updates for in site environmental sensor data are of increasing interest in Earth Science. However, Open Source, Do-It-Yourself technologies that enable plug and play functionality for web-connected sensors and devices remain largely inaccessible for typical researchers in our community. The Openly Published Environmental Sensing Lab at Oregon State University (OPEnS Lab) constructed an Open Source 900 MHz Long Range Radio (LoRa) receiver hub with SD card data logger, Ethernet and Wi-Fi shield, and 3D printed enclosure that dynamically uploads transmissions from multiple wirelessly-connected environmental sensing devices. Data transmissions may be received from devices up to 20km away. The hub time-stamps, saves to SD card, and uploads all transmissions to a Google Drive spreadsheet to be accessed in near-real-time by researchers and GeoVisualization applications (such as Arc GIS) for access, visualization, and analysis. This research expands the possibilities of scientific observation of our Earth, transforming the technology, methods, and culture by combining open-source development and cutting edge technology. This poster details our methods and evaluates the application of using 3D printing, Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Adafruit's Open-Hardware Feather development boards, and the WIZNET5500 Ethernet shield for designing this open-source, general purpose LoRa to Wi-Fi data logger.

Multi-Sensor Registration of Earth Remotely Sensed Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LeMoigne, Jacqueline; Cole-Rhodes, Arlene; Eastman, Roger; Johnson, Kisha; Morisette, Jeffrey; Netanyahu, Nathan S.; Stone, Harold S.; Zavorin, Ilya; Zukor, Dorothy (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Assuming that approximate registration is given within a few pixels by a systematic correction system, we develop automatic image registration methods for multi-sensor data with the goal of achieving sub-pixel accuracy. Automatic image registration is usually defined by three steps; feature extraction, feature matching, and data resampling or fusion. Our previous work focused on image correlation methods based on the use of different features. In this paper, we study different feature matching techniques and present five algorithms where the features are either original gray levels or wavelet-like features, and the feature matching is based on gradient descent optimization, statistical robust matching, and mutual information. These algorithms are tested and compared on several multi-sensor datasets covering one of the EOS Core Sites, the Konza Prairie in Kansas, from four different sensors: IKONOS (4m), Landsat-7/ETM+ (30m), MODIS (500m), and SeaWIFS (1000m).

A multimodal image sensor system for identifying water stress in grapevines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yong; Zhang, Qin; Li, Minzan; Shao, Yongni; Zhou, Jianfeng; Sun, Hong

2012-11-01

Water stress is one of the most common limitations of fruit growth. Water is the most limiting resource for crop growth. In grapevines, as well as in other fruit crops, fruit quality benefits from a certain level of water deficit which facilitates to balance vegetative and reproductive growth and the flow of carbohydrates to reproductive structures. A multi-modal sensor system was designed to measure the reflectance signature of grape plant surfaces and identify different water stress levels in this paper. The multi-modal sensor system was equipped with one 3CCD camera (three channels in R, G, and IR). The multi-modal sensor can capture and analyze grape canopy from its reflectance features, and identify the different water stress levels. This research aims at solving the aforementioned problems. The core technology of this multi-modal sensor system could further be used as a decision support system that combines multi-modal sensory data to improve plant stress detection and identify the causes of stress. The images were taken by multi-modal sensor which could output images in spectral bands of near-infrared, green and red channel. Based on the analysis of the acquired images, color features based on color space and reflectance features based on image process method were calculated. The results showed that these parameters had the potential as water stress indicators. More experiments and analysis are needed to validate the conclusion.

New Coastal Tsunami Gauges: Application at Augustine Volcano, Cook Inlet, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgy, M.; Bolton, D. K.

2006-12-01

Recent eruptive activity at Augustine Volcano and its associated tsunami threat to lower Cook Inlet pointed out the need for a quickly deployable tsunami detector which could be installed on Augustine Island's coast. The detector's purpose would be to verify tsunami generation by direct observation of the wave at the source to support tsunami warning decisions along populated coastlines. To fill this need the Tsunami Mobile Alert Real-Time (TSMART) system was developed at NOAA's West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center with support from the University of Alaska Tsunami Warning and Environmental Observatory for Alaska program (TWEAK) and the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO). The TSMART system consists of a pressure sensor installed as near as possible to the low tide line. The sensor is enclosed in a water-tight hypalon bag filled with propylene-glycol to prevent silt damage to the sensor and freezing. The bag is enclosed in a perforated, strong plastic pipe about 16 inches long and 8 inches in diameter enclosed at both ends for protection. The sensor is cabled to a data logger/radio/power station up to 300 feet distant. Data are transmitted to a base station and made available to the warning center in real-time through the internet. This data telemetry system can be incorporated within existing AVO and Plate Boundary Observatory networks which makes it ideal for volcano-tsunami monitoring. A TSMART network can be utilized anywhere in the world within 120 miles of an internet connection. At Augustine, two test stations were installed on the east side of the island in August 2006. The sensors were located very near the low tide limit and covered with rock, and the cable was buried to the data logger station which was located well above high tide mark. Data logger, radio, battery and other electronics are housed in an enclosure mounted to a pole which also supports an antenna and solar panel. Radio signal is transmitted to a repeater station higher up on the island which then transmits the data to a base station in Homer, Alaska. Sea level data values are transmitted every 15 seconds and displayed at the tsunami warning center in Palmer, Alaska.

Microclimate monitoring of Ariadne’s house (Pompeii, Italy) for preventive conservation of fresco paintings

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Ariadne’s house, located at the city center of ancient Pompeii, is of great archaeological value due to the fresco paintings decorating several rooms. In order to assess the risks for long-term conservation affecting the valuable mural paintings, 26 temperature data-loggers and 26 relative humidity data-loggers were located in four rooms of the house for the monitoring of ambient conditions. Results Data recorded during 372 days were analyzed by means of graphical descriptive methods and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed an effect of the roof type and number of walls of the room. Excessive temperatures were observed during the summer in rooms covered with transparent roofs, and corrective actions were taken. Moreover, higher humidity values were recorded by sensors on the floor level. Conclusions The present work provides guidelines about the type, number, calibration and position of thermohygrometric sensors recommended for the microclimate monitoring of mural paintings in outdoor or semi-confined environments. PMID:23190798

Long-term, high frequency in situ measurements of intertidal mussel bed temperatures using biomimetic sensors

PubMed Central

Helmuth, Brian; Choi, Francis; Matzelle, Allison; Torossian, Jessica L.; Morello, Scott L.; Mislan, K.A.S.; Yamane, Lauren; Strickland, Denise; Szathmary, P. Lauren; Gilman, Sarah E.; Tockstein, Alyson; Hilbish, Thomas J.; Burrows, Michael T.; Power, Anne Marie; Gosling, Elizabeth; Mieszkowska, Nova; Harley, Christopher D.G.; Nishizaki, Michael; Carrington, Emily; Menge, Bruce; Petes, Laura; Foley, Melissa M.; Johnson, Angela; Poole, Megan; Noble, Mae M.; Richmond, Erin L.; Robart, Matt; Robinson, Jonathan; Sapp, Jerod; Sones, Jackie; Broitman, Bernardo R.; Denny, Mark W.; Mach, Katharine J.; Miller, Luke P.; O’Donnell, Michael; Ross, Philip; Hofmann, Gretchen E.; Zippay, Mackenzie; Blanchette, Carol; Macfarlan, J.A.; Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio; Ruttenberg, Benjamin; Peña Mejía, Carlos E.; McQuaid, Christopher D.; Lathlean, Justin; Monaco, Cristián J.; Nicastro, Katy R.; Zardi, Gerardo

2016-01-01

At a proximal level, the physiological impacts of global climate change on ectothermic organisms are manifest as changes in body temperatures. Especially for plants and animals exposed to direct solar radiation, body temperatures can be substantially different from air temperatures. We deployed biomimetic sensors that approximate the thermal characteristics of intertidal mussels at 71 sites worldwide, from 1998-present. Loggers recorded temperatures at 10–30 min intervals nearly continuously at multiple intertidal elevations. Comparisons against direct measurements of mussel tissue temperature indicated errors of ~2.0–2.5 °C, during daily fluctuations that often exceeded 15°–20 °C. Geographic patterns in thermal stress based on biomimetic logger measurements were generally far more complex than anticipated based only on ‘habitat-level’ measurements of air or sea surface temperature. This unique data set provides an opportunity to link physiological measurements with spatially- and temporally-explicit field observations of body temperature. PMID:27727238

Long-term, high frequency in situ measurements of intertidal mussel bed temperatures using biomimetic sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helmuth, Brian; Choi, Francis; Matzelle, Allison; Torossian, Jessica L.; Morello, Scott L.; Mislan, K. A. S.; Yamane, Lauren; Strickland, Denise; Szathmary, P. Lauren; Gilman, Sarah E.; Tockstein, Alyson; Hilbish, Thomas J.; Burrows, Michael T.; Power, Anne Marie; Gosling, Elizabeth; Mieszkowska, Nova; Harley, Christopher D. G.; Nishizaki, Michael; Carrington, Emily; Menge, Bruce; Petes, Laura; Foley, Melissa M.; Johnson, Angela; Poole, Megan; Noble, Mae M.; Richmond, Erin L.; Robart, Matt; Robinson, Jonathan; Sapp, Jerod; Sones, Jackie; Broitman, Bernardo R.; Denny, Mark W.; Mach, Katharine J.; Miller, Luke P.; O'Donnell, Michael; Ross, Philip; Hofmann, Gretchen E.; Zippay, Mackenzie; Blanchette, Carol; Macfarlan, J. A.; Carpizo-Ituarte, Eugenio; Ruttenberg, Benjamin; Peña Mejía, Carlos E.; McQuaid, Christopher D.; Lathlean, Justin; Monaco, Cristián J.; Nicastro, Katy R.; Zardi, Gerardo

2016-10-01

At a proximal level, the physiological impacts of global climate change on ectothermic organisms are manifest as changes in body temperatures. Especially for plants and animals exposed to direct solar radiation, body temperatures can be substantially different from air temperatures. We deployed biomimetic sensors that approximate the thermal characteristics of intertidal mussels at 71 sites worldwide, from 1998-present. Loggers recorded temperatures at 10-30 min intervals nearly continuously at multiple intertidal elevations. Comparisons against direct measurements of mussel tissue temperature indicated errors of ~2.0-2.5 °C, during daily fluctuations that often exceeded 15°-20 °C. Geographic patterns in thermal stress based on biomimetic logger measurements were generally far more complex than anticipated based only on ‘habitat-level’ measurements of air or sea surface temperature. This unique data set provides an opportunity to link physiological measurements with spatially- and temporally-explicit field observations of body temperature.

Orientation-Dependent Displacement Sensor Using an Inner Cladding Fiber Bragg Grating.

PubMed

Yang, Tingting; Qiao, Xueguang; Rong, Qiangzhou; Bao, Weijia

2016-09-11

An orientation-dependent displacement sensor based on grating inscription over a fiber core and inner cladding has been demonstrated. The device comprises a short piece of multi-cladding fiber sandwiched between two standard single-mode fibers (SMFs). The grating structure is fabricated by a femtosecond laser side-illumination technique. Two well-defined resonances are achieved by the downstream both core and cladding fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The cladding resonance presents fiber bending dependence, together with a strong orientation dependence because of asymmetrical distribution of the "cladding" FBG along the fiber cross-section.

High-Resolution Physical Properties Logging of the AND-1B Sediment Core - Opportunity for Detecting High-Frequency Signals of Paleoenvironmental Changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niessen, F.; Magens, D.; Kuhn, G.; Helling, D.

2008-12-01

Within the ANDRILL-MIS Project, a more than 1200 m long sediment core, dating back to about 13 Ma, was drilled beneath McMurdo Ice Shelf near Ross Island (Antarctica) in austral summer 2006/07 with the purpose of contributing to a better understanding of the Late Cenozoic history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. One way to approach past ice dynamics and changes in the paleoenvironment quantitatively, is the analysis of high- resolution physical properties obtained from whole-core multi-sensor core logger measurements in which lithologic changes are expressed numerically. This is especially applicable for the repeating sequences of diatomites and diamictites in the upper half of the core with a prominent cyclicity between 140-300 mbsf. Rather abrupt high-amplitude variations in wet-bulk density (WBD) and magnetic susceptibility (MS) reflect a highly dynamic depositional system, oscillating between two main end-member types: a grounded ice sheet and open marine conditions. For the whole core, the WBD signal, ranging from 1.4 kg/cu.m in the diatomites to 2.3 kg/cu.m in diamictites from the lower part of the core, represents the influence of three variables: (i) the degree of compaction seen as reduction of porosities with depth of about 30 % from top to bottom, (ii) the clast content with clasts being almost absent in diatomite deposits and (iii) the individual grain density (GD). GD itself strongly reflects the variety of lithologies as well as the influence of cement (mainly pyrite and carbonate) on the matrix grain density. The calculation of residual porosities demonstrates the strong imprint of glacial loading for especially diamictites from the upper 150 m, pointing to a significant thickness of the overriding Pleistocene ice sheet. MS on the other hand mainly documents a marine vs. terrestrial source of sediments where the latter can be divided into younger local material from the McMurdo Volcanic Province and basement clasts from the Transantarctic Mountains. Values range over several orders of magnitude from <10 (10-5 SI) in the diatomites to 8000 (10-5 SI) in single clasts (mainly dolerite). Synchronous minima and maxima in both WBD and MS support dramatic changes in the depositional environment, driven by oscillations in ice extent in response to global climate fluctuations on orbital timescales. Superimposed on this, small-amplitude variations of high frequency are found within diatomite units. A rhythmic pattern of probably millennial to centennial pacing proposes an additional non-orbital forcing as control on system dynamics, at least during interglacials.

INFLUENCE OF RESIDENTIAL HVAC DUTY CYCLE ON INDOOR AIR QUALITY

EPA Science Inventory

Measurements of duty cycle, the fraction of time the heating and cooling (HVAC) system was operating, were made in homes during the spring season of the RTP Particulate Matter Panel Study and the Tampa Asthmatic Children's Study. A temperature sensor/logger placed on an outlet...

Pressure-Height Properties of Water with Automated Data Collection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Alan

2013-01-01

Instrumentation available for teachers and students has changed considerably during the last 20 years. The data logger-sensor system has the advantage of taking reliable measurements over time with suitable sample rates. This experiment is not an open-ended investigation but an opportunity to explore the established relationship between the…

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HVAC SYSTEM OPERATION, AIR EXCHANGE RATE, AND INDOOR-OUTDOOR PARTICULATE MATTER RATIOS

EPA Science Inventory

Measurements of duty cycle , the fraction of time the heating and cooling (HVAC) system was operating, were made in each participant's home during the spring season of the RTP Particulate Matter Panel Study. A miniature temperature sensor/data logger combination placed on the ...

Stratigraphic Reconstruction of a Late Pleistocene Cypress Forest Discovered on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez Rodriguez, S. M.; Bentley, S. J.; Obelcz, J.; Truong, J. T.; DeLong, K. L.; Xu, K.; Harley, G. L.; Reese, C. A.; Caporaso, A.; Shen, Z.

2017-12-01

A previously buried bald cypress forest (Taxodium distichum) was discovered on the continental shelf, offshore of Orange Beach, Alabama, USA, in 20 m water depth. The forest was possibly exhumed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and is now exposed as stumps in life position in a trough located in the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf seafloor. We are investigating the local stratigraphy, paleo-landscape, and mode of forest preservation of this unique site. In August 2015 and July 2016, submersible vibracores (18 in total) were collected. Core analysis included: bulk density and imaging via Geotek multi sensor core logger, sediment grain size, structure, and organic content via loss-on-ignition. Selected samples have been dated using 14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods. Multibeam and CHIRP subbottom bathymetry provide context for litho- and chrono-stratigraphy of the site. Integration of core lithostratigraphy and modern shelf bathymetry reveal Holocene transgressive sands blanketing diverse sedimentary facies that are truncated by the late Pleistocene-early Holocene ravinement. Deposits below the ravinement surface include interbedded sand and mud (exact age unknown, but possibly pertaining to a shallow marine environment), overlying a floodplain/swamp facies of woody debris, peat, and mud (provisionally dated by 14C to 41-45 ka). These units grade laterally into paleosols that appear to be 10-15 ka older, based on recently obtained preliminary OSL dates. Occurrence of paleosols and swamp deposits of broadly similar age and elevation suggests that the ancient landscape possessed topographic relief that allowed wetland and upland habitats to develop in close proximity. These new OSL dates enhance our initial hypothesis that floodplain aggradation in the area was a key factor that might have allowed forest preservation. The timing of temporary sea level rises (SLR) ca. 40 and 60 ka. with our 14C and preliminary OSL dates, suggests that floodplain aggradation associated with SLRs could have buried the swamp and forest sediments. Variable paleo-topography in the area at the time of burial provided enough sediment to keep the cypress forest blanketed, withstanding periods of erosion as sea level fluctuated through the late Pleistocene to Holocene, thus facilitating forest preservation.

Unusual Physical Properties of the Chicxulub Crater Peak Ring: Results from IODP/ICDP Expedition 364

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christeson, G. L.; Gebhardt, C.; Gulick, S. P. S.; Le Ber, E.; Lofi, J.; Morgan, J. V.; Nixon, C.; Rae, A.; Schmitt, D. R.

2017-12-01

IODP/ICDP Expedition 364 Hole M0077A drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater, recovering core between 505.7 and 1334.7 m below the seafloor (mbsf). Physical property measurements include wireline logging data, a vertical seismic profile (VSP), Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) measurements, and discrete sample measurements. The Hole M0077A peak ring rocks have unusual physical properties. Across the boundary between post-impact sediment and crater breccia we measure a sharp decrease in velocities and densities, and an increase in porosity. Mean crater breccia values are 3000-3300 m/s, 2.14-2.15 g/cm3, and 31% for velocity, density, and porosity, respectively. This zone is also associated with a low-frequency reflector package on MCS profiles and a low-velocity layer in FWI images, both confirmed from the VSP dataset. The thin (24 m) crater melt unit has mean velocity measurements of 3800-4150 m/s, density measurements of 2.32-2.34 g/cm3, and porosity measurements of 20%; density and porosity values are intermediate between the overlying impact breccia and underlying granitic basement, while the velocity values are similar to those for the underlying basement. The Hole M0077A crater melt unit velocities and densities are considerably less than values of 5800 m/s and 2.68 g/cm3 measured at an onshore well located in the annular trough. The uplifted granitic peak ring materials have mean values of 4100-4200 m/s, 2.39-2.44 g/cm3, and 11% for compressional wave velocity, density, and porosity, respectively; these values differ significantly from typical granite which has higher velocities (5400-6000 m/s) and densities (2.62-2.67 g/cm3), and lower porosities (<1%). All Hole M0077A peak-ring velocity, density, and porosity measurements indicate considerable fracturing, and are consistent with numerical models for peak-ring formation.

Rock Magnetic Study of IODP/ICDP Expedition 364 Site M0077A Drill Cores: Post-Impact Sediments, Impact Breccias, Melt, Granitic Basement and Dikes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fucugauchi, J. U.; Perez-Cruz, L. L.; Rebolledo-Vieyra, M.; Tikoo, S.; Zylberman, W.; Lofi, J.

2017-12-01

Drilling at Site M0077 sampled post-impact sediments overlying a peak ring consisting of impact breccias, melt rock and granitoids. Here we focus on characterizing the peak ring using magnetic properties, which vary widely and depend on mineralogy, depositional and emplacement conditions and secondary alterations. Rock magnetic properties are integrated with Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) data, vertical seismic profile, physical properties, petrographic and chemical analyses and geophysical models. We measure low-field magnetic susceptibility at low- and high-frequencies, intensity and direction of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) and laboratory-induced isothermal (IRM) and anhysteretic (ARM) magnetizations, alternating-field demagnetization of NRM, IRM and NRM, susceptibility variation with temperature, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis and IRM back-field demagnetization. Post-impact carbonates show low susceptibilities and NRM intensities, variable frequency-dependent susceptibilities and multivectorial remanences residing in low and high coercivity minerals. Hysteresis loops show low coercivity saturation magnetizations and variable paramagnetic mineral contents. Impact breccias (suevites) and melt rock show higher susceptibilities, low frequency-dependent susceptibilities, high NRM, ARM and IRM intensities and moderate ARM intensity/susceptibility ratios. Magnetic signal is dominated by fine-grained magnetite and titanomagnetites with PSD domain states. Melt rocks at the base of impactite section show the highest susceptibilities and remanence intensities. Basement section is characterized by low susceptibilities in the granites and higher values in the dikes, with NRM and ARM intensities increasing towards the base. The high susceptibilities and remanence intensities correlate with high seismic velocities, density and decreased porosity and electrical resistivity. Fracturing and alteration account for the reduced seismic velocities, density and magnetic properties in the basement section. Site M0077 is in a horizontal gradient high within the semi-circular gravity low in the crater central zone. Correlation with MSCL logs and petrographic and chemical data will allow further detailed characterization of peak ring units.

Shipboard Analytical Capabilities on the Renovated JOIDES Resolution, IODP Riserless Drilling Vessel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blum, P.; Foster, P.; Houpt, D.; Bennight, C.; Brandt, L.; Cobine, T.; Crawford, W.; Fackler, D.; Fujine, K.; Hastedt, M.; Hornbacher, D.; Mateo, Z.; Moortgat, E.; Vasilyev, M.; Vasilyeva, Y.; Zeliadt, S.; Zhao, J.

2008-12-01

The JOIDES Resolution (JR) has conducted 121 scientific drilling expeditions during the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the first phase of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) (1983-2006). The vessel and scientific systems have just completed an NSF-sponsored renovation (2005-2008). Shipboard analytical systems have been upgraded, within funding constraints imposed by market driven vessel conversion cost increases, to include: (1) enhanced shipboard analytical services including instruments and software for sampling and the capture of chemistry, physical properties, and geological data; (2) new data management capabilities built around a laboratory information management system (LIMS), digital asset management system, and web services; (3) operations data services with enhanced access to navigation and rig instrumentation data; and (4) a combination of commercial and home-made user applications for workflow- specific data extractions, generic and customized data reporting, and data visualization within a shipboard production environment. The instrumented data capture systems include a new set of core loggers for rapid and non-destructive acquisition of images and other physical properties data from drill cores. Line-scan imaging and natural gamma ray loggers capture data at unprecedented quality due to new and innovative designs. Many instruments used to characterize chemical compounds of rocks, sediments, and interstitial fluids were upgraded with the latest technology. The shipboard analytical environment features a new and innovative framework (DESCinfo) and application (DESClogik) for capturing descriptive and interpretive data from geological sub-domains such as sedimentology, petrology, paleontology, structural geology, stratigraphy, etc. This system fills a long-standing gap by providing a global database, controlled vocabularies and taxa name lists with version control, a highly configurable spreadsheet environment for data capture, and visualization of context data collected with the shipboard core loggers and other instruments.

Orientation-Dependent Displacement Sensor Using an Inner Cladding Fiber Bragg Grating

PubMed Central

Yang, Tingting; Qiao, Xueguang; Rong, Qiangzhou; Bao, Weijia

2016-01-01

An orientation-dependent displacement sensor based on grating inscription over a fiber core and inner cladding has been demonstrated. The device comprises a short piece of multi-cladding fiber sandwiched between two standard single-mode fibers (SMFs). The grating structure is fabricated by a femtosecond laser side-illumination technique. Two well-defined resonances are achieved by the downstream both core and cladding fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The cladding resonance presents fiber bending dependence, together with a strong orientation dependence because of asymmetrical distribution of the “cladding” FBG along the fiber cross-section. PMID:27626427

Printed freeform lens arrays on multi-core fibers for highly efficient coupling in astrophotonic systems.

PubMed

Dietrich, Philipp-Immanuel; Harris, Robert J; Blaicher, Matthias; Corrigan, Mark K; Morris, Tim M; Freude, Wolfgang; Quirrenbach, Andreas; Koos, Christian

2017-07-24

Coupling of light into multi-core fibers (MCF) for spatially resolved spectroscopy is of great importance to astronomical instrumentation. To achieve high coupling efficiencies along with fill-fractions close to unity, micro-optical elements are required to concentrate the incoming light to the individual cores of the MCF. In this paper we demonstrate facet-attached lens arrays (LA) fabricated by two-photon polymerization. The LA provide close to 100% fill-fraction along with efficiencies of up to 73% (down to 1.4 dB loss) for coupling of light from free space into an MCF core. We show the viability of the concept for astrophotonic applications by integrating an MCF-LA assembly in an adaptive-optics test bed and by assessing its performance as a tip/tilt sensor.

Maturation of Structural Health Management Systems for Solid Rocket Motors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quing, Xinlin; Beard, Shawn; Zhang, Chang

2011-01-01

Concepts of an autonomous and automated space-compliant diagnostic system were developed for conditioned-based maintenance (CBM) of rocket motors for space exploration vehicles. The diagnostic system will provide real-time information on the integrity of critical structures on launch vehicles, improve their performance, and greatly increase crew safety while decreasing inspection costs. Using the SMART Layer technology as a basis, detailed procedures and calibration techniques for implementation of the diagnostic system were developed. The diagnostic system is a distributed system, which consists of a sensor network, local data loggers, and a host central processor. The system detects external impact to the structure. The major functions of the system include an estimate of impact location, estimate of impact force at impacted location, and estimate of the structure damage at impacted location. This system consists of a large-area sensor network, dedicated multiple local data loggers with signal processing and data analysis software to allow for real-time, in situ monitoring, and longterm tracking of structural integrity of solid rocket motors. Specifically, the system could provide easy installation of large sensor networks, onboard operation under harsh environments and loading, inspection of inaccessible areas without disassembly, detection of impact events and impact damage in real-time, and monitoring of a large area with local data processing to reduce wiring.

A direction detective asymmetrical twin-core fiber curving sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Maowei; Geng, Tao; Yang, Wenlei; Zeng, Hongyi; Li, Jian

2015-10-01

Long period fiber gratings (LPFGs), which can couple the core mode to the forward propagating cladding modes of a fiber and have the advantage of small additional loss, no backward reflection, small size, which is widely used in optical fiber sensors and optical communication systems. LPFG has different fabricating methods, in order to write gratings on the twin-core at the same time effectively, we specially choose electric heating fused taper system to fabricate asymmetric dual-core long period fiber grating, because this kind of method can guarantee the similarity of gratings on the twin cores and obtain good geometric parameters of LPFG, such as cycle, cone waist. Then we use bending test platform to conduct bending test for each of the core of twin-core asymmetric long period fiber grating. Experiments show that: the sensitivity of asymmetrical twin-core long period fiber grating's central core under bending is -5.47nm·m, while the sensitivity of asymmetric twin-core long period fiber grating partial core changed with the relative position of screw micrometer. The sensitivity at 0°, 30°, 90° direction is -4.22nm·m, -9.84nm·m, -11.44nm·m respectively. The experiment results strongly demonstrate the properties of rim sensing of asymmetrical twin-core fiber gratings which provides the possibility of simultaneously measuring the bending magnitude and direction and solving the problem of cross sensing when multi-parameter measuring. In other words, we can detect temperature and bend at the same time by this sensor. As our knowledge, it is the first time simultaneously measuring bend and temperature using this structure of fiber sensors.

Development of a Novel Two Dimensional Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Using Multiplied Beam Splitting Optics

PubMed Central

Hemmi, Akihide; Mizumura, Ryosuke; Kawanishi, Ryuta; Nakajima, Hizuru; Zeng, Hulie; Uchiyama, Katsumi; Kaneki, Noriaki; Imato, Toshihiko

2013-01-01

A novel two dimensional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor system with a multi-point sensing region is described. The use of multiplied beam splitting optics, as a core technology, permitted multi-point sensing to be achieved. This system was capable of simultaneously measuring nine sensing points. Calibration curves for sucrose obtained on nine sensing points were linear in the range of 0–10% with a correlation factor of 0.996–0.998 with a relative standard deviation of 0.090–4.0%. The detection limits defined as S/N = 3 were 1.98 × 10−6–3.91 × 10−5 RIU. This sensitivity is comparable to that of conventional SPR sensors. PMID:23299626

Implementation guide for turbidity threshold sampling: principles, procedures, and analysis

Treesearch

Jack Lewis; Rand Eads

2009-01-01

Turbidity Threshold Sampling uses real-time turbidity and river stage information to automatically collect water quality samples for estimating suspended sediment loads. The system uses a programmable data logger in conjunction with a stage measurement device, a turbidity sensor, and a pumping sampler. Specialized software enables the user to control the sampling...

Transitioning mine warfare to network-centric sensor analysis: future PMA technologies & capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stack, J. R.; Guthrie, R. S.; Cramer, M. A.

2009-05-01

The purpose of this paper is to outline the requisite technologies and enabling capabilities for network-centric sensor data analysis within the mine warfare community. The focus includes both automated processing and the traditional humancentric post-mission analysis (PMA) of tactical and environmental sensor data. This is motivated by first examining the high-level network-centric guidance and noting the breakdown in the process of distilling actionable requirements from this guidance. Examples are provided that illustrate the intuitive and substantial capability improvement resulting from processing sensor data jointly in a network-centric fashion. Several candidate technologies are introduced including the ability to fully process multi-sensor data given only partial overlap in sensor coverage and the ability to incorporate target identification information in stride. Finally the critical enabling capabilities are outlined including open architecture, open business, and a concept of operations. This ability to process multi-sensor data in a network-centric fashion is a core enabler of the Navy's vision and will become a necessity with the increasing number of manned and unmanned sensor systems and the requirement for their simultaneous use.

Shape Sensing Using a Multi-Core Optical Fiber Having an Arbitrary Initial Shape in the Presence of Extrinsic Forces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogge, Matthew D. (Inventor); Moore, Jason P. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

Shape of a multi-core optical fiber is determined by positioning the fiber in an arbitrary initial shape and measuring strain over the fiber's length using strain sensors. A three-coordinate p-vector is defined for each core as a function of the distance of the corresponding cores from a center point of the fiber and a bending angle of the cores. The method includes calculating, via a controller, an applied strain value of the fiber using the p-vector and the measured strain for each core, and calculating strain due to bending as a function of the measured and the applied strain values. Additionally, an apparent local curvature vector is defined for each core as a function of the calculated strain due to bending. Curvature and bend direction are calculated using the apparent local curvature vector, and fiber shape is determined via the controller using the calculated curvature and bend direction.

Programmable Off-The-Shelf cell-enabled GPS loggers optimized for retrieving after being used as a float in large river experiments.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hut, Rolf; Bogaard, Thom

2017-04-01

Throwing something in a river and seeing how fast it floats downstream is the first thing that every hydrologists does when encountering a new river. Using a collection of floats allows estimation of gauge surface water velocity and dispersion characteristics. To use floats over long (hundreds of kilometers) stretches of river requires either a crew that keeps an eye on the floats (labor intensive) or having high-tech floats that upload their location on regular intervals, such that they can be retrieved at the end of the experiment. GPS floats with communication units have been custom build by scientists before. Connecting GPS units to GSM modems used to require deep knowledge on micro-electronics and network protocols. In this work we present a version that is build using only off-the-shelf electronics that require no deep knowledge of either micro electronics nor network protocols. The new cellular enabled Particle Electron development board made it possible to connect a Sparkfun OpenLog (SD-card based logger) to a GPS tracker with no soldering and little programming. Because scientist can program the device themselves, settings like sample time can be adapted to the needs of specific experiments and additional sensors can be easily added. When writing GPS location every minute to SD and reporting every fifteen minutes online, our logger can run for three days on a single 2200 mAh LiPo battery (provided with the Particle Electron). Cost of components for our logger is less than 150. The durability of our GPS loggers will be tested during a field campaign at the end of January 2017 where 15 floats will float down the Irrawaddy river over a length of more than 200 km, during two days.

Teaching Science with Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gornostaeva, Svetlana

2015-04-01

This is a short introduction about me, description of different teaching methods, which is used in my teaching practice of Geography, biology and GIS systems education. The main part is tell about practical lesson with lab Vernier. My name is Svetlana Gornostaeva. I am a geography, biology and GIS systems teacher in Tallinn Mustjõe Gymnasium (www.mjg.ee) and private school Garant (http://www.erakoolgarant.ee/). In my teaching practice I do all to show that science courses are very important, interesting, and do not difficult. I use differentiated instruction methods also consider individual needs. At lessons is used different active teaching methods such as individual work of various levels of difficulty, team works, creative tasks, interactive exercises, excursions, role-playing games, meeting with experts. On my lessons I use visual aids (maps, a collection of rocks and minerals, herbarium, posters, Vernier data logger). My favorite teaching methods are excursions, meeting with experts and practical lesson with lab Vernier. A small part of my job demonstrate my poster. In the next abstract I want to bring a one practical work with Vernier which I do with my students, when we teach a theme "Atmosphere and climate". OUTDOOR LEARNING. SUBJECT "ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE". WEATHER OBSERVATIONS WITH VERNIER DATA LOGGER. The aim: students teach to use Vernier data logger and measure climatic parameters such as: temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, ultraviolet light radiation, wind speed. In working process pupils also teach work together, observe natural processes, analyze. Children are working by small groups, 4-5 in each group. Every one should personally measure all parameters and put numbers into the table. After it group observe cloudiness, analyze table and give conclusion "Is at this moment dominates cyclone or anticyclone ?". Children really like this kind of job. Vernier data logger it is really fantastic tool. It is mobile lab. This system give possibilities to easy and fast observe nature process in dynamic. Vernier puts easy-to-use data loggers, sensors, experiments and graphing/analysis software into the hands of students, helping educators develop the next generation of scientists and engineers. You also can do a bit fun with Vernier. For instance, children, who finished their job faster with anemometer can give answer to the question : whom lungs are bigger?" or with thermometer give answer to the question : who has the hottest hands?". Also with thermometer children can draw a rabbit or a mountain. I convinced that Vernier data logger with sensors should be in each school. SUMMARY Personally I am young teacher and do not have a lot of work experience, but I really like my work and do all to share my skills to my students.

Multi-channel measurement for hetero-core optical fiber sensor by using CMOS camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koyama, Yuya; Nishiyama, Michiko; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2015-07-01

Fiber optic smart structures have been developed over several decades by the recent fiber optic sensor technology. Optical intensity-based sensors, which use LD or LEDs, can be suitable for the monitor system to be simple and cost effective. In this paper, a novel fiber optic smart structure with human-like perception has been demonstrated by using intensity-based hetero-core optical fiber sensors system with the CMOS detector. The optical intensity from the hetero-core optical fiber bend sensor is obtained as luminance spots indicated by the optical power distributions. A number of optical intensity spots are simultaneously readout by taking a picture of luminance pattern. To recognize the state of fiber optic smart structure with the hetero-core optical fibers, the template matching process is employed with Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD). A fiber optic smart glove having five optic fiber nerves have been employed to monitor hand postures. Three kinds of hand postures have been recognized by means of the template matching process. A body posture monitoring has also been developed by placing the wearable hetero-core optical fiber bend sensors on the body segments. In order for the CMOS system to be a human brain-like, the luminescent spots in the obtained picture were arranged to make the pattern corresponding to the position of body segments. As a result, it was successfully demonstrated that the proposed fiber optic smart structure could recognize eight kinds of body postures. The developed system will give a capability of human brain-like processing to the existing fiber optic smart structures.

Towards a Community Environmental Observation Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mertl, Stefan; Lettenbichler, Anton

2014-05-01

The Community Environmental Observation Network (CEON) is dedicated to the development of a free sensor network to collect and distribute environmental data (e.g. ground shaking, climate parameters). The data collection will be done with contributions from citizens, research institutions and public authorities like communities or schools. This will lead to a large freely available data base which can be used for public information, research, the arts,..... To start a free sensor network, the most important step is to provide easy access to free data collection and -distribution tools. The initial aims of the project CEON are dedicated to the development of these tools. A high quality data logger based on open hardware and free software is developed and a software suite of already existing free software for near-real time data communication and data distribution over the Internet will be assembled. Foremost, the development focuses on the collection of data related to the deformation of the earth (such as ground shaking, surface displacement of mass movements and glaciers) and the collection of climate data. The extent to other measurements will be considered in the design. The data logger is built using open hardware prototyping platforms like BeagleBone Black and Arduino. Main features of the data logger are: a 24Bit analog-to-digital converter; a GPS module for time reference and positioning; wireless mesh networking using Optimized Link State Routing; near real-time data transmission and communication; and near real-time differential GNSS positioning using the RTKLIB software. The project CEON is supported by the Internet Foundation Austria (IPA) within the NetIdee 2013 call.

Cosmic-Ray Moisture Probe on North Slope of Alaska Field Campaign Report

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

Desilets, Darin

2016-06-15

In September of 2014 a wide-area snow monitoring device was installed at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Barrow, Alaska Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility site. The device is special in that it uses measurements of cosmic-ray neutrons as a proxy for snow water equivalent (SWE) depth. A unique characteristic of the technology is that it integrates over a wide area (as much as 40 ha), in contrast to conventional ground-based technologies, which essentially give point samples. Conventional point-scale technologies are problematic in the Arctic, both because extreme weather conditions are taxing on equipment, and because point measurementsmore » can fail to accurately characterize the average SWE over a larger area, even when excellent precision is obtained. The sensor installed in Barrow is, by far, the northernmost of a constellation of sites that makeup the U.S. COsmic ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COSMOS). The sensor is used for SWE measurements in winter and soil moisture measurements in summer. The ability of this type of sensor to operate in the Arctic had not been verified until now. The cosmic-ray sensor was installed on a tripod located approximately 150 m south of the ARM User Facility (Figure 1), and within boundaries of land managed by the ARM Facility. The sensor consists of both “bare” and “moderated” channels, where the moderated channel is the primary output used to calculate SWE. A QDL2100 data logger with pressure sensor was located inside of the User Facility, and a Campbell CS215 temperature and humidity sensor was attached to a rail on the upper deck of the User Facility, to enable near-real-time absolute humidity corrections to the data. The cosmic-ray sensors are connected to the data logger using an armored Cat5e cable that lies on top of the tundra. Data are retrieved hourly via Iridium satellite link.« less

Concepts and data-collection techniques used in a study of the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, R.W.; DeVries, M.P.; Striegl, Robert G.

1986-01-01

A study of water and radionuclide movement through the unsaturated zone is being conducted at the low level radioactive waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois. Included in the study are detailed investigations of evapotranspiration, movement of water through waste trench covers, and movement of water and radionuclides (dissolved and gaseous) from the trenches. An energy balance/Bowen ratio approach is used to determine evapotranspiration. Precipitation, net radiation, soil-heat flux, air temperature and water vapor content gradients, wind speed, and wind direction are measured. Soil water tension is measured with tensiometers which are connected to pressure transducers. Meteorological sensors and tensiometers which are connected to pressure transducers. Meteorological sensors and tensiometers are monitored with automatic data loggers. Soil moisture contents are measured through small-diameter access tubes with neutron and gamma-ray attenuation gages. Data beneath the trenches are obtained through a 130-meter-long tunnel which extends under four of the trenches. Water samples are obtained with suction lysimeters, and samples of the geologic material are obtained with core tubes. These samples are analyzed for radiometric and inorganic chemistry. Gas samples are obtained from gas piezometers and analyzed for partial pressures of major constituents, Radon-222, tritiated water vapor, and carbon-14 dioxide. (USGS)

Navigation in Difficult Environments: Multi-Sensor Fusion Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

Hwang , Introduction to Random Signals and Applied Kalman Filtering, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997. [17] J. L. Farrell, “GPS/INS...nav solution Navigation outputs Estimation of inertial errors ( Kalman filter) Error estimates Core sensor Incoming signal INS Estimates of signal...the INS drift terms is performed using the mechanism of a complementary Kalman filter. The idea is that a signal parameter can be generally

Evaluation of Fuzzy Fiber Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

detect damage. Should damage occur at other unanticipated regions, it may go undetected. Methods have been devised to use the sensors in a network...graphene tubes around the core of an SWCNT lead to multi-walled carbon nanotubes ( MWCNTs ). These CNTs have diameters in a range between one to tens...performance carbon-carbon composites, EMI shielding, lightning strike, energy storage, thermal management, bio-implants, and bone regeneration (pend- ing

Flight experience with lightweight, low-power miniaturized instrumentation systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamory, Philip J.; Murray, James E.

1992-01-01

Engineers at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility (NASA-Dryden) have conducted two flight research programs with lightweight, low-power miniaturized instrumentation systems built around commercial data loggers. One program quantified the performance of a radio-controlled model airplane. The other program was a laminar boundary-layer transition experiment on a manned sailplane. The purpose of this paper is to report NASA-Dryden personnel's flight experience with the miniaturized instrumentation systems used on these two programs. The paper will describe the data loggers, the sensors, and the hardware and software developed to complete the systems. The paper also describes how the systems were used and covers the challenges encountered to make them work. Examples of raw data and derived results will be shown as well. Finally, future plans for these systems will be discussed.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Biology Teaching in Slovenian Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sorgo, Andrej; Verckovnik, Tatjana; Kocijancic, Slavko

2010-01-01

About two-thirds of Slovene secondary schools received computers equipped with data-loggers and sensors to be used in teaching Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Later it was recognized that only a couple of Biology teachers were using the donated equipment in their classrooms or laboratories. The questionnaire, intended to investigate the situation,…

In-situ characterization of wildland fire behavior

Treesearch

Bret Butler; D. Jimenez; J. Forthofer; Paul Sopko; K. Shannon; Jim Reardon

2010-01-01

A system consisting of two enclosures has been developed to characterize wildand fire behavior: The first enclosure is a sensor/data logger combination that measures and records convective/radiant energy released by the fire. The second is a digital video camera housed in a fire proof enclosure that records visual images of fire behavior. Together this system provides...

Fabrication and Testing of a Modular Micro-Pocket Fission Detector Instrumentation System for Test Nuclear Reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reichenberger, Michael A.; Nichols, Daniel M.; Stevenson, Sarah R.; Swope, Tanner M.; Hilger, Caden W.; Roberts, Jeremy A.; Unruh, Troy C.; McGregor, Douglas S.

2018-01-01

Advancements in nuclear reactor core modeling and computational capability have encouraged further development of in-core neutron sensors. Measurement of the neutron-flux distribution within the reactor core provides a more complete understanding of the operating conditions in the reactor than typical ex-core sensors. Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors have been developed and tested previously but have been limited to single-node operation and have utilized highly specialized designs. The development of a widely deployable, multi-node Micro-Pocket Fission Detector assembly will enhance nuclear research capabilities. A modular, four-node Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array was designed, fabricated, and tested at Kansas State University. The array was constructed from materials that do not significantly perturb the neutron flux in the reactor core. All four sensor nodes were equally spaced axially in the array to span the fuel-region of the reactor core. The array was filled with neon gas, serving as an ionization medium in the small cavities of the Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors. The modular design of the instrument facilitates the testing and deployment of numerous sensor arrays. The unified design drastically improved device ruggedness and simplified construction from previous designs. Five 8-mm penetrations in the upper grid plate of the Kansas State University TRIGA Mk. II research nuclear reactor were utilized to deploy the array between fuel elements in the core. The Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array was coupled to an electronic support system which has been specially developed to support pulse-mode operation. The Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array composed of four sensors was used to monitor local neutron flux at a constant reactor power of 100 kWth at different axial locations simultaneously. The array was positioned at five different radial locations within the core to emulate the deployment of multiple arrays and develop a 2-dimensional measurement of neutron flux in the reactor core.

Evaluating Precipitation Observed in Complex Terrain During GPM Field Campaigns with the SIMBA Data-Fusion Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wingo, S. M.; Petersen, W. A.; Gatlin, P. N.; Marks, D. A.; Wolff, D. B.; Pabla, C. S.

2017-12-01

The versatile SIMBA (System for Integrating Multi-platform data to Build the Atmospheric column) precipitation data-fusion framework produces an atmospheric column data product with multi-platform observations set into a common 3-D grid, affording an efficient starting point for multi-sensor comparisons and analysis that can be applied to any region. Supported data sources include: ground-based scanning and profiling radars (S-, X-, Ku-, K-, and Ka-band), multiple types of disdrometers and rain gauges, the GPM Core Observatory's Microwave Imager (GMI, 10-183 GHz) and Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR, Ka/Ku-band), as well as thermodynamic soundings and the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor QPE product. SIMBA column data files provide a unique way to evaluate the complete vertical profile of precipitation. Two post-launch (GPM Core in orbit) field campaigns focused on different facets of the GPM mission: the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) was geared toward winter season (November-February) precipitation in Pacific frontal systems and their transition from the coastal to mountainous terrain of northwest Washington, while the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) sampled warm season (April-June) precipitation and supported hydrologic applications in the southern Appalachians and eastern North Carolina. Both campaigns included multiple orographic precipitation enhancement episodes. SIMBA column products generated for select OLYMPEX and IPHEx events will be used to evaluate spatial variability and vertical profiles of precipitation and drop size distribution parameters derived and/or observed by space- and ground-based sensors. Results will provide a cursory view of how well the space-based measurements represent what is observed from the ground below and an indication to how the terrain in both regions impacts the characteristics of precipitation within the column and reaching the ground.

Evaluating Precipitation Observed in Complex Terrain During GPM Field Campaigns with the SIMBA Data-Fusion Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wingo, S. M.; Petersen, W. A.; Gatlin, P. N.; Marks, D. A.; Wolff, D. B.; Pabla, C. S.

2016-12-01

The versatile SIMBA (System for Integrating Multi-platform data to Build the Atmospheric column) precipitation data-fusion framework produces an atmospheric column data product with multi-platform observations set into a common 3-D grid, affording an efficient starting point for multi-sensor comparisons and analysis that can be applied to any region. Supported data sources include: ground-based scanning and profiling radars (S-, X-, Ku-, K-, and Ka-band), multiple types of disdrometers and rain gauges, the GPM Core Observatory's Microwave Imager (GMI, 10-183 GHz) and Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR, Ka/Ku-band), as well as thermodynamic soundings and the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor QPE product. SIMBA column data files provide a unique way to evaluate the complete vertical profile of precipitation. Two post-launch (GPM Core in orbit) field campaigns focused on different facets of the GPM mission: the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) was geared toward winter season (November-February) precipitation in Pacific frontal systems and their transition from the coastal to mountainous terrain of northwest Washington, while the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) sampled warm season (April-June) precipitation and supported hydrologic applications in the southern Appalachians and eastern North Carolina. Both campaigns included multiple orographic precipitation enhancement episodes. SIMBA column products generated for select OLYMPEX and IPHEx events will be used to evaluate spatial variability and vertical profiles of precipitation and drop size distribution parameters derived and/or observed by space- and ground-based sensors. Results will provide a cursory view of how well the space-based measurements represent what is observed from the ground below and an indication to how the terrain in both regions impacts the characteristics of precipitation within the column and reaching the ground.

Real-time Remote Data Online For Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, J. E.; Lowenstern, J. B.; Clor, L.; Cervelli, P. F.; Allen, S. T.; Heasler, H.; Moloney, T.

2010-12-01

Perry, John, Lowenstern, Jacob, Cervelli, Peter, Clor, Laura, Heasler, Henry, Allen, Scott, Moloney, Tim During June 2010, ten 900MHz wireless temperature data loggers (nodes) were installed around the Norris Geyser Basin to monitor geothermal features, streams and soil temperatures. The loggers can provide near real-time updates on temperature variations within 0.2 deg C due to hydrothermal discharges or subsurface fluid migration. Each sensor node is programmed to measure the temperature every two minutes and automatically upload data to the base station computer daily. The hardware consists of a waterproof case containing an M5 logger (made by Marathon Products, Inc.®) with internal memory, lithium D-cell batteries and a 900 MHz, 1-W-transceiver and 5 meter long Teflon-coated probe with a thermistor sensor. Tethered stub or panel antennas are oriented to optimize signal strength to the base station near the Norris Museum. A 0.61 meter-long base-station antenna located 10m high provides signal to the furthest node over 850 meters away with most being “line-of-sight”. A 20-meter coaxial cable and lightning grounding wire connects the base-station antenna to an Ethernet-radio connected to the YNP local-area network. A server located 26-km north at Mammoth Hot Springs requests data at regular intervals (normally daily), archives the information, and then sends it to the USGS for further archiving and internet distribution. During periods of unusual hydrothermal behavior, data can be requested as needed, and it is possible to set user-programmable alarm limits for notification. The RF network is designed to monitor changes from three different sub-basins at Norris (Gray Lakes, Steamboat-Echinus and Porcelain Basin), the main Tantalus Creek drainage, and five individual thermal features (Constant, Porkchop, Steamboat and Echinus Geysers, and Opalescent Spring). The logger installed in Nuphar Lake provides ambient temperatures controlled solely by local meteorological conditions. Soil temperature is measured near Vixen Geyser. The system will permit land managers, scientists and the public to keep track of changes to the hydrothermal system, including geyser eruptions, periodic basin-wide disturbances, or fluid-release events that may accompany or follow seismic activity.

Development of Thermal Radiation Experiments Kit Based on Data Logger for Physics Learning Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Permana, H.; Iswanto, B. H.

2018-04-01

Thermal Radiation Experiments Kit (TREK) based on data logger for physics learning media was developed. TREK will be used as a learning medium on the subject of Temperature and Heat to explain the concept of emissivity of a material in grade XI so that it can add variations of experiments which are commonly done such as thermal expansion, transfer of thermal energy (conduction, convection, and radiation), and specific heat capacity. DHT11 sensor is used to measure temperature and microcontroller Arduino-uno used as data logger. The object tested are in the form of coated glass thin films and aluminum with different colors. TREK comes with a user manual and student worksheet (LKS) to make it easier for teachers and students to use. TREK was developed using the ADDIE Development Model (Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). And validated by experts, physics teachers, and students. Validation instrument is a questionnaire with a five-item Likert response scale with reviewed aspect coverage: appropriate content and concepts, design, and user friendly. The results showed that TREK was excellent (experts 88.13%, science teachers 95.68%, and students 85.77%).

VAB Temperature and Humidity Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lane, John E.; Youngquist, Robert C.; Muktarian, Edward; Nurge, Mark A.

2014-01-01

In 2012, 17 data loggers were placed in the VAB to measure temperature and humidity at 10-minute intervals over a one-year period. In 2013, the data loggers were replaced with an upgraded model and slight adjustments to their locations were made to reduce direct solar heating effects. The data acquired by the data loggers was compared to temperature data provided by three wind towers located around the building. It was found that the VAB acts as a large thermal filter, delaying and reducing the thermal oscillations occurring outside of the building. This filtering is typically more pronounced at higher locations in the building, probably because these locations have less thermal connection with the outside. We surmise that the lower elevations respond more to outside temperature variations because of air flow through the doors. Temperatures inside the VAB rarely exceed outdoor temperatures, only doing so when measurements are made directly on a surface with connection to the outside (such as a door or wall) or when solar radiation falls directly on the sensor. A thermal model is presented to yield approximate filter response times for various locations in the building. Appendix A contains historical thermal and humidity data from 1994 to 2009.

Zero-phase FIR filters: Blessing or curse?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherbaum, Frank

These are exciting times for observational seismology. State-of-the-art broadband seismometers now easily cover a frequency band of more than one hundred seconds to several tens of Hertz in a single sensor. Commonly available data loggers provide a dynamic range exceeding 120 dB. Ground motion amplitudes differing by more than 6 orders of magnitude can be simultaneously recorded without distortion.

Impact detection and analysis/health monitoring system for composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Child, James E.; Kumar, Amrita; Beard, Shawn; Qing, Peter; Paslay, Don G.

2006-05-01

This manuscript includes information from test evaluations and development of a smart event detection system for use in monitoring composite rocket motor cases for damaging impacts. The primary purpose of the system as a sentry for case impact event logging is accomplished through; implementation of a passive network of miniaturized piezoelectric sensors, logger with pre-determined force threshold levels, and analysis software. Empirical approaches to structural characterizations and network calibrations along with implementation techniques were successfully evaluated, testing was performed on both unloaded (less propellants) as well as loaded rocket motors with the cylindrical areas being of primary focus. The logged test impact data with known physical network parameters provided for impact location as well as force determination, typically within 3 inches of actual impact location using a 4 foot network grid and force accuracy within 25%of an actual impact force. The simplistic empirical characterization approach along with the robust / flexible sensor grids and battery operated portable logger show promise of a system that can increase confidence in composite integrity for both new assets progressing through manufacturing processes as well as existing assets that may be in storage or transportation.

Turning a $10 Computer into a Powerful DIY Data Logger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schilperoort, B.

2017-12-01

Due the rapid advance of consumer electronics, much more powerful and cheaper options are available for DIY projects. The $10 `Raspberry Pi Zero W' computer, with abilities like WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI video output, and a large cheap memory, can be used for data logging purposes. The computer has a range of input and output pins on the board, with which virtually every type of digital sensor communication is possible. With an extra component, analog measurements can also be made. An extra option is the addition of a camera, which can be connected straight to the board. However, due to the relatively high power consumption (0.5 - 0.7 Watt), the `Zero W' is not optimal for off-the-grid locations. For ease of use, the collected data can be downloaded over a local WiFi network using your smartphone or a laptop. No extra software or skills are needed, it is as simple as visiting a webpage and pressing download, making data collection a quick and easy task. With simple step by step instructions you can set up your own data logger, to collect data from sensors ranging from simple temperature and water level measurements, to sonic anemometers.

Development of software for geodynamic processes monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabanov, M. M.; Kapustin, S. N.; Gordeev, V. F.; Botygin, I. A.; Tartakovsky, V. A.

2017-11-01

This article justifies the usage of natural pulsed electromagnetic Earth's noises logging method for mapping anomalies of strain-stress state of Earth's crust. The methods and technologies for gathering, processing and systematization of data gathered by ground multi-channel geophysical loggers for monitoring geomagnetic situation have been experimentally tested, and software had been developed. The data was consolidated in a network storage and can be accessed without using any specialized client software. The article proposes ways to distinguish global and regional small-scale time-space variations of Earth's natural electromagnetic field. For research purposes, the software provides a way to export data for any given period of time for any loggers and displays measurement data charts for selected set of stations.

Fiber-Optic Chemical Sensors and Fiber-Optic Bio-Sensors.

PubMed

Pospíšilová, Marie; Kuncová, Gabriela; Trögl, Josef

2015-09-30

This review summarizes principles and current stage of development of fiber-optic chemical sensors (FOCS) and biosensors (FOBS). Fiber optic sensor (FOS) systems use the ability of optical fibers (OF) to guide the light in the spectral range from ultraviolet (UV) (180 nm) up to middle infrared (IR) (10 μm) and modulation of guided light by the parameters of the surrounding environment of the OF core. The introduction of OF in the sensor systems has brought advantages such as measurement in flammable and explosive environments, immunity to electrical noises, miniaturization, geometrical flexibility, measurement of small sample volumes, remote sensing in inaccessible sites or harsh environments and multi-sensing. The review comprises briefly the theory of OF elaborated for sensors, techniques of fabrications and analytical results reached with fiber-optic chemical and biological sensors.

Photonic crystal fiber heat sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twigg, S.; Coompson, J.; Colalillo, A.; Wynne, R.

2011-04-01

A sensing configuration based on commercially available triple-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for the image-based collection of thermal information is presented. Detection of thermal phenomena on the micro and nano scale is important for monitoring thermodynamic processes including cooling mechanisms for industry and basic research in both civil and mechanical systems. The thermal characteristics of the PCF combined with coupled-mode theory principles are used to construct a three core PCF with a 1-D core arrangement to simultaneously measure heat flux and temperature. The PCF sensor demonstrated high detection sensitivity (<1°C) and fast response times (<30μs), which is a significant improvement to current commercial standards. PCFs are specialty optical fibers that contain carefully spaced micronsized cavities that provide extraordinary waveguide characteristics not demonstrated by standard optical fiber. The three core PCF has a core diameter of 3.9μm, outer diameter of 132.5μm and varied inter core spacing. A single mode fiber is fusion spliced with the multi-core PCF such that the optical field is confined and launched into the PCF core. The output end of the fiber is inspected and imaged with a CCD camera. A 25mm section of the PCF is surrounded by a guarded hotplate configuration to control the thermal conditions for sensor characterization. Evanescent wave coupling occurs whereby power is transferred from the central core to a neighboring core. Minimum detection sensitivities of 0.2 °C were recorded. Theoretical sensitivities on the order of 10-2 °C are possible. Experimental results were in agreement with coupled-mode theoretical results.

Acquisition of Ice-Tethered Profilers with Velocity (ITP-V) Instruments for Future Arctic Studies

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-15

instrument that measures sea water temperature and salinity versus depth, the ITP-V adds a multi-axis acoustic -travel-time current meter and...housing capped by an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene dome. The electronics case sits within a foam body designed to provide buoyancy for...then transmits them by satellite to a logger computer at WHO I. The ITP-V instruments add a multi-axis acoustic -travel-time current meter and

Energy Efficient Image/Video Data Transmission on Commercial Multi-Core Processors

PubMed Central

Lee, Sungju; Kim, Heegon; Chung, Yongwha; Park, Daihee

2012-01-01

In transmitting image/video data over Video Sensor Networks (VSNs), energy consumption must be minimized while maintaining high image/video quality. Although image/video compression is well known for its efficiency and usefulness in VSNs, the excessive costs associated with encoding computation and complexity still hinder its adoption for practical use. However, it is anticipated that high-performance handheld multi-core devices will be used as VSN processing nodes in the near future. In this paper, we propose a way to improve the energy efficiency of image and video compression with multi-core processors while maintaining the image/video quality. We improve the compression efficiency at the algorithmic level or derive the optimal parameters for the combination of a machine and compression based on the tradeoff between the energy consumption and the image/video quality. Based on experimental results, we confirm that the proposed approach can improve the energy efficiency of the straightforward approach by a factor of 2∼5 without compromising image/video quality. PMID:23202181

Femtosecond laser processing of optical fibres for novel sensor development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalli, Kyriacos; Theodosiou, Antreas; Ioannou, Andreas; Lacraz, Amedee

2017-04-01

We present results of recent research where we have utilized a femtosecond laser to micro-structure silica and polymer optical fibres in order to realize versatile optical components such as diffractive optical elements on the fibre end face, the inscription of integrated waveguide circuits in the fibre cladding and novel optical fibre sensors designs based on Bragg gratings in the core. A major hurdle in tailoring or modifying the properties of optical fibres is the development of an inscription method that can prove to be a flexible and reliable process that is generally applicable to all optical fibre types; this requires careful matching of the laser parameters and optics in order to examine the spatial limits of direct laser writing, whether the application is structuring at the surface of the optical fibre or inscription in the core and cladding of the fibre. We demonstrate a variety of optical components such as two-dimensional grating structures, Bessel, Airy and vortex beam generators; moreover, optical bridging waveguides inscribed in the cladding of single-mode fibre as a means to selectively couple light from single-core to multi-core optical fibres, and demonstrate a grating based sensor; finally, we have developed a novel femtosecond laser inscription method for the precise inscription of tailored Bragg grating sensors in silica and polymer optical fibres. We also show that this novel fibre Bragg grating inscription technique can be used to modify and add versatility to an existing, encapsulated optical fibre pressure sensor.

Paleogeography and paleoenvironments of southwestern Baffin Island (Nunavut, Canada): post-glacial isostatic uplift and isolation of Nettilling Lake from marine influence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narancic, Biljana; Pienitz, Reinhard; Francus, Pierre; Rolland, Nicolas; Wagner, Anne-Marie

2013-04-01

Although signs of recent climate change are more compelling in circumpolar regions, we have limited knowledge of Arctic climates and environments and their past variability. In order to better understand and anticipate the extent and nature of future changes in the Arctic, it is necessary to increase our capacity to model past environmental changes. Instrumental monitoring using high technology in polar regions has been implemented only over recent decades (Pienitz et al., 2004). Hence, to extend in time the climate record, we use a multi-proxy paleolimnological approach to study the sedimentary records preserved in Nettilling Lake located on Baffin Island the largest lake in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Nettilling Lake has an area of 5.541 km2 and a maximum depth of 65 m (Oliver, 1964). Its basin has undergone postglacial marine invasion following the last deglaciation due to isostatic subsidence exerted by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The glacio-isostatic uplift of the region resulted in the establishment of a freshwater lake around 5000 years BP (Jacobs et al., 1997). Nettilling Lake remains a scientific frontier for researchers, mainly due to the inaccessibility of the area and the lack of available data. To date, only one exploratory study by Oliver (1964) has focused on the limnological conditions and bathymetry of the lake, and our research aims at providing deeper insights into the history of paleoenvironmental changes in this remote Arctic region. Biostratigraphical and geochemical analyses were completed on two sediment cores, one from a lagoonal system in the northwestern part of Nettilling Lake and another from the eastern part of the Lake. The sediment cores from the lagoonal system clearly document the marine-lacustrine transition through shifts in paleosalinity inferred from the composition of fossil diatom assemblages. Fossil chironomid larvae first appeared in the record after basin isolation and the establishment of freshwater conditions. Precise radiometric dating of the isolation contacts helps refine regional glacio-isostatic rebound and the duration and extent of the postglacial Tyrrell Sea marine phase. Post-glacial marine regression and the associated changes in paleosalinity are also reflected in the sediment core sedimentology and geochemistry analysed using a Multi Sensor Core Logger and a microfluorescence scanner. Jacobs J. D., Headley A. N., Maus L. A., Mode W. N. et Simms E. L., 1997. Climate and vegetation of the interior lowlands of southern Baffin Island : long-term stability at the low artic limit. Arctic 50 (2) : 167-177. Oliver D. R., 1964. A limnological investigation of a large Arctic lake, Nettilling lake, Baffin island. Papers University of Calgary 17 : 69-83. Pienitz R., Douglas M. S. V. et Smol P. J., 2004 Paleolimnological research in polar regions : An introduction. In : Pienitz R., Douglas M. S. V., Smol P. J. (Eds) Long- term environmental change in Arctic and Antarctic lakes. Springer, Dordrecht, 562 p.

Does detection range matter for inferring social networks in a benthic shark using acoustic telemetry?

PubMed Central

Bass, Nathan Charles; Guttridge, Tristan L.; Day, Joanna; Brown, Culum

2017-01-01

Accurately estimating contacts between animals can be critical in ecological studies such as examining social structure, predator–prey interactions or transmission of information and disease. While biotelemetry has been used successfully for such studies in terrestrial systems, it is still under development in the aquatic environment. Acoustic telemetry represents an attractive tool to investigate spatio-temporal behaviour of marine fish and has recently been suggested for monitoring underwater animal interactions. To evaluate the effectiveness of acoustic telemetry in recording interindividual contacts, we compared co-occurrence matrices deduced from three types of acoustic receivers varying in detection range in a benthic shark species. Our results demonstrate that (i) associations produced by acoustic receivers with a large detection range (i.e. Vemco VR2W) were significantly different from those produced by receivers with smaller ranges (i.e. Sonotronics miniSUR receivers and proximity loggers) and (ii) the position of individuals within their network, or centrality, also differed. These findings suggest that acoustic receivers with a large detection range may not be the best option to represent true social networks in the case of a benthic marine animal. While acoustic receivers are increasingly used by marine ecologists, we recommend users first evaluate the influence of detection range to depict accurate individual interactions before using these receivers for social or predator–prey studies. We also advocate for combining multiple receiver types depending on the ecological question being asked and the development of multi-sensor tags or testing of new automated proximity loggers, such as the Encounternet system, to improve the precision and accuracy of social and predator–prey interaction studies. PMID:28989756

A study of bending effect on the femtosecond-pulse inscribed fiber Bragg gratings in a dual-core fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakushin, Sergey S.; Wolf, Alexey A.; Dostovalov, Alexandr V.; Skvortsov, Mikhail I.; Wabnitz, Stefan; Babin, Sergey A.

2018-07-01

Fiber Bragg gratings with different reflection wavelengths have been inscribed in different cores of a dual-core fiber section. The effect of fiber bending on the FBG reflection spectra has been studied. Various interrogation schemes are presented, including a single-end scheme based on a cross-talk between the cores that uses only standard optical components. Simultaneous interrogation of the FBGs in both cores allows to achieve a bending sensitivity of 12.8 pm/m-1, being free of temperature and strain influence. The technology enables the development of real-time bending sensors with high spatial resolution based on series of FBGs with different wavelength inscribed along the multi-core fiber.

Fuzzy Fiber Sensors for Structural Composite Health Monitoring (Preprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

regions of interest in order to detect damage. Should damage occur at other unanticipated regions, it may go undetected. Methods have been devised...Additional graphene tubes around the core of a SWCNT lead to multi-walled carbon nanotubes ( MWCNTs ). These CNTs have diameters in a range between one

Climatic summaries and documentation for the primary meteorological station, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, 1972 To 1984.

Treesearch

Frederick A. Bierlmaler; Arthur McKee

1989-01-01

This report describes the primary meteorological station at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (elev. 426 m, lat. 44°15' N., long. 122°10' W.) in the Willamette National Forest, the automatic digital data logger, sensors, and data-processing procedures used in measuring air temperature, dewpoint temperature, windspeed, precipitation, and solar radiation....

The Use of Microcomputer Based Laboratories in Chemistry Secondary Education: Present State of the Art and Ideas for Research-Based Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tortosa, Montserrat

2012-01-01

In microcomputer based laboratories (MBL) and data loggers, one or more sensors are connected to an interphase and this to a computer. This equipment allows visualization in real time of the variables of an experiment and provides the possibility of measuring magnitudes which are difficult to measure with traditional equipment. Research shows that…

Role of the wireless thermologger system in the management of the autoclave unequipped with sensor ports.

PubMed

Uetera, Yushi; Shigematsu, Hiroshi; Baba, Zenzou; Kumada, Naohito; Kawamura, Kunio

2003-01-01

Recently, the wireless thermologger system was developed. It consists of a wireless logger and the attached computer system. The wireless logger has a wireless structure and can be placed anywhere in the sterilizer chamber for thermometry. In the present study, thermal evaluations were performed twice using the wireless thermologger system in the sterilizer chamber of the prevacuum autoclave unequipped with sensor ports when it failed to pass the Bowie-Dick test and underwent mechanical repairs. Thermometry was performed when the Bowie-Dick test cycle was operated. The heat up time was measured in the range of 120.0-134.0 degrees C. The F0 value was calculated with the reference temperature at 121.0 degrees C and Z value at 10 degrees C when the sterilization temperature was over 120.0 degrees C. The first thermal evaluation was performed after three air-leaking points were repaired along with the replacement of the vacuum pump and the thermosensor. It revealed that the heat-up time was 4 min and 42 s and the F0 value was 137.5. After the temperature control systems were adjusted using the process calibrator in the prevacuum autoclave, the second thermal evaluation revealed that the heat up time was 2 mins 1 s and the F0 value was 102.7. The present study suggests that the wireless thermologger system is useful in the management of the autoclave unequipped with sensor ports when it undergoes mechanical repairs.

Fiber-Optic Chemical Sensors and Fiber-Optic Bio-Sensors

PubMed Central

Pospíšilová, Marie; Kuncová, Gabriela; Trögl, Josef

2015-01-01

This review summarizes principles and current stage of development of fiber-optic chemical sensors (FOCS) and biosensors (FOBS). Fiber optic sensor (FOS) systems use the ability of optical fibers (OF) to guide the light in the spectral range from ultraviolet (UV) (180 nm) up to middle infrared (IR) (10 µm) and modulation of guided light by the parameters of the surrounding environment of the OF core. The introduction of OF in the sensor systems has brought advantages such as measurement in flammable and explosive environments, immunity to electrical noises, miniaturization, geometrical flexibility, measurement of small sample volumes, remote sensing in inaccessible sites or harsh environments and multi-sensing. The review comprises briefly the theory of OF elaborated for sensors, techniques of fabrications and analytical results reached with fiber-optic chemical and biological sensors. PMID:26437407

Development and implementation of the software for visualization and analysis of data geophysical loggers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordeev, V. F.; Malyshkov, S. Yu.; Botygin, I. A.; Sherstnev, V. S.; Sherstneva, A. I.

2017-11-01

The general trend of modern ecological geophysics is changing priorities towards rapid assessment, management and prediction of ecological and engineering soil stability as well as developing brand new geophysical technologies. The article describes researches conducted by using multi-canal geophysical logger MGR-01 (developed by IMCES SB RAS), which allows to measure flux density of very low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. It is shown that natural pulsed electromagnetic fields of the earthen lithosphere can be a source of new information on Earth's crust and processes in it, including earthquakes. The device is intended for logging electromagnetic processes in Earth's crust, geophysical exploration, finding structural and lithological inhomogeneities, monitoring the geodynamic movement of Earth's crust, express assessment of seismic hazards. The data is gathered automatically from observation point network in Siberia

How do different data logger sizes and attachment positions affect the diving behaviour of little penguins?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ropert-Coudert, Yan; Knott, Nathan; Chiaradia, André; Kato, Akiko

2007-02-01

It is crucial in any bio-logging study to establish the potential effect that attachment of loggers may have on the animal. This ensures that the behaviour monitored by the loggers has a biological relevance, as well as for ethical reasons. Evaluation of the effects of externally attached loggers shows that they increase the drag of swimming animals and increase their energy expenditure. Nevertheless, little research has been done on the effects of size or position of such loggers. In this study, we tested whether the size (i.e. large: 4.9% versus small: 3.4% of the bird's frontal area) or the place of attachment (middle versus lower back) affected the diving behaviour of male and female little penguins ( Eudyptula minor). The positioning of the data logger on the middle or lower section of little penguins' back had little, if no effect, on the diving variables measured in this study. Size of the loggers, however, had strong effects. Birds with large loggers made shorter dives and reached shallower depths than those with small loggers. In addition, birds with large loggers made more dives probably to compensate for the extra cost of carrying a large logger. The measured variables also differed between the sexes, with males diving deeper and longer than females. Logger size had a sex-specific effect on the trip duration and descent speed, with males equipped with large loggers staying longer at sea than those with small loggers, and females with large loggers descending faster than those with small loggers. From our results, it appears that effects of logger position do not exist or are very small in comparison with the effects of logger size. The results of the current study indicate that the effects of size of loggers be evaluated more commonly in bio-logging research into the diving activity of free-ranging birds.

LIBS data analysis using a predictor-corrector based digital signal processor algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, Alex; Griffin, Steven T.; Robinson, Aaron

2012-06-01

There are many accepted sensor technologies for generating spectra for material classification. Once the spectra are generated, communication bandwidth limitations favor local material classification with its attendant reduction in data transfer rates and power consumption. Transferring sensor technologies such as Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) require effective material classifiers. A result of recent efforts has been emphasis on Partial Least Squares - Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and Principle Component Analysis (PCA). Implementation of these via general purpose computers is difficult in small portable sensor configurations. This paper addresses the creation of a low mass, low power, robust hardware spectra classifier for a limited set of predetermined materials in an atmospheric matrix. Crucial to this is the incorporation of PCA or PLS-DA classifiers into a predictor-corrector style implementation. The system configuration guarantees rapid convergence. Software running on multi-core Digital Signal Processor (DSPs) simulates a stream-lined plasma physics model estimator, reducing Analog-to-Digital (ADC) power requirements. This paper presents the results of a predictorcorrector model implemented on a low power multi-core DSP to perform substance classification. This configuration emphasizes the hardware system and software design via a predictor corrector model that simultaneously decreases the sample rate while performing the classification.

Gypsy moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) flight behavior and phenology based on field-deployed automated pheromone-baited traps

Treesearch

Patrick C. Tobin; Kenneth T. Klein; Donna S. Leonard

2009-01-01

Populations of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), are extensively monitored in the United States through the use of pheromone-baited traps.We report on use of automated pheromone-baited traps that use a recording sensor and data logger to record the unique date-time stamp of males as they enter the trap.We deployed a total of 352 automated traps...

The Wettzell System Monitoring Concept and First Realizations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ettl, Martin; Neidhardt, Alexander; Muehlbauer, Matthias; Ploetz, Christian; Beaudoin, Christopher

2010-01-01

Automated monitoring of operational system parameters for the geodetic space techniques is becoming more important in order to improve the geodetic data and to ensure the safety and stability of automatic and remote-controlled observations. Therefore, the Wettzell group has developed the system monitoring software, SysMon, which is based on a reliable, remotely-controllable hardware/software realization. A multi-layered data logging system based on a fanless, robust industrial PC with an internal database system is used to collect data from several external, serial, bus, or PCI-based sensors. The internal communication is realized with Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) and uses generative programming with the interface software generator idl2rpc.pl developed at Wettzell. Each data monitoring stream can be configured individually via configuration files to define the logging rates or analog-digital-conversion parameters. First realizations are currently installed at the new laser ranging system at Wettzell to address safety issues and at the VLBI station O Higgins as a meteorological data logger. The system monitoring concept should be realized for the Wettzell radio telescope in the near future.

3D anatomy of Heinrich Layer 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Rooij, D.; Zaazi, N.; Fagel, N.; Boone, M.; Cnudde, V.; Dewanckele, J.; Pirlet, H.; Rohl, U.; Blamart, D.; Henriet, J.-P.; Jacobs, P.; Houbrechts, H.; Duyck, P.; Swennen, R.

2009-04-01

Heinrich Layers are found in the North Atlantic Ocean as well-constrained markers of catastrophic iceberg surges from the Pan-Atlantic ice sheets during the last glacial cycle. Their physical and geochemical characteristics allow for relatively fast diagnostics using the state-of-the-art core scanners such as a Multi-Sensor Core Logger and an XRF core scanner. The nature of these characteristics are predominantly due to the source sediments of the ice-rafted debris (IRD) on the one hand (magnetic susceptibility, color, carbonate content) and the response of the palaeo-environment on the other hand (carbonate content, foraminiferal assemblage). However, changes in (gamma) bulk density of the sediment within a Heinrich Layer cannot solely be explained due to the higher content of IRD. Sediment cores in the Porcupine Seabight (West off Ireland) have shown the presence of Heinrich Events without the diagnostic changes in magnetic susceptibility (MS), suggesting a more drastic change in oceanography which could cause widespread diagenesis on the seabed during Heinrich Events. In order to better understand the physical behavior of a Heinrich Layer, 2 cores were studied taken from the northern Porcupine Seabight by R/V Marion Dufresne campaign MD123 in September 2001. More specifically HL2 was studied since it carries the most typical HL signature. The main anatomical information, with a resolution of 0.5 mm, was obtained by means of medical computed tomography of half-core sections of 50 cm length from the Ghent University Hospital. This information was used for detailed sampling for mineralogy, grainsize measurements and palaeoenvironmental analyses. On one core section, XRF core scanning was performed at a 0.5 cm interval. Higher-resolution information was obtained from five 8 cc subsamples which underwent µCT scanning and cold-cathode luminescence microscopy. The results of this unique approach show a rather surprising 3D view of a Heinrich Layer. As expected, the concentration of ice-rafted debris (commonly referred to as the fraction > 150 µm) increases towards the culmination of HL2, marked by an increase in MS, XRF Ca and the percentage of N. pachyderma s. However, the zone where the density increases is marked by a cloud of fine and highly dense particles surrounding the IRD. It seems as if the fine clayey "background" matrix throughout the core consolidates near the centre of HL2. The same feature has been observed within the µCT samples, where the cold-cathode luminescence microscopy has indicated the presence of zoned dolomites. These dolomites might be the result of a diagenetic process that might explain the elevated density. Moreover, the mineralogical analyses show for a predominant volcanic source for the magnetic susceptibility. Contrastingly, both XRF Fe and Ti show significant decreases near the HL culmination, which calls again for diagenetic alteration of the sediment during or just after the Heinrich Event. At this stage of the research, the mechanisms of these diagenetic processes remain unclear. Nevertheless, these results call for a wider view on the depositional processes of Heinrich Layers and their impact upon the seabed geochemistry.

End-To-End performance test of the LINC-NIRVANA Wavefront-Sensor system.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berwein, Juergen; Bertram, Thomas; Conrad, Al; Briegel, Florian; Kittmann, Frank; Zhang, Xiangyu; Mohr, Lars

2011-09-01

LINC-NIRVANA is an imaging Fizeau interferometer, for use in near infrared wavelengths, being built for the Large Binocular Telescope. Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) increases the sky coverage and the field of view over which diffraction limited images can be obtained. For its MCAO implementation, Linc-Nirvana utilizes four total wavefront sensors; each of the two beams is corrected by both a ground-layer wavefront sensor (GWS) and a high-layer wavefront sensor (HWS). The GWS controls the adaptive secondary deformable mirror (DM), which is based on an DSP slope computing unit. Whereas the HWS controls an internal DM via computations provided by an off-the-shelf multi-core Linux system. Using wavefront sensor data collected from a prior lab experiment, we have shown via simulation that the Linux based system is sufficient to operate at 1kHz, with jitter well below the needs of the final system. Based on that setup we tested the end-to-end performance and latency through all parts of the system which includes the camera, the wavefront controller, and the deformable mirror. We will present our loop control structure and the results of those performance tests.

Physiological Monitoring in Diving Mammals

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

obtain the required 70 MHz sine wave, we instead created a 10 MHz rectangle pulse wave and used a 70 MHz band pass filter (KR electronics 2657 sma) to...animals (Table 1) were sedated on the beach and transported to Long Marine Laboratory where the data logger was attached and the oximeter sensor...implanted under injectable sedation. In addition, the implantation procedure of the oximeter was assessed and we carefully noted any indications of trauma

Development of a Lightweight, Portable, Minimally-Invasive Sensor for the Multi-Site Determination and Quantitation of Physiologic Lactate. Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-10-01

P13. IS THIS PUNCTUATION CORRECT? (.01 mm diameter polyimide ) 304 stainless steel core single strand wire over which a sheath of conductive plastic...atmospheric to 500 torr 02 Dimensions 0.38 mm Shelf Life Not studied Leachable Chemicals None Biocompatibility In whole blood for 10 hours

System approach to distributed sensor management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayott, Gregory; Miller, Gordon; Harrell, John; Hepp, Jared; Self, Mid

2010-04-01

Since 2003, the US Army's RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision Electronic Sensor Directorate (NVESD) has been developing a distributed Sensor Management System (SMS) that utilizes a framework which demonstrates application layer, net-centric sensor management. The core principles of the design support distributed and dynamic discovery of sensing devices and processes through a multi-layered implementation. This results in a sensor management layer that acts as a System with defined interfaces for which the characteristics, parameters, and behaviors can be described. Within the framework, the definition of a protocol is required to establish the rules for how distributed sensors should operate. The protocol defines the behaviors, capabilities, and message structures needed to operate within the functional design boundaries. The protocol definition addresses the requirements for a device (sensors or processes) to dynamically join or leave a sensor network, dynamically describe device control and data capabilities, and allow dynamic addressing of publish and subscribe functionality. The message structure is a multi-tiered definition that identifies standard, extended, and payload representations that are specifically designed to accommodate the need for standard representations of common functions, while supporting the need for feature-based functions that are typically vendor specific. The dynamic qualities of the protocol enable a User GUI application the flexibility of mapping widget-level controls to each device based on reported capabilities in real-time. The SMS approach is designed to accommodate scalability and flexibility within a defined architecture. The distributed sensor management framework and its application to a tactical sensor network will be described in this paper.

Long-term flow monitoring of submarine gas emanations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spickenbom, K.; Faber, E.; Poggenburg, J.; Seeger, C.

2009-04-01

One of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) strategies currently under study is the sequestration of CO2 in sub-seabed geological formations. Even after a thorough review of the geological setting, there is the possibility of leaks from the reservoirs. As part of the EU-financed project CO2ReMoVe (Research, Monitoring, Verification), which aims to develop innovative research and technologies for monitoring and verification of carbon dioxide geological storage, we are working on the development of submarine long-term gas flow monitoring systems. Technically, however, these systems are not limited to CO2 but can be used for monitoring of any free gas emission (bubbles) on the seafloor. The basic design of the gas flow sensor system was derived from former prototypes developed for monitoring CO2 and CH4 on mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan. This design was composed of a raft floating on the surface above the gas vent to collect the bubbles. Sensors for CO2 flux and concentration and electronics for data storage and transmission were mounted on the raft, together with battery-buffered solar panels for power supply. The system was modified for installation in open sea by using a buoy instead of a raft and a funnel on the seafloor to collect the gas, which is then guided above water level through a flexible tube. Besides some technical problems (condensed water in the tube, movement of the buoys due to waves leading to biased measurement of flow rates), this setup provides a cost-effective solution for shallow waters. However, a buoy interferes with ship traffic, and it is also difficult to adapt this design to greater water depths. These requirements can best be complied by a completely submersed system. To allow unattended long-term monitoring in a submarine environment, such a system has to be extremely durable. Therefore, we focussed on developing a mechanically and electrically as simple setup as possible, which has the additional advantage of low cost. The system consists of gas collector, sensor head and pressure housing for electronics and power supply. The collector is a plastic funnel, enclosed in a stainless-steel frame to add weight and stability. The whole unit is fixed to the sediment by nails or sediment screws. The sensor head is equipped with an "inverted tipping-bucket" sensor, which basically works like a turned upside-down rain gauge. It fills with the collected gas until full, then empties completely and starts again, which allows the calculation of the flow rate by container volume and frequency of the cycle. This sensor type is very robust due to a design nearly without moving parts and suitable for very low to medium flow rates. For higher flow rates different sensor heads using turbine wheels or pressure differences can be used. The pressure housing for this prototype is made of aluminium and contains a Hobo Pendant data logger with integrated battery supply. Since this setup is inexpensive, it can be deployed in numbers to cover larger areas. By addition of multi-channel data loggers, data transmission by acoustic modem or cable, relay stations on the seafloor or buoys etc. the infrastructure can be adapted to the environmental setting and financial budget. Prototype tests under laboratory conditions as well as field tests on natural submarine gas vents as an analogue to leaking storage sites have demonstrated the capabilities and robustness of the systems.

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.; Vernon, E.; Pinelli, D.; Dooryhee, E.; Ghose, S.; Caswell, T.; Siddons, D. P.; Miceli, A.; Baldwin, J.; Almer, J.; Okasinski, J.; Quaranta, O.; Woods, R.; Krings, T.; Stock, S.

2018-04-01

We have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. We will discuss the technical details of the systems, and present some of the results from them.

Sensor-agnostic photogrammetric image registration with applications to population modeling

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

White, Devin A; Moehl, Jessica J

2016-01-01

Photogrammetric registration of airborne and spaceborne imagery is a crucial prerequisite to many data fusion tasks. While embedded sensor models provide a rough geolocation estimate, these metadata may be incomplete or imprecise. Manual solutions are appropriate for small-scale projects, but for rapid streams of cross-modal, multi-sensor, multi-temporal imagery with varying metadata standards, an automated approach is required. We present a high-performance image registration workflow to address this need. This paper outlines the core development concepts and demonstrates its utility with respect to the 2016 data fusion contest imagery. In particular, Iris ultra-HD video is georeferenced to the Earth surface viamore » registration to DEIMOS-2 imagery, which serves as a trusted control source. Geolocation provides opportunity to augment the video with spatial context, stereo-derived disparity, spectral sensitivity, change detection, and numerous ancillary geospatial layers. We conclude by leveraging these derivative data layers towards one such fusion application: population distribution modeling.« less

Lake Biel Holocene sediment record before and after the Aare river deviation (1878 AD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeannet, Alice; Corella, Juan Pablo; Kremer, Katrina; Girardclos, Stéphanie

2014-05-01

Lake sediments are excellent archives of environmental and climate changes as well as human impact on lake- and river-systems. Lake Biel is a medium-sized peri-alpine lake in Switzerland, with a maximum depth of 74 m, and lies at an altitude of 429 m a.s.l. Lake Biel, which formed during the Pleistocene by glacial erosion, is part of the Aare river system. Our study focuses on the south-west part of the lake basin where the lake sedimentation was originally (i.e. naturally) mainly controlled by autochthonous sedimentation. This area is currently under a strong influence of water and sediment input from this river catchment since the Aare river deviation through the Hagneck canal in 1878. A 10.05 m long composite sediment sequence, cored from a 52 m water depth in September 2011, was built from two long cores retrieved with the ETH Zurich/Eawag Uwitec system. A radiocarbon age model indicates that the retrieved sedimentary sequence spans the last 7500 years. The upper sediments were correlated to previous short core radionuclide stratigraphy for the 1.5 m upper part (Thevenon et al., 2013). Magnetic susceptibility and density were measured by Geotek MultiSensor Core Logger at 0.5 cm resolution. Granulometry was measured with a CILAS grain sizer every 10 cm, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was carried out using an Avaatech core scanner at 1-cm resolution. This technique provides semi-quantitative information of the sediment elemental composition and shows how runoff and river input (Ti, Al, Si) or redox conditions (Fe/Mn) vary through time. Lake Biel sediment record suggests marked environmental changes with runoff decrease linked to climate and vegetation change during Atlantic chronobiozone, as well as a complex climate-human impact during the 'La Tène' and Roman cultural times. The most prominent recorded feature is the 10-times increase of sediment rate that occurred after the Aare river deviation through the Hagneck canal into Lake Biel in 1878. This artificial new river input is also linked to a massive and sudden Ti increase, and inversely abrupt Ca decrease in XRF data. This record reveals the significant alteration in the sediment dynamics, and the lake oxygenation changes that the lake experienced when it shifted from a relatively closed basin to a river and delta-influenced basin. Thank you to Flavio S. Anselmetti, Christine Guido and Frédéric Arlaud for help coring on the field and Stefanie Wirth for help at Limnogeology Laboratory. This study, undertaken as a Master thesis, was financed by the Swiss National Foundation projects 121666 and 146889. Reference Thevenon F. et al. 2013. Human impact on the transport of terrigenous and anthropogenic elements to peri-alpine lakes (Switzerland) over the last decades. Aquatic Sciences 75: 413-424.

Laguna Potrok Aike, Argentina: the first non-tropical environmental record in South America extending far beyond the Late-Glacial - a progress report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zolitschka, B.; Anselmetti, F.; Ariztegui, D.; Corbella, H.; Francus, P.; Gebhardt, C.; Lücke, A.; Ohlendorf, C.; Schäbitz, F.; Pasado Science Team

2009-04-01

Within the framework of the ICDP-funded "Potrok Aike maar lake sediment archive drilling project" (PASADO) an international team of scientists carried out interdisciplinary research at the unique mid-Pleistocene (770 ka) maar lake of Laguna Potrok Aike in southern Patagonia (Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina). This lake is very sensitive to variations in southern hemispheric wind and pressure systems and thus holds a unique and continuous lacustrine record of climatic and ecological variability of global significance. Moreover, Southern Patagonia with its many active volcanoes is an ideal location to better understand the regional history of volcanism. These are two challenging geo-scientific themes that need to be tackled, especially as both of them have an increasing socio-economic relevance. Three months of drilling activities that finished last November 2008 were carried out by DOSECC from the drilling platform R/V "Kerry Kelts". More than 500 m of lacustrine sediments were recovered. This sedimentary archive will provide (1) new insights into the processes of regional back arc volcanism within the Pali Aike Volcanic Field itself as well as the more distant explosive volcanism of the Andean mountain chains; and, (2) high-resolution (decadal) quantitative climate and environmental reconstructions supported by multiple dating and stratigraphic correlations. Marine - ice core - terrestrial linkages will be emphasized as well as the incorporation of results from global climate modelling simulations for the last ca. 100 ka. The two drilled sites in the central deep basin of Laguna Potrok Aike have been selected based on four seismic surveys carried out between 2003 and 2005. Sediments were recovered at both drilled sites down to a subbottom depth of slightly more than 100 m using the GLAD800 drill rig with the hydraulic piston corer tool (HPC) at water depths varying between 95 and 100 m. The total core recovery is 94%. On-site core logging with the multi sensor core logger (MSCL) documents an excellent correlation between the four recovered holes drilled at Site 1 as well as with the three holes obtained from Site 2 which is located ca. 700 m south of Site 1. Additionally, a variety of sedimentological, physical and geochemical analyses were carried out on the core catcher samples in the field laboratory. Preliminary interpretation of all data that is available before core opening indicates that the record may go back in time as far as to the ending of oxygen isotope stage 5. Acknowledgements This research is supported by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) in the framework of the "Potrok Aike Maar Lake Sediment Archive Drilling Project" (PASADO). Funding was provided by the ICDP, the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Swedish Vetenskapsradet (VR) and the University of Bremen.

Development of an extensible dual-core wireless sensing node for cyber-physical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kane, Michael; Zhu, Dapeng; Hirose, Mitsuhito; Dong, Xinjun; Winter, Benjamin; Häckell, Mortiz; Lynch, Jerome P.; Wang, Yang; Swartz, A.

2014-04-01

The introduction of wireless telemetry into the design of monitoring and control systems has been shown to reduce system costs while simplifying installations. To date, wireless nodes proposed for sensing and actuation in cyberphysical systems have been designed using microcontrollers with one computational pipeline (i.e., single-core microcontrollers). While concurrent code execution can be implemented on single-core microcontrollers, concurrency is emulated by splitting the pipeline's resources to support multiple threads of code execution. For many applications, this approach to multi-threading is acceptable in terms of speed and function. However, some applications such as feedback controls demand deterministic timing of code execution and maximum computational throughput. For these applications, the adoption of multi-core processor architectures represents one effective solution. Multi-core microcontrollers have multiple computational pipelines that can execute embedded code in parallel and can be interrupted independent of one another. In this study, a new wireless platform named Martlet is introduced with a dual-core microcontroller adopted in its design. The dual-core microcontroller design allows Martlet to dedicate one core to standard wireless sensor operations while the other core is reserved for embedded data processing and real-time feedback control law execution. Another distinct feature of Martlet is a standardized hardware interface that allows specialized daughter boards (termed wing boards) to be interfaced to the Martlet baseboard. This extensibility opens opportunity to encapsulate specialized sensing and actuation functions in a wing board without altering the design of Martlet. In addition to describing the design of Martlet, a few example wings are detailed, along with experiments showing the Martlet's ability to monitor and control physical systems such as wind turbines and buildings.

Fiber optic oxygen sensor leak detection system for space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazemi, Alex A.; Goswami, Kish; Mendoza, Edgar A.; Kempen, Lothar U.

2007-09-01

This paper describes the successful test of a multi-point fiber optic oxygen sensor system during the static firing of an Evolved Expandable Launch Vehicle (EELV)/Delta IV common booster core (CBC) rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Flight Center. The system consisted of microsensors (optrodes) using an oxygen gas sensitive indicator incorporated onto an optically transparent porous substrate. The modular optoelectronics and multiplexing network system was designed and assembled utilizing a multi-channel opto-electronic sensor readout unit that monitored the oxygen and temperature response of the individual optrodes in real-time and communicated this information via a serial communication port to a remote laptop computer. The sensor packaging for oxygen consisted of two optrodes - one doped with an indicator sensitive to oxygen, and the other doped with an indicator sensitive to temperature. The multichannel oxygen sensor system is fully reversible. It has demonstrated a dynamic response to oxygen gas in the range of 0% to 100% with 0.1% resolution and a response time of <=10 seconds. The sensor package was attached to a custom fiber optic ribbon cable, which was then connected to a fiber optic trunk communications cable (standard telecommunications-grade fiber) that connected to the optoelectronics module. Each board in the expandable module included light sources, photo-detectors, and associated electronics required for detecting oxygen and temperature. The paper illustrates the sensor design and performance data under field deployment conditions.

A Multi-D-Shaped Optical Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing

PubMed Central

Chen, Chien-Hsing; Tsao, Tzu-Chein; Tang, Jaw-Luen; Wu, Wei-Te

2010-01-01

A novel class of multi-D-shaped optical fiber suited for refractive index measurements is presented. The multi-D-shaped optical fiber was constructed by forming several D-sections in a multimode optical fiber at localized regions with femtosecond laser pulses. The total number of D-shaped zones fabricated could range from three to seven. Each D-shaped zone covered a sensor volume of 100 μm depth, 250 μm width, and 1 mm length. The mean roughness of the core surface obtained by the AFM images was 231.7 nm, which is relatively smooth. Results of the tensile test indicated that the fibers have sufficient mechanical strength to resist damage from further processing. The multi-D-shaped optical fiber as a high sensitive refractive-index sensor to detect changes in the surrounding refractive index was studied. The results for different concentrations of sucrose solution show that a resolution of 1.27 × 10−3–3.13 × 10−4 RIU is achieved for refractive indices in the range of 1.333 to 1.403, suggesting that the multi-D-shaped fibers are attractive for chemical, biological, and biochemical sensing with aqueous solutions. PMID:22399908

SBIR Phase II Final Report: Low cost Autonomous NMR and Multi-sensor Soil Monitoring Instrument

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

Walsh, David O.

In this 32-month SBIR Phase 2 program, Vista Clara designed, assembled and successfully tested four new NMR instruments for soil moisture measurement and monitoring: An enhanced performance man-portable Dart NMR logging probe and control unit for rapid, mobile measurement in core holes and 2” PVC access wells; A prototype 4-level Dart NMR monitoring probe and prototype multi-sensor soil monitoring control unit for long-term unattended monitoring of soil moisture and other measurements in-situ; A non-invasive 1m x 1m Discus NMR soil moisture sensor with surface based magnet/coil array for rapid measurement of soil moisture in the top 50 cm of themore » subsurface; A non-invasive, ultra-lightweight Earth’s field surface NMR instrument for non-invasive measurement and mapping of soil moisture in the top 3 meters of the subsurface. The Phase 2 research and development achieved most, but not all of our technical objectives. The single-coil Dart in-situ sensor and control unit were fully developed, demonstrated and successfully commercialized within the Phase 2 period of performance. The multi-level version of the Dart probe was designed, assembled and demonstrated in Phase 2, but its final assembly and testing were delayed until close to the end of the Phase 2 performance period, which limited our opportunities for demonstration in field settings. Likewise, the multi-sensor version of the Dart control unit was designed and assembled, but not in time for it to be deployed for any long-term monitoring demonstrations. The prototype ultra-lightweight surface NMR instrument was developed and demonstrated, and this result will be carried forward into the development of a new flexible surface NMR instrument and commercial product in 2018.« less

Assessing and enhancing the utility of low-cost activity and location sensors for exposure studies.

PubMed

Asimina, Stamatelopoulou; Chapizanis, D; Karakitsios, S; Kontoroupis, P; Asimakopoulos, D N; Maggos, T; Sarigiannis, D

2018-02-20

Nowadays, the advancement of mobile technology in conjunction with the introduction of the concept of exposome has provided new dynamics to the exposure studies. Since the addressing of health outcomes related to environmental stressors is crucial, the improvement of exposure assessment methodology is of paramount importance. Towards this aim, a pilot study was carried out in the two major cities of Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki), investigating the applicability of commercially available fitness monitors and the Moves App for tracking people's location and activities, as well as for predicting the type of the encountered location, using advanced modeling techniques. Within the frame of the study, 21 individuals were using the Fitbit Flex activity tracker, a temperature logger, and the application Moves App on their smartphones. For the validation of the above equipment, participants were also carrying an Actigraph (activity sensor) and a GPS device. The data collected from Fitbit Flex, the temperature logger, and the GPS (speed) were used as input parameters in an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for predicting the type of location. Analysis of the data showed that the Moves App tends to underestimate the daily steps counts in comparison with Fitbit Flex and Actigraph, respectively, while Moves App predicted the movement trajectory of an individual with reasonable accuracy, compared to a dedicated GPS. Finally, the encountered location was successfully predicted by the ANN in most of the cases.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission: Overview and U.S. Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hou, Arthur Y.; Azarbarzin, Ardeshir A.; Kakar, Ramesh K.; Neeck, Steven

2011-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is an international satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. Building upon the success of the U.S.-Japan Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States and the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA) will deploy in 2013 a GPM "Core" satellite carrying a KulKa-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) to establish a new reference standard for precipitation measurements from space. The combined active/passive sensor measurements will also be used to provide common database for precipitation retrievals from constellation sensors. For global coverage, GPM relies on existing satellite programs and new mission opportunities from a consortium of partners through bilateral agreements with either NASA or JAXA. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. In addition to the DPR and GMI on the Core Observatory, the baseline GPM constellation consists of the following sensors: (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer- 2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-Wl satellite of JAXA, (3) the Multi-Frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS) and the multi-channel microwave humidity sounder (SAPHIR) on the French-Indian Megha-Tropiques satellite, (4) the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-19, (5) MHS instruments on MetOp satellites launched by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), (6) the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), (7) ATMS instruments on the NOAA-NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites, and (8) a microwave imager under planning for the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS).

Physiological Responses to Thermal Stress and Exercise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyota, Hiroyuki; Ohya, Akira; Yamagata, Junko; Suzuki, Takashi; Miyagawa, Toshiaki; Kawabata, Takashi

The simple and noninvasive measuring methods of bioinstrumentation in humans is required for optimization of air conditioning and management of thermal environments, taking into consideration the individual specificity of the human body as well as the stress conditions affecting each. Changes in human blood circulation were induced with environmental factors such as heat, cold, exercise, mental stress, and so on. In this study, the physiological responses of human body to heat stress and exercise were investigated in the initial phase of the developmental research. We measured the body core and skin temperatures, skin blood flow, and pulse wave as the indices of the adaptation of the cardiovascular system. A laser Doppler skin blood flowmetry using an optical-sensor with a small portable data logger was employed for the measurement. These results reveal the heat-stress and exercise-induced circulatory responses, which are under the control of the sympathetic nerve system. Furthermore, it was suggested that the activity of the sympathetic nervous system could be evaluated from the signals of the pulse wave included in the signals derived from skin blood flow by means of heart rate variability assessments and detecting peak heights of velocity-plethysmogram.

Serum protein measurement using a tapered fluorescent fibre-optic evanescent wave-based biosensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preejith, P. V.; Lim, C. S.; Chia, T. F.

2006-12-01

A novel method to measure the total serum protein concentration is described in this paper. The method is based on the principles of fibre-optic evanescent wave spectroscopy. The biosensor applies a fluorescent dye-immobilized porous glass coating on a multi-mode optical fibre. The evanescent wave's intensity at the fibre-optic core-cladding interface is used to monitor the protein-induced changes in the sensor element. The sensor offers a rapid, single-step method for quantifying protein concentrations without destroying the sample. This unique sensing method presents a sensitive and accurate platform for the quantification of protein.

One Year of Data of Scimpi Borehole Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Insua, T. L.; Moran, K.; Kulin, I.; Farrington, S.; Newman, J. B.; Riedel, M.; Scherwath, M.; Heesemann, M.; Pirenne, B.; Iturrino, G. J.; Masterson, W.; Furman, C.

2014-12-01

The Simple Cabled Instrument for Measuring Parameters In-Situ (SCIMPI) is a new subseafloor observatory designed to study dynamic processes in the subseabed using a simple and low-cost approach compared to a Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK). SCIMPI was successfully installed at the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1416 during IODP Expedition 341S in May 2013. SCIMPI is designed to measure pore pressure, temperature and electrical resistivity over time in a borehole. The first SCIMPI prototype comprises nine modules joined in a single array by flexible cables. Multiple floats keep the system taut against a sinker bar weight located on SCIMPI and resting on the bottom of the borehole. All the modules record temperature and electrical resistivity, and three are also equipped with pressure sensors. Currently, SCIMPI operates as an autonomous instrument with a data logger that is recovered using an ROV. The second recovery of the SCIMPI data logger took place during the Ocean Networks Canada maintenance cruise, Wiring the Abyss 2014, on May 25th, 2014. The pressure sensor data show a stable trend in which tidal effects are observed in through the one year deployment. The temperature measurements in all the modules became stable over time with smaller variations over the last several months. The only temperature sensor differing from this trend is the shallowest, located at 8 meters below seafloor. This module shows a sudden spike of ~20°C that on April 5th, 2014, an event that was repeated several times from April 25th until recovery of modules. The electrical resistivity sensors show variations over time that could be related to gas hydrate dynamics at the Site. Interpretation of these data is speculative at this time but borehole-sealing processes as well as the formation of gas hydrate are potential processes influencing the recordings. SCIMPI will soon be connected to Ocean Networks Canada's NEPTUNE observatory at Clayoquot Slope node to provide real-time data from this subseafloor observatory.

Monitoring of a 1 kWp Solar Photovoltaic System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malek, M. F.; Zainuddin, H.; Rejab, S. N. M.; Shaari, S. N.; Shaari, S.; Omar, A. M.; Rusop, M.

2009-06-01

A 1 kWp `stand alone' PV system consists of 4 module (2 BP SX75U module and 2 BP 275F module), inverter, 2 thermocouple, 3 voltage sensor, 3 current sensor, 4 battery and data logger (Data Taker DT80) has been set up. This research involve nine parameters which are irradiance (Ia), ambient temperature (Tamb), module temperature (Tmod), module voltage (Vmod), battery voltage (Vbat), load voltage (Vload), module current (Imod), battery current (Ibat) and load current (Iload). All parameters were measured using the equipments and sensors that connected directly to data logger (Data Taker DT80) to interpret and show the data on computer using the Delogger sofware. The data then was transferred into the computer and analyzed using the Deview and Microsoft Excel software to determine the performance indices for the stand alone PV system. From the analysis a few performance indices were determined. The range of daily solar irradiation is between 2.20 kWhm-2 to 4.00 kWhm-2, while the range of total global irradiation is between 5.76 kWh to 10.48 kWh. For daily total energy yield, the range is between 0.23 kWh d-1 to 0.28 kWh d-1. The range for clearness index is between 0.49% to 0.89%. The range for final yield is between 0.77 kWh d-1 kWp-1 to 0.93 kWhd-1 kWp-1 while the range of array efficiency is between 2.53% to 4.65%. Lastly, the range of the performance ratio is between 22.08% to 40.58%.

Using UAVs to Conduct Student-led Research Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olds, S. E.; Lewis, P. M., Jr.

2016-12-01

Recreational drones can inspire students to initiate research projects. These "toys" have a low cost (<$100), low weight (< 250 g, so do not require FAA registration), and an ability to carry small instrument packages, making them an ideal platform for conducting innovative investigations. This session describes an initiative by the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Education Committee to compile and distribute a free e-book that will encourage learners to use drones for science investigations. Our goal is to inspire learners to use UAVs to carry scientific instruments and/or capture imagery to conduct local-scale investigations. Experiments such as discovering their vehicle's maximum payload help learners understand what sensors they can use (or build) to conduct research. The e-book will encourage learners to practice UAV civility and safety through a pre-flight checklist and flying guidelines, and to consider science objectives and flight team roles in performing investigations. Activities also advocate for robust data and metadata-collection practices. Suggested activities encompass repeat photography investigations as well as engineering design skills such as designing a camera mount to obtain nadir or oblique imagery. Learners can also move to more sophisticated research using photogrammetric skills such as taking overlapping photographs to create 3D structure from motion (SfM) models. To encourage the use of onboard sensors, the team worked with an engineer to build a 33-gram prototype environmental logger called SABEL (Shelley [Olds] and Bob [Ellis]'s Environmental Logger). Assembled on an Arduino board, SABEL collects temperature, humidity, and GPS position. This presentation will provide examples of student-led investigations, instructions for building the SABEL sensor package, and the status of the new e-book compilation of student-focused activities using recreational drones to pursue science, math, engineering, and technology research investigations.

Data Modeling, Development, Installation and Operation of the ACEX Offshore Drilling Information System for the Mission Specific Platform Expedition to the Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conze, R.; Krysiak, F.; Wallrabe-Adams, H.; Graham, C. C.

2004-12-01

During August/September 2004, the Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) was used to trial a new Offshore Drilling Information System (OffshoreDIS). ACEX was the first Mission Specific Platform (MSP) expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP), funded by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD). The British Geological Survey in conjunction with the University of Bremen and the European Petrophysics Consortium were the ECORD Science Operator (ESO) for ACEX. IODP MSP expeditions have very similar data management requirements and operate in similar working environments to the lake drilling projects conducted by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), for example, the GLAD800, which has very restricted space on board and operates in difficult conditions. Both organizations require data capture and management systems that are mobile, flexible and that can be deployed quickly on small- to medium-sized drilling platforms for the initial gathering of data, and that can also be deployed onshore in laboratories where the bulk of the scientific work is conducted. ESO, therefore, decided that an adapted version of the existing Drilling Information System (DIS) used by ICDP projects would satisfy its requirements. Based on the existing DIS, an OffshoreDIS has been developed for MSP expeditions. The underlying data model is compatible with IODP(JANUS), the Bremen Core Repository, WDC-MARE/PANGAEA and the LacCore in Minneapolis. According to the specific expedition platform configuration and on-board workflow requirements for the Arctic, this data model, data pumps and user interfaces were adapted for the ACEX-OffshoreDIS. On the drill ship Vidar Viking the cores were catalogued and petrophysically logged using a GeoTek Multi-Sensor Core Logger System, while further initial measurements, lithological descriptions and biostratigraphic investigations were undertaken on the Oden, which provided laboratory facilities for the expedition. Onboard samples were registered in a corresponding sample archive on both vessels. The ACEX-OffshoreDIS used a local area network covering the two ships of the three icebreaker fleet by wireless LAN between the ships and partly wired LAN on the ships. A DIS-server was installed on each ship. These were synchronized by database replication and linked to a total of 10 client systems and label printers across both ships. The ACEX-OffshoreDIS will also be used for the scientific measurement and analysis phase of the expedition during the post-field operations `shore-party' in November 2004 at the Bremen Core Repository (BCR). The data management system employed in the Arctic will be reconfigured and deployed at the BCR. In addition, an eXtended DIS (XDIS) Web interface will be available. This will allow controlled sample distribution (core curation, sub-sampling) as well as sharing of data (registration, upload and download) with other laboratories which will be undertaking additional sampling and analyses. The OffshoreDIS data management system will be of long-term benefit to both IODP and ICDP, being deployed in forthcoming MSP offshore projects, ICDP lake projects and joint IODP-ICDP projects such as the New Jersey Coastal Plain Drilling Project.

CAIRSENSE Study: Real-world evaluation of low cost sensors ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Low-cost air pollution sensors are a rapidly developing field in air monitoring. In recent years, numerous sensors have been developed that can provide real-time concentration data for different air pollutants at costs accessible to individuals and non-regulatory groups. Additionally, these sensors have the potential to improve the spatial resolution of monitoring networks and provide a better understanding of neighborhood- and local-scale air quality and sources. However, many new sensors have not been evaluated to determine their long-term performance and capabilities. In this study, nine different low-cost sensor models, including O3, NO2 and particle sensors, were deployed in Denver, CO from September 2015 to February 2016. Three sensors of each type were deployed to evaluate instrument precision and consistency over the time period. Sensors were co-located with reference monitors at the Denver NCore site in order to evaluate sensor accuracy and precision. Denver was chosen as the location for this study to evaluate sensor performance in dry, high altitude, and low winter temperatures. Sensors were evaluated for data completeness, performance over time, and comparison with regulatory monitors. This presentation will also address challenges and approaches to data logging and processing. Preliminary analysis revealed that most sensors had high data completeness when data loggers were operational (e.g., the Aeroqual O3 sensor ranged from 94-100%), and exhibited

Data Management of Watershed Information and Data Enterprise Repository Implementation at Fort Hood, Texas

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-03-01

is a 20-ft (6.1-m) mast supporting a cell phone antenna and a solar panel. Contained with in the enclosure is a Forest Technology Systems data...logger, a deep cycle battery, a voltage regulator, a cell phone modem, and a Motorola cell phone . The stream level, turbidity, and soil moisture sensors...DOIM) Security Protocols at Fort Hood, computers connected to the Fort Hood network cannot utilize cell phone communication to retrieve the data

Carbon laminates with RE doped optical fibre sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miluski, Piotr; Kochanowicz, Marcin; Żmojda, Jacek; Silva, AbíLio P.; Reis, Paulo N. B.; Dorosz, Dominik

2016-11-01

A new type of luminescent optical fibre sensor for structural health monitoring of composite laminates (CFRP) is proposed. The Nd3+ doped multi-core doubleclad fibre incorporated in composite structure was used as a distributed temperature sensor. The change of luminescence intensity (Nd3+ ions) at the wavelength of 880 nm (4F3/2 → 4I9/2) and 1060 nm (4F3/2 → 4I11/2) was used for internal temperature monitoring. The special construction of optical fibre was used as it assures an efficient pumping mechanism and, at same time, it increases the measuring sensitivity. The linear response with relative sensitivity 0.015 K-1 was obtained for temperature range from 30 up to 75ºC. The manufacturing process of CFRP with embedded optical fibre sensor is also discussed.

Photogrammetric Verification of Fiber Optic Shape Sensors on Flexible Aerospace Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Jason P.; Rogge, Matthew D.; Jones, Thomas W.

2012-01-01

Multi-core fiber (MCF) optic shape sensing offers the possibility of providing in-flight shape measurements of highly flexible aerospace structures and control surfaces for such purposes as gust load alleviation, flutter suppression, general flight control and structural health monitoring. Photogrammetric measurements of surface mounted MCF shape sensing cable can be used to quantify the MCF installation path and verify measurement methods.

The Seven-Segment Data Logger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, Alan

2015-12-01

Instruments or digital meters with data values visible on a seven-segment display can easily be found in the physics lab. Examples include multimeters, sound level meters, Geiger-Müller counters and electromagnetic field meters, where the display is used to show numerical data. Such instruments, without the ability to connect to computers or data loggers, can measure and display data at a particular instant in time. The user should be present to read the display and to record the data. Unlike these digital meters, the sensor-data logger system has the advantage of automatically measuring and recording data at selectable sample rates over a desired sample time. The process of adding data logging features to a digital meter with a seven-segment display can be achieved with Seven Segment Optical Character Recognition (SSOCR) software. One might ask, why not just purchase a field meter with data logging features? They are relatively inexpensive, reliable, available online, and can be delivered within a few days. But then there is the challenge of making your own instrument, the excitement of implementing a design, the pleasure of experiencing an entire process from concept to product, and the satisfaction of avoiding costs by taking advantage of available technology. This experiment makes use of an electromagnetic field meter with a seven-segment liquid crystal display to measure background electromagnetic field intensity. Images of the meter display are automatically captured with a camera and analyzed using SSOCR to produce a text file containing meter display values.

Documenting the location of systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies: correlation with multi-parametric MRI.

PubMed

Turkbey, Baris; Xu, Sheng; Kruecker, Jochen; Locklin, Julia; Pang, Yuxi; Shah, Vijay; Bernardo, Marcelino; Baccala, Angelo; Rastinehad, Ardeshir; Benjamin, Compton; Merino, Maria J; Wood, Bradford J; Choyke, Peter L; Pinto, Peter A

2011-03-29

During transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies, the actual location of the biopsy site is rarely documented. Here, we demonstrate the capability of TRUS-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image fusion to document the biopsy site and correlate biopsy results with multi-parametric MRI findings. Fifty consecutive patients (median age 61 years) with a median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 5.8 ng/ml underwent 12-core TRUS-guided biopsy of the prostate. Pre-procedural T2-weighted magnetic resonance images were fused to TRUS. A disposable needle guide with miniature tracking sensors was attached to the TRUS probe to enable fusion with MRI. Real-time TRUS images during biopsy and the corresponding tracking information were recorded. Each biopsy site was superimposed onto the MRI. Each biopsy site was classified as positive or negative for cancer based on the results of each MRI sequence. Sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating curve (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) values were calculated for multi-parametric MRI. Gleason scores for each multi-parametric MRI pattern were also evaluated. Six hundred and 5 systemic biopsy cores were analyzed in 50 patients, of whom 20 patients had 56 positive cores. MRI identified 34 of 56 positive cores. Overall, sensitivity, specificity, and ROC area values for multi-parametric MRI were 0.607, 0.727, 0.667, respectively. TRUS-MRI fusion after biopsy can be used to document the location of each biopsy site, which can then be correlated with MRI findings. Based on correlation with tracked biopsies, T2-weighted MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient maps derived from diffusion-weighted MRI are the most sensitive sequences, whereas the addition of delayed contrast enhancement MRI and three-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated higher specificity consistent with results obtained using radical prostatectomy specimens.

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.

Exfiltrometer apparatus and method for measuring unsaturated hydrologic properties in soil

DOEpatents

Hubbell, Joel M.; Sisson, James B.; Schafer, Annette L.

2006-01-17

Exfiltrometer apparatus includes a container for holding soil. A sample container for holding sample soil is positionable with respect to the container so that the sample soil contained in the sample container is in communication with soil contained in the container. A first tensiometer operatively associated with the sample container senses a surface water potential at about a surface of the sample soil contained in the sample container. A second tensiometer operatively associated with the sample container senses a first subsurface water potential below the surface of the sample soil. A water content sensor operatively associated with the sample container senses a water content in the sample soil. A water supply supplies water to the sample soil. A data logger operatively connected to the first and second tensiometers, and to the water content sensor receives and processes data provided by the first and second tensiometers and by the water content sensor.

MELIFT - A new device for accurate measurements in a snow rich environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorninger, M.

2012-04-01

A deep snow pack, remote locations, no external power supply and very low temperatures are often the main ingredients when it comes to the deployment of meteorological stations in mountainous terrain. The accurate position of the sensor related to the snow surface is normally not known. A new device called METLIFT overcomes the problems. WMO recommends a height between 1.2 m and 2 m above ground level for the measurement of air temperature and humidity. The height above ground level is specified to take care of the possible strong vertical temperature and humidity gradients at the lowest layers in the atmosphere. Especially in snow rich and remote locations it may be hardly possible to follow this advice. Therefore most of the meteorological stations in mountainous terrain are situated at mountain tops where strong winds will blow off the snow or in valleys where a daily inspection of the sensors is possible. In other unpopulated mountainous areas, e.g. basins, plateaus, the distance of the sensor to the snow surface is not known or the sensor will be snow-covered. A new device was developed to guarantee the sensor height above surface within the WMO limits in harsh and remote environments. An ultrasonic snow height sensor measures the distance to the snow surface. If it exceeds certain limits due to snow accumulation or snow melt the lift adapts its height accordingly. The prototype of METLIFT has been installed in Lower Austria at an altitude of 1000m. The lift is 6 m high and can pull out for another 4 m. Sensor arms are mounted every meter to allow the connection of additional sensors or to measure a profile of a certain parameter of the lowest 5 m above surface. Sensors can be added easily since cable wiring is provided to each sensor arm. Horizontal winds are measured at 7 m height above surface. METLIFT is independent of external power supply. Three lead gel accumulators recharged by three solar panels provide the energy necessary for the sensors, the data loggers, the data transmission components and for the electromotor to lift the system. METLIFT is energy optimised to keep the energy consumption at low levels. The components of the lift device consist of a 12V electromotor with a worm gear with a transmission rate of 2856:1. This means that the lift moves extremely slow. The data logger can be programmed via the GSM connection from remote locations, the data flow is also conducted via this connection. First results of the winter campaign 2011/2012 will be presented at the conference.

Extended Kalman Doppler tracking and model determination for multi-sensor short-range radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mittermaier, Thomas J.; Siart, Uwe; Eibert, Thomas F.; Bonerz, Stefan

2016-09-01

A tracking solution for collision avoidance in industrial machine tools based on short-range millimeter-wave radar Doppler observations is presented. At the core of the tracking algorithm there is an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) that provides dynamic estimation and localization in real-time. The underlying sensor platform consists of several homodyne continuous wave (CW) radar modules. Based on In-phase-Quadrature (IQ) processing and down-conversion, they provide only Doppler shift information about the observed target. Localization with Doppler shift estimates is a nonlinear problem that needs to be linearized before the linear KF can be applied. The accuracy of state estimation depends highly on the introduced linearization errors, the initialization and the models that represent the true physics as well as the stochastic properties. The important issue of filter consistency is addressed and an initialization procedure based on data fitting and maximum likelihood estimation is suggested. Models for both, measurement and process noise are developed. Tracking results from typical three-dimensional courses of movement at short distances in front of a multi-sensor radar platform are presented.

Information needs for increasing log transport efficiency

Treesearch

Timothy P. McDonald; Steven E. Taylor; Robert B. Rummer; Jorge Valenzuela

2001-01-01

Three methods of dispatching trucks to loggers were tested using a log transport simulation model: random allocation, fixed assignment of trucks to loggers, and dispatch based on knowledge of the current status of trucks and loggers within the system. This 'informed' dispatch algorithm attempted to minimize the difference in time between when a logger would...

SensorKit: A Flexible and Extensible System for In-Situ Data Acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, F.; Deschon, A.; Chang, J.; Westrich, S.; Cho, Y. H.; Gullapalli, S.; Benzel, T.; Graham, E. A.

2009-12-01

Over the years, sensor networks technology has evolved tremendously and has great potential in environmental sensing applications. However, because sensor networks are usually designed and built by computer scientists and engineers with little input from the scientific community, the resulting technology is often complex and out of reach for most field scientists. A few sensor, and data logger vendors have released data acquisition systems that can be used with their products. Unfortunately, these are generally vendor-specific, requiring scientists with heterogeneous sensors to use multiple systems to acquire data from all their sensors. A few, more generic systems, are compatible with multiple brands. However, these often offer only limited functionality, little flexibility, and no extensibility. We built SensorKit to overcome these limitations and to accelerate the adoption of sensor networks by field scientists. Using a simplicity-through-sophistication approach, we provide scientists with a powerful tool for field data collection. SensorKit is hardware agnostic, and was built using commercial off-the-shelf components. By employing a Linux-based ultra low-power generic embedded processing platform with a variety of dataloggers (including Berkeley motes, National Instruments' Compact RIOs, as well as legacy and newer PakBus-based Campbell data loggers), we support requirements from a large number of scientists. The user interfaces are designed to be intuitive so that most scientists can deploy, configure, and operate the system without extensive training. Working in close collaboration with field scientists allowed us to better understand scientific requirements and ensure system relevancy. The requirements for data acquisition, data storage, and data communication vary significantly for each deployment. Data acquisition needs to include capabilities for different analog, digital, and other complex sensors (e.g. cameras, and robotic sensors). Moreover, the sensors may be geographically dispersed, requiring the use of a local sensor network for moving data at the site. Data storage has to accommodate varying sampling rates from several times a second, to once every hour (or longer), and handle situations where data is accumulated for several days or even weeks at a time. Additionally, different deployments require the use of varying communication technologies (e.g. satellite, cellular, long range radios, wi-fi, etc) and while some scientists need live access to their data, others are able to tolerate delays of hours, if not days. Finally, power and environmental conditions can have great influence in the type of data acquisition and communication technology that can be used at a certain site. During the past few years, we have used a spiral build, deploy, and revise approach in order to verify our design and incorporate what we have learned at each deployment. In this poster, we present our system architecture, how SensorKit has been used by scientists in a number of places around the world, and how it has evolved over time, adapting to a wide range of deployment requirements in order to accommodate different scientific applications.

Microchip transponder thermometry for monitoring core body temperature of antelope during capture.

PubMed

Rey, Benjamin; Fuller, Andrea; Hetem, Robyn S; Lease, Hilary M; Mitchell, Duncan; Meyer, Leith C R

2016-01-01

Hyperthermia is described as the major cause of morbidity and mortality associated with capture, immobilization and restraint of wild animals. Therefore, accurately determining the core body temperature of wild animals during capture is crucial for monitoring hyperthermia and the efficacy of cooling procedures. We investigated if microchip thermometry can accurately reflect core body temperature changes during capture and cooling interventions in the springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), a medium-sized antelope. Subcutaneous temperature measured with a temperature-sensitive microchip was a weak predictor of core body temperature measured by temperature-sensitive data loggers in the abdominal cavity (R(2)=0.32, bias >2 °C). Temperature-sensitive microchips in the gluteus muscle, however, provided an accurate estimate of core body temperature (R(2)=0.76, bias=0.012 °C). Microchips inserted into muscle therefore provide a convenient and accurate method to measure body temperature continuously in captured antelope, allowing detection of hyperthermia and the efficacy of cooling procedures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The design of multi temperature and humidity monitoring system for incubator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Junyu; Xu, Peng; Peng, Zitao; Qiang, Haonan; Shen, Xiaoyan

2017-01-01

Currently, there is only one monitor of the temperature and humidity in an incubator, which may cause inaccurate or unreliable data, and even endanger the life safety of the baby. In order to solve this problem,we designed a multi-point temperature and humidity monitoring system for incubators. The system uses the STC12C5A60S2 microcontrollers as the sender core chip which is connected to four AM2321 temperature and humidity sensors. We select STM32F103ZET6 core development board as the receiving end,cooperating with Zigbee wireless transmitting and receiving module to realize data acquisition and transmission. This design can realize remote real-time observation data on the computer by communicating with PC via Ethernet. Prototype tests show that the system can effectively collect and display the information of temperature and humidity of multiple incubators at the same time and there are four monitors in each incubator.

Evaluating Continuing Education Needs and Program Effectiveness Using a Survey of Virginia's SHARP Logger Program Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Scott M.; Bolding, M. Chad; Munsell, John F.

2012-01-01

Virginia's SHARP logger program is a Cooperative Extension program currently providing training to over 1,500 loggers, foresters, and others. We conducted a mail survey of SHARP loggers to characterize program participants, assess programming needs, and evaluate program effectiveness. Results indicate a diverse group of participants in terms of…

Fuel supply structure of wood-fired power plants in the Northeast: Loggers' perspectives

Treesearch

Neil K. Huyler; Neil K. Huyler

1989-01-01

A study of loggers' perceptions of the impact of large biomass demand centers on the forest resource base in the Northeast indicated that most loggers strongly believe that the post-harvest stand has improved. However, the impact of whole-tree chipping on the forest resource base was not made clear from the loggers' survey.

Application of adaptive optics in complicated and integrated spatial multisensor system and its measurement analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Quanxin; Guo, Chunjie; Cai, Meng; Liu, Hua

2007-12-01

Adaptive Optics Expand System is a kind of new concept spatial equipment, which concerns system, cybernetics and informatics deeply, and is key way to improve advanced sensors ability. Traditional Zernike Phase Contrast Method is developed, and Accelerated High-level Phase Contrast Theory is established. Integration theory and mathematical simulation is achieved. Such Equipment, which is based on some crucial components, such as, core optical system, multi mode wavefront sensor and so on, is established for AOES advantageous configuration and global design. Studies on Complicated Spatial Multisensor System Integratation and measurement Analysis including error analysis are carried out.

Field tests of a chemiresistor sensor for in-situ monitoring of vapor-phase contaminants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, C.; McGrath, L.; Wright, J.

2003-04-01

An in-situ chemiresistor sensor has been developed that can detect volatile organic compounds in subsurface environmental applications. Several field tests were conducted in 2001 and 2002 to test the reliability, operation, and performance of the in-situ chemiresistor sensor system. The chemiresistor consists of a carbon-loaded polymer deposited onto a microfabricated circuit. The polymer swells reversibly in the presence of volatile organic compounds as vapor-phase molecules absorb into the polymer, causing a change in the electrical resistance of the circuit. The change in resistance can be calibrated to known concentrations of analytes, and arrays of chemiresistors can be used on a single chip to aid in discrimination. A waterproof housing was constructed to allow the chemiresistor to be used in a variety of media including air, soil, and water. The integrated unit, which can be buried in soils or emplaced in wells, is connected via cable to a surface-based solar-powered data logger. A cell-phone modem is used to automatically download the data from the data logger on a periodic basis. The field tests were performed at three locations: (1) Edwards Air Force Base, CA; (2) Nevada Test Site; and (3) Sandia's Chemical Waste Landfill near Albuquerque, NM. The objectives of the tests were to evaluate the ruggedness, longevity, operation, performance, and engineering requirements of these sensors in actual field settings. Results showed that the sensors could be operated continuously for long periods of time (greater than a year) using remote solar-powered data-logging stations with wireless telemetry. The sensor housing, which was constructed of 304 stainless steel, showed some signs of corrosion when placed in contaminated water for several months, but the overall integrity was maintained. The detection limits of the chemiresistors were generally found to be near 0.1% of the saturated vapor pressure of the target analyte in controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., ~100 ppmv for TCE), but fluctuations in environmental parameters and other interferences increased the detection limit by about an order of magnitude in the field tests. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI): Status of Design, Capabilities, and Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brasseur, L. H.; Banahan, S.; Cowles, T.

2009-05-01

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) will implement the construction and operation of an interactive, integrated ocean observing network. This research- driven, multi-scale network will provide the broad ocean science community with access to advanced technology to enable studies of fundamental ocean processes. The OOI will afford observations at coastal, regional, and global scales on timeframes of milliseconds to decades in support of investigations into climate variability, ocean ecosystems, biogeochemical processes, coastal ocean dynamics, circulation and mixing dynamics, fluid-rock interactions, and the sub-seafloor biosphere. The elements of the OOI include arrays of fixed and re-locatable moorings, autonomous underwater vehicles, and cabled seafloor nodes. All assets combined, the OOI network will provide data from over 45 distinct types of sensors, comprising over 800 total sensors distributed in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. These core sensors for the OOI were determined through a formal process of science requirements development. This core sensor array will be integrated through a system-wide cyberinfrastructure allowing for remote control of instruments, adaptive sampling, and near-real time access to data. Implementation of the network will stimulate new avenues of research and the development of new infrastructure, instrumentation, and sensor technologies. The OOI is funded by the NSF and managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership which focuses on the science, technology, education, and outreach for an emerging network of ocean observing systems.

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

DOE PAGES

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.; ...

2018-04-27

In this paper, we have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. Finally, we will discuss the technical details of the systems,more » and present some of the results from them.« less

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

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

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.

In this paper, we have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. Finally, we will discuss the technical details of the systems,more » and present some of the results from them.« less

A wide range optical pH sensor for living cells using Au@Ag nanoparticles functionalized carbon nanotubes based on SERS signals.

PubMed

Chen, Peng; Wang, Zhuyuan; Zong, Shenfei; Chen, Hui; Zhu, Dan; Zhong, Yuan; Cui, Yiping

2014-10-01

p-Aminothiophenol (pATP) functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been demonstrated as an efficient pH sensor for living cells. The proposed sensor employs gold/silver core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs) functionalized MWCNTs hybrid structure as the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate and pATP molecules as the SERS reporters, which possess a pH-dependent SERS performance. By using MWCNTs as the substrate to be in a state of aggregation, the pH sensing range could be extended to pH 3.0∼14.0, which is much wider than that using unaggregated Au@Ag NPs without MWCNTs. Furthermore, the pH-sensitive performance was well retained in living cells with a low cytotoxicity. The developed SERS-active MWCNTs-based nanocomposite is expected to be an efficient intracellular pH sensor for bio-applications.

Luminescent high temperature sensor based on the CdSe/ZnS quantum dot thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, He-lin; Yang, Ai-jun; Sui, Cheng-hua

2013-11-01

A high temperature sensor based on the multi-parameter temperature dependent characteristic of photoluminescence (PL) of quantum dot (QD) thin film is demonstrated by depositing the CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs on the SiO2 glass substrates. The variations of the intensity, the peak wavelength and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of PL spectra with temperature are studied experimentally and theoretically. The results indicate that the peak wavelength of the PL spectra changes linearly with temperature, while the PL intensity and FWHM vary exponentially for the temperature range from 30 °C to 180 °C. Using the obtained temperature dependent optical parameters, the resolution of the designed sensor can reach 0.1 nm/°C.

Calibration of a modified temperature-light intensity logger for quantifying water electrical conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillman, M. A.; Lamoureux, S. F.; Lafrenière, M. J.

2017-09-01

The Stream Temperature, Intermittency, and Conductivity (STIC) electrical conductivity (EC) logger as presented by Chapin et al. (2014) serves as an inexpensive (˜50 USD) means to assess relative EC in freshwater environments. This communication demonstrates the calibration of the STIC logger for quantifying EC, and provides examples from a month long field deployment in the High Arctic. Calibration models followed multiple nonlinear regression and produced calibration curves with high coefficient of determination values (R2 = 0.995 - 0.998; n = 5). Percent error of mean predicted specific conductance at 25°C (SpC) to known SpC ranged in magnitude from -0.6% to 13% (mean = -1.4%), and mean absolute percent error (MAPE) ranged from 2.1% to 13% (mean = 5.3%). Across all tested loggers we found good accuracy and precision, with both error metrics increasing with increasing SpC values. During 10, month-long field deployments, there were no logger failures and full data recovery was achieved. Point SpC measurements at the location of STIC loggers recorded via a more expensive commercial electrical conductivity logger followed similar trends to STIC SpC records, with 1:1.05 and 1:1.08 relationships between the STIC and commercial logger SpC values. These results demonstrate that STIC loggers calibrated to quantify EC are an economical means to increase the spatiotemporal resolution of water quality investigations.

Nondestructive laboratory measurement of geotechnical and geoacoustic properties through intact core-liner

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kayen, R.E.; Edwards, B.D.; Lee, H.J.

1999-01-01

High-resolution automated measurement of the geotechnical and geoacoustic properties of soil at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is performed with a state-of-the-art multi-sensor whole-core logging device. The device takes measurements, directly through intact sample-tube wall, of p-wave acoustic velocity, of soil wet bulk density, and magnetic susceptibility. This paper summarizes our methodology for determining soil-sound speed and wet-bulk density for material encased in an unsplit liner. Our methodology for nondestructive measurement allows for rapid, accurate, and high-resolution (1 cm-spaced) mapping of the mass physical properties of soil prior to sample extrusion.

Efficiency of static core turn-off in a system-on-a-chip with variation

DOEpatents

Cher, Chen-Yong; Coteus, Paul W; Gara, Alan; Kursun, Eren; Paulsen, David P; Schuelke, Brian A; Sheets, II, John E; Tian, Shurong

2013-10-29

A processor-implemented method for improving efficiency of a static core turn-off in a multi-core processor with variation, the method comprising: conducting via a simulation a turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's design stage, wherein the turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's design stage includes a first output corresponding to a first multi-core processor core to turn off; conducting a turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's testing stage, wherein the turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's testing stage includes a second output corresponding to a second multi-core processor core to turn off; comparing the first output and the second output to determine if the first output is referring to the same core to turn off as the second output; outputting a third output corresponding to the first multi-core processor core if the first output and the second output are both referring to the same core to turn off.

End-Pleistocene to Holocene paleoenvironmental record from piston corer samples and the challenge of stratigraphic correlation of playa sediment data with a connected alluvial apron from Damghan Basin, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Büdel, Christian; Hoelzmann, Philipp; Wennrich, Volker; Majid Padashi, Sajed; Baumhauer, Roland

2015-04-01

The study yields a first characterization and correlation of the end-Pleistocene to Holocene sediment archive of playa and playa lake deposits in the Damghan Basin, northern Iran. The Basin sediments are deposited since Mio- and Pliocene, which is valid for the connected alluvial fans, too. These are covering the area between the playa and mountains and while prograding from the mountain ranges they deliver gravels and fine-sediments to the basins sink. The processes on the studied alluvial apron are described and dated already and can be explained in seven morphodynamic phases, which are linked to a general lake level high-stand in north-east Iran at about 8000-9000 years ago. If and how these phases are passed on from the alluvial record down to the playa sediment record is aim of this study. Today the salt pans margins are highly affected by salt tectonic drifting and access was suboptimal. Only here drilling could be performed through about 280 centimeters of salt-crust unfrequently intercalated with loamy layers. For yielding undisturbed playa sediment records sampling was performed with inliner-tubes deployed in a piston corer (Kullenberg type). Thus at two different drilling sites in summation seven cores could be taken, down to a maximum depth of 129 cm and 1000 cm. Back in Germany the cores had been opened and initially described, photographed and optically scanned with a core logger. Regarding future studies, the aim was a best possible comprehensive documentation of the cores. Therefore basically grainsize measurements (laser diffraction), multi element analyses (XRF, ICP-OES, titrimetry) and mineralogical measurements (XRD) had been deployed on samples taken from every single previously identified layer. Continuous elemental data was secured by use of a XRF-scanning core logger. The sedimentological description together with laboratory element analyses shows saline conditions in the first three meters coincide with general coarser grain sizes. The next three meters are made up by homogenous partly laminated deposits, rich auf clay and silt and with a decreased content of sulphur and halite. Regular Peaks of sulfate and calcium within this unit presumably indicate post-sedimentary precipitation of gypsum. The homogenous sediment unit is followed by layers clearly set up in three major phases of up-fining sediments. Higher Al and Mg contents following this sedimentation phases suggest a considerable amount of syn-sedimentary clay mineral enrichment. The alignment of alluvial fan phases and phases recorded in the playa is challenging. As figured out before, the focused signals in the study are linked to non-local factors affecting supra-regional land surface alteration. But 0 to less than 1 % organic carbon contents decrease the chance of deriving a valid sediment dating and the possibility of chrono-stratigraphic correlation. Anyway, the clear transitional zone from halite dominated to more or less halite-free sediments can serve as a guideline to the development of further correlations.

The NetLogger Toolkit V2.0

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

Gunter, Dan; Lee, Jason; Stoufer, Martin

2003-03-28

The NetLogger Toolkit is designed to monitor, under actual operating conditions, the behavior of all the elements of the application-to-application communication path in order to determine exactly where time is spent within a complex system Using NetLogger, distnbuted application components are modified to produce timestamped logs of "interesting" events at all the critical points of the distributed system Events from each component are correlated, which allov^ one to characterize the performance of all aspects of the system and network in detail. The NetLogger Toolkit itself consists of four components an API and library of functions to simplify the generation ofmore » application-level event logs, a set of tools for collecting and sorting log files, an event archive system, and a tool for visualization and analysis of the log files In order to instrument an application to produce event logs, the application developer inserts calls to the NetLogger API at all the critical points in the code, then links the application with the NetLogger library All the tools in the NetLogger Toolkit share a common log format, and assume the existence of accurate and synchronized system clocks NetLogger messages can be logged using an easy-to-read text based format based on the lETF-proposed ULM format, or a binary format that can still be used through the same API but that is several times faster and smaller, with performance comparable or better than binary message formats such as MPI, XDR, SDDF-Binary, and PBIO. The NetLogger binary format is both highly efficient and self-describing, thus optimized for the dynamic message construction and parsing of application instrumentation. NetLogger includes an "activation" API that allows NetLogger logging to be turned on, off, or modified by changing an external file This IS useful for activating logging in daemons/services (e g GndFTP server). The NetLogger reliability API provides the ability to specify backup logging locations and penodically try to reconnect broken TCP pipe. A typical use for this is to store data on local disk while net is down. An event archiver can log one or more incoming NetLogger streams to a local disk file (netlogd) or to a mySQL database (netarchd). We have found exploratory, visual analysis of the log event data to be the most useful means of determining the causes of performance anomalies The NetLogger Visualization tool, niv, has been developed to provide a flexible and interactive graphical representation of system-level and application-level events.« less

Precipitation Estimation Using Combined Radar/Radiometer Measurements Within the GPM Framework

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hou, Arthur

2012-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is an international satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. The GPM mission centers upon the deployment of a Core Observatory in a 65o non-Sun-synchronous orbit to serve as a physics observatory and a transfer standard for intersatellite calibration of constellation radiometers. The GPM Core Observatory will carry a Ku/Ka-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Radiometer (GMI). The DPR will be the first dual-frequency radar in space to provide not only measurements of 3-D precipitation structures but also quantitative information on microphysical properties of precipitating particles needed for improving precipitation retrievals from microwave sensors. The DPR and GMI measurements will together provide a database that relates vertical hydrometeor profiles to multi-frequency microwave radiances over a variety of environmental conditions across the globe. This combined database will be used as a common transfer standard for improving the accuracy and consistency of precipitation retrievals from all constellation radiometers. For global coverage, GPM relies on existing satellite programs and new mission opportunities from a consortium of partners through bilateral agreements with either NASA or JAXA. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. In addition to the DPR and GMI on the Core Observatory, the baseline GPM constellation consists of the following sensors: (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-W1 satellite of JAXA, (3) the Multi-Frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS) and the multi-channel microwave humidity sounder (SAPHIR) on the French-Indian Megha- Tropiques satellite, (4) the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-19, (5) MHS instruments on MetOp satellites launched by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), (6) the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), and (7) ATMS instruments on the NOAA-NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites. Data from Chinese and Russian microwave radiometers may also become available through international collaboration under the auspices of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The current generation of global rainfall products combines observations from a network of uncoordinated satellite missions using a variety of merging techniques. GPM will provide next-generation precipitation products characterized by: (1) more accurate instantaneous precipitation estimate (especially for light rain and cold-season solid precipitation), (2) intercalibrated microwave brightness temperatures from constellation radiometers within a consistent framework, and (3) unified precipitation retrievals from constellation radiometers using a common a priori hydrometeor database constrained by combined radar/radiometer measurements provided by the GPM Core Observatory.

Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Enhad A; Western, Max J; Nightingale, Thomas E; Peacock, Oliver J; Thompson, Dylan

2017-01-01

Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices are not yet equivalent to the best research-grade devices or indeed equivalent to each other. We propose independent quality standards and/or accuracy ratings for consumer devices are required.

Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors

PubMed Central

Chowdhury, Enhad A.; Western, Max J.; Nightingale, Thomas E.; Peacock, Oliver J.; Thompson, Dylan

2017-01-01

Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices are not yet equivalent to the best research-grade devices or indeed equivalent to each other. We propose independent quality standards and/or accuracy ratings for consumer devices are required. PMID:28234979

Evaluating the Impact of Handling and Logger Attachment on Foraging Parameters and Physiology in Southern Rockhopper Penguins

PubMed Central

Ludynia, Katrin; Dehnhard, Nina; Poisbleau, Maud; Demongin, Laurent; Masello, Juan F.; Quillfeldt, Petra

2012-01-01

Logger technology has revolutionised our knowledge of the behaviour and physiology of free-living animals but handling and logger attachments may have negative effects on the behaviour of the animals and their welfare. We studied southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) females during the guard stage in three consecutive breeding seasons (2008/09−2010/11) to evaluate the effects of handling and logger attachment on foraging trip duration, dive behaviour and physiological parameters. Smaller dive loggers (TDRs) were used in 2010/11 for comparison to larger GPS data loggers used in all three seasons and we included two categories of control birds: handled controls and PIT control birds that were previously marked with passive integrative transponders (PITs), but which had not been handled during this study. Increased foraging trip duration was only observed in GPS birds during 2010/11, the breeding season in which we also found GPS birds foraging further away from the colony and travelling longer distances. Compared to previous breeding seasons, 2010/11 may have been a period with less favourable environmental conditions, which would enhance the impact of logger attachments. A comparison between GPS and TDR birds showed a significant difference in dive depth frequencies with birds carrying larger GPS data loggers diving shallower. Mean and maximum dive depths were similar between GPS and TDR birds. We measured little impact of logger attachments on physiological parameters (corticosterone, protein, triglyceride levels and leucocyte counts). Overall, handling and short-term logger attachments (1–3 days) showed limited impact on the behaviour and physiology of the birds but care must be taken with the size of data loggers on diving seabirds. Increased drag may alter their diving behaviour substantially, thus constraining them in their ability to catch prey. Results obtained in this study indicate that data recorded may also not represent their normal dive behaviour. PMID:23185623

Respiration and body movement analysis during sleep in bed using hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors without constraint to human activity.

PubMed

Nishyama, Michiko; Miyamoto, Mitsuo; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2011-01-01

We describe respiration monitoring in sleep using hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors. The proposed hetero-core fiber optic sensor is highly sensitive to macrobending as a result of the core diameter difference due to stable single-mode transmission. Pressure sensors based on hetero-core fiber optics were fabricated to have a high sensitivity to small pressure changes resulting from minute body motions, such as respiration, during sleep and large pressure changes, such as those caused by a rollover. The sensors are installed in a conventional bed. The pressure characteristic performance of all the fabricated hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors is found to show a monotonic response with weight changes. A respiration monitoring test in seven subjects efficiently demonstrates the effective use of eight hetero-core pressure sensors installed in a bed. Additionally, even in the case of different body postures, such as lying on one's side, a slight body movement due to respiration is detected by the hetero-core pressure sensors.

Respiration and body movement analysis during sleep in bed using hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors without constraint to human activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishyama, Michiko; Miyamoto, Mitsuo; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2011-01-01

We describe respiration monitoring in sleep using hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors. The proposed hetero-core fiber optic sensor is highly sensitive to macrobending as a result of the core diameter difference due to stable single-mode transmission. Pressure sensors based on hetero-core fiber optics were fabricated to have a high sensitivity to small pressure changes resulting from minute body motions, such as respiration, during sleep and large pressure changes, such as those caused by a rollover. The sensors are installed in a conventional bed. The pressure characteristic performance of all the fabricated hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensors is found to show a monotonic response with weight changes. A respiration monitoring test in seven subjects efficiently demonstrates the effective use of eight hetero-core pressure sensors installed in a bed. Additionally, even in the case of different body postures, such as lying on one's side, a slight body movement due to respiration is detected by the hetero-core pressure sensors.

Memory and Energy Optimization Strategies for Multithreaded Operating System on the Resource-Constrained Wireless Sensor Node

PubMed Central

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Xu, Jun; Yang, Jianfeng; Zhou, Haiying; Shi, Hongling; Zhou, Peng

2015-01-01

Memory and energy optimization strategies are essential for the resource-constrained wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes. In this article, a new memory-optimized and energy-optimized multithreaded WSN operating system (OS) LiveOS is designed and implemented. Memory cost of LiveOS is optimized by using the stack-shifting hybrid scheduling approach. Different from the traditional multithreaded OS in which thread stacks are allocated statically by the pre-reservation, thread stacks in LiveOS are allocated dynamically by using the stack-shifting technique. As a result, memory waste problems caused by the static pre-reservation can be avoided. In addition to the stack-shifting dynamic allocation approach, the hybrid scheduling mechanism which can decrease both the thread scheduling overhead and the thread stack number is also implemented in LiveOS. With these mechanisms, the stack memory cost of LiveOS can be reduced more than 50% if compared to that of a traditional multithreaded OS. Not is memory cost optimized, but also the energy cost is optimized in LiveOS, and this is achieved by using the multi-core “context aware” and multi-core “power-off/wakeup” energy conservation approaches. By using these approaches, energy cost of LiveOS can be reduced more than 30% when compared to the single-core WSN system. Memory and energy optimization strategies in LiveOS not only prolong the lifetime of WSN nodes, but also make the multithreaded OS feasible to run on the memory-constrained WSN nodes. PMID:25545264

Guaranteeing Spoof-Resilient Multi-Robot Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-12

key-distribution. Our core contribution is a novel al- gorithm implemented on commercial Wi - Fi radios that can “sense” spoofers using the physics of...encrypted key exchange, but rather a commercial Wi - Fi card and software to implement our so- lution. Our virtual sensor leverages the rich physical...cheap commodity Wi - Fi radios, unlike hardware-based solutions [46, 48]. (3) It is robust to client mobility and power-scaling at- tacks. Finally, our

Logging-while-coring method and apparatus

DOEpatents

Goldberg, David S.; Myers, Gregory J.

2007-11-13

A method and apparatus for downhole coring while receiving logging-while-drilling tool data. The apparatus includes core collar and a retrievable core barrel. The retrievable core barrel receives core from a borehole which is sent to the surface for analysis via wireline and latching tool The core collar includes logging-while-drilling tools for the simultaneous measurement of formation properties during the core excavation process. Examples of logging-while-drilling tools include nuclear sensors, resistivity sensors, gamma ray sensors, and bit resistivity sensors. The disclosed method allows for precise core-log depth calibration and core orientation within a single borehole, and without at pipe trip, providing both time saving and unique scientific advantages.

Logging-while-coring method and apparatus

DOEpatents

Goldberg, David S.; Myers, Gregory J.

2007-01-30

A method and apparatus for downhole coring while receiving logging-while-drilling tool data. The apparatus includes core collar and a retrievable core barrel. The retrievable core barrel receives core from a borehole which is sent to the surface for analysis via wireline and latching tool The core collar includes logging-while-drilling tools for the simultaneous measurement of formation properties during the core excavation process. Examples of logging-while-drilling tools include nuclear sensors, resistivity sensors, gamma ray sensors, and bit resistivity sensors. The disclosed method allows for precise core-log depth calibration and core orientation within a single borehole, and without at pipe trip, providing both time saving and unique scientific advantages.

The design of a microprocessor-based data logger

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leap, K.J.; Dedini, L.A.

1982-01-01

The design of a microprocessor-based data logger, which collects and digitizes analog voltage signals from a continuous-measuring instrumentation system and transmits serial data to a magnetic tape recorder, is discussed. The data logger was assembled from commercially-available components and can be user-programmed for greater flexibility. A description of the data logger hardware and software designs, general operating instructions, the microprocessor program listing, and electrical schematic diagrams are presented.

Multi-Temporal Multi-Sensor Analysis of Urbanization and Environmental/Climate Impact in China for Sustainable Urban Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ban, Yifang; Gong, Peng; Gamba, Paolo; Taubenbock, Hannes; Du, Peijun

2016-08-01

The overall objective of this research is to investigate multi-temporal, multi-scale, multi-sensor satellite data for analysis of urbanization and environmental/climate impact in China to support sustainable planning. Multi- temporal multi-scale SAR and optical data have been evaluated for urban information extraction using innovative methods and algorithms, including KTH- Pavia Urban Extractor, Pavia UEXT, and an "exclusion- inclusion" framework for urban extent extraction, and KTH-SEG, a novel object-based classification method for detailed urban land cover mapping. Various pixel- based and object-based change detection algorithms were also developed to extract urban changes. Several Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are selected as study areas. Spatio-temporal urbanization patterns and environmental impact at regional, metropolitan and city core were evaluated through ecosystem service, landscape metrics, spatial indices, and/or their combinations. The relationship between land surface temperature and land-cover classes was also analyzed.The urban extraction results showed that urban areas and small towns could be well extracted using multitemporal SAR data with the KTH-Pavia Urban Extractor and UEXT. The fusion of SAR data at multiple scales from multiple sensors was proven to improve urban extraction. For urban land cover mapping, the results show that the fusion of multitemporal SAR and optical data could produce detailed land cover maps with improved accuracy than that of SAR or optical data alone. Pixel-based and object-based change detection algorithms developed with the project were effective to extract urban changes. Comparing the urban land cover results from mulitemporal multisensor data, the environmental impact analysis indicates major losses for food supply, noise reduction, runoff mitigation, waste treatment and global climate regulation services through landscape structural changes in terms of decreases in service area, edge contamination and fragmentation. In terms ofclimate impact, the results indicate that land surface temperature can be related to land use/land cover classes.

Bidirectional multi-optical line terminals incorporated converged WSN-PON network using M/M/1 queuing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Love; Sharma, Vishal; Singh, Amarpal

2017-12-01

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have an assortment of application areas, for instance, civil, military, and video surveillance with restricted power resources and transmission link. To accommodate the massive traffic load in hefty sensor networks is another key issue. Subsequently, there is a necessity to backhaul the sensed information of such networks and prolong the transmission link to access the distinct receivers. Passive Optical Network (PON), a next-generation access technology, comes out as a suitable candidate for the convergence of the sensed data to the core system. The earlier demonstrated work with single-OLT-PON introduces an overloaded buffer akin to video surveillance scenarios. In this paper, to combine the bandwidth potential of PONs with the mobility capability of WSNs, the viability for the convergence of PONs and WSNs incorporating multi-optical line terminals is demonstrated to handle the overloaded OLTs. The existing M/M/1 queue theory with interleaving polling with adaptive cycle time as dynamic bandwidth algorithm is used to shun the probability of packets clash. Further, the proposed multi-sink WSN and multi-OLT PON converged structure is investigated in bidirectional mode analytically and through computer simulations. The observations establish the proposed structure competent to accommodate the colossal data traffic through less time consumption.

Brünnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia) maintain high temperature in the body core during dives.

PubMed

Niizuma, Yasuaki; Gabrielsen, Geir W; Sato, Katsufumi; Watanuki, Yutaka; Naito, Yasuhiko

2007-06-01

A major challenge for diving birds, reptiles, and mammals is regulating body temperature while conserving oxygen through a reduction in metabolic processes. To gain insight into how these needs are met, we measured dive depth and body temperatures at the core or periphery between the skin and abdominal muscles simultaneously in freely diving Brünnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia), an arctic seabird, using an implantable data logger (16-mm diameter, 50-mm length, 14-g mass, Little Leonardo Ltd., Tokyo). Guillemots exhibited increased body core temperatures, but decreased peripheral temperatures, during diving. Heat conservation within the body core appeared to result from the combined effect of peripheral vasoconstriction and a high wing beat frequency that generates heat. Conversely, the observed tissue hypothermia in the periphery should reduce metabolic processes as well as heat loss to the water. These physiological effects are likely one of the key physiological adaptations that makes guillemots to perform as an efficient predator in arctic waters.

Recruitment, Methods, and Descriptive Results of a Physiologic Assessment of Latino Farmworkers: The California Heat Illness Prevention Study.

PubMed

Mitchell, Diane C; Castro, Javier; Armitage, Tracey L; Vega-Arroyo, Alondra J; Moyce, Sally C; Tancredi, Daniel J; Bennett, Deborah H; Jones, James H; Kjellstrom, Tord; Schenker, Marc B

2017-07-01

The California heat illness prevention study (CHIPS) devised methodology and collected physiological data to assess heat related illness (HRI) risk in Latino farmworkers. Bilingual researchers monitored HRI across a workshift, recording core temperature, work rate (metabolic equivalents [METs]), and heart rate at minute intervals. Hydration status was assessed by changes in weight and blood osmolality. Personal data loggers and a weather station measured exposure to heat. Interviewer administered questionnaires were used to collect demographic and occupational information. California farmworkers (n = 588) were assessed. Acceptable quality data was obtained from 80% of participants (core temperature) to 100% of participants (weight change). Workers (8.3%) experienced a core body temperature more than or equal to 38.5 °C and 11.8% experienced dehydration (lost more than 1.5% of body weight). Methodology is presented for the first comprehensive physiological assessment of HRI risk in California farmworkers.

Low cost environmental sensors for Spaceflight : NMP Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrett, Henry B.; Buelher, Martin G.; Brinza, D.; Patel, J. U.

2005-01-01

An outstanding problem in spaceflight is the lack of adequate sensors for monitoring the space environment and its effects on engineering systems. By adequate, we mean low cost in terms of mission impact (e.g., low price, low mass/size, low power, low data rate, and low design impact). The New Millennium Program (NMP) is investigating the development of such a low-cost Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) package for inclusion on its technology validation flights. This effort follows from the need by NMP to characterize the space environment during testing so that potential users can extrapolate the test results to end-use conditions. The immediate objective of this effort is to develop a small diagnostic sensor package that could be obtained from commercial sources. Environments being considered are: contamination, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, cosmic radiation, EMI, and temperature. This talk describes the requirements and rational for selecting these environments and reviews a preliminary design that includes a micro-controller data logger with data storage and interfaces to the sensors and spacecraft. If successful, such a sensor package could be the basis of a unique, long term program for monitoring the effects of the space environment on spacecraft systems.

Low Cost Environmental Sensors for Spaceflight: NMP Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrett, Henry B.; Buehler, Martin G.; Brinza, D.; Patel, J. U.

2005-01-01

An outstanding problem in spaceflight is the lack of adequate sensors for monitoring the space environment and its effects on engineering systems. By adequate, we mean low cost in terms of mission impact (e.g., low price, low mass/size, low power, low data rate, and low design impact). The New Millennium Program (NMP) is investigating the development of such a low-cost Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) package for inclusion on its technology validation flights. This effort follows from the need by NMP to characterize the space environment during testing so that potential users can extrapolate the test results to end-use conditions. The immediate objective of this effort is to develop a small diagnostic sensor package that could be obtained from commercial sources. Environments being considered are: contamination, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, cosmic radiation, EMI, and temperature. This talk describes the requirements and rational for selecting these environments and reviews a preliminary design that includes a micro-controller data logger with data storage and interfaces to the sensors and spacecraft. If successful, such a sensor package could be the basis of a unique, long term program for monitoring the effects of the space environment on spacecraft systems.

Non-proximity resonant tunneling in multi-core photonic band gap fibers: An efficient mechanism for engineering highly-selective ultra-narrow band pass splitters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Florous, Nikolaos J.; Saitoh, Kunimasa; Murao, Tadashi; Koshiba, Masanori; Skorobogatiy, Maksim

2006-05-01

The objective of the present investigation is to demonstrate the possibility of designing compact ultra-narrow band-pass filters based on the phenomenon of non-proximity resonant tunneling in multi-core photonic band gap fibers (PBGFs). The proposed PBGF consists of three identical air-cores separated by two defected air-holes which act as highly-selective resonators. With a fine adjustment of the design parameters associated with the resonant-air-holes, phase matching at two distinct wavelengths can be achieved, thus enabling very narrow-band resonant directional coupling between the input and the two output cores. The validation of the proposed design is ensured with an accurate PBGF analysis based on finite element modal and beam propagation algorithms. Typical characteristics of the proposed device over a single polarization are: reasonable short coupling length of 2.7 mm, dual bandpass transmission response at wavelengths of 1.339 and 1.357 μm, with corresponding full width at half maximum bandwidths of 1.2 nm and 1.1 nm respectively, and a relatively high transmission of 95% at the exact resonance wavelengths. The proposed ultra-narrow band-pass filter can be employed in various applications such as all-fiber bandpass/bandstop filtering and resonant sensors.

Non-proximity resonant tunneling in multi-core photonic band gap fibers: An efficient mechanism for engineering highly-selective ultra-narrow band pass splitters.

PubMed

Florous, Nikolaos J; Saitoh, Kunimasa; Murao, Tadashi; Koshiba, Masanori; Skorobogatiy, Maksim

2006-05-29

The objective of the present investigation is to demonstrate the possibility of designing compact ultra-narrow band-pass filters based on the phenomenon of non-proximity resonant tunneling in multi-core photonic band gap fibers (PBGFs). The proposed PBGF consists of three identical air-cores separated by two defected air-holes which act as highly-selective resonators. With a fine adjustment of the design parameters associated with the resonant-air-holes, phase matching at two distinct wavelengths can be achieved, thus enabling very narrow-band resonant directional coupling between the input and the two output cores. The validation of the proposed design is ensured with an accurate PBGF analysis based on finite element modal and beam propagation algorithms. Typical characteristics of the proposed device over a single polarization are: reasonable short coupling length of 2.7 mm, dual bandpass transmission response at wavelengths of 1.339 and 1.357 mum, with corresponding full width at half maximum bandwidths of 1.2 nm and 1.1 nm respectively, and a relatively high transmission of 95% at the exact resonance wavelengths. The proposed ultra-narrow band-pass filter can be employed in various applications such as all-fiber bandpass/bandstop filtering and resonant sensors.

Data-Logger Interface And Test Controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burch, Donnie R.

1995-01-01

Data-logger interface and test controller developed to enable automation of tests in conjunction with data-acquisition functions performed by data loggers that have output-switching capabilities. Includes relay logic circuits that remain deenergized until out-of-tolerance condition on any data channel discovered. Designed to be connected to Fluke model 2286A (or equivalent) data-logger system, which features 3 control channels with 6 data inputs per channel. Includes elapsed-time counter that keeps track of power outages.

Multi-Modalities Sensor Science

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-02-28

enhanced multi-mode sensor science. bio -sensing, cross-discipling, multi-physics, nano-technology sailing He +46-8790 8465 1 Final Report for SOARD Project...spectroscopy, nano-technology, biophotonics and multi-physics modeling to produce adaptable bio -nanostructure enhanced multi-mode sensor science. 1...adaptable bio -nanostructure enhanced multi-mode sensor science. The accomplishments includes 1) A General Method for Designing a Radome to Enhance

Study on the multi-sensors monitoring and information fusion technology of dangerous cargo container

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shibo; Zhang, Shuhui; Cao, Wensheng

2017-10-01

In this paper, monitoring system of dangerous cargo container based on multi-sensors is presented. In order to improve monitoring accuracy, multi-sensors will be applied inside of dangerous cargo container. Multi-sensors information fusion solution of monitoring dangerous cargo container is put forward, and information pre-processing, the fusion algorithm of homogenous sensors and information fusion based on BP neural network are illustrated, applying multi-sensors in the field of container monitoring has some novelty.

Merging science, engineering, and data with FUN: Recreational Drones in STEaM Education Activities and Science Fair Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olds, S. E.; Mooney, M. E.; Dahlman, L. E.

2016-12-01

Recreational drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), provide an ideal platform for engaging students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) investigations for science fair projects, after-school clubs, and in-class activities. UAVs are very popular (estimate of >1 million received as gifts this past year), relatively inexpensive (<$100), weigh less than 250g (don't require FAA registration), are modifiable, and can carry small instrument packages. Seeing the world from above can stimulate curiosity and give students a reason to engage in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) process of science and engineering practices by designing and carrying out their own investigations. Using drones to facilitate experiments, students also participate in engineering design: they may choose off-the-shelf sensors or build DIY sensors to carry on their UAVs. Leveraging the learning potential of UAVs, the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Education Committee has been developing an e-book of learning activities and investigation suggestions for secondary education students. The freely available download incorporates UAV civility and safety through a pre-flight checklist and flying guidelines, suggests science and flight team roles, and advocates robust data and metadata-collection practices. The ESIP team also worked with an engineer to build a 33-gram prototype environmental logger called SABEL (Shelley (Olds) and Bob's Environmental Logger). SABEL collects temperature, humidity, and GPS position assembled on an Arduino board. This presentation will elaborate upon the year-long process of working with educators via webinars and a 1-day workshop at the 2016 ESIP summer meeting and beyond. It will also provide examples of student-led investigations, instructions for building the SABEL sensor package, insights gleaned from workshop feedback - and - the status of the new e-book compilation of student-focused activities using recreational drones to pursue STEM investigations!

Holocene sedimentary processes in the Gemlik Gulf: a transtensional basin on the middle Strand of the North Anatolian Fault, Sea of Marmara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özmaral, A.; Çagatay, M. N.; Imren, C.; Gasperini, L.; Henry, P.

2012-04-01

Gemlik Gulf is an oval-shaped transtensional basin with a maximum depth of 113 m, located on the middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the eastern part of the Sea of Marmara (SOM). During the last glacial period until the Holocene marine transgression about 12 ka BP, the sea level was below the Çanakkale (Dardanelles) Strait's bedrock sill depth of -85 m, and the Gemlik Basin became a lake isolated lake from the rest of the Sea of Marmara "Lake" and the global ocean. The high resolution seismic profiles and the multi- beam bathymetric map of the basin show that the basin is characterized by NW-SE trending transtensional oblique faults, delta lobes of the Büyükdere (Kocadere) to the east and an erosional surface below an up to 15 m-thick Holocene mud drape. The Holocene mud drape was studied in up to 9.5 m-long gravity-piston and 0.84 m-long sediment/water interface cores located at -105 to -113 m in the basin's depocentre. The Holocene mud consists mainly of plastic gray green marine clayey mud that includes thick-red brown clay layers and a laminated organic-rich, dark olive green sapropel in the lower part, which was previously dated at 11.6-6.4 14Ckyr (uncalib) BP. Multi-proxy analyses of the Holocene mud drape in the sediment cores were carried out using Multisensor Core Logger, XRF Core Scanner equipped with digital X-Ray radiography, and laser particle size analyzer. Seismic-core correlation was made using seismic data of the chirp profiles at the core locations and the synthetic seismograms generated using the MSCL P-wave velocity and gamma density measurements. The long piston-gravity cores include five 20 to 100 mm-thick "red brown mud layers" in the top 2.5 m of the core. These layers have a sharp basal boundary and gradational upper boundary. The red brown layers consist of 55-75% clay-size material with an average grain size of 3-4 µm, and have relatively a high magnetic susceptibility. They are enriched in K, Fe, Ti and Zr that are the proxy of detrital mineral input, and depleted in Ca, Br, Fe and Mn. Manganese shows a sharp enrichment immediately below the base of the red brown layers. All these features strongly suggest that the red layers represent the distal edges mass flow deposits, possibly sourced from the delta to the east. The distinct Mn enrichments below the base of the red brown layers represent the diagenetic enrichment at the oxic/anoxic boundary near the seafloor, which was later covered by the mass flow deposit. C-14 and radionuclide datings of the mass flow layers and investigation of their possible relation to the past earthquakes are under progress.

Developing hydrological monitoring networks with Arduino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buytaert, Wouter; Vega, Andres; Villacis, Marcos; Moulds, Simon

2015-04-01

The open source hardware platform Arduino is very cost-effective and versatile for the development of sensor networks. Here we report on experiments on the use of Arduino-related technologies to develop and implement hydrological monitoring networks. Arduino Uno boards were coupled to a variety of commercially available hydrological sensors and programmed for automatic data collection. Tested sensors include water level, temperature, humidity, radiation, and precipitation. Our experiments show that most of the tested analogue sensors are quite straightforward to couple to Arduino based data loggers, especially if the electronic characteristics of the sensor are available. However, some sensors have internal digital interfaces, which are more challenging to connect. Lastly, tipping bucket rain gauges prove the most challenging because of the very specific methodology, i.e. registration of bucket tips instead of measurements at regular intervals. The typically low data generation rate of hydrological instruments is very compatible with available technologies for wireless data transmission. Mesh networks such as Xbee prove very convenient and robust for dispersed networks, while wifi is also an option for shorter distances and particular topographies. Lastly, the GSM shield of the Arduino can be used to transfer data to centralized databases. In regions where no mobile internet (i.e. 3G) connection is available, data transmission via text messages may be an option, depending on the bandwidth requirements.

PASTIS 57: Autonomous light sensors for PAI continuous monitoring. Principles, calibration and application to vegetation phenology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lecerf, R.; Baret, F.; Hanocq, J.; Marloie, O.; Rautiainen, M.; Mottus, M.; Heiskanen, J.; Stenberg, P.

2010-12-01

The LAI (Leaf Area Index) is a key variable to analyze and model vegetation and its interactions with atmosphere and soils. The LAI maps derived from remote sensing images are often validated with non-destructive LAI measures obtained from digital hemispherical photography, LAI-2000 or ceptometer instruments. These methods are expensive and time consuming particularly when human intervention is needed. Consequently it is difficult to acquire overlapping field data and remotely sensed LAI. There is a need of a cheap, autonomous, easy to use ground system to measure foliage development and senescence at least with a daily frequency in order to increase the number of validation sites where vegetation phenology is continuously monitored. A system called PASTIS-57 (PAI Autonomous System from Transmittance Instantaneous Sensors oriented at 57°) devoted to PAI (Plant Area Index) ground measurements was developed to answer this need. PASTIS-57 consists in 6 sensors plugged on one logger that record data with a sampling rate of 1 to few minutes (tunable) with up to 3 months autonomy (energy and data storage). The sensors are plugged to the logger with 2x10m wires, 2x6m wires and 2x2m wires. The distance between each sensor was determined to obtain a representative spatial sampling over a 20m pixel corresponding to an Elementary Sampling Unit (ESU). The PASTIS-57 sensors are made of photodiodes that measure the incoming light in the blue wavelength to maximize the contrast between vegetation and sky and limit multiple scattering effects in the canopy. The diodes are oriented to the north to avoid direct sun light and point to a zenithal angle of 57° to minimize leaf angle distribution and plant clumping effects. The field of view of the diodes was set to ± 20° to take into consideration vegetation cover heterogeneity and to minimize environmental effects. The sensors were calibrated after recording data on a clear view site during a week. After calibration, the sensors were installed on several study sites including a boreal forest in Finland and an agricultural area in southern France. On each study site, several ESUs were equipped with 2 to 4 systems. The sensors were installed along an East-West line and were pointing to the north. A reference system was set up to monitor unobstructed incident radiation field. The results show that the transmitted light recorded by sensors depends on gap fraction and may be used to measure the PAI (Plant Area Index). The time series acquired with the PASTIS-57 show strong correlation with plant phenology. The PAI values were then derived from the measured gap fractions. Advantages and limitations of the system are finally discussed with emphasis on potential operational use within networks of sites.

Comparison of eight logger layouts for monitoring animal-level temperature and humidity during commercial feeder cattle transport.

PubMed

Goldhawk, C; Crowe, T; González, L A; Janzen, E; Kastelic, J; Pajor, E; Schwartzkopf-Genswein, K

2014-09-01

Measuring animal-level conditions during transit provides information regarding the true risk of environmental challenges to cattle welfare during transportation. However, due to constraints on placing loggers at the animal level, there is a need to identify appropriate proxy locations. The objective was to evaluate 8 distributions of ceiling-level loggers in the deck and belly compartments of pot-belly trailers for assessing animal-level temperature and humidity during 5 to 18 h commercial transportation of feeder cattle. Ambient conditions during transportation ranged from 3.6 to 45.2°C (20.3 ± 7.61°C, mean ± SD). When considering the entire journey, average differences between ceiling and animal-level temperatures were similar among logger layouts (P > 0.05). The uncertainty in the difference in temperature and humidity between locations was high relative to the magnitude of the difference between animal- and ceiling-level conditions. Single-logger layouts required larger adjustments to predict animal-level conditions within either compartment, during either the entire journey or when the trailer was stationary (P < 0.05). Within certain logger layouts, there were small but significant differences in the ability of regression equations to predict animal-level conditions that were associated with cattle weight and available space relative to body size. Furthermore, evaluation of logger layouts based solely on the entire journey without consideration of stationary periods did not adequately capture variability in layout performance. In conclusion, to adequately monitor animal-level temperature and humidity, 10 loggers distributed throughout the compartment was recommended over single-logger layouts within both the deck and belly compartments of pot-belly trailers transporting feeder cattle in warm weather.

Visualization assisted by parallel processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, B.; Rey, H.; Vasques, X.; Puech, W.; Rodriguez, N.

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the experimental results of our visualization model for data extracted from sensors. The objective of this paper is to find a computationally efficient method to produce a real time rendering visualization for a large amount of data. We develop visualization method to monitor temperature variance of a data center. Sensors are placed on three layers and do not cover all the room. We use particle paradigm to interpolate data sensors. Particles model the "space" of the room. In this work we use a partition of the particle set, using two mathematical methods: Delaunay triangulation and Voronoý cells. Avis and Bhattacharya present these two algorithms in. Particles provide information on the room temperature at different coordinates over time. To locate and update particles data we define a computational cost function. To solve this function in an efficient way, we use a client server paradigm. Server computes data and client display this data on different kind of hardware. This paper is organized as follows. The first part presents related algorithm used to visualize large flow of data. The second part presents different platforms and methods used, which was evaluated in order to determine the better solution for the task proposed. The benchmark use the computational cost of our algorithm that formed based on located particles compared to sensors and on update of particles value. The benchmark was done on a personal computer using CPU, multi core programming, GPU programming and hybrid GPU/CPU. GPU programming method is growing in the research field; this method allows getting a real time rendering instates of a precompute rendering. For improving our results, we compute our algorithm on a High Performance Computing (HPC), this benchmark was used to improve multi-core method. HPC is commonly used in data visualization (astronomy, physic, etc) for improving the rendering and getting real-time.

Design and Verification of an Inexpensive Ultrasonic Water Depth Sensor Using Arduino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihevc, T. M.; Rajagopal, S.

2012-12-01

A system that combines the arduino micro-controller, a Parallax PING Ultrasonic distance sensor and a secure digital card to log the data is developed to help monitor water table depths in multiple settings. Traditional methods of monitoring water table depths involve the use of a pressure transducer and expensive data loggers that cost upward of 1000. The present system is built for less than 100, with the caveat that the accuracy of the measurements is 1cm. In this laboratory study, we first build the arduino based system to monitor water table depths in a piezometer and compare these measurements to those made by a pressure transducer. Initial results show that the depth measurements are accurate in comparison to actual tape measurements. Results from this benchmarking experiment will be presented at the meeting.

Design of an accurate wireless data logger for vibration analysis with Android interface.

PubMed

Blanco, J R; Menéndez, J; Ferrero, F J; Campo, J C; Valledor, M

2016-12-01

In this work a new accurate wireless data logger using the Android interface was developed to monitor vibrations at low-cost. The new data logger is completely autonomous and extremely reduced in size. This instrument enables data collection wirelessly and the ability to display it on any tablet or smartphone with operating system Android. The prototype allows the monitoring of any industrial system with minimal investment in material and installation costs. The data logger is capable of making 12.8 kSPS enough to sample up to 5 kHz signals. The basic specification of the data logger includes a high resolution 1-axis piezoelectric accelerometer with a working range of ±30 G. In addition to the acceleration measurements, temperature can also be recorded. The data logger was tested during a 6-month period in industrial environments. The details of the specific hardware and software design are described. The proposed technology can be easily transferred to many other areas of industrial monitoring.

Reliability of an infrared forehead skin thermometer for core temperature measurements.

PubMed

Kistemaker, J A; Den Hartog, E A; Daanen, H A M

2006-01-01

The SensorTouch thermometer performs an infrared measurement of the skin temperature above the Superficial Temporal Artery (STA). This study evaluates the validity and the accuracy of the SensorTouch thermometer. Two experiments were performed in which the body temperature was measured with a rectal sensor, with an oesophageal sensor and with the SensorTouch. After entering a warm chamber the SensorTouch underestimated the core temperature during the first 10 minutes. After that, the SensorTouch was not significantly different from the core temperature, with an average difference of 0.5 degrees C (SD 0.5 degrees C) in the first study and 0.3 degrees C (SD 0.2 degrees C) in the second study. The largest differences between the SensorTouch and the core temperature existed 15 minutes after the start of the exercise. During this period the SensorTouch was significantly higher than the core temperature. The SensorTouch did not provide reliable values of the body temperature during periods of increasing body temperature, but the SensorTouch might work under stable conditions.

Optimising crime scene temperature collection for forensic entomology casework.

PubMed

Hofer, Ines M J; Hart, Andrew J; Martín-Vega, Daniel; Hall, Martin J R

2017-01-01

The value of minimum post-mortem interval (minPMI) estimations in suspicious death investigations from insect evidence using temperature modelling is indisputable. In order to investigate the reliability of the collected temperature data used for modelling minPMI, it is necessary to study the effects of data logger location on the accuracy and precision of measurements. Digital data logging devices are the most commonly used temperature measuring devices in forensic entomology, however, the relationship between ambient temperatures (measured by loggers) and body temperatures has been little studied. The placement of loggers in this study in three locations (two outdoors, one indoors) had measurable effects when compared with actual body temperature measurements (simulated with pig heads), some more significant than others depending on season, exposure to the environment and logger location. Overall, the study demonstrated the complexity of the question of optimal logger placement at a crime scene and the potential impact of inaccurate temperature data on minPMI estimations, showing the importance of further research in this area and development of a standard protocol. Initial recommendations are provided for data logger placement (within a Stevenson Screen where practical), situations to avoid (e.g. placement of logger in front of windows when measuring indoor temperatures), and a baseline for further research into producing standard guidelines for logger placement, to increase the accuracy of minPMI estimations and, thereby, the reliability of forensic entomology evidence in court. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Scintillating X-ray Optical Fiber Sensors

PubMed Central

Sporea, Dan; Mihai, Laura; Vâţă, Ion; McCarthy, Denis; O'Keeffe, Sinead; Lewis, Elfed

2014-01-01

The paper presents a set of tests carried out in order to evaluate the design characteristics and the operating performance of a set of six X-ray extrinsic optical fiber sensors. The extrinsic sensor we developed is intended to be used as a low energy X-ray detector for monitoring radiation levels in radiotherapy, industrial applications and for personnel dosimetry. The reproducibility of the manufacturing process and the characteristics of the sensors were assessed. The sensors dynamic range, linearity, sensitivity, and reproducibility are evaluated through radioluminescence measurements, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray imaging investigations. Their response to the operating conditions of the excitation source was estimated. The effect of the sensors design and implementation, on the collecting efficiency of the radioluminescence signal was measured. The study indicated that the sensors are efficient only in the first 5 mm of the tip, and that a reflective coating can improve their response. Additional tests were done to investigate the concentricity of the sensors tip against the core of the optical fiber guiding the optical signal. The influence of the active material concentration on the sensor response to X-ray was studied. The tests were carried out by measuring the radioluminescence signal with an optical fiber spectrometer and with a Multi-Pixel Photon Counter. PMID:24556676

Advanced integrated enhanced vision systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerr, J. R.; Luk, Chiu H.; Hammerstrom, Dan; Pavel, Misha

2003-09-01

In anticipation of its ultimate role in transport, business and rotary wing aircraft, we clarify the role of Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS): how the output data will be utilized, appropriate architecture for total avionics integration, pilot and control interfaces, and operational utilization. Ground-map (database) correlation is critical, and we suggest that "synthetic vision" is simply a subset of the monitor/guidance interface issue. The core of integrated EVS is its sensor processor. In order to approximate optimal, Bayesian multi-sensor fusion and ground correlation functionality in real time, we are developing a neural net approach utilizing human visual pathway and self-organizing, associative-engine processing. In addition to EVS/SVS imagery, outputs will include sensor-based navigation and attitude signals as well as hazard detection. A system architecture is described, encompassing an all-weather sensor suite; advanced processing technology; intertial, GPS and other avionics inputs; and pilot and machine interfaces. Issues of total-system accuracy and integrity are addressed, as well as flight operational aspects relating to both civil certification and military applications in IMC.

Glucose Sensors Based on Core@Shell Magnetic Nanomaterials and Their Application in Diabetes Management: A Review.

PubMed

Liu, Lin; Lv, Hongying; Teng, Zhenyuan; Wang, Chengyin; Wang, Guoxiu

2015-01-01

This review presents a comprehensive attempt to conclude and discuss various glucose biosensors based on core@shell magnetic nanomaterials. Owing to good biocompatibility and stability, the core@shell magnetic nanomaterials have found widespread applications in many fields and draw extensive attention. Most magnetic nanoparticles possess an intrinsic enzyme mimetic activity like natural peroxidases, which invests magnetic nanomaterials with great potential in the construction of glucose sensors. We summarize the synthesis of core@shell magnetic nanomaterials, fundamental theory of glucose sensor and the advances in glucose sensors based on core@shell magnetic nanomaterials. The aim of the review is to provide an overview of the exploitation of the core@shell magnetic nanomaterials for glucose sensors construction.

Evaluation of the Storm 3 data logger manufactured by WaterLOG/Xylem Incorporated—Results of bench, temperature, and field deployment testing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kunkle, Gerald A.

2016-05-04

The procedures followed and the results obtained from the testing are described in this publication. The device met most of the manufacturer’s stated specifications. An exception was power consumption, which was about 10 percent above the manufacturer’s specifications. It was also observed that enabling WiFi doubles the Storm 3’s power consumption. In addition, several logging errors were made by two units during deployment testing, but it could not be determined whether these errors were the fault of the Storm or of an attached sensor.

Measuring stream temperature with digital data loggers: a user's guide

Treesearch

Jason Dunham; Gwynne Chandler; Bruce Rieman; Don Martin

2005-01-01

Digital data loggers (thermographs) are among the most widespread instruments in use for monitoring physical conditions in aquatic ecosystems. The intent of this protocol is to provide guidelines for selecting and programming data loggers, sampling water temperatures in the field, data screening and analysis, and data archiving.

Controlling sediment collection with data loggers

Treesearch

Rand E. Eads

1991-01-01

Abstract - The proliferation of commercial non-programmable data loggers in the past five years has done little to increase sediment sampling efficiency in remote locations. Recent advances in microelectronics have encouraged the development of commercial, low-power, programmable data loggers at reasonable cost. Although some facets of hydrologic data collection may...

Teaching chemistry and other sciences to blind and low-vision students through hands-on learning experiences in high school science laboratories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Supalo, Cary Alan

2010-11-01

Students with blindness and low vision (BLV) have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences as a result of technological and attitudinal barriers to equal access in science laboratory classrooms. The Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind (ILAB) project developed and evaluated a suite of talking and audible hardware/software tools to empower students with BLV to have multisensory, hands-on laboratory learning experiences. This dissertation focuses on the first year of ILAB tool testing in mainstream science laboratory classrooms, and comprises a detailed multi-case study of four students with BLV who were enrolled in high school science classes during 2007--08 alongside sighted students. Participants attended different schools; curricula included chemistry, AP chemistry, and AP physics. The ILAB tools were designed to provide multisensory means for students with BLV to make observations and collect data during standard laboratory lessons on an equivalent basis with their sighted peers. Various qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments were used to determine whether the hands-on experiences facilitated by the ILAB tools had led to increased involvement in laboratory-goal-directed actions, greater peer acceptance in the students' lab groups, improved attitudes toward science, and increased interest in science. Premier among the ILAB tools was the JAWS/Logger Pro software interface, which made audible all information gathered through standard Vernier laboratory probes and visually displayed through Logger Pro. ILAB tools also included a talking balance, a submersible audible light sensor, a scientific talking stopwatch, and a variety of other high-tech and low-tech devices and techniques. While results were mixed, all four participating BLV students seemed to have experienced at least some benefit, with the effect being stronger for some than for others. Not all of the data collection instruments were found to reveal improvements for all of the participating students, but each of the types of data sets provided evidence of benefit for varying subgroups of participants. It is the expectation of the ILAB team that continuing to implement adaptive/assistive technologies for BLV students in science laboratory classrooms will foster enhanced opportunities in science classes and professions.

Airborne net-centric multi-INT sensor control, display, fusion, and exploitation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linne von Berg, Dale C.; Lee, John N.; Kruer, Melvin R.; Duncan, Michael D.; Olchowski, Fred M.; Allman, Eric; Howard, Grant

2004-08-01

The NRL Optical Sciences Division has initiated a multi-year effort to develop and demonstrate an airborne net-centric suite of multi-intelligence (multi-INT) sensors and exploitation systems for real-time target detection and targeting product dissemination. The goal of this Net-centric Multi-Intelligence Fusion Targeting Initiative (NCMIFTI) is to develop an airborne real-time intelligence gathering and targeting system that can be used to detect concealed, camouflaged, and mobile targets. The multi-INT sensor suite will include high-resolution visible/infrared (EO/IR) dual-band cameras, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors in the visible-to-near infrared, short-wave and long-wave infrared (VNIR/SWIR/LWIR) bands, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), electronics intelligence sensors (ELINT), and off-board networked sensors. Other sensors are also being considered for inclusion in the suite to address unique target detection needs. Integrating a suite of multi-INT sensors on a single platform should optimize real-time fusion of the on-board sensor streams, thereby improving the detection probability and reducing the false alarms that occur in reconnaissance systems that use single-sensor types on separate platforms, or that use independent target detection algorithms on multiple sensors. In addition to the integration and fusion of the multi-INT sensors, the effort is establishing an open-systems net-centric architecture that will provide a modular "plug and play" capability for additional sensors and system components and provide distributed connectivity to multiple sites for remote system control and exploitation.

Assessing safety awareness and knowledge and behavioral change among West Virginia loggers

PubMed Central

Helmkamp, J; Bell, J; Lundstrom, W; Ramprasad, J; Haque, A

2004-01-01

Objective: To determine if a video used during logger training influences safety attitude, knowledge, and workplace habits. Method: From April 2002 to October 2003, loggers receiving training through the West Virginia Division of Forestry were given a new safety module. This consisted of a pre-training survey, viewing video, brief introduction to field safety guide, and an immediate post-training survey. Six months after training, loggers were contacted by telephone to assess workplace behavioral changes. Results: 1197 loggers attended 80 training sessions and completed surveys; 21% were contacted at follow up. Pre-training surveys indicated that half said "accidents" were part of the job and had experienced a "close call" in their work. An overwhelming majority felt that safety management and periodic meetings were important. Over 75% indicated they would not take risks in order to make a profit. Several statistically significant improvements were noted in safety knowledge after viewing the video: logger's location in relation to the tree stump during fatal incidents and the pictorial identification of an overloaded truck and the safest cutting notch. At follow up, many of the loggers said they related to the real life victim stories portrayed in the video. Further, the field guide served as a quick and easy reference and taught them valuable tips on safe cutting and felling. Conclusions: Significant changes in safety knowledge and attitude among certified loggers resulted from viewing the video during training. Subsequent use of the video and field guide at the worksite encouraged positive change in self reported work habits and practices. PMID:15314051

Affordable Open-Source Data Loggers for Distributed Measurements of Sap-Flux, Stem Growth, Relative Humidity, Temperature, and Soil Water Content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, T.; Jencso, K. G.; Hoylman, Z. H.; Hu, J.

2015-12-01

Characterizing the mechanisms that lead to differences in forest ecosystem productivity across complex terrain remains a challenge. This difficulty can be partially attributed to the cost of installing networks of proprietary data loggers that monitor differences in the biophysical factors contributing to tree growth. Here, we describe the development and initial application of a network of open source data loggers. These data loggers are based on the Arduino platform, but were refined into a custom printed circuit board (PCB). This reduced the cost and complexity of the data loggers, which made them cheap to reproduce and reliable enough to withstand the harsh environmental conditions experienced in Ecohydrology studies. We demonstrate the utility of these loggers for high frequency, spatially-distributed measurements of sap-flux, stem growth, relative humidity, temperature, and soil water content across 36 landscape positions in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, MT, USA. This new data logging technology made it possible to develop a spatially distributed monitoring network within the constraints of our research budget and may provide new insights into factors affecting forest productivity across complex terrain.

The Gem Infrasound Logger and Custom-Built Instrumentation

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

Anderson, Jacob F.; Johnson, Jeffrey B.; Bowman, Daniel C.

Here, we designed, built, and recorded data with a custom infrasound logger (referred to as the Gem) that is inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. We also describe its design process, qualities, and applications in this article. Field instrumentation is a key element of geophysical data collection, and the quantity and quality of data that can be recorded is determined largely by the characteristics of the instruments used. Geophysicists tend to rely on commercially available instruments, which suffice for many important types of fieldwork. However, commercial instrumentation can fall short in certain roles, which motivates the development of custom sensorsmore » and data loggers. Particularly, we found existing data loggers to be expensive and inconvenient for infrasound campaigns, and developed the Gem infrasound logger in response. In this article, we discuss development of this infrasound logger and the various uses found for it, including projects on volcanoes, high-altitude balloons, and rivers. Further, we demonstrate that when needed, scientists can feasibly design and build their own specialized instruments, and that doing so can enable them to record more and better data at a lower cost.« less

The Gem Infrasound Logger and Custom-Built Instrumentation

DOE PAGES

Anderson, Jacob F.; Johnson, Jeffrey B.; Bowman, Daniel C.; ...

2017-11-22

Here, we designed, built, and recorded data with a custom infrasound logger (referred to as the Gem) that is inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. We also describe its design process, qualities, and applications in this article. Field instrumentation is a key element of geophysical data collection, and the quantity and quality of data that can be recorded is determined largely by the characteristics of the instruments used. Geophysicists tend to rely on commercially available instruments, which suffice for many important types of fieldwork. However, commercial instrumentation can fall short in certain roles, which motivates the development of custom sensorsmore » and data loggers. Particularly, we found existing data loggers to be expensive and inconvenient for infrasound campaigns, and developed the Gem infrasound logger in response. In this article, we discuss development of this infrasound logger and the various uses found for it, including projects on volcanoes, high-altitude balloons, and rivers. Further, we demonstrate that when needed, scientists can feasibly design and build their own specialized instruments, and that doing so can enable them to record more and better data at a lower cost.« less

Bio-inspired multi-mode optic flow sensors for micro air vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Seokjun; Choi, Jaehyuk; Cho, Jihyun; Yoon, Euisik

2013-06-01

Monitoring wide-field surrounding information is essential for vision-based autonomous navigation in micro-air-vehicles (MAV). Our image-cube (iCube) module, which consists of multiple sensors that are facing different angles in 3-D space, can be applied to the wide-field of view optic flows estimation (μ-Compound eyes) and to attitude control (μ- Ocelli) in the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) platforms. In this paper, we report an analog/digital (A/D) mixed-mode optic-flow sensor, which generates both optic flows and normal images in different modes for μ- Compound eyes and μ-Ocelli applications. The sensor employs a time-stamp based optic flow algorithm which is modified from the conventional EMD (Elementary Motion Detector) algorithm to give an optimum partitioning of hardware blocks in analog and digital domains as well as adequate allocation of pixel-level, column-parallel, and chip-level signal processing. Temporal filtering, which may require huge hardware resources if implemented in digital domain, is remained in a pixel-level analog processing unit. The rest of the blocks, including feature detection and timestamp latching, are implemented using digital circuits in a column-parallel processing unit. Finally, time-stamp information is decoded into velocity from look-up tables, multiplications, and simple subtraction circuits in a chip-level processing unit, thus significantly reducing core digital processing power consumption. In the normal image mode, the sensor generates 8-b digital images using single slope ADCs in the column unit. In the optic flow mode, the sensor estimates 8-b 1-D optic flows from the integrated mixed-mode algorithm core and 2-D optic flows with an external timestamp processing, respectively.

A flexible geospatial sensor observation service for diverse sensor data based on Web service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Nengcheng; Di, Liping; Yu, Genong; Min, Min

Achieving a flexible and efficient geospatial Sensor Observation Service (SOS) is difficult, given the diversity of sensor networks, the heterogeneity of sensor data storage, and the differing requirements of users. This paper describes development of a service-oriented multi-purpose SOS framework. The goal is to create a single method of access to the data by integrating the sensor observation service with other Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) services — Catalogue Service for the Web (CSW), Transactional Web Feature Service (WFS-T) and Transactional Web Coverage Service (WCS-T). The framework includes an extensible sensor data adapter, an OGC-compliant geospatial SOS, a geospatial catalogue service, a WFS-T, and a WCS-T for the SOS, and a geospatial sensor client. The extensible sensor data adapter finds, stores, and manages sensor data from live sensors, sensor models, and simulation systems. Abstract factory design patterns are used during design and implementation. A sensor observation service compatible with the SWE is designed, following the OGC "core" and "transaction" specifications. It is implemented using Java servlet technology. It can be easily deployed in any Java servlet container and automatically exposed for discovery using Web Service Description Language (WSDL). Interaction sequences between a Sensor Web data consumer and an SOS, between a producer and an SOS, and between an SOS and a CSW are described in detail. The framework has been successfully demonstrated in application scenarios for EO-1 observations, weather observations, and water height gauge observations.

Optical fibre luminescence sensor for real-time LDR brachytherapy dosimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woulfe, P.; Sullivan, F. J.; O'Keeffe, S.

2016-05-01

An optical fibre sensor for monitoring low dose radiation is presented. The sensor is based on a scintillation material embedded within the optical fibre core, which emits visible light when exposed to low level ionising radiation. The incident level of ionising radiation can be determined by analysing the optical emission. An optical fibre sensor is presented, based on radioluminescence whereby radiation sensitive scintillation material, terbium doped gadolinium oxysulphide (Gd2O2S:Tb), is embedded in a cavity of 250μm of a 500μm plastic optical fibre. The sensor is designed for in-vivo monitoring of the radiation dose during radio-active seed implantation for brachytherapy, in prostate cancer treatment, providing oncologists with real-time information of the radiation dose to the target area and/or nearby critical structures. The radiation from the brachytherapy seeds causes emission of visible light from the scintillation material through the process of radioluminescence, which penetrates the fibre, propagating along the optical fibre for remote detection using a multi-pixel photon counter. The sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity to Iodine-125, the radioactive source most commonly used in brachytherapy for treating prostate cancer.

Optical fibre luminescence sensor for real-time LDR brachytherapy dosimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woulfe, P.; O'Keeffe, S.; Sullivan, F. J.

2018-02-01

An optical fibre sensor for monitoring low dose radiation is presented. The sensor is based on a scintillation material embedded within the optical fibre core, which emits visible light when exposed to low level ionising radiation. The incident level of ionising radiation can be determined by analysing the optical emission. An optical fibre sensor is developed, based on radioluminescence whereby radiation sensitive scintillation material, terbium doped gadolinium oxysulphide (Gd2O2S:Tb), is embedded in a cavity of 700μm of a 1mm plastic optical fibre. The sensor is designed for in-vivo monitoring of the radiation dose during radio-active seed implantation for low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy, in prostate cancer treatment, providing radiation oncologists with real-time information of the radiation dose to the target area and/or nearby organs at risk (OARs). The radiation from the brachytherapy seeds causes emission of visible light from the scintillation material through the process of radioluminescence, which penetrates the fibre, propagating along the optical fibre for remote detection using a multi-pixel photon counter. The sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity to 0.397mCi of Iodine125, the radioactive source most commonly used in brachytherapy for treating prostate cancer.

Open architecture of smart sensor suites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Wilmuth; Kuwertz, Achim; Grönwall, Christina; Petersson, Henrik; Dekker, Rob; Reinert, Frank; Ditzel, Maarten

2017-10-01

Experiences from recent conflicts show the strong need for smart sensor suites comprising different multi-spectral imaging sensors as core elements as well as additional non-imaging sensors. Smart sensor suites should be part of a smart sensor network - a network of sensors, databases, evaluation stations and user terminals. Its goal is to optimize the use of various information sources for military operations such as situation assessment, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, target recognition and tracking. Such a smart sensor network will enable commanders to achieve higher levels of situational awareness. Within the study at hand, an open system architecture was developed in order to increase the efficiency of sensor suites. The open system architecture for smart sensor suites, based on a system-of-systems approach, enables combining different sensors in multiple physical configurations, such as distributed sensors, co-located sensors combined in a single package, tower-mounted sensors, sensors integrated in a mobile platform, and trigger sensors. The architecture was derived from a set of system requirements and relevant scenarios. Its mode of operation is adaptable to a series of scenarios with respect to relevant objects of interest, activities to be observed, available transmission bandwidth, etc. The presented open architecture is designed in accordance with the NATO Architecture Framework (NAF). The architecture allows smart sensor suites to be part of a surveillance network, linked e.g. to a sensor planning system and a C4ISR center, and to be used in combination with future RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) for supporting a more flexible dynamic configuration of RPAS payloads.

Automated field detection of rock fracturing, microclimate, and diurnal rock temperature and strain fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, K.; Eppes, M.-C.; Swami, S.; Garbini, J.; Putkonen, J.

2013-11-01

The rates and processes that lead to non-tectonic rock fracture on Earth's surface are widely debated but poorly understood. Few, if any, studies have made the direct observations of rock fracturing under natural conditions that are necessary to directly address this problem. An instrumentation design that enables concurrent high spatial and temporal monitoring resolution of (1) diurnal environmental conditions of a natural boulder and its surroundings in addition to (2) the fracturing of that boulder under natural full-sun exposure is described herein. The surface of a fluvially transported granite boulder was instrumented with (1) six acoustic emission (AE) sensors that record micro-crack associated, elastic wave-generated activity within the three-dimensional space of the boulder, (2) eight rectangular rosette foil strain gages to measure surface strain, (3) eight thermocouples to measure surface temperature, and (4) one surface moisture sensor. Additionally, a soil moisture probe and a full weather station that measures ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, insolation, and precipitation were installed adjacent to the test boulder. AE activity was continuously monitored by one logger while all other variables were acquired by a separate logger every 60 s. The protocols associated with the instrumentation, data acquisition, and analysis are discussed in detail. During the first four months, the deployed boulder experienced almost 12 000 AE events, the majority of which occur in the afternoon when temperatures are decreasing. This paper presents preliminary data that illustrates data validity and typical patterns and behaviors observed. This system offers the potential to (1) obtain an unprecedented record of the natural conditions under which rocks fracture and (2) decipher the mechanical processes that lead to rock fracture at a variety of temporal scales under a range of natural conditions.

Automated field detection of rock fracturing, microclimate, and diurnal rock temperature and strain fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, K.; Eppes, M.-C.; Swami, S.; Garbini, J.; Putkonen, J.

2013-07-01

The rates and processes that lead to non-tectonic rock fracture on the Earth's surface are widely debated but poorly understood. Few, if any, studies have made the direct observations of rock fracturing under natural conditions that are necessary to directly address this problem. An instrumentation design that enables concurrent high spatial and temporal monitoring resolution of (1) diurnal environmental conditions of a natural boulder and its surroundings in addition to (2) the fracturing of that boulder under natural full-sun exposure is described herein. The surface of a fluvially transported granite boulder was instrumented with (1) six acoustic emission (AE) sensors that record micro-crack associated, elastic wave-generated activity within the three-dimensional space of the boulder, (2) eight rectangular rosette foil strain gages to measure surface strain, (3) eight thermocouples to measure surface temperature, and (4) one surface moisture sensor. Additionally, a soil moisture probe and a full weather station that measures ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, insolation, and precipitation were installed adjacent to the test boulder. AE activity was continuously monitored by one logger while all other variables were acquired by a separate logger every 60 s. The protocols associated with the instrumentation, data acquisition, and analyses are discussed in detail. During the first four months, the deployed boulder experienced almost 12 000 AE events, the majority of which occur in the afternoon when temperatures are decreasing. This paper presents preliminary data that illustrates data validity and typical patterns and behaviors observed. This system offers the potential to (1) obtain an unprecedented record of the natural conditions under which rocks fracture and (2) decipher the mechanical processes that lead to rock fracture at a variety of temporal scales under a range of natural conditions.

Deployment operation of NanTroSEIZE C0002 riserless LTBMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyo, N.; Saruhashi, T.; Sawada, I.; Namba, Y.; Kitada, K.; Kimura, T.; Toczko, S.; Araki, E.; Kopf, A.; IODP EXP 332 Scientists

2011-12-01

The installation of LTBMS (Long Term Borehole Monitoring System) for NanTroSEIZE (Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment) C0002 riserless hole was successfully carried out as part of IODP Expedition 332 operations by DV Chikyu in November - December 2010. The water depth of the site and penetration depth of the hole are 1937.5 m and 980 mbsf respectively. Casing (9-5/8") was set to the depth of 888 mbsf and below the CORK head, 3-1/2" tubing was deployed inside the casing as the support structure for the downhole instruments. Within the rat hole section, two pressure ports, a strain meter, a tilt meter, a broadband seismometer, geophone, and accelerometer were deployed. These seismic and geodetic sensors were set within the borehole, and coupled to the formation via cement whose physical properties (Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, density) were adjusted to fit the formation's properties. Screen sections were set to access the pore fluids, while isolating them from the sea floor and the lower lithological units by a swellable packer, and cement, respectively. At the top of wellhead, and at the apex of the 3-1/2" tubing assembly, a CORK head was landed. The CORK head holds the pressure sensor unit (4 pressure sensors), underwater mateable data connectors (connected to the cemented sensors), and hydraulic valves to access and sample formation fluids by ROV. The major scientific features of the Hole C0002G (riserless) LTBMS are sensors monitoring multiple parameters related to seismic, geodetic and pore fluid behavior simultaneously at distinct, multiple, layers within the same borehole. The main technical difficulties in the LTBMS development are as follows: (1) Reduction method for current-induced VIV (Vortex Induced Vibration) (2) Borehole coupling for seismic and geodetic sensors (3) Anti-vibration/shock and protection method for borehole sensors/instruments (4) Attachment and protection for sensor cables and pressure lines (5) Zone isolation for multi-layer pressure measurements (6) Wellhead system (CORK) for data connection to submarine cable network (7) Downsizing borehole instruments (installation with 3-1/2-in tubing) (8) System reliability (redundant sensor system) We carried out sea trials using a dummy sensor assembly to study the effects of deploying the assembly in strong currents, and also carried out additional pool experiments and numerical simulations to evaluate VIV countermeasures. Through shock and vibration mechanical tests, we improved the robustness of sensors and the sensor carrier. As part of these investigations, we conducted risk analysis based on the operation, science, and engineering points of view from, which helped clarify operational procedures for actual deployment. Future plans include returning to Hole C0002G site to deploy a data logger and battery for temporary observations. After examining the data quality, we'll finally connect the LTBMS to the DONET (Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis) submarine cabled network. Plans are also underway for deploying more LTBMS's into Site C0010 (riserless) and Site C0002 (riser).

Structural damage detection-oriented multi-type sensor placement with multi-objective optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jian-Fu; Xu, You-Lin; Law, Siu-Seong

2018-05-01

A structural damage detection-oriented multi-type sensor placement method with multi-objective optimization is developed in this study. The multi-type response covariance sensitivity-based damage detection method is first introduced. Two objective functions for optimal sensor placement are then introduced in terms of the response covariance sensitivity and the response independence. The multi-objective optimization problem is formed by using the two objective functions, and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA)-II is adopted to find the solution for the optimal multi-type sensor placement to achieve the best structural damage detection. The proposed method is finally applied to a nine-bay three-dimensional frame structure. Numerical results show that the optimal multi-type sensor placement determined by the proposed method can avoid redundant sensors and provide satisfactory results for structural damage detection. The restriction on the number of each type of sensors in the optimization can reduce the searching space in the optimization to make the proposed method more effective. Moreover, how to select a most optimal sensor placement from the Pareto solutions via the utility function and the knee point method is demonstrated in the case study.

Measurement of heat stress conditions at cow level and comparison to climate conditions at stationary locations inside a dairy barn.

PubMed

Schüller, Laura K; Heuwieser, Wolfgang

2016-08-01

The objectives of this study were to examine heat stress conditions at cow level and to investigate the relationship to the climate conditions at 5 different stationary locations inside a dairy barn. In addition, we compared the climate conditions at cow level between primiparous and multiparous cows for a period of 1 week after regrouping. The temperature-humidity index (THI) differed significantly between all stationary loggers. The lowest THI was measured at the window logger in the experimental stall and the highest THI was measured at the central logger in the experimental stall. The THI at the mobile cow loggers was 2·33 THI points higher than at the stationary loggers. Furthermore, the mean daily THI was higher at the mobile cow loggers than at the stationary loggers on all experimental days. The THI in the experimental pen was 0·44 THI points lower when the experimental cow group was located inside the milking parlour. The THI measured at the mobile cow loggers was 1·63 THI points higher when the experimental cow group was located inside the milking parlour. However, there was no significant difference for all climate variables between primiparous and multiparous cows. These results indicate, there is a wide range of climate conditions inside a dairy barn and especially areas with a great distance to a fresh air supply have an increased risk for the occurrence of heat stress conditions. Furthermore, the heat stress conditions are even higher at cow level and cows not only influence their climatic environment, but also generate microclimates within different locations inside the barn. Therefore climate conditions should be obtained at cow level to evaluate the heat stress conditions that dairy cows are actually exposed to.

A Data-Based Console Logger for Mission Operations Team Coordination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thronesbery, Carroll; Malin, Jane T.; Jenks, Kenneth; Overland, David; Oliver, Patrick; Zhang, Jiajie; Gong, Yang; Zhang, Tao

2005-01-01

Concepts and prototypes1,2 are discussed for a data-based console logger (D-Logger) to meet new challenges for coordination among flight controllers arising from new exploration mission concepts. The challenges include communication delays, increased crew autonomy, multiple concurrent missions, reduced-size flight support teams that include multidisciplinary flight controllers during quiescent periods, and migrating some flight support activities to flight controller offices. A spiral development approach has been adopted, making simple, but useful functions available early and adding more extensive support later. Evaluations have guided the development of the D-Logger from the beginning and continue to provide valuable user influence about upcoming requirements. D-Logger is part of a suite of tools designed to support future operations personnel and crew. While these tools can be used independently, when used together, they provide yet another level of support by interacting with one another. Recommendations are offered for the development of similar projects.

Development and testing of a tensiologger: a tensiometer with a built-in datalogger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuts, Valentijn; Ronchi, Benedicta; Diels, Jan

2014-05-01

Water-filled tensiometers are widely used for measuring matric potential in the range between 0 and approximately -90kPa in soils. When placed in variably-saturated soil horizons, they correctly measure the pressure head both in unsaturated and saturated conditions. Modern tensiometers consist of a porous ceramic cup filled with water that is connected to a pressure transducer. Tensiometers are commercially available in different models, and can be logged with data loggers. Logging requires either cabling to connect the tensiometers to a data logger, or a wireless connection. Cables hamper field operations and can be unpractical because of the distances involved. Commercially available systems with wireless data communication with a central datalogger do not come cheap. We therefore developed a simple water-filled tensiometer with a build-in datalogger, which we called a tensiologger. The tensiologger is assembled using a porous ceramic cup (Al2O3 sinter material with bubble point > 15 bar, UMS GmbH Munich, Germany) filled with degassed demineralised water for transferring the pressure head to the pressure transducer. This cup is screwed onto a small housing with a capsulated logger circuit consisting of a pressure transducer, a temperature sensor for temperature measurement and for temperature correction of the pressure transducer, a memory for 32k measurements, and a microcontroller for logging the data. This loggercircuit is screwed onto an extension tube of 25 mm diameter that contains a replaceable battery and an optical interface at the top (extending from the soil surface). The data can be retrieved from the logger by means of a readout unit that is placed over the optical interface. This readout unit is connected to a USB port of a portable PC with logger software developed in Visual Basic. The cost of all parts including the printed circuit board is 220€ (excluding labour cost for making screw connections and assembling). The tensiologger was tested over a 8-month period at a grassland site in Blegny, Belgium. We installed tensiologgers at three different locations along a slope and at 15, 45, and 75 cm depth. At the lowest topographic location, we measured groundwater levels with a diver, which allowed us to know when soil is saturated. During or after rainfall events, tension peaks were detected at all depths with a little retardation along the profile, and positive pressure head values were measured as the soil became saturated. Higher on the slope, where drilling problems impede piezometer installation, positive tensions were measured sporadically at 75 cm and 45 cm depth. In dry periods, air bubbles developed in the cups of the shallow tensiologgers, and so cups had to be refilled with degassed water.

Using LiDAR and remote microclimate loggers to downscale near-surface air temperatures for site-level studies

Treesearch

Andrew D. George; Frank R. Thompson; John. Faaborg

2015-01-01

A spatial mismatch exists between regional climate models and conditions experienced by individual organisms. We demonstrate an approach to downscaling air temperatures for site-level studies using airborne LiDAR data and remote microclimate loggers. In 2012-2013, we established a temperature logger network in the forested region of central Missouri, USA, and obtained...

Simultaneous measurement of temperature and magnetic field based on a long period grating concatenated with multimode fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miao, Yinping; Zhang, Hao; Lin, Jichao; Song, Binbin; Zhang, Kailiang; Lin, Wei; Liu, Bo; Yao, Jianquan

2015-03-01

A dual-parameter measurement scheme based on a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) concatenated with a multimode fiber (MMF) has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of magnetic field and temperature. Splicing the LPFG with the etched MMF enables the coupling between the core modes and different cladding modes of the LPFG as well as the interferences between higher-order modes in the MMF. Due to different transmission mechanisms of the LPFG and mode interference, the proposed sensor shows transmission dip wavelength sensitivities of 0.02878 nm/Oe and -0.04048 nm/°C for multi-mode interference (MMI) and -0.0024 nm/Oe and 0.03929 nm/°C for the LPFG, respectively. By monitoring the opposite behaviors of resonance wavelength shift corresponding to the LPFG and MMI, the magnetic field and environmental temperature can be simultaneously measured. The spectral characteristics of the proposed sensor that could be tuned through control of both environmental temperature and applied magnetic field, which would provide a promising candidate for dual-channel filtering applications as well as multi-parameter measurement applications.

A Real Time System for Multi-Sensor Image Analysis through Pyramidal Segmentation

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-30

A Real Time Syte for M~ulti- sensor Image Analysis S. E I0 through Pyramidal Segmentation/ / c •) L. Rudin, S. Osher, G. Koepfler, J.9. Morel 7. ytu...experiments with reconnaissance photography, multi- sensor satellite imagery, medical CT and MRI multi-band data have shown a great practi- cal potential...C ,SF _/ -- / WSM iS-I-0-d41-40450 $tltwt, kw" I (nor.- . Z-97- A real-time system for multi- sensor image analysis through pyramidal segmentation

Application of change-point analysis to determine winter sleep patterns of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) from body temperature recordings and a multi-faceted dietary and behavioral study of wintering.

PubMed

Mustonen, Anne-Mari; Lempiäinen, Terttu; Aspelund, Mikko; Hellstedt, Paavo; Ikonen, Katri; Itämies, Juhani; Vähä, Ville; Erkinaro, Jaakko; Asikainen, Juha; Kunnasranta, Mervi; Niemelä, Pekka; Aho, Jari; Nieminen, Petteri

2012-12-13

A multi-faceted approach was used to investigate the wintertime ecophysiology and behavioral patterns of the raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides, a suitable model for winter sleep studies. By utilizing GPS tracking, activity sensors, body temperature (Tb) recordings, change-point analysis (CPA), home range, habitat and dietary analyses, as well as fatty acid signatures (FAS), the impact of the species on wintertime food webs was assessed. The timing of passive bouts was determined with multiple methods and compared to Tb data analyzed by CPA. Raccoon dogs displayed wintertime mobility, and the home range sizes determined by GPS were similar or larger than previous estimates by radio tracking. The preferred habitats were gardens, shores, deciduous forests, and sparsely forested areas. Fields had close to neutral preference; roads and railroads were utilized as travel routes. Raccoon dogs participated actively in the food web and gained benefit from human activity. Mammals, plants, birds, and discarded fish comprised the most important dietary classes, and the consumption of fish could be detected in FAS. Ambient temperature was an important external factor influencing Tb and activity. The timing of passive periods approximated by behavioral data and by CPA shared 91% similarity. Passive periods can be determined with CPA from Tb recordings without the previously used time-consuming and expensive methods. It would be possible to recruit more animals by using the simple methods of data loggers and ear tags. Hunting could be used as a tool to return the ear-tagged individuals allowing the economical extension of follow-up studies. The Tb and CPA methods could be applied to other northern carnivores.

Application of change-point analysis to determine winter sleep patterns of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) from body temperature recordings and a multi-faceted dietary and behavioral study of wintering

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A multi-faceted approach was used to investigate the wintertime ecophysiology and behavioral patterns of the raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides, a suitable model for winter sleep studies. By utilizing GPS tracking, activity sensors, body temperature (Tb) recordings, change-point analysis (CPA), home range, habitat and dietary analyses, as well as fatty acid signatures (FAS), the impact of the species on wintertime food webs was assessed. The timing of passive bouts was determined with multiple methods and compared to Tb data analyzed by CPA. Results Raccoon dogs displayed wintertime mobility, and the home range sizes determined by GPS were similar or larger than previous estimates by radio tracking. The preferred habitats were gardens, shores, deciduous forests, and sparsely forested areas. Fields had close to neutral preference; roads and railroads were utilized as travel routes. Raccoon dogs participated actively in the food web and gained benefit from human activity. Mammals, plants, birds, and discarded fish comprised the most important dietary classes, and the consumption of fish could be detected in FAS. Ambient temperature was an important external factor influencing Tb and activity. The timing of passive periods approximated by behavioral data and by CPA shared 91% similarity. Conclusions Passive periods can be determined with CPA from Tb recordings without the previously used time-consuming and expensive methods. It would be possible to recruit more animals by using the simple methods of data loggers and ear tags. Hunting could be used as a tool to return the ear-tagged individuals allowing the economical extension of follow-up studies. The Tb and CPA methods could be applied to other northern carnivores. PMID:23237274

A New Digital Imaging and Analysis System for Plant and Ecosystem Phenological Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, G.; Ramirez, G. A.; Vargas, S. A., Jr.; Luna, N. R.; Tweedie, C. E.

2015-12-01

Over the past decade, environmental scientists have increasingly used low-cost sensors and custom software to gather and analyze environmental data. Included in this trend has been the use of imagery from field-mounted static digital cameras. Published literature has highlighted the challenge scientists have encountered with poor and problematic camera performance and power consumption, limited data download and wireless communication options, general ruggedness of off the shelf camera solutions, and time consuming and hard-to-reproduce digital image analysis options. Data loggers and sensors are typically limited to data storage in situ (requiring manual downloading) and/or expensive data streaming options. Here we highlight the features and functionality of a newly invented camera/data logger system and coupled image analysis software suited to plant and ecosystem phenological studies (patent pending). The camera has resulted from several years of development and prototype testing supported by several grants funded by the US NSF. These inventions have several unique features and functionality and have been field tested in desert, arctic, and tropical rainforest ecosystems. The system can be used to acquire imagery/data from static and mobile platforms. Data is collected, preprocessed, and streamed to the cloud without the need of an external computer and can run for extended time periods. The camera module is capable of acquiring RGB, IR, and thermal (LWIR) data and storing it in a variety of formats including RAW. The system is full customizable with a wide variety of passive and smart sensors. The camera can be triggered by state conditions detected by sensors and/or select time intervals. The device includes USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, serial, GSM, Ethernet, and Iridium connections and can be connected to commercial cloud servers such as Dropbox. The complementary image analysis software is compatible with all popular operating systems. Imagery can be viewed and analyzed in RGB, HSV, and l*a*b color space. Users can select a spectral index, which have been derived from published literature and/or choose to have analytical output reported as separate channel strengths for a given color space. Results of the analysis can be viewed in a plot and/or saved as a .csv file for additional analysis and visualization.

A hetero-core fiber optic smart mat sensor for discrimination between a moving human and object on temporal loss peaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosoki, Ai; Nishiyama, Michiko; Choi, Yongwoon; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2011-05-01

In this paper, we propose discrimination method between a moving human and object by means of a hetero-core fiber smart mat sensor which induces the optical loss change in time. In addition to several advantages such as flexibility, thin size and resistance to electro-magnetic interference for a fiber optic sensor, a hetero-core fiber optic sensor is sensitive to bending action of the sensor portion and independent of temperature fluctuations. Therefore, the hetero-core fiber thin mat sensor can have a fewer sensing portions than the conventional floor pressure sensors, furthermore, can detect the wide area covering the length of strides. The experimental results for human walking tests showed that the mat sensors were reproducibly working in real-time under limiting locations the foot passed in the mat sensor. Focusing on the temporal peak numbers in the optical loss, human walking and wheeled platform moving action induced the peak numbers in the range of 1 - 3 and 5 - 7, respectively, for the 10 persons including 9 male and 1 female. As a result, we conclude that the hetero-core fiber mat sensor is capable of discriminating between the moving human and object such as a wheeled platform focusing on the peak numbers in the temporal optical loss.

Comparison between core temperatures measured telemetrically using the CorTemp® ingestible temperature sensor and rectal temperature in healthy Labrador retrievers

PubMed Central

Osinchuk, Stephanie; Taylor, Susan M.; Shmon, Cindy L.; Pharr, John; Campbell, John

2014-01-01

This study evaluated the CorTemp® ingestible telemetric core body temperature sensor in dogs, to establish the relationship between rectal temperature and telemetrically measured core body temperature at rest and during exercise, and to examine the effect of sensor location in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract on measured core temperature. CorTemp® sensors were administered orally to fasted Labrador retriever dogs and radiographs were taken to document sensor location. Core and rectal temperatures were monitored throughout the day in 6 resting dogs and during a 10-minute strenuous retrieving exercise in 6 dogs. Time required for the sensor to leave the stomach (120 to 610 min) was variable. Measured core temperature was consistently higher than rectal temperature across all GI locations but temperature differences based on GI location were not significant (P = 0.5218). Resting dogs had a core temperature that was on average 0.4°C above their rectal temperature with 95% limits of agreement (LoA) between 1.2°C and −0.5°C. Core temperature in exercising dogs was on average 0.3°C higher than their concurrent rectal temperature, with LoA of +1.6°C and −1.1°C. PMID:25320380

Comparison between core temperatures measured telemetrically using the CorTemp® ingestible temperature sensor and rectal temperature in healthy Labrador retrievers.

PubMed

Osinchuk, Stephanie; Taylor, Susan M; Shmon, Cindy L; Pharr, John; Campbell, John

2014-10-01

This study evaluated the CorTemp(®) ingestible telemetric core body temperature sensor in dogs, to establish the relationship between rectal temperature and telemetrically measured core body temperature at rest and during exercise, and to examine the effect of sensor location in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract on measured core temperature. CorTemp(®) sensors were administered orally to fasted Labrador retriever dogs and radiographs were taken to document sensor location. Core and rectal temperatures were monitored throughout the day in 6 resting dogs and during a 10-minute strenuous retrieving exercise in 6 dogs. Time required for the sensor to leave the stomach (120 to 610 min) was variable. Measured core temperature was consistently higher than rectal temperature across all GI locations but temperature differences based on GI location were not significant (P = 0.5218). Resting dogs had a core temperature that was on average 0.4°C above their rectal temperature with 95% limits of agreement (LoA) between 1.2°C and -0.5°C. Core temperature in exercising dogs was on average 0.3°C higher than their concurrent rectal temperature, with LoA of +1.6°C and -1.1°C.

Incidence of the 1996 U.S.-Canada Softwood lumber agreement among landowners, loggers, and lumber manufacturers in the U.S. South

Treesearch

Yanshu Li; Daowei Zhang

2010-01-01

A framework was developed to estimate the welfare incidence of the 1996 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement among producers in two-processing-stage markets--timberland owners, loggers, and lumber manufacturers--in the U.S. South. Timberland owners are the largest beneficiary whereas lumber manufacturers are the second and loggers the least. Empirically, without...

Design and Simulation of Material-Integrated Distributed Sensor Processing with a Code-Based Agent Platform and Mobile Multi-Agent Systems

PubMed Central

Bosse, Stefan

2015-01-01

Multi-agent systems (MAS) can be used for decentralized and self-organizing data processing in a distributed system, like a resource-constrained sensor network, enabling distributed information extraction, for example, based on pattern recognition and self-organization, by decomposing complex tasks in simpler cooperative agents. Reliable MAS-based data processing approaches can aid the material-integration of structural-monitoring applications, with agent processing platforms scaled to the microchip level. The agent behavior, based on a dynamic activity-transition graph (ATG) model, is implemented with program code storing the control and the data state of an agent, which is novel. The program code can be modified by the agent itself using code morphing techniques and is capable of migrating in the network between nodes. The program code is a self-contained unit (a container) and embeds the agent data, the initialization instructions and the ATG behavior implementation. The microchip agent processing platform used for the execution of the agent code is a standalone multi-core stack machine with a zero-operand instruction format, leading to a small-sized agent program code, low system complexity and high system performance. The agent processing is token-queue-based, similar to Petri-nets. The agent platform can be implemented in software, too, offering compatibility at the operational and code level, supporting agent processing in strong heterogeneous networks. In this work, the agent platform embedded in a large-scale distributed sensor network is simulated at the architectural level by using agent-based simulation techniques. PMID:25690550

Design and simulation of material-integrated distributed sensor processing with a code-based agent platform and mobile multi-agent systems.

PubMed

Bosse, Stefan

2015-02-16

Multi-agent systems (MAS) can be used for decentralized and self-organizing data processing in a distributed system, like a resource-constrained sensor network, enabling distributed information extraction, for example, based on pattern recognition and self-organization, by decomposing complex tasks in simpler cooperative agents. Reliable MAS-based data processing approaches can aid the material-integration of structural-monitoring applications, with agent processing platforms scaled to the microchip level. The agent behavior, based on a dynamic activity-transition graph (ATG) model, is implemented with program code storing the control and the data state of an agent, which is novel. The program code can be modified by the agent itself using code morphing techniques and is capable of migrating in the network between nodes. The program code is a self-contained unit (a container) and embeds the agent data, the initialization instructions and the ATG behavior implementation. The microchip agent processing platform used for the execution of the agent code is a standalone multi-core stack machine with a zero-operand instruction format, leading to a small-sized agent program code, low system complexity and high system performance. The agent processing is token-queue-based, similar to Petri-nets. The agent platform can be implemented in software, too, offering compatibility at the operational and code level, supporting agent processing in strong heterogeneous networks. In this work, the agent platform embedded in a large-scale distributed sensor network is simulated at the architectural level by using agent-based simulation techniques.

Telecommunication Platforms for Transmitting Sensor Data over Communication Networks-State of the Art and Challenges.

PubMed

Staniec, Kamil; Habrych, Marcin

2016-07-19

The importance of constructing wide-area sensor networks for holistic environmental state evaluation has been demonstrated. A general structure of such a network has been presented with distinction of three segments: local (based on ZigBee, Ethernet and ModBus techniques), core (base on cellular technologies) and the storage/application. The implementation of these techniques requires knowledge of their technical limitations and electromagnetic compatibility issues. The former refer to ZigBee performance degradation in multi-hop transmission, whereas the latter are associated with the common electromagnetic spectrum sharing with other existing technologies or with undesired radiated emissions generated by the radio modules of the sensor network. In many cases, it is also necessary to provide a measurement station with autonomous energy source, such as solar. As stems from measurements of the energetic efficiency of these sources, one should apply them with care and perform detailed power budget since their real performance may turn out to be far from expected. This, in turn, may negatively affect-in particular-the operation of chemical sensors implemented in the network as they often require additional heating.

Telecommunication Platforms for Transmitting Sensor Data over Communication Networks—State of the Art and Challenges

PubMed Central

Staniec, Kamil; Habrych, Marcin

2016-01-01

The importance of constructing wide-area sensor networks for holistic environmental state evaluation has been demonstrated. A general structure of such a network has been presented with distinction of three segments: local (based on ZigBee, Ethernet and ModBus techniques), core (base on cellular technologies) and the storage/application. The implementation of these techniques requires knowledge of their technical limitations and electromagnetic compatibility issues. The former refer to ZigBee performance degradation in multi-hop transmission, whereas the latter are associated with the common electromagnetic spectrum sharing with other existing technologies or with undesired radiated emissions generated by the radio modules of the sensor network. In many cases, it is also necessary to provide a measurement station with autonomous energy source, such as solar. As stems from measurements of the energetic efficiency of these sources, one should apply them with care and perform detailed power budget since their real performance may turn out to be far from expected. This, in turn, may negatively affect—in particular—the operation of chemical sensors implemented in the network as they often require additional heating. PMID:27447633

Scalability Issues for Remote Sensing Infrastructure: A Case Study.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Picard, Sean; Williamson, Carey

2017-04-29

For the past decade, a team of University of Calgary researchers has operated a large "sensor Web" to collect, analyze, and share scientific data from remote measurement instruments across northern Canada. This sensor Web receives real-time data streams from over a thousand Internet-connected sensors, with a particular emphasis on environmental data (e.g., space weather, auroral phenomena, atmospheric imaging). Through research collaborations, we had the opportunity to evaluate the performance and scalability of their remote sensing infrastructure. This article reports the lessons learned from our study, which considered both data collection and data dissemination aspects of their system. On the data collection front, we used benchmarking techniques to identify and fix a performance bottleneck in the system's memory management for TCP data streams, while also improving system efficiency on multi-core architectures. On the data dissemination front, we used passive and active network traffic measurements to identify and reduce excessive network traffic from the Web robots and JavaScript techniques used for data sharing. While our results are from one specific sensor Web system, the lessons learned may apply to other scientific Web sites with remote sensing infrastructure.

NASA Fuel Tank Wireless Power and Signal Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merrill, Garrick

2015-01-01

Hydro Technologies has developed a custom electronics and mechanical framework for interfacing with off-the-shelf sensors to achieve through barrier sensing solutions. The core project technology relies on Hydro Technologies Wireless Power and Signal Interface (Wi psi) System for transmitting data and power wirelessly using magnetic fields. To accomplish this, Wi psi uses a multi-frequency local magnetic field to produce magnetic fields capable of carrying data and power through almost any material such as metals, seawater, concrete, and air. It will also work through layers of multiple materials.

Worldwide Research, Worldwide Participation: Web-Based Test Logger

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, David A.

1998-01-01

Thanks to the World Wide Web, a new paradigm has been born. ESCORT (steady state data system) facilities can now be configured to use a Web-based test logger, enabling worldwide participation in tests. NASA Lewis Research Center's new Web-based test logger for ESCORT automatically writes selected test and facility parameters to a browser and allows researchers to insert comments. All data can be viewed in real time via Internet connections, so anyone with a Web browser and the correct URL (universal resource locator, or Web address) can interactively participate. As the test proceeds and ESCORT data are taken, Web browsers connected to the logger are updated automatically. The use of this logger has demonstrated several benefits. First, researchers are free from manual data entry and are able to focus more on the tests. Second, research logs can be printed in report format immediately after (or during) a test. And finally, all test information is readily available to an international public.

A sensitive and innovative detection method for rapid C-reactive proteins analysis based on a micro-fluxgate sensor system

PubMed Central

Yang, Zhen; Zhi, Shaotao; Feng, Zhu; Lei, Chong; Zhou, Yong

2018-01-01

A sensitive and innovative assay system based on a micro-MEMS-fluxgate sensor and immunomagnetic beads-labels was developed for the rapid analysis of C-reactive proteins (CRP). The fluxgate sensor presented in this study was fabricated through standard micro-electro-mechanical system technology. A multi-loop magnetic core made of Fe-based amorphous ribbon was employed as the sensing element, and 3-D solenoid copper coils were used to control the sensing core. Antibody-conjugated immunomagnetic microbeads were strategically utilized as signal tags to label the CRP via the specific conjugation of CRP to polyclonal CRP antibodies. Separate Au film substrates were applied as immunoplatforms to immobilize CRP-beads labels through classical sandwich assays. Detection and quantification of the CRP at different concentrations were implemented by detecting the stray field of CRP labeled magnetic beads using the newly-developed micro-fluxgate sensor. The resulting system exhibited the required sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, and selectivity. A detection limit as low as 0.002 μg/mL CRP with a linearity range from 0.002 μg/mL to 10 μg/mL was achieved, and this suggested that the proposed biosystem possesses high sensitivity. In addition to the extremely low detection limit, the proposed method can be easily manipulated and possesses a quick response time. The response time of our sensor was less than 5 s, and the entire detection period for CRP analysis can be completed in less than 30 min using the current method. Given the detection performance and other advantages such as miniaturization, excellent stability and specificity, the proposed biosensor can be considered as a potential candidate for the rapid analysis of CRP, especially for point-of-care platforms. PMID:29601593

A fiber optic multi-stress monitoring system for power transformer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Dae-gil; Sampath, Umesh; Kim, Hyunjin; Song, Minho

2017-04-01

A fiber-optic multi-stress monitoring system which uses 4 FBG sensors and a fiber-optic mandrel acoustic emission sensor is proposed. FBG sensors and a mandrel sensor measure different types of stresses occurring in electrical power transformer, such as temperature and acoustic signals. The sensor system uses single broadband light source to address the outputs of both sensors using single fiber-optic circuitry. An athermal-packaged FBG is used to supply quasi-coherent light for the Sagnac interferometer demodulation which processes the mandrel sensor output. The proposed sensor system could simplify the optical circuit for the multi-stress measurements and enhance the cost-effectiveness of the sensor system.

First direct evidence of long-distance seasonal movements and hibernation in a migratory bat

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weller, Theodore J.; Castle, Kevin T.; Liechti, Felix; Hein, Cris D.; Schirmacher, Michael R.; Cryan, Paul M.

2016-01-01

Understanding of migration in small bats has been constrained by limitations of techniques that were labor-intensive, provided coarse levels of resolution, or were limited to population-level inferences. Knowledge of movements and behaviors of individual bats have been unknowable because of limitations in size of tracking devices and methods to attach them for long periods. We used sutures to attach miniature global positioning system (GPS) tags and data loggers that recorded light levels, activity, and temperature to male hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus). Results from recovered GPS tags illustrated profound differences among movement patterns by individuals, including one that completed a >1000 km round-trip journey during October 2014. Data loggers allowed us to record sub-hourly patterns of activity and torpor use, in one case over a period of 224 days that spanned an entire winter. In this latter bat, we documented 5 torpor bouts that lasted ≥16 days and a flightless period that lasted 40 nights. These first uses of miniature tags on small bats allowed us to discover that male hoary bats can make multi-directional movements during the migratory season and sometimes hibernate for an entire winter.

A Custom Data Logger for Real-Time Remote Field Data Collections

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

ERDC/CHL CHETN-VI-46 March 2017 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. A Custom Data Logger for Real- Time Remote Field Data...Field Research Facility (FRF), for remote real- time data collections. This custom data logger is compact and energy efficient but has the same...INTRODUCTION: Real- time data collections offer many advantages: 1. Instrument failures can be rapidly detected and repaired, thereby minimizing

The Assessment for Sensitivity of a NO2 Gas Sensor with ZnGa2O4/ZnO Core-Shell Nanowires—a Novel Approach

PubMed Central

Chen, I-Cherng; Lin, Shiu-Shiung; Lin, Tsao-Jen; Hsu, Cheng-Liang; Hsueh, Ting Jen; Shieh, Tien-Yu

2010-01-01

The application of novel core-shell nanowires composed of ZnGa2O4/ZnO to improve the sensitivity of NO2 gas sensors is demonstrated in this study. The growth of ZnGa2O4/ZnO core-shell nanowires is performed by reactive evaporation on patterned ZnO:Ga/SiO2/Si templates at 600 °C. This is to form the homogeneous structure of the sensors investigated in this report to assess their sensitivity in terms of NO2 detection. These novel NO2 gas sensors were evaluated at working temperatures of 25 °C and at 250 °C, respectively. The result reveals the ZnGa2O4/ZnO core-shell nanowires present a good linear relationship (R2 > 0.99) between sensitivity and NO2 concentration at both working temperatures. These core-shell nanowire sensors also possess the highest response (<90 s) and recovery (<120 s) values with greater repeatability seen for NO2 sensors at room temperature, unlike traditional sensors that only work effectively at much higher temperatures. The data in this study indicates the newly-developed ZnGa2O4/ZnO core-shell nanowire based sensors are highly promising for industrial applications. PMID:22319286

Multi-Core Processor Memory Contention Benchmark Analysis Case Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Tyler; McGalliard, James

2009-01-01

Multi-core processors dominate current mainframe, server, and high performance computing (HPC) systems. This paper provides synthetic kernel and natural benchmark results from an HPC system at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that illustrate the performance impacts of multi-core (dual- and quad-core) vs. single core processor systems. Analysis of processor design, application source code, and synthetic and natural test results all indicate that multi-core processors can suffer from significant memory subsystem contention compared to similar single-core processors.

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-12-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resulting in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.

Cloud Retrieval Intercomparisons Between SEVIRI, MODIS and VIIRS with CHIMAERA PGE06 Data Collection 6 Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wind, Galina; Riedi, Jerome; Platnick, Steven; Heidinger, Andrew

2014-01-01

The Cross-platform HIgh resolution Multi-instrument AtmosphEric Retrieval Algorithms (CHIMAERA) system allows us to perform MODIS-like cloud top, optical and microphysical properties retrievals on any sensor that possesses a minimum set of common spectral channels. The CHIMAERA system uses a shared-core architecture that takes retrieval method out of the equation when intercomparisons are made. Here we show an example of such retrieval and a comparison of simultaneous retrievals done using SEVIRI, MODIS and VIIRS sensors. All sensor retrievals are performed using CLAVR-x (or CLAVR-x based) cloud top properties algorithm. SEVIRI uses the SAF_NWC cloud mask. MODIS and VIIRS use the IFF-based cloud mask that is a shared algorithm between MODIS and VIIRS. The MODIS and VIIRS retrievals are performed using a VIIRS branch of CHIMAERA that limits available MODIS channel set. Even though in that mode certain MODIS products such as multilayer cloud map are not available, the cloud retrieval remains fully equivalent to operational Data Collection 6.

Data logging of body temperatures provides precise information on phenology of reproductive events in a free-living arctic hibernator

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, C.T.; Sheriff, M.J.; Schmutz, J.A.; Kohl, F.; Toien, O.; Buck, C.L.; Barnes, B.M.

2011-01-01

Precise measures of phenology are critical to understanding how animals organize their annual cycles and how individuals and populations respond to climate-induced changes in physical and ecological stressors. We show that patterns of core body temperature (T b) can be used to precisely determine the timing of key seasonal events including hibernation, mating and parturition, and immergence and emergence from the hibernacula in free-living arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii). Using temperature loggers that recorded T b every 20 min for up to 18 months, we monitored core T b from three females that subsequently gave birth in captivity and from 66 female and 57 male ground squirrels free-living in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range Alaska. In addition, dates of emergence from hibernation were visually confirmed for four free-living male squirrels. Average T b in captive females decreased by 0.5–1.0°C during gestation and abruptly increased by 1–1.5°C on the day of parturition. In free-living females, similar shifts in T b were observed in 78% (n = 9) of yearlings and 94% (n = 31) of adults; females without the shift are assumed not to have given birth. Three of four ground squirrels for which dates of emergence from hibernation were visually confirmed did not exhibit obvious diurnal rhythms in T b until they first emerged onto the surface when T b patterns became diurnal. In free-living males undergoing reproductive maturation, this pre-emergence euthermic interval averaged 20.4 days (n = 56). T b-loggers represent a cost-effective and logistically feasible method to precisely investigate the phenology of reproduction and hibernation in ground squirrels.

Monitoring stream temperatures—A guide for non-specialists

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heck, Michael P.; Schultz, Luke D.; Hockman-Wert, David; Dinger, Eric C.; Dunham, Jason B.

2018-04-19

Executive SummaryWater temperature influences most physical and biological processes in streams, and along with streamflows is a major driver of ecosystem processes. Collecting data to measure water temperature is therefore imperative, and relatively straightforward. Several protocols exist for collecting stream temperature data, but these are frequently directed towards specialists. This document was developed to address the need for a protocol intended for non-specialists (non-aquatic) staff. It provides specific step-by-step procedures on (1) how to launch data loggers, (2) check the factory calibration of data loggers prior to field use, (3) how to install data loggers in streams for year-round monitoring, (4) how to download and retrieve data loggers from the field, and (5) how to input project data into organizational databases.

Continuous In Situ Measurements of Near Bottom Chemistry and Sediment-Water Fluxes with the Chimney Sampler Array (CSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martens, C. S.; Mendlovitz, H. P.; White, B. L.; Hoer, D.; Sleeper, K.; Chanton, J.; Wilson, R.; Lapham, L.

2011-12-01

The Chimney Sampler Array (CSA) was designed to measure in situ chemical and physical parameters within the benthic boundary layer plus methane and oxygen sediment-water chemical fluxes at upper slope sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The CSA can monitor temporal changes plus help to evaluate oceanographic and sub-seafloor processes that can influence the formation and stability of gas hydrates in underlying sediments. The CSA consists of vertical cylinders (chimneys) equipped with internal chemical sensors and with laboratory flume-calibrated washout rates. Chimney washout rates multiplied by chimney mean versus ambient concentrations allow calculation of net O2 and methane sediment-water fluxes. The CSA is emplaced on the seafloor by a ROVARD lander using a ROV for chimney deployments. The CSA presently includes two 30 cm diameter by 90 cm length cylinders that seal against the sediment with lead pellet beanbags; within each chimney cylinder are optode, conductivity and methane sensors. The CSA's data logger platform also includes pressure and turbidity sensors external to the chimneys along with an acoustic Doppler current meter to measure temporal variation in ambient current velocity and direction. The CSA was deployed aboard a ROVARD lander on 9/13/2010 in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Lat. 28 51.28440, Long. 088 29.39421) on biogeochemically active sediments within Block MC-118. A ROV was utilized for chimney deployment away from the ROVARD lander. The CSA monitored temporal changes in water column physical parameters, obtained near-bottom chemical data to compare with pore fluid and sediment core measurements and measured temporal variability in oxygen and methane sediment-water fluxes at two closely spaced stations at MC-118. A continuous, three-week data set was obtained that revealed daily cycles in chemical parameters and episodic flux events. Lower than ambient chimney dissolved O2 concentrations controlled by temporal variability in washout rates were used to calculate sediment O2 demand. Episodic events yielding turbidity spikes produced episodic spikes in chimney methane concentrations and sediment-water fluxes. The robust data set reveals new capabilities for long-term monitoring of near-bottom processes in biogeochemically active, continental margin environments.

Early results from NASA's SnowEx campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Edward; Gatebe, Charles; Hall, Dorothy; Misakonis, Amy; Elder, Kelly; Marshall, Hans Peter; Hiemstra, Chris; Brucker, Ludovic; Crawford, Chris; Kang, Do Hyuk; De Marco, Eugenia; Beckley, Matt; Entin, Jared

2017-04-01

SnowEx is a multi-year airborne snow campaign with the primary goal of addressing the question: How much water is stored in Earth's terrestrial snow-covered regions? Year 1 (2016-17) focuses on the distribution of snow-water equivalent (SWE) and the snow energy balance in a forested environment. The year 1 primary site is Grand Mesa and the secondary site is the Senator Beck Basin, both in western, Colorado, USA. Ten core sensors on four core aircraft will make observations using a broad suite of airborne sensors including active and passive microwave, and active and passive optical/infrared sensing techniques to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these potential satellite remote sensing techniques, along with models, to measure snow under a range of forest conditions. SnowEx also includes an extensive range of ground truth measurements—in-situ samples, snow pits, ground based remote sensing measurements, and sophisticated new techniques. A detailed description of the data collected will be given and some early results will be presented. Seasonal snow cover is the largest single component of the cryosphere in areal extent (covering an average of 46M km2 of Earth's surface (31 % of land areas) each year). This seasonal snow has major societal impacts in the areas of water resources, natural hazards (floods and droughts), water security, and weather and climate. The only practical way to estimate the quantity of snow on a consistent global basis is through satellites. Yet, current space-based techniques underestimate storage of snow water equivalent (SWE) by as much as 50%, and model-based estimates can differ greatly vs. estimates based on remotely-sensed observations. At peak coverage, as much as half of snow-covered terrestrial areas involve forested areas, so quantifying the challenge represented by forests is important to plan any future snow mission. Single-sensor approaches may work for certain snow types and certain conditions, but not for others. Snow simply varies too much. Thus, the snow community consensus is that a multi-sensor approach is needed to adequately address global snow, combined with modeling and data assimilation. What remains at issue, then, is how best to combine and use the various sensors in an optimal way. That requires field measurements. NASA's SnowEx airborne campaign is designed to do exactly that. A list of core sensors is as follows. All are from NASA unless otherwise noted. • Radar (volume scattering): European Space Agency's SnowSAR, operated by MetaSensing • Lidar & hyperspectral imager: Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) • Passive microwave: Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) • Bi-directional Reflectance Function (BRDF): the Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) • Thermal Infrared imager • Thermal infrared non-imager from U. Washington • Video camera The ASO suite flew on a King Air, and the other sensors flew on a Navy P-3. In addition, two NASA radars flew on G-III aircraft to test more experimental retrieval techniques: • InSAR altimetry: Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer (GLISTIN-A) • Radar phase delay: Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, (UAVSAR)

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

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

Hernandez, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-01-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resultingmore » in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.« less

Ultra-miniature wireless temperature sensor for thermal medicine applications.

PubMed

Khairi, Ahmad; Hung, Shih-Chang; Paramesh, Jeyanandh; Fedder, Gary; Rabin, Yoed

2011-01-01

This study presents a prototype design of an ultra-miniature, wireless, battery-less, and implantable temperature-sensor, with applications to thermal medicine such as cryosurgery, hyperthermia, and thermal ablation. The design aims at a sensory device smaller than 1.5 mm in diameter and 3 mm in length, to enable minimally invasive deployment through a hypodermic needle. While the new device may be used for local temperature monitoring, simultaneous data collection from an array of such sensors can be used to reconstruct the 3D temperature field in the treated area, offering a unique capability in thermal medicine. The new sensory device consists of three major subsystems: a temperature-sensing core, a wireless data-communication unit, and a wireless power reception and management unit. Power is delivered wirelessly to the implant from an external source using an inductive link. To meet size requirements while enhancing reliability and minimizing cost, the implant is fully integrated in a regular foundry CMOS technology (0.15 μm in the current study), including the implant-side inductor of the power link. A temperature-sensing core that consists of a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) circuit has been designed and characterized. It employs a microwatt chopper stabilized op-amp and dynamic element-matched current sources to achieve high absolute accuracy. A second order sigma-delta (Σ-Δ) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is designed to convert the temperature reading to a digital code, which is transmitted by backscatter through the same antenna used for receiving power. A high-efficiency multi-stage differential CMOS rectifier has been designed to provide a DC supply to the sensing and communication subsystems. This paper focuses on the development of the all-CMOS temperature sensing core circuitry part of the device, and briefly reviews the wireless power delivery and communication subsystems.

Use of Electronic Loggers to Measure Changes in the Rates of Hand Washing with Soap in Low-Income Urban Households in India

PubMed Central

Wright, Richard L.; Zillmer, Ruediger; Biran, Adam; Hall, Peter; Sidibe, Myriam

2015-01-01

We evaluated the utility of electronic loggers to measure the effects of a simple intervention designed to influence the rates of hand washing with soap within enclosed toilets and bathrooms in low-income urban households in Kerala, India. 58 households were given three items with embedded electronic loggers for a period of 2-5 days. Two logged soaps tracked hand and body washing in the bathroom. The third logged item was a water vessel used for flushing the toilet and for post-defecation anal cleansing; this served as a marker of toilet use. In addition, 28 households in a Soap by toilet arm were given an additional logged soap, to be kept by the toilet, and used for hand washing. Compared with the Soap in bathroom arm, the loggers in the Soap by toilet households recorded 73% greater daily use of soaps designated for hand washing (t(36)=2.92, p<0.01) and 172% greater use within 2 minutes of the use of the water vessel (t(36)=3.51, p = 0.001). We conclude that the loggers were capable of detecting changes in the rates of hand washing with soap and changes in hand washing with soap after use of the toilet. Further adoption of logger technologies would enable more insightful studies of hand washing within urban environments. PMID:26101886

Use of Electronic Loggers to Measure Changes in the Rates of Hand Washing with Soap in Low-Income Urban Households in India.

PubMed

Wright, Richard L; Zillmer, Ruediger; Biran, Adam; Hall, Peter; Sidibe, Myriam

2015-01-01

We evaluated the utility of electronic loggers to measure the effects of a simple intervention designed to influence the rates of hand washing with soap within enclosed toilets and bathrooms in low-income urban households in Kerala, India. 58 households were given three items with embedded electronic loggers for a period of 2-5 days. Two logged soaps tracked hand and body washing in the bathroom. The third logged item was a water vessel used for flushing the toilet and for post-defecation anal cleansing; this served as a marker of toilet use. In addition, 28 households in a Soap by toilet arm were given an additional logged soap, to be kept by the toilet, and used for hand washing. Compared with the Soap in bathroom arm, the loggers in the Soap by toilet households recorded 73% greater daily use of soaps designated for hand washing (t(36)=2.92, p<0.01) and 172% greater use within 2 minutes of the use of the water vessel (t(36)=3.51, p = 0.001). We conclude that the loggers were capable of detecting changes in the rates of hand washing with soap and changes in hand washing with soap after use of the toilet. Further adoption of logger technologies would enable more insightful studies of hand washing within urban environments.

Performance of Proximity Loggers in Recording Intra- and Inter-Species Interactions: A Laboratory and Field-Based Validation Study

PubMed Central

Carter, Stephen P.; Bearhop, Stuart; Harrison, Xavier A.; Dall, Sasha R. X.; McDonald, Robbie A.; Delahay, Richard J.

2012-01-01

Knowledge of the way in which animals interact through social networks can help to address questions surrounding the ecological and evolutionary consequences of social organisation, and to understand and manage the spread of infectious diseases. Automated proximity loggers are increasingly being used to record interactions between animals, but the accuracy and reliability of the collected data remain largely un-assessed. Here we use laboratory and observational field data to assess the performance of these devices fitted to a herd of 32 beef cattle (Bos taurus) and nine groups of badgers (Meles meles, n  = 77) living in the surrounding woods. The distances at which loggers detected each other were found to decrease over time, potentially related to diminishing battery power that may be a function of temperature. Loggers were highly accurate in recording the identification of contacted conspecifics, but less reliable at determining contact duration. There was a tendency for extended interactions to be recorded as a series of shorter contacts. We show how data can be manipulated to correct this discrepancy and accurately reflect observed interaction patterns by combining records between any two loggers that occur within a 1 to 2 minute amalgamation window, and then removing any remaining 1 second records. We make universally applicable recommendations for the effective use of proximity loggers, to improve the validity of data arising from future studies. PMID:22745704

A low cost strategy to monitor the expansion and contraction of the flowing stream network in mountainous headwater catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assendelft, Rick; van Meerveld, Ilja; Seibert, Jan

2017-04-01

Streams are dynamic features in the landscape. The flowing stream network expands and contracts, connects and disconnects in response to rainfall events and seasonal changes in catchment wetness. Sections of the river system that experience these wet and dry cycles are often referred to as temporary streams. Temporary streams are abundant and widely distributed freshwater ecosystems. They account for more than half of the total length of the global stream network, are unique habitats and form important hydrological and ecological links between the uplands and perennial streams. However, temporary streams have been largely unstudied, especially in mountainous headwater catchments. The dynamic character of these systems makes it difficult to monitor them. We describe a low-cost, do-it-yourself strategy to monitor the occurrence of water and flow in temporary streams. We evaluate this strategy in two headwater catchments in Switzerland. The low cost sensor network consists of electrical resistivity sensors, water level switches, temperature sensors and flow sensors. These sensors are connected to Arduino microcontrollers and data loggers, which log the data every 5 minutes. The data from the measurement network are compared with observations (mapping of the temporary stream network) as well as time lapse camera data to evaluate the performance of the sensors. We look at how frequently the output of the sensors (presence and absence of water from the ER and water level data, and flow or no-flow from the flow sensors) corresponds to the observed channel state. This is done for each sensor, per sub-catchment, per precipitation event and per sensor location to determine the best sensor combination to monitor temporary streams in mountainous catchments and in which situation which sensor combination works best. The preliminary results show that the sensors and monitoring network work well. The data from the sensors corresponds with the observations and provides information on the expansion of the stream network pattern.

Centralized Multi-Sensor Square Root Cubature Joint Probabilistic Data Association

PubMed Central

Liu, Jun; Li, Gang; Qi, Lin; Li, Yaowen; He, You

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the tracking problem of multiple targets with multiple sensors in a nonlinear cluttered environment. To avoid Jacobian matrix computation and scaling parameter adjustment, improve numerical stability, and acquire more accurate estimated results for centralized nonlinear tracking, a novel centralized multi-sensor square root cubature joint probabilistic data association algorithm (CMSCJPDA) is proposed. Firstly, the multi-sensor tracking problem is decomposed into several single-sensor multi-target tracking problems, which are sequentially processed during the estimation. Then, in each sensor, the assignment of its measurements to target tracks is accomplished on the basis of joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), and a weighted probability fusion method with square root version of a cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF) is utilized to estimate the targets’ state. With the measurements in all sensors processed CMSCJPDA is derived and the global estimated state is achieved. Experimental results show that CMSCJPDA is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms in the aspects of tracking accuracy, numerical stability, and computational cost, which provides a new idea to solve multi-sensor tracking problems. PMID:29113085

Centralized Multi-Sensor Square Root Cubature Joint Probabilistic Data Association.

PubMed

Liu, Yu; Liu, Jun; Li, Gang; Qi, Lin; Li, Yaowen; He, You

2017-11-05

This paper focuses on the tracking problem of multiple targets with multiple sensors in a nonlinear cluttered environment. To avoid Jacobian matrix computation and scaling parameter adjustment, improve numerical stability, and acquire more accurate estimated results for centralized nonlinear tracking, a novel centralized multi-sensor square root cubature joint probabilistic data association algorithm (CMSCJPDA) is proposed. Firstly, the multi-sensor tracking problem is decomposed into several single-sensor multi-target tracking problems, which are sequentially processed during the estimation. Then, in each sensor, the assignment of its measurements to target tracks is accomplished on the basis of joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), and a weighted probability fusion method with square root version of a cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF) is utilized to estimate the targets' state. With the measurements in all sensors processed CMSCJPDA is derived and the global estimated state is achieved. Experimental results show that CMSCJPDA is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms in the aspects of tracking accuracy, numerical stability, and computational cost, which provides a new idea to solve multi-sensor tracking problems.

Improved blood glucose estimation through multi-sensor fusion.

PubMed

Xiong, Feiyu; Hipszer, Brian R; Joseph, Jeffrey; Kam, Moshe

2011-01-01

Continuous glucose monitoring systems are an integral component of diabetes management. Efforts to improve the accuracy and robustness of these systems are at the forefront of diabetes research. Towards this goal, a multi-sensor approach was evaluated in hospitalized patients. In this paper, we report on a multi-sensor fusion algorithm to combine glucose sensor measurements in a retrospective fashion. The results demonstrate the algorithm's ability to improve the accuracy and robustness of the blood glucose estimation with current glucose sensor technology.

Blue Guardian: open architecture intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) demonstrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirey, Russell G.; Borntrager, Luke A.; Soine, Andrew T.; Green, David M.

2017-04-01

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) - Sensors Directorate has developed the Blue Guardian program to demonstrate advanced sensing technology utilizing open architectures in operationally relevant environments. Blue Guardian has adopted the core concepts and principles of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) Open Mission Systems (OMS) initiative to implement an open Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform architecture. Using this new OMS standard provides a business case to reduce cost and program schedules for industry and the Department of Defense (DoD). Blue Guardian is an early adopting program of OMS and provides much needed science and technology improvements, development, testing, and implementation of OMS for ISR purposes. This paper presents results and lessons learned under the Blue Guardian Project Shepherd program which conducted Multi-INT operational demonstrations in the Joint Interagency Task Force - South (JIATF-S) and USSOUTHCOM area of operations in early 2016. Further, on-going research is discussed to enhance Blue Guardian Multi-INT ISR capabilities to support additional mission sets and platforms, including unmanned operations over line of sight (LOS) and beyond line of sight (BLOS) datalinks. An implementation of additional OMS message sets and services to support off-platform sensor command and control using OMS/UCI data structures and dissemination of sensor product data/metadata is explored. Lastly, the Blue Guardian team is working with the AgilePod program to use OMS in a full Government Data Rights Pod to rapidly swap these sensors to different aircraft. The union of the AgilePod (which uses SOSA compliant standards) and OMS technologies under Blue Guardian programs is discussed.

Efficient provisioning for multi-core applications with LSF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dal Pra, Stefano

2015-12-01

Tier-1 sites providing computing power for HEP experiments are usually tightly designed for high throughput performances. This is pursued by reducing the variety of supported use cases and tuning for performances those ones, the most important of which have been that of singlecore jobs. Moreover, the usual workload is saturation: each available core in the farm is in use and there are queued jobs waiting for their turn to run. Enabling multi-core jobs thus requires dedicating a number of hosts where to run, and waiting for them to free the needed number of cores. This drain-time introduces a loss of computing power driven by the number of unusable empty cores. As an increasing demand for multi-core capable resources have emerged, a Task Force have been constituted in WLCG, with the goal to define a simple and efficient multi-core resource provisioning model. This paper details the work done at the INFN Tier-1 to enable multi-core support for the LSF batch system, with the intent of reducing to the minimum the average number of unused cores. The adopted strategy has been that of dedicating to multi-core a dynamic set of nodes, whose dimension is mainly driven by the number of pending multi-core requests and fair-share priority of the submitting user. The node status transition, from single to multi core et vice versa, is driven by a finite state machine which is implemented in a custom multi-core director script, running in the cluster. After describing and motivating both the implementation and the details specific to the LSF batch system, results about performance are reported. Factors having positive and negative impact on the overall efficiency are discussed and solutions to reduce at most the negative ones are proposed.

Optimum Sensors Integration for Multi-Sensor Multi-Target Environment for Ballistic Missile Defense Applications

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

Imam, Neena; Barhen, Jacob; Glover, Charles Wayne

2012-01-01

Multi-sensor networks may face resource limitations in a dynamically evolving multiple target tracking scenario. It is necessary to task the sensors efficiently so that the overall system performance is maximized within the system constraints. The central sensor resource manager may control the sensors to meet objective functions that are formulated to meet system goals such as minimization of track loss, maximization of probability of target detection, and minimization of track error. This paper discusses the variety of techniques that may be utilized to optimize sensor performance for either near term gain or future reward over a longer time horizon.

A plastic total internal reflection-based photoluminescence device for enzymatic biosensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thakkar, Ishan G.

Growing concerns for quality of water, food and beverages in developing and developed countries drive sizeable markets for mass-producible, low cost devices that can measure the concentration of contaminant chemicals in water, food, and beverages rapidly and accurately. Several fiber-optic enzymatic biosensors have been reported for these applications, but they exhibit very strong presence of scattered excitation light in the signal for sensing, requiring expensive thin-film filters, and their non-planar structure makes them challenging to mass-produce. Several other planar optical waveguide-based biosensors prove to be relatively costly and more fragile due to constituent materials and the techniques involved in their fabrication. So, a plastic total internal reflection (TIR)-based low cost, low scatter, field-portable device for enzymatic biosensors is fabricated and demonstrated. The design concept of the TIR-based photoluminescent enzymatic biosensor device is explained. An analysis of economical materials with appropriate optical and chemical properties is presented. PMMA and PDMS are found to be appropriate due to their high chemical resistance, low cost, high optical transmittance and low auto-fluorescence. The techniques and procedures used for device fabrication are discussed. The device incorporated a PMMA-based optical waveguide core and PDMS-based fluid cell with simple multi-mode fiber-optics using cost-effective fabrication techniques like molding and surface modification. Several techniques of robustly depositing photoluminescent dyes on PMMA core surface are discussed. A pH-sensitive fluorescent dye, fluoresceinamine, and an O2-sensitive phosphorescent dye, Ru(dpp) both are successfully deposited using Si-adhesive gel-based as well as HydroThane-based deposition methods. Two different types of pH-sensors using two different techniques of depositing fluoresceinamine are demonstrated. Also, the effect of concentration of fluoresceinamine-dye molecules on fluorescence intensity and scattered excitation light intensity is investigated. The fluorescence intensity to the scattered excitation light intensity ratio for dye deposition is found to increase with increase in concentration. However, both the absolute fluorescence intensity and absolute scatter intensity are found to decrease in different amounts with an increase in concentration. An enzymatic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensor is made and demonstrated by depositing Ruthenium-based phosphorescent dye (Ru(dpp) 3) and catalase-enzyme on the surface of the waveguide core. The O 2-sensitive phosphorescence of Ru(dpp)3 is used as a transduction signal and the catalase-enzyme is used as a bio-component for sensing. The H2O2 sensor exhibits a phosphorescence signal to scattered excitation light ratio of 100+/-18 without filtering. The unfiltered device demonstrates a detection limit of (2.20+/-0.6) microM with the linear range from 200microM to 20mM. An enzymatic lactose sensor is designed and characterized using Si-adhesive gel based Ru(dpp)3 deposition and oxidase enzyme. The lactose sensor exhibits the linear range of up to 0.8mM, which is too small for its application in industrial process control. So, a flow cell-based sensor device with a fluid reservoir is proposed and fabricated to increase the linear range of the sensor. Also, a multi-channel pH-sensor device with four channels is designed and fabricated for simultaneous sensing of multiple analytes.

Measuring and mapping rock wall permafrost across Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magnin, Florence; Etzelmuller, Bernd; Hilger, Paula; Westermann, Sebastian; Isaksen, Ketil; Hermans, Reginald

2017-04-01

The investigation of rock wall permafrost is of high relevance for geohazards assessment and for understanding cold-climate landscape evolution since its changes over time can cause slope instability and trigger rock falls. The destabilization of steep slopes is a serious threat to human activities and lives in Norway, especially because most of rock walls lie directly above houses, infrastructures and large water bodies with potential of high-energy displacement waves. Rock wall permafrost has been investigated since the early 2010s in alpine massifs of western Norway thanks to the CryoLINK project (2008-2011). The CryoWALL project (2015-2019) aims at extending this preliminary study to the nation-wide scale. It consists in systematic measurements of rock surface temperature (RST) in order model and to map the spatial distribution of rock wall permafrost. In between August 2015 and August 2016, 20 RST loggers (Geoprecision mini data loggers, accuracy ± 0.1°C, precision 0.01°C, sensors PT1000) were installed at 10 cm depth of 7 selected sites. These loggers are distributed along a latitudinal transect (from 60°50'N to 69°46'N), cover various elevations and sun-exposures, and are completed by 4 other loggers installed in Jotunheimen in 2009 and 2010. The RST time series are used for (a) characterizing the distribution of rock wall permafrost across Norway, (b) running steady-state and transient numerical models of rock wall permafrost at selected sites, and to (c) calibrate a general linear regression model that will be used to (d) predict the spatial distribution of rock wall permafrost at the national scale. In this communication we will introduce the RST measurement installations and sites, as well as the first RST records that encompass 6 years of continuous measurements in Jotunheimen, and 1 year of record for 13 other loggers. The preliminary analysis shows that RST differs by 3°C between N and S faces in Southern Norway, with mean annual RST as low as -1.9°C at 1700 m a.s.l in a N face (Nordfjord, Sogn of Fjordane) during the measurement year which was about 0.8°C above normal (1981-2010). In Northern Norway, the RST difference between N and S faces is rather around 1.5°C due to the midnight sun and polar night effects, inducing similar RST in both aspects during December, January, May and June. Negative mean annual RST is found as low as 1200 m a.s.l in S-exposed faces (Kåfjorden, Troms) during the measurement year which was 1.1°C above normal in this area. The ice and snow coating the rock faces during winter appears as a significant warming factor that can raise the mean annual RST up to at least 1°C compared to bare rock conditions. This first data set is shown to be of high relevance for predictive modelling.

MACCS : Multi-Mission Atmospheric Correction and Cloud Screening tool for high-frequency revisit data processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrucci, B.; Huc, M.; Feuvrier, T.; Ruffel, C.; Hagolle, O.; Lonjou, V.; Desjardins, C.

2015-10-01

For the production of Level2A products during Sentinel-2 commissioning in the Technical Expertise Center Sentinel-2 in CNES, CESBIO proposed to adapt the Venus Level-2 , taking advantage of the similarities between the two missions: image acquisition at a high frequency (2 days for Venus, 5 days with the two Sentinel-2), high resolution (5m for Venus, 10, 20 and 60m for Sentinel-2), images acquisition under constant viewing conditions. The Multi-Mission Atmospheric Correction and Cloud Screening (MACCS) tool was born: based on CNES Orfeo Toolbox Library, Venμs processor which was already able to process Formosat2 and VENμS data, was adapted to process Sentinel-2 and Landsat5-7 data; since then, a great effort has been made reviewing MACCS software architecture in order to ease the add-on of new missions that have also the peculiarity of acquiring images at high resolution, high revisit and under constant viewing angles, such as Spot4/Take5 and Landsat8. The recursive and multi-temporal algorithm is implemented in a core that is the same for all the sensors and that combines several processing steps: estimation of cloud cover, cloud shadow, water, snow and shadows masks, of water vapor content, aerosol optical thickness, atmospheric correction. This core is accessed via a number of plug-ins where the specificity of the sensor and of the user project are taken into account: products format, algorithmic processing chaining and parameters. After a presentation of MACCS architecture and functionalities, the paper will give an overview of the production facilities integrating MACCS and the associated specificities: the interest for this tool has grown worldwide and MACCS will be used for extensive production within the THEIA land data center and Agri-S2 project. Finally the paper will zoom on the use of MACCS during Sentinel-2 In Orbit Test phase showing the first Level-2A products.

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission: Overview and Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hou, Arthur Y.

2012-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is an international satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. NASA and JAXA will deploy a Core Observatory in 2014 to serve as a reference satellite to unify precipitation measurements from the constellation of sensors. The GPM Core Observatory will carry a Ku/Ka-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Radiometer (GMI). The DPR will be the first dual-frequency radar in space to provide not only measurements of 3-D precipitation structures but also quantitative information on microphysical properties of precipitating particles. The DPR and GMI measurements will together provide a database that relates vertical hydrometeor profiles to multi-frequency microwave radiances over a variety of environmental conditions across the globe. This combined database will be used as a common transfer standard for improving the accuracy and consistency of precipitation retrievals from all constellation radiometers. For global coverage, GPM relies on existing satellite programs and new mission opportunities from a consortium of partners through bilateral agreements with either NASA or JAXA. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. In addition to the DPR and GMI on the Core Observatory, the baseline GPM constellation consists of the following sensors: (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-W1 satellite of JAXA, (3) the Multi-Frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS) and the multi-channel microwave humidity sounder (SAPHIR) on the French-Indian MeghaTropiques satellite, (4) the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-19, (5) MHS instruments on MetOp satellites launched by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), (6) the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), and (7) ATMS instruments on the NOAA-NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites. Data from Chinese and Russian microwave radiometers may also become available through international collaboration under the auspices of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The current generation of global rainfall products combines observations from a network of uncoordinated satellite missions using a variety of merging techniques. GPM will provide "next-generation" precipitation products characterized by: (1) more accurate instantaneous precipitation estimate (especially for light rain and cold-season solid precipitation), (2) intercalibrated microwave brightness temperatures from constellation radiometers within a consistent framework, and (3) unified precipitation retrievals from constellation radiometers using a common a priori hydrometeor database constrained by combined radar/radiometer measurements provided by the GPM Core Observatory. GPM is a science mission with integrated applications goals. GPM will provide a key measurement to improve understanding of global water cycle variability and freshwater availability in a changing climate. The DPR and GMI measurements will offer insights into 3-dimensional structures of hurricanes and midlatitude storms, microphysical properties of precipitating particles, and latent heat associated with precipitation processes. The GPM mission will also make data available in near realtime (within 3 hours of observations) forocietal applications ranging from position fixes of storm centers, numerical weather prediction, flood forecasting, freshwater management, landslide warning, crop prediction, to tracking of water-borne diseases. An overview of the GPM mission design, retrieval strategy, ground validation activities, and international science collaboration will be presented.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission: Overview and U.S. Science Status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Arthur Y.; Skofronick-Jackson, Gail; Stocker, Erich F.

2013-04-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is a satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors provided by a consortium of international partners. NASA and JAXA will deploy a Core Observatory in 2014 to serve as a reference satellite for precipitation measurements by the constellation sensors. The GPM Core Observatory will carry a Ku/Ka-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Radiometer (GMI). The DPR, the first dual-frequency radar in space, will provide not only measurements of 3-D precipitation structures but also quantitative information on microphysical properties of precipitating particles. The DPR and GMI measurements will together provide a database that relates vertical hydrometeor profiles to multi-frequency microwave radiances over a variety of environmental conditions across the globe. This combined database will serve as a common transfer standard for improving the accuracy and consistency of precipitation retrievals from all constellation radiometers. In addition to the Core Observatory, the GPM constellation consists of (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-W1 satellite of JAXA, (3) the Multi-Frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS) and the multi-channel microwave humidity sounder (SAPHIR) on the French-Indian Megha-Tropiques satellite, (4) the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES), (5) MHS instruments on MetOp satellites launched by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), (6) the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), and (7) ATMS instruments on the NOAA-NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. Currently global rainfall products combine observations from a network of uncoordinated satellite missions using a variety of merging techniques. GPM is designed to provide the next-generation of precipitation products characterized by: (1) more accurate instantaneous precipitation estimate (especially for light rain and cold-season solid precipitation), (2) intercalibrated microwave brightness temperatures from constellation radiometers within a consistent framework, and (3) unified precipitation retrievals from constellation radiometers using a common a priori hydrometeor database consistent with combined radar/radiometer measurements by the GPM Core Observatory. As a science mission with integrated applications goals, GPM will advance the understanding of global water cycle variability in a changing climate by offering insights into 3-dimensional structures of hurricanes and midlatitude storms, microphysical properties of precipitating particles, and latent heat associated with precipitation processes. The GPM Mission will also make data available in near realtime (within 3 hours of observations) for societal applications ranging from position fixes of storm centers, numerical weather prediction, flood forecasting, freshwater management, landslide warning, crop prediction, to tracking of water-borne diseases. This presentation will give an overview of the GPM mission and its development status approximately one-year prior to launch.

Practical considerations in the measurement of the internal relative humidity of pharmaceutical packages with data loggers.

PubMed

Nelson, Eric D; Huang, Henry

2011-03-01

The utility of temperature/humidity data loggers are evaluated as a low-cost approach to enrich practical understanding of the actual time dependent humidity that a pharmaceutical product is exposed to. While this approach is found to have significant utility in general, small systematic biases in the measurements due to the presence of the data logger are observed. Taking these biases into account enables more productive extrapolation of measured time/humidity profiles. © 2011 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

Fluorescent aromatic sensors and their methods of use

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meador, Michael A. (Inventor); Tyson, Daniel S. (Inventor); Ilan, Ulvi F. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

Aromatic molecules that can be used as sensors are described. The aromatic sensors include a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon core with a five-membered imide rings fused to the core and at least two pendant aryl groups. The aromatic sensor molecules can detect target analytes or molecular strain as a result of changes in their fluorescence, in many cases with on-off behavior. Aromatic molecules that fluoresce at various frequencies can be prepared by altering the structure of the aromatic core or the substituents attached to it. The aromatic molecules can be used as sensors for various applications such as, for example, the detection of dangerous chemicals, biomedical diagnosis, and the detection of damage or strain in composite materials. Methods of preparing aromatic sensor molecules are also described.

Brief Communication: A low-cost Arduino®-based wire extensometer for earth flow monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerriero, Luigi; Guerriero, Giovanni; Grelle, Gerardo; Guadagno, Francesco M.; Revellino, Paola

2017-06-01

Continuous monitoring of earth flow displacement is essential for the understanding of the dynamic of the process, its ongoing evolution and designing mitigation measures. Despite its importance, it is not always applied due to its expense and the need for integration with additional sensors to monitor factors controlling movement. To overcome these problems, we developed and tested a low-cost Arduino-based wire-rail extensometer integrating a data logger, a power system and multiple digital and analog inputs. The system is equipped with a high-precision position transducer that in the test configuration offers a measuring range of 1023 mm and an associated accuracy of ±1 mm, and integrates an operating temperature sensor that should allow potential thermal drift that typically affects this kind of systems to be identified and corrected. A field test, conducted at the Pietrafitta earth flow where additional monitoring systems had been installed, indicates a high reliability of the measurement and a high monitoring stability without visible thermal drift.

Dem Reconstruction Using Light Field and Bidirectional Reflectance Function from Multi-View High Resolution Spatial Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vieilleville, F.; Ristorcelli, T.; Delvit, J.-M.

2016-06-01

This paper presents a method for dense DSM reconstruction from high resolution, mono sensor, passive imagery, spatial panchromatic image sequence. The interest of our approach is four-fold. Firstly, we extend the core of light field approaches using an explicit BRDF model from the Image Synthesis community which is more realistic than the Lambertian model. The chosen model is the Cook-Torrance BRDF which enables us to model rough surfaces with specular effects using specific material parameters. Secondly, we extend light field approaches for non-pinhole sensors and non-rectilinear motion by using a proper geometric transformation on the image sequence. Thirdly, we produce a 3D volume cost embodying all the tested possible heights and filter it using simple methods such as Volume Cost Filtering or variational optimal methods. We have tested our method on a Pleiades image sequence on various locations with dense urban buildings and report encouraging results with respect to classic multi-label methods such as MIC-MAC, or more recent pipelines such as S2P. Last but not least, our method also produces maps of material parameters on the estimated points, allowing us to simplify building classification or road extraction.

Fault-Tolerant, Real-Time, Multi-Core Computer System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gostelow, Kim P.

2012-01-01

A document discusses a fault-tolerant, self-aware, low-power, multi-core computer for space missions with thousands of simple cores, achieving speed through concurrency. The proposed machine decides how to achieve concurrency in real time, rather than depending on programmers. The driving features of the system are simple hardware that is modular in the extreme, with no shared memory, and software with significant runtime reorganizing capability. The document describes a mechanism for moving ongoing computations and data that is based on a functional model of execution. Because there is no shared memory, the processor connects to its neighbors through a high-speed data link. Messages are sent to a neighbor switch, which in turn forwards that message on to its neighbor until reaching the intended destination. Except for the neighbor connections, processors are isolated and independent of each other. The processors on the periphery also connect chip-to-chip, thus building up a large processor net. There is no particular topology to the larger net, as a function at each processor allows it to forward a message in the correct direction. Some chip-to-chip connections are not necessarily nearest neighbors, providing short cuts for some of the longer physical distances. The peripheral processors also provide the connections to sensors, actuators, radios, science instruments, and other devices with which the computer system interacts.

Niche logging

Treesearch

Robert B. Rummer

1997-01-01

Logging is facing a world of change. A logger?s niche can be defined by terrain, climate, location, timber and product, local government, Federal government, landowners, and mills. The author offers strategies for survival and successful competition.

Multi-interface level in oil tanks and applications of optical fiber sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leal-Junior, Arnaldo G.; Marques, Carlos; Frizera, Anselmo; Pontes, Maria José

2018-01-01

On the oil production also involves the production of water, gas and suspended solids, which are separated from the oil on three-phase separators. However, the control strategies of an oil separator are limited due to unavailability of suitable multi-interface level sensors. This paper presents a description of the multi-phase level problem on the oil industry and a review of the current technologies for multi-interface level assessment. Since optical fiber sensors present chemical stability, intrinsic safety, electromagnetic immunity, lightweight and multiplexing capabilities, it can be an alternative for multi-interface level measurement that can overcome some of the limitations of the current technologies. For this reason, Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) based optical fiber sensor system for multi-interface level assessment is proposed, simulated and experimentally assessed. The results show that the proposed sensor system is capable of measuring interface level with a relative error of only 2.38%. Furthermore, the proposed sensor system is also capable of measuring the oil density with an error of 0.8 kg/m3.

Multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system using Micro Air Vehicle for dangerous environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yanan; Wang, Xiaoxun; He, Chengcheng; Lai, Chenlong; Liu, Yuanchao

2015-11-01

For overcoming the problems such as remote operation and dangerous tasks, multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system based on STC89C52 Micro Control Unit and wireless communication technique was proposed. The system with MCU as its core adopted multiple sets of sensor device to monitor environment parameters of different locations, such as temperature, humidity, smoke other harmful gas concentration. Data information collected was transmitted remotely by wireless transceiver module, and then multi-channel data parameter was processed and displayed through serial communication protocol between the module and PC. The results of system could be checked in the form of web pages within a local network which plays a wireless monitoring and warning role. In a remote operation, four-rotor micro air vehicle which fixed airborne data acquisition device was utilized as a middleware between collecting terminal and PC to increase monitoring scope. Whole test system has characteristics of simple construction, convenience, real time ability and high reliability, which could meet the requirements of actual use.

Comparative performance between compressed and uncompressed airborne imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phan, Chung; Rupp, Ronald; Agarwal, Sanjeev; Trang, Anh; Nair, Sumesh

2008-04-01

The US Army's RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), Countermine Division is evaluating the compressibility of airborne multi-spectral imagery for mine and minefield detection application. Of particular interest is to assess the highest image data compression rate that can be afforded without the loss of image quality for war fighters in the loop and performance of near real time mine detection algorithm. The JPEG-2000 compression standard is used to perform data compression. Both lossless and lossy compressions are considered. A multi-spectral anomaly detector such as RX (Reed & Xiaoli), which is widely used as a core algorithm baseline in airborne mine and minefield detection on different mine types, minefields, and terrains to identify potential individual targets, is used to compare the mine detection performance. This paper presents the compression scheme and compares detection performance results between compressed and uncompressed imagery for various level of compressions. The compression efficiency is evaluated and its dependence upon different backgrounds and other factors are documented and presented using multi-spectral data.

Simulation of DKIST solar adaptive optics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marino, Jose; Carlisle, Elizabeth; Schmidt, Dirk

2016-07-01

Solar adaptive optics (AO) simulations are a valuable tool to guide the design and optimization process of current and future solar AO and multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) systems. Solar AO and MCAO systems rely on extended object cross-correlating Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors to measure the wavefront. Accurate solar AO simulations require computationally intensive operations, which have until recently presented a prohibitive computational cost. We present an update on the status of a solar AO and MCAO simulation tool being developed at the National Solar Observatory. The simulation tool is a multi-threaded application written in the C++ language that takes advantage of current large multi-core CPU computer systems and fast ethernet connections to provide accurate full simulation of solar AO and MCAO systems. It interfaces with KAOS, a state of the art solar AO control software developed by the Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik, that provides reliable AO control. We report on the latest results produced by the solar AO simulation tool.

High-accuracy fiber-optic shape sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duncan, Roger G.; Froggatt, Mark E.; Kreger, Stephen T.; Seeley, Ryan J.; Gifford, Dawn K.; Sang, Alexander K.; Wolfe, Matthew S.

2007-04-01

We describe the results of a study of the performance characteristics of a monolithic fiber-optic shape sensor array. Distributed strain measurements in a multi-core optical fiber interrogated with the optical frequency domain reflectometry technique are used to deduce the shape of the optical fiber; referencing to a coordinate system yields position information. Two sensing techniques are discussed herein: the first employing fiber Bragg gratings and the second employing the intrinsic Rayleigh backscatter of the optical fiber. We have measured shape and position under a variety of circumstances and report the accuracy and precision of these measurements. A discussion of error sources is included.

Carbon nanotubes polymer nanoparticles inks for healthcare textile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Pratyush; Lee, Jungmin; Mathur, Gyanesh N.; Varadan, Vijay K.

2012-10-01

Healthcare textiles are ambient health monitoring systems that can contribute towards medical aid as well as general fitness of the populace. These are textile based products that have sensor systems mounted on them or are electrically functionalized to act as sensors. While embedded sensor chipsets and connection wires have been shown as working prototypes of this concept, there is a need for seamless integration of sensor technologies without hindering the inherent properties of the textile. Screen printing or stamping with electrically conductive inks have been demonstrated as technologies for fabricating electronics on flexible substrates. They are applicable to textile manufacturing as well. Printing technology allows for fabrication of nanocomposite based electronics elements in a bottom-up fashion. This has advantages such as low material consumption, high speed fabrication and low temperature processing. In this research, Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polyaniline nanoparticles (PANP) core shell based nanocomposites were synthesized and formulated into colloidal ink. Printed MWCNTs-PANP traces were electrically characterized and compared with traces made with those made by other composites such as Silver, and Carbon Black. The nanocomposite based inks are compared for proposed applications as sensor systems and conductive tracks on smart textile for pervasive wireless healthcare system that can be mass produced using low cost printing processes.

Mor-Bell Logger: Skidding Case Study

Treesearch

Bryce J. Stokes; Jerry L. Koger; Frank J. Pickle

1983-01-01

A production equation was developed for the Mor-Bell logger for skidding while thinning a loblolly pine plantation. Production and costs for skidding and iron gate delimbing were determined for a range of operating conditions.

Application of vaginal temperature measurement in bitches.

PubMed

Maeder, B; Arlt, S; Burfeind, O; Heuwieser, W

2012-12-01

Finding innovative, non-invasive methods for continuously measuring body temperature minimizing human interference is important for accurate data collection. The objective of this study was to assess feasibility and accuracy of continuous body temperature measurements with loggers placed in the vaginal cavity of bitches. First, an in vitro experiment was performed to compare values obtained by temperature loggers (n = 26) to a calibrated liquid-in-glass thermometer. The mean differences between the two methods were low. Next, an in vivo experiment was performed using five healthy bitches, and values obtained by the vaginal loggers were compared to measurements collected rectally with digital thermometers. The results show that rectal and vaginal temperatures were correlated. The mean differences between rectal and vaginal temperatures were negligible. We conclude that the utilized temperature loggers provide accurate and reliable data. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

A Tactile Sensor Network System Using a Multiple Sensor Platform with a Dedicated CMOS-LSI for Robot Applications †

PubMed Central

Shao, Chenzhong; Tanaka, Shuji; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki; Bartley, Travis; Muroyama, Masanori

2017-01-01

Robot tactile sensation can enhance human–robot communication in terms of safety, reliability and accuracy. The final goal of our project is to widely cover a robot body with a large number of tactile sensors, which has significant advantages such as accurate object recognition, high sensitivity and high redundancy. In this study, we developed a multi-sensor system with dedicated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Large-Scale Integration (LSI) circuit chips (referred to as “sensor platform LSI”) as a framework of a serial bus-based tactile sensor network system. The sensor platform LSI supports three types of sensors: an on-chip temperature sensor, off-chip capacitive and resistive tactile sensors, and communicates with a relay node via a bus line. The multi-sensor system was first constructed on a printed circuit board to evaluate basic functions of the sensor platform LSI, such as capacitance-to-digital and resistance-to-digital conversion. Then, two kinds of external sensors, nine sensors in total, were connected to two sensor platform LSIs, and temperature, capacitive and resistive sensing data were acquired simultaneously. Moreover, we fabricated flexible printed circuit cables to demonstrate the multi-sensor system with 15 sensor platform LSIs operating simultaneously, which showed a more realistic implementation in robots. In conclusion, the multi-sensor system with up to 15 sensor platform LSIs on a bus line supporting temperature, capacitive and resistive sensing was successfully demonstrated. PMID:29061954

A Tactile Sensor Network System Using a Multiple Sensor Platform with a Dedicated CMOS-LSI for Robot Applications.

PubMed

Shao, Chenzhong; Tanaka, Shuji; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki; Bartley, Travis; Nonomura, Yutaka; Muroyama, Masanori

2017-08-28

Robot tactile sensation can enhance human-robot communication in terms of safety, reliability and accuracy. The final goal of our project is to widely cover a robot body with a large number of tactile sensors, which has significant advantages such as accurate object recognition, high sensitivity and high redundancy. In this study, we developed a multi-sensor system with dedicated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Large-Scale Integration (LSI) circuit chips (referred to as "sensor platform LSI") as a framework of a serial bus-based tactile sensor network system. The sensor platform LSI supports three types of sensors: an on-chip temperature sensor, off-chip capacitive and resistive tactile sensors, and communicates with a relay node via a bus line. The multi-sensor system was first constructed on a printed circuit board to evaluate basic functions of the sensor platform LSI, such as capacitance-to-digital and resistance-to-digital conversion. Then, two kinds of external sensors, nine sensors in total, were connected to two sensor platform LSIs, and temperature, capacitive and resistive sensing data were acquired simultaneously. Moreover, we fabricated flexible printed circuit cables to demonstrate the multi-sensor system with 15 sensor platform LSIs operating simultaneously, which showed a more realistic implementation in robots. In conclusion, the multi-sensor system with up to 15 sensor platform LSIs on a bus line supporting temperature, capacitive and resistive sensing was successfully demonstrated.

Scalability Issues for Remote Sensing Infrastructure: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Liu, Yang; Picard, Sean; Williamson, Carey

2017-01-01

For the past decade, a team of University of Calgary researchers has operated a large “sensor Web” to collect, analyze, and share scientific data from remote measurement instruments across northern Canada. This sensor Web receives real-time data streams from over a thousand Internet-connected sensors, with a particular emphasis on environmental data (e.g., space weather, auroral phenomena, atmospheric imaging). Through research collaborations, we had the opportunity to evaluate the performance and scalability of their remote sensing infrastructure. This article reports the lessons learned from our study, which considered both data collection and data dissemination aspects of their system. On the data collection front, we used benchmarking techniques to identify and fix a performance bottleneck in the system’s memory management for TCP data streams, while also improving system efficiency on multi-core architectures. On the data dissemination front, we used passive and active network traffic measurements to identify and reduce excessive network traffic from the Web robots and JavaScript techniques used for data sharing. While our results are from one specific sensor Web system, the lessons learned may apply to other scientific Web sites with remote sensing infrastructure. PMID:28468262

Sheath-Core Graphite/Silk Fiber Made by Dry-Meyer-Rod-Coating for Wearable Strain Sensors.

PubMed

Zhang, Mingchao; Wang, Chunya; Wang, Qi; Jian, Muqiang; Zhang, Yingying

2016-08-17

Recent years have witnessed the explosive development of flexible strain sensors. Nanomaterials have been widely utilized to fabricate flexible strain sensors, because of their high flexibility and electrical conductivity. However, the fabrication processes for nanomaterials and the subsequent strain sensors are generally complicated and are manufactured at high cost. In this work, we developed a facile dry-Meyer-rod-coating process to fabricate sheath-core-structured single-fiber strain sensors using ultrafine graphite flakes as the sheath and silk fibers as the core by virtue of their flexibility, high production, and low cost. The fabricated strain sensor exhibits a high sensitivity with a gauge factor of 14.5 within wide workable strain range up to 15%, and outstanding stability (up to 3000 cycles). The single-fiber-based strain sensors could be attached to a human body to detect joint motions or easily integrated into the multidirectional strain sensor for monitoring multiaxial strain, showing great potential applications as wearable strain sensors.

Magnetic sensor for building structural vibrations.

PubMed

García, Alfonso; Morón, Carlos; Tremps, Enrique

2014-02-05

This paper shows a new displacement-to-frequency transducer based on the variation of a coil inductance when a magnetic core is partially or completely inserted inside. This transducer is based on a Colpitts oscillator due its low manufacturing price, behavior and immunity to noise. A tank circuit with a configuration in parallel was used because it can be employed at lower frequencies and it enables it to make a direct analysis. The sensor has a dynamic range equal to the length of the coil. The cores can exchange sensors (coils with its ferromagnetic core) using the same electronic measuring system. In this way, with only an electronic circuit, the core sensor determines the measurement range. The obtained resolution is higher than 1/100,000, and the sensor also allows the measurement and knowing in real time the effect of vibration, thermal expansion, referred overload movements, etc.., that can occur in the structural elements of a building.

Magnetic Sensor for Building Structural Vibrations

PubMed Central

García, Alfonso; Morón, Carlos; Tremps, Enrique

2014-01-01

This paper shows a new displacement-to-frequency transducer based on the variation of a coil inductance when a magnetic core is partially or completely inserted inside. This transducer is based on a Colpitts oscillator due its low manufacturing price, behavior and immunity to noise. A tank circuit with a configuration in parallel was used because it can be employed at lower frequencies and it enables it to make a direct analysis. The sensor has a dynamic range equal to the length of the coil. The cores can exchange sensors (coils with its ferromagnetic core) using the same electronic measuring system. In this way, with only an electronic circuit, the core sensor determines the measurement range. The obtained resolution is higher than 1/100,000, and the sensor also allows the measurement and knowing in real time the effect of vibration, thermal expansion, referred overload movements, etc.., that can occur in the structural elements of a building. PMID:24504104

MyPectus: First-in-human pilot study of remote compliance monitoring of teens using dynamic compression bracing to correct pectus carinatum.

PubMed

Harrison, Brittany; Stern, Lily; Chung, Philip; Etemadi, Mozziyar; Kwiat, Dillon; Roy, Shuvo; Harrison, Michael R; Martinez-Ferro, Marcelo

2016-04-01

Patient compliance is a crucial determinant of outcomes in treatments involving medical braces, such as dynamic compression therapy for pectus carinatum (PC). We performed a pilot study to assess a novel, wireless, real-time monitoring system (MyPectus) to address noncompliance. Eight patients (10-16years old) with moderately severe PC deformities underwent bracing. Each patient received a data logger device inserted in the compression brace to sense temperature and pressure. The data were transmitted via Bluetooth 4.0 to an iOS smartphone app, then synced to cloud-based storage, and presented to the clinician on a web-based dashboard. Patients received points for brace usage on the app throughout the 4-week study, and completed a survey to capture patient-reported usage patterns. In all 8 patients, the data logger sensed and recorded data, which connected through all MyPectus system components. There were occasional lapses in data collection because of technical difficulties, such as limited storage capacity. Patients reported positive feedback regarding points. The components of the MyPectus system recorded, stored, and provided data to patients and clinicians. The MyPectus system will inform clinicians about issues related to noncompliance: discrepancy between patient-reported and sensor-reported data regarding brace usage; real-time, actionable information; and patient motivation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A system for activity recognition using multi-sensor fusion.

PubMed

Gao, Lei; Bourke, Alan K; Nelson, John

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a system for activity recognition using multi-sensor fusion. In this system, four sensors are attached to the waist, chest, thigh, and side of the body. In the study we present two solutions for factors that affect the activity recognition accuracy: the calibration drift and the sensor orientation changing. The datasets used to evaluate this system were collected from 8 subjects who were asked to perform 8 scripted normal activities of daily living (ADL), three times each. The Naïve Bayes classifier using multi-sensor fusion is adopted and achieves 70.88%-97.66% recognition accuracies for 1-4 sensors.

Data logger technologies for manual wheelchairs: A scoping review.

PubMed

Routhier, François; Lettre, Josiane; Miller, William C; Borisoff, Jaimie F; Keetch, Kate; Mitchell, Ian M; Research Team, CanWheel

2018-01-01

In recent years, studies have increasingly employed data logger technologies to record objective driving and physiological characteristics of manual wheelchair users. However, the technologies used offer significant differences in characteristics, such as measured outcomes, ease of use, and level of burden. In order to identify and describe the extent of published research activity that relies on data logger technologies for manual wheelchair users, we performed a scoping review of the scientific and gray literature. Five databases were searched: Medline, Compendex, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. The 119 retained papers document a wide variety of logging devices and sensing technologies measuring a range of outcomes. The most commonly used technologies were accelerometers installed on the user (18.8%), odometers installed on the wheelchair (12.4%), accelerometers installed on the wheelchair (9.7%), and heart monitors (9.7%). Not surprisingly, the most reported outcomes were distance, mobility events, heart rate, speed/velocity, acceleration, and driving time. With decreasing costs and technological improvements, data loggers are likely to have future widespread clinical (and even personal) use. Future research may be needed to assess the usefulness of different outcomes and to develop methods more appropriate to wheelchair users in order to optimize the practicality of wheelchair data loggers.

The effect of spiked boots on logger safety, productivity and workload.

PubMed

Kirk, P; Parker, R

1994-04-01

Analysis of 1657 lost-time logging accidents in the New Zealand logging industry (1985-1991) indicates that 17.5% were as a result of slips, trips and falls and a total of 2870 days were lost. Most (56%) of these slipping, tripping and falling accidents occurred in the felling and delimbing phase of the logging operation, where 37% of the workforce are employed. In an attempt to reduce the number of slipping injuries to loggers employed in felling and delimbing, a study of the effectiveness of spike-soled (caulk) boots was undertaken. Four loggers were intensively observed at work, by continuous time-study methods, while wearing their conventional rubber-soled boots and then spike-soled boots. The number of slips, work methods used, physiological workload and productivity were compared for loggers wearing the two footwear types. Results indicated that spike-soled boots were associated with a significant reduction in the frequency of slips and had no adverse effect on work methods, physiological workload or productivity. Spike-soled boots are now being promoted for use by loggers in New Zealand as a simple method to reduce slipping, tripping and falling accidents.

Eigenvalue equation and core-mode cutoff of weakly guiding tapered fiber as three layer optical waveguide and used as biochemical sensor.

PubMed

Linslal, C L; Mohan, P M S; Halder, A; Gangopadhyay, T K

2012-06-01

The core-mode cutoff plays a major role in evanescent field absorption based sensors. A method has been proposed to calculate the core-mode cutoff by solving the eigenvalue equations of a weakly guiding three layer optical waveguide graphically. The variation of normalized waveguide parameter (V) is also calculated with different wavelengths at core-mode cutoff. At the first step, theoretical analysis of tapered fiber parameters has been performed for core-mode cutoff. The taper angle of an adiabatic tapered fiber is also analyzed using the length-scale criterion. Secondly, single-mode tapered fiber has been developed to make a precision sensor element suitable for chemical detection. Finally, the sensor element has been used to detect absorption peak of ethylenediamine. Results are presented in which an absorption peak at 1540 nm is observed.

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation.

PubMed

Tkach, Itshak; Jevtić, Aleksandar; Nof, Shimon Y; Edan, Yael

2018-03-02

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors' performance, tasks' priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems.

A multi-sensor scenario for coastal surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Broek, A. C.; van den Broek, S. P.; van den Heuvel, J. C.; Schwering, P. B. W.; van Heijningen, A. W. P.

2007-10-01

Maritime borders and coastal zones are susceptible to threats such as drug trafficking, piracy, undermining economical activities. At TNO Defence, Security and Safety various studies aim at improving situational awareness in a coastal zone. In this study we focus on multi-sensor surveillance of the coastal environment. We present a study on improving classification results for small sea surface targets using an advanced sensor suite and a scenario in which a small boat is approaching the coast. A next generation sensor suite mounted on a tower has been defined consisting of a maritime surveillance and tracking radar system, capable of producing range profiles and ISAR imagery of ships, an advanced infrared camera and a laser range profiler. For this suite we have developed a multi-sensor classification procedure, which is used to evaluate the capabilities for recognizing and identifying non-cooperative ships in coastal waters. We have found that the different sensors give complementary information. Each sensor has its own specific distance range in which it contributes most. A multi-sensor approach reduces the number of misclassifications and reliable classification results are obtained earlier compared to a single sensor approach.

GPS-tracking and colony observations reveal variation in offshore habitat use and foraging ecology of breeding Sandwich Terns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fijn, R. C.; de Jong, J.; Courtens, W.; Verstraete, H.; Stienen, E. W. M.; Poot, M. J. M.

2017-09-01

Breeding success of seabirds critically depends on their foraging success offshore. However, studies combining at-sea tracking and visual provisioning observations are scarce, especially for smaller species of seabirds. This study is the first in which breeding Sandwich Terns were tracked with GPS-loggers to collect detailed data on foraging habitat use in four breeding seasons. The maximum home range of individual Sandwich Terns comprised approximately 1900 km2 and the average foraging range was 27 km. Trip durations were on average 135 min with average trip lengths of 67 km. Actual foraging behaviour comprised 35% of the time budget of a foraging trip. Substantial year-to-year variation was found in habitat use and trip variables, yet with the exception of 2012, home range size remained similar between years. Food availability, chick age and environmental conditions are proposed as the main driving factors between inter- and intra-annual variations in trip variables. Our multi-method approach also provided geo-referenced information on prey presence and we conclude that future combining of colony observations and GPS-loggers deployments can potentially provide a near complete insight into the feeding ecology of breeding Sandwich Terns, including the behaviour of birds at sea.

Post-Colonization Interval Estimates Using Multi-Species Calliphoridae Larval Masses and Spatially Distinct Temperature Data Sets: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Weatherbee, Courtney R.; Pechal, Jennifer L.; Stamper, Trevor; Benbow, M. Eric

2017-01-01

Common forensic entomology practice has been to collect the largest Diptera larvae from a scene and use published developmental data, with temperature data from the nearest weather station, to estimate larval development time and post-colonization intervals (PCIs). To evaluate the accuracy of PCI estimates among Calliphoridae species and spatially distinct temperature sources, larval communities and ambient air temperature were collected at replicate swine carcasses (N = 6) throughout decomposition. Expected accumulated degree hours (ADH) associated with Cochliomyia macellaria and Phormia regina third instars (presence and length) were calculated using published developmental data sets. Actual ADH ranges were calculated using temperatures recorded from multiple sources at varying distances (0.90 m–7.61 km) from the study carcasses: individual temperature loggers at each carcass, a local weather station, and a regional weather station. Third instars greatly varied in length and abundance. The expected ADH range for each species successfully encompassed the average actual ADH for each temperature source, but overall under-represented the range. For both calliphorid species, weather station data were associated with more accurate PCI estimates than temperature loggers associated with each carcass. These results provide an important step towards improving entomological evidence collection and analysis techniques, and developing forensic error rates. PMID:28375172

Extraction of natural weight shift and foot rolling in gait based on hetero-core optical fiber load sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otsuka, Yudai; Koyama, Yuya; Nishiyama, Michiko; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

2016-03-01

Gait in daily activity affects human health because it may cause physical problems such as asymmetric pelvis, flat foot and bowlegs. Monitoring natural weight shift and foot rolling on plantar has been employed in order for researchers to analyze gait characteristics. Conventional gait monitoring systems have been developed using camera, acceleration sensor, gyro sensor and electrical load sensors. They have some problems such as limited measurement place, temperature dependence and electric leakage. On the other hand, a hetero-core optical fiber sensor has many advantages such as high sensitivity for macro-bending, light weight sensor element, independency on temperature fluctuations, and no electric contact. This paper describes extraction of natural weight shift and foot rolling for gait evaluation by using a sensitive shoe, in the insole of which hetero-core optical load sensors are embedded for detecting plantar pressure. Plantar pressure of three subjects who wear the sensitive shoe and walk on the treadmill was monitored. As a result, weight shift and foot rolling for three subjects were extracted using the proposed sensitive shoe in terms of centroid movement and positions. Additionally, these extracted data are compared to that of electric load sensor to ensure consistency. For these results, it was successfully demonstrated that hetero-core optical fiber load sensor performed in unconstraint gait monitoring as well as electric load sensor.

A scaleable integrated sensing and control system for NDE, monitoring, and control of medium to very large composite smart structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Jerry; Rhoades, Valerie; Arner, Radford; Clem, Timothy; Cuneo, Adam

2007-04-01

NDE measurements, monitoring, and control of smart and adaptive composite structures requires that the central knowledge system have an awareness of the entire structure. Achieving this goal necessitates the implementation of an integrated network of significant numbers of sensors. Additionally, in order to temporally coordinate the data from specially distributed sensors, the data must be time relevant. Early adoption precludes development of sensor technology specifically for this application, instead it will depend on the ability to utilize legacy systems. Partially supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Advanced Technology Development Program (NIST-ATP), a scalable integrated system has been developed to implement monitoring of structural integrity and the control of adaptive/intelligent structures. The project, called SHIELD (Structural Health Identification and Electronic Life Determination), was jointly undertaken by: Caterpillar, N.A. Tech., Motorola, and Microstrain. SHIELD is capable of operation with composite structures, metallic structures, or hybrid structures. SHIELD consists of a real-time processing core on a Motorola MPC5200 using a C language based real-time operating system (RTOS). The RTOS kernel was customized to include a virtual backplane which makes the system completely scalable. This architecture provides for multiple processes to be operating simultaneously. They may be embedded as multiple threads on the core hardware or as separate independent processors connected to the core using a software driver called a NAT-Network Integrator (NATNI). NATNI's can be created for any communications application. In it's current embodiment, NATNI's have been created for CAN bus, TCP/IP (Ethernet) - both wired and 802.11 b and g, and serial communications using RS485 and RS232. Since SHIELD uses standard C language, it is easy to port any monitoring or control algorithm, thus providing for legacy technology which may use other hardware processors and various communications means. For example, two demonstrations of SHIELD have been completed, in January and May 2005 respectively. One demonstration used algorithms in C running in multiple threads in the SHIELD core and utilizing two different sensor networks, one CAN bus and one wireless. The second had algorithms operating in C on the SHIELD core and other algorithms running on multiple Texas Instruments DSP processors using a NATNI that communicated via wired TCP/IP. A key feature of SHIELD is the implementation of a wireless ZIGBEE (802.15.4) network for implementing large numbers of small, low cost, low power sensors communication via a meshstar wireless network. While SHIELD was designed to integrate with a wide variety of existing communications protocols, a ZIGBEE network capability was implemented specifically for SHIELD. This will facilitate the monitoring of medium to very large structures including marine applications, utility scale multi-megawatt wind energy systems, and aircraft/spacecraft. The SHIELD wireless network will facilitate large numbers of sensors (up to 32000), accommodate sensors embedded into the composite material, can communicate to both sensors and actuators, and prevents obsolescence by providing for re-programming of the nodes via remote RF communications. The wireless network provides for ultra-low energy use, spatial location, and accurate timestamping, utilizing the beaconing feature of ZIGBEE.

Ultra-sensitive all-fibre photothermal spectroscopy with large dynamic range

PubMed Central

Jin, Wei; Cao, Yingchun; Yang, Fan; Ho, Hoi Lut

2015-01-01

Photothermal interferometry is an ultra-sensitive spectroscopic means for trace chemical detection in gas- and liquid-phase materials. Previous photothermal interferometry systems used free-space optics and have limitations in efficiency of light–matter interaction, size and optical alignment, and integration into photonic circuits. Here we exploit photothermal-induced phase change in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic bandgap fibre, and demonstrate an all-fibre acetylene gas sensor with a noise equivalent concentration of 2 p.p.b. (2.3 × 10−9 cm−1 in absorption coefficient) and an unprecedented dynamic range of nearly six orders of magnitude. The realization of photothermal interferometry with low-cost near infrared semiconductor lasers and fibre-based technology allows a class of optical sensors with compact size, ultra sensitivity and selectivity, applicability to harsh environment, and capability for remote and multiplexed multi-point detection and distributed sensing. PMID:25866015

Modeling spatial decisions with graph theory: logging roads and forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Walker, Robert; Arima, Eugenio; Messina, Joe; Soares-Filho, Britaldo; Perz, Stephen; Vergara, Dante; Sales, Marcio; Pereira, Ritaumaria; Castro, Williams

2013-01-01

This article addresses the spatial decision-making of loggers and implications for forest fragmentation in the Amazon basin. It provides a behavioral explanation for fragmentation by modeling how loggers build road networks, typically abandoned upon removal of hardwoods. Logging road networks provide access to land, and the settlers who take advantage of them clear fields and pastures that accentuate their spatial signatures. In shaping agricultural activities, these networks organize emergent patterns of forest fragmentation, even though the loggers move elsewhere. The goal of the article is to explicate how loggers shape their road networks, in order to theoretically explain an important type of forest fragmentation found in the Amazon basin, particularly in Brazil. This is accomplished by adapting graph theory to represent the spatial decision-making of loggers, and by implementing computational algorithms that build graphs interpretable as logging road networks. The economic behavior of loggers is conceptualized as a profit maximization problem, and translated into spatial decision-making by establishing a formal correspondence between mathematical graphs and road networks. New computational approaches, adapted from operations research, are used to construct graphs and simulate spatial decision-making as a function of discount rates, land tenure, and topographic constraints. The algorithms employed bracket a range of behavioral settings appropriate for areas of terras de volutas, public lands that have not been set aside for environmental protection, indigenous peoples, or colonization. The simulation target sites are located in or near so-called Terra do Meio, once a major logging frontier in the lower Amazon Basin. Simulation networks are compared to empirical ones identified by remote sensing and then used to draw inferences about factors influencing the spatial behavior of loggers. Results overall suggest that Amazonia's logging road networks induce more fragmentation than necessary to access fixed quantities of wood. The paper concludes by considering implications of the approach and findings for Brazil's move to a system of concession logging.

Laboratory evaluation of the pressure water level data logger manufactured by Infinities USA, Inc.: results of pressure and temperature tests

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carnley, Mark V.

2015-01-01

The Pressure Water Level Data Logger manufactured by Infinities USA, Inc., was evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility for conformance with the manufacturer’s stated accuracy specifications for measuring pressure throughout the device’s operating temperature range and with the USGS accuracy requirements for water-level measurements. The Pressure Water Level Data Logger (Infinities Logger) is a submersible, sealed, water-level sensing device with an operating pressure range of 0 to 11.5 feet of water over a temperature range of −18 to 49 degrees Celsius. For the pressure range tested, the manufacturer’s accuracy specification of 0.1 percent of full scale pressure equals an accuracy of ±0.138 inch of water. Three Infinities Loggers were evaluated, and the testing procedures followed and results obtained are described in this report. On the basis of the test results, the device is poorly compensated for temperature. For the three Infinities Loggers, the mean pressure differences varied from –4.04 to 5.32 inches of water and were not within the manufacturer’s accuracy specification for pressure measurements made within the temperature-compensated range. The device did not meet the manufacturer’s stated accuracy specifications for pressure within its temperature-compensated operating range of –18 to 49 degrees Celsius or the USGS accuracy requirements of no more than 0.12 inch of water (0.01 foot of water) or 0.10 percent of reading, whichever is larger. The USGS accuracy requirements are routinely examined and reported when instruments are evaluated at the Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility. The estimated combined measurement uncertainty for the pressure cycling test was ±0.139 inch of water, and for temperature, the cycling test was ±0.127 inch of water for the three Infinities Loggers.

PMHT Approach for Multi-Target Multi-Sensor Sonar Tracking in Clutter.

PubMed

Li, Xiaohua; Li, Yaan; Yu, Jing; Chen, Xiao; Dai, Miao

2015-11-06

Multi-sensor sonar tracking has many advantages, such as the potential to reduce the overall measurement uncertainty and the possibility to hide the receiver. However, the use of multi-target multi-sensor sonar tracking is challenging because of the complexity of the underwater environment, especially the low target detection probability and extremely large number of false alarms caused by reverberation. In this work, to solve the problem of multi-target multi-sensor sonar tracking in the presence of clutter, a novel probabilistic multi-hypothesis tracker (PMHT) approach based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is proposed. The PMHT can efficiently handle the unknown measurements-to-targets and measurements-to-transmitters data association ambiguity. The EKF and UKF are used to deal with the high degree of nonlinearity in the measurement model. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve the target tracking performance in a cluttered environment greatly, and its computational load is low.

Evaluation of the Radar Stage Sensor manufactured by Forest Technology Systems—Results of laboratory and field testing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kunkle, Gerald A.

2018-01-31

Two identical Radar Stage Sensors from Forest Technology Systems were evaluated to determine if they are suitable for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic data collection. The sensors were evaluated in laboratory conditions to evaluate the distance accuracy of the sensor over the manufacturer’s specified operating temperatures and distance to water ranges. Laboratory results were compared to the manufacturer’s accuracy specification of ±0.007 foot (ft) and the USGS Office of Surface Water (OSW) policy requirement that water-level sensors have a measurement uncertainty of no more than 0.01 ft or 0.20 percent of the indicated reading. Both of the sensors tested were within the OSW policy requirement in both laboratory tests and within the manufacturer’s specification in the distance to water test over tested distances from 3 to 15 ft. In the temperature chamber test, both sensors were within the manufacturer’s specification for more than 90 percent of the data points collected over a temperature range of –40 to +60 degrees Celsius at a fixed distance of 8 ft. One sensor was subjected to an SDI-12 communication test, which it passed. A field test was conducted on one sensor at a USGS field site near Landon, Mississippi, from February 5 to March 29, 2016. Water-level measurements made by the radar during the field test were in agreement with those made by the Sutron Accubar Constant Flow Bubble Gauge.Upon the manufacturer’s release of updated firmware version 1.09, additional SDI-12 and temperature testing was performed to evaluate added SDI-12 functions and verify that performance was unaffected by the update. At this time, an Axiom data logger is required to perform a firmware update on this sensor. The data confirmed the results of the original test. Based on the test results, the Radar Stage Sensor is a suitable choice for USGS hydrologic data collection.

[Computerized monitoring system in the operating center with UNIX and X-window].

PubMed

Tanaka, Y; Hashimoto, S; Chihara, E; Kinoshita, T; Hirose, M; Nakagawa, M; Murakami, T

1992-01-01

We previously reported the fully automated data logging system in the operating center. Presently, we revised the system using a highly integrated operating system, UNIX instead of OS/9. With this multi-task and multi-window (X-window) system, we could monitor all 12 rooms in the operating center at a time. The system in the operating center consists of 2 computers, SONY NEWS1450 (UNIX workstation) and Sord M223 (CP/M, data logger). On the bitmapped display of the workstation, using X-window, the data of all the operating rooms can be visualized. Furthermore, 2 other minicomputers (Fujitsu A50 in the conference room, and A60 in the ICU) and a workstation (Sun3-80 in the ICU) were connected with ethernet. With the remote login function (NFS), we could easily obtain the data during the operation from outside the operating center. This system works automatically and needs no routine maintenance.

Basic development of a small balloon-mounted telemetry and its operation system by university students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Masa-yuki; Kakinami, Yoshihiro; Kono, Hiroki

In Japan, the high altitude balloon for scientific observation has been continuously launched by JAXA. The balloon has a possibility to reach 50 km altitude without tight environmental condition for onboard equipments, operating with a cost lower than sounding rockets, however, development of the large-scale scientific observation balloons by university laboratories is still difficult. Being coupled with recent improvement of semiconductor sensors, laboratory-basis balloon experiments using small weather balloons has been becoming easily in these years. Owing to an advantage of wide land fields in continental regions, the launch of such small balloons has become to be carried out many times especially in continental countries (e.g. Near Space Ventures, Inc., 2013). Although the balloon is very small as its diameter of 6 feet, excluding its extra buoyancy and the weight of the balloon itself, it is expected that about 2 kg loading capacity is remained for payloads to send it up to about 35 km altitude. However, operation of such balloons in Japan is not in general because precise prediction of a landing area of the payload is difficult, thus high-risk situation for balloon releases is remained. In this study, we aim to achieve practical engineering experiments of weather balloons in Japan to be used for scientific observation within university laboratory level as an educational context. Here we report an approach of developing many devices for a small tethered balloon currently in progress. We evaluated an accuracy of altitude measurement by using a laboratory developed altitude data logger system that consists of a GPS-module and a barometric altimeter. Diameter of the balloon was about 1.4 m. Being fulfilled with about 1440 L helium, it produced buoyancy of about 15.7 N. Taking into account of total weight including the mooring equipments, available payload mass becomes to be about 1100 g. Applying an advantage of a 3D printer of FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) method with a 3DCAD design software, we designed and manufactured a camera-platform type antenna rotator that automatically track the balloon direction based on the received GPS data as a balloon operation system on ground with automatic controlling software for the tracking system. In order to develop a future telemetry system onboard a small weather balloon, we have performed an onboard data logger system. In this presentation, system configuration of the automatic tracking system will be introduced more in detail. The telemetry system onboard the small balloon is currently under development. We have a plan to send the measured GPS coordinates, temperature, pressure, and humidity data detected by the onboard sensors to ground. A monitoring camera, a 3-axes accelerometer, geomagnetic azimuth measurement, and power monitoring were added to the developed data logger system. The acquired data will be stored in an SD card aboard as well as transmitted to the ground. Using a vacuum chamber with a pressure sensors and a constant-temperature reservoir in laboratory, environmental tests were operated. In this presentation, introducing the data obtained through the development of a prototype balloon system, our recent results and problems will be discussed.

Optical fiber sensor having a sol-gel fiber core and a method of making

DOEpatents

Tao, Shiquan; Jindal, Rajeev; Winstead, Christopher; Singh, Jagdish P.

2006-06-06

A simple, economic wet chemical procedure is described for making sol-gel fibers. The sol-gel fibers made from this process are transparent to ultraviolet, visible and near infrared light. Light can be guided in these fibers by using an organic polymer as a fiber cladding. Alternatively, air can be used as a low refractive index medium. The sol-gel fibers have a micro pore structure which allows molecules to diffuse into the fiber core from the surrounding environment. Chemical and biochemical reagents can be doped into the fiber core. The sol-gel fiber can be used as a transducer for constructing an optical fiber sensor. The optical fiber sensor having an active sol-gel fiber core is more sensitive than conventional evanescent wave absorption based optical fiber sensors.

Development of an Unmanned Aircraft System and Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Science Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brady, J. J.; Tweedie, C. E.; Escapita, I. J.

2009-12-01

There is a fundamental need to improve capacities for monitoring environmental change using remote sensing technologies. Recently, researchers have begun using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to expand and improve upon remote sensing capabilities. Limitations to most non-military and relatively small-scale Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) include a need to develop more reliable communications between ground and aircraft, tools to optimize flight control, real time data processing, and visually ascertaining the quantity of data collected while in air. Here we present a prototype software system that has enhanced communication between ground and the vehicle, can synthesize near real time data acquired from sensors on board, can log operation data during flights, and can visually demonstrate the amount and quality of data for a sampling area. This software has the capacity to greatly improve the utilization of UAS in the environmental sciences. The software system is being designed for use on a paraglider UAV that has a suite of sensors suitable for characterizing the footprints of eddy covariance towers situated in the Chihuahuan Desert and in the Arctic. Sensors on board relay operational flight data (airspeed, ground speed, latitude, longitude, pitch, yaw, roll, acceleration, and video) as well as a suite of customized sensors. Additional sensors can be added to an on board laptop or a CR1000 data logger thereby allowing data from these sensors to be visualized in the prototype software. This poster will describe the development, use and customization of our UAS and multimedia will be available during AGU to illustrate the system in use. UAV on workbench in the lab UAV in flight

Wearable Wireless Sensor for Multi-Scale Physiological Monitoring

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

AD_________________ Award Number: W81XWH-12-1-0541 TITLE: Wearable Wireless Sensor for Multi-Scale...TYPE Annual 3. DATES COVERED 25 12- 13 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Wearable Wireless Sensor for Multi-Scale Physiological...peripheral management • Procedures for low power mode activation and wake - up • Routines for start- up state detection • Flash memory management

Wireless Sensor Network Optimization: Multi-Objective Paradigm.

PubMed

Iqbal, Muhammad; Naeem, Muhammad; Anpalagan, Alagan; Ahmed, Ashfaq; Azam, Muhammad

2015-07-20

Optimization problems relating to wireless sensor network planning, design, deployment and operation often give rise to multi-objective optimization formulations where multiple desirable objectives compete with each other and the decision maker has to select one of the tradeoff solutions. These multiple objectives may or may not conflict with each other. Keeping in view the nature of the application, the sensing scenario and input/output of the problem, the type of optimization problem changes. To address different nature of optimization problems relating to wireless sensor network design, deployment, operation, planing and placement, there exist a plethora of optimization solution types. We review and analyze different desirable objectives to show whether they conflict with each other, support each other or they are design dependent. We also present a generic multi-objective optimization problem relating to wireless sensor network which consists of input variables, required output, objectives and constraints. A list of constraints is also presented to give an overview of different constraints which are considered while formulating the optimization problems in wireless sensor networks. Keeping in view the multi facet coverage of this article relating to multi-objective optimization, this will open up new avenues of research in the area of multi-objective optimization relating to wireless sensor networks.

Laboratory facility for testing electric-vehicle batteries Test rig for simulating duty cycles with different discharge modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, J. A.; Rand, D. A. J.

1983-03-01

A test rig has been designed and constructed to examine the performance of batteries under laboratory conditions that simulate the power characteristics of electric vehicles. Each station in the rig subjects a battery to continuous charge/discharge cycles, with an equalising charge every eighth cycle. The battery discharge follows the current-verse-time profile of a given vehicle operating under a driving schedule normal to road service. The test rig allows both smooth- and pulsed-current discharge to be investigated. Data collection is accomplished either with multi-pen recorders or with a computer-based information logger.

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems

PubMed Central

Park, Kyeonghwan; Kim, Seung Mok; Eom, Won-Jin; Kim, Jae Joon

2017-01-01

This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR) of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors. PMID:28368355

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems.

PubMed

Park, Kyeonghwan; Kim, Seung Mok; Eom, Won-Jin; Kim, Jae Joon

2017-04-03

This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR) of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors.

The microstructure and magnetic properties of Cu/CuO/Ni core/multi-shell nanowire arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Feng; Shi, Jie; Zhang, Xiaofeng; Hao, Shijie; Liu, Yinong; Feng, Chun; Cui, Lishan

2018-04-01

Multifunctional metal/oxide/metal core/multi-shell nanowire arrays were prepared mostly by physical or chemical vapor deposition. In our study, the Cu/CuO/Ni core/multi-shell nanowire arrays were prepared by AAO template-electrodeposition and oxidation processes. The Cu/Ni core/shell nanowire arrays were prepared by AAO template-electrodeposition method. The microstructure and chemical compositions of the core/multi-shell nanowires and core/shell nanowires have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy with HADDF-STEM and X-ray diffraction. Magnetization measurements revealed that the Cu/CuO/Ni and Cu/Ni nanowire arrays have high coercivity and remanence ratio.

A Multi-Modality CMOS Sensor Array for Cell-Based Assay and Drug Screening.

PubMed

Chi, Taiyun; Park, Jong Seok; Butts, Jessica C; Hookway, Tracy A; Su, Amy; Zhu, Chengjie; Styczynski, Mark P; McDevitt, Todd C; Wang, Hua

2015-12-01

In this paper, we present a fully integrated multi-modality CMOS cellular sensor array with four sensing modalities to characterize different cell physiological responses, including extracellular voltage recording, cellular impedance mapping, optical detection with shadow imaging and bioluminescence sensing, and thermal monitoring. The sensor array consists of nine parallel pixel groups and nine corresponding signal conditioning blocks. Each pixel group comprises one temperature sensor and 16 tri-modality sensor pixels, while each tri-modality sensor pixel can be independently configured for extracellular voltage recording, cellular impedance measurement (voltage excitation/current sensing), and optical detection. This sensor array supports multi-modality cellular sensing at the pixel level, which enables holistic cell characterization and joint-modality physiological monitoring on the same cellular sample with a pixel resolution of 80 μm × 100 μm. Comprehensive biological experiments with different living cell samples demonstrate the functionality and benefit of the proposed multi-modality sensing in cell-based assay and drug screening.

Fabrication and characterization of optical sensors using metallic core-shell thin film nanoislands for ozone detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Addanki, Satish; Nedumaran, D.

2017-07-01

Core-Shell nanostructures play a vital role in the sensor field owing to their performance improvements in sensing characteristics and well-established synthesis procedures. These nanostructures can be ingeniously tuned to achieve tailored properties for a particular application of interest. In this work, an Ag-Au core-shell thin film nanoislands with APTMS (3-Aminopropyl trimethoxysilane) and PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol) binding agents was modeled, synthesized and characterized. The simulation results were used to fabricate the sensor through chemical route. The results of this study confirmed that the APTMS based Ag-Au core-shell thin film nanoislands offered a better performance over the PVA based Ag-Au core-shell thin film nanoislands. Also, the APTMS based Ag-Au core-shell thin film nanoislands exhibited better sensitivity towards ozone sensing over the other types, viz., APTMS/PVA based Au-Ag core-shell and standalone Au/Ag thin film nanoislands.

Validation of triaxial accelerometers to measure the lying behaviour of adult domestic horses.

PubMed

DuBois, C; Zakrajsek, E; Haley, D B; Merkies, K

2015-01-01

Examining the characteristics of an animal's lying behaviour, such as frequency and duration of lying bouts, has become increasingly relevant for animal welfare research. Triaxial accelerometers have the advantage of being able to continuously monitor an animal's standing and lying behaviour without relying on live observations or video recordings. Multiple models of accelerometers have been validated for use in monitoring dairy cattle; however, no units have been validated for use in equines. This study tested Onset Pendant G data loggers attached to the hind limb of each of two mature Standardbred horses for a period of 5 days. Data loggers were set to record their position every 20 s. Horses were monitored via live observations during the day and by video recordings during the night to compare activity against accelerometer data. All lying events occurred overnight (three to five lying bouts per horse per night). Data collected from the loggers was converted and edited using a macro program to calculate the number of bouts and the length of time each animal spent lying down by hour and by day. A paired t-test showed no significant difference between the video observations and the output from the data loggers (P=0.301). The data loggers did not distinguish standing hipshot from standing square. Predictability, sensitivity, and specificity were all >99%. This study has validated the use of Onset Pendant G data loggers to determine the frequency and duration of standing and lying bouts in adult horses when set to sample and register readings at 20 s intervals.

Repeat Mapping in the Lower Monterey Submarine Canyon Sheds Light on Morphological Change During Discrete Sediment Density Flow Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, K.; Lundsten, E. M.; Caress, D. W.; Thomas, H. J.; Paull, C. K.; Maier, K. L.; Gales, J. A.; Gwiazda, R.; Talling, P.; Xu, J.; Parsons, D. R.

2017-12-01

The Coordinated Canyon Experiment (CCE), a multi-institutional collaboration effort, was designed to monitor the passage of sediment density flows along the axis of Monterey Canyon, offshore California, between 200 and 1850 m water depth. An array of moorings and sensors were deployed for three 6-month periods from October 2015 to April 2017. Aligned with the CCE deployments, repeat high-resolution multibeam bathymetric surveys of the Monterey Canyon floor were conducted with a mapping AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). The AUV carried a Reson 7125 multibeam echosounder (vertical precision of 0.15 m and horizontal resolution of 1.0 m). An inertial navigation system combined with a Doppler velocity logger allowed the AUV to fly pre-programmed grids at 3 knots, while maintaining an altitude of 50 m above the seafloor, to obtain a nominal line spacing of 130 m. The floor and lower flanks of the canyon between 200 to 540 m and 1350 to 1880 m water depths were mapped six times during the CCE. These repeat maps are subtracted to create bathymetry difference grids to show morphological change. Coupling the sensor observations with the bathymetric surveys, the CCE successfully documented sediment density flow events as well as the associated changes in seafloor morphology. Between repeat surveys, three sediment density flow events reached the lower canyon, extending to at least 1850 m water depth. On January 15, 2016, a particularly large density flow traveled more than 50 km down Monterey Canyon. Unlike in the upper canyon where this event caused wholesale reorganization of geomorphological features, changes to the lower canyon morphology involved a more moderate re-sculpting of the features. The effect of a sediment density flow of known magnitude and duration on the seafloor morphology has never been documented in a deep-sea setting before.

Improved Optical Fiber Chemical Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Egalon, Claudio O.; Rogowski, Robert S.

1994-01-01

Calculations, based on exact theory of optical fiber, have shown how to increase optical efficiency sensitivity of active-core, step-index-profile optical-fiber fluorosensor. Calculations result of efforts to improve efficiency of optical-fiber chemical sensor of previous concept described in "Making Optical-Fiber Chemical Sensors More Sensitive" (LAR-14525). Optical fiber chemical detector of enhanced sensitivity made in several configurations. Portion of fluorescence or chemiluminescence generated in core, and launched directly into bound electromagnetic modes that propagate along core to photodetector.

Velocity Profile measurements in two-phase flow using multi-wave sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biddinika, M. K.; Ito, D.; Takahashi, H.; Kikura, H.; Aritomi, M.

2009-02-01

Two-phase flow has been recognized as one of the most important phenomena in fluid dynamics. In addition, gas-liquid two-phase flow appears in various industrial fields such as chemical industries and power generations. In order to clarify the flow structure, some flow parameters have been measured by using many effective measurement techniques. The velocity profile as one of the important flow parameter, has been measured by using ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) technique. This technique can measure velocity distributions along a measuring line, which is a beam formed by pulse ultrasounds. Furthermore, a multi-wave sensor can measure the velocity profiles of both gas and liquid phase using UVP method. In this study, two types of multi-wave sensors are used. A sensor has cylindrical shape, and another one has square shape. The piezoelectric elements of each sensor have basic frequencies of 8 MHz for liquid phase and 2 MHz for gas phase, separately. The velocity profiles of air-water bubbly flow in a vertical rectangular channel were measured by using these multi-wave sensors, and the validation of the measuring accuracy was performed by the comparison between the velocity profiles measured by two multi-wave sensors.

Combining engineered cell-sensors with multi-agent systems to realize smart environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Mei

2013-03-01

The connection of everything in a sensory and an intelligent way is a pursuit in smart environment. This paper introduces the engineered cell-sensors into the multi-agent systems to realize the smart environment. The seamless interface with the natural environment and strong information-processing ability of cell with the achievements of synthetic biology make the construction of engineered cell-sensors possible. However, the engineered cell-sensors are only simple-functional and unreliable computational entities. Therefore how to combine engineered cell-sensors with digital device is a key problem in order to realize the smart environment. We give the abstract structure and interaction modes of the engineered cell-sensors in order to introduce engineered cell-sensors into multi-agent systems. We believe that the introduction of engineered cell-sensors will push forward the development of the smart environment.

Effects of measurement resolution on the analysis of temperature time series for stream-aquifer flux estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soto-López, Carlos D.; Meixner, Thomas; Ferré, Ty P. A.

2011-12-01

From its inception in the mid-1960s, the use of temperature time series (thermographs) to estimate vertical fluxes has found increasing use in the hydrologic community. Beginning in 2000, researchers have examined the impacts of measurement and parameter uncertainty on the estimates of vertical fluxes. To date, the effects of temperature measurement discretization (resolution), a characteristic of all digital temperature loggers, on the determination of vertical fluxes has not been considered. In this technical note we expand the analysis of recently published work to include the effects of temperature measurement resolution on estimates of vertical fluxes using temperature amplitude and phase shift information. We show that errors in thermal front velocity estimation introduced by discretizing thermographs differ when amplitude or phase shift data are used to estimate vertical fluxes. We also show that under similar circumstances sensor resolution limits the range over which vertical velocities are accurately reproduced more than uncertainty in temperature measurements, uncertainty in sensor separation distance, and uncertainty in the thermal diffusivity combined. These effects represent the baseline error present and thus the best-case scenario when discrete temperature measurements are used to infer vertical fluxes. The errors associated with measurement resolution can be minimized by using the highest-resolution sensors available. But thoughtful experimental design could allow users to select the most cost-effective temperature sensors to fit their measurement needs.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a logger safety training program.

PubMed

Bell, Jennifer L; Grushecky, Shawn T

2006-01-01

Logger safety training programs are rarely, if ever, evaluated as to their effectiveness in reducing injuries. Workers' compensation claim rates were used to evaluate the effectiveness of a logger safety training program, the West Virginia Loggers' Safety Initiative (LSI). There was no claim rate decline detected in the majority (67%) of companies that participated in all 4 years of the LSI. Furthermore, their rate did not differ from the rest of the WV logging industry that did not participate in the LSI. Worker turnover was significantly related to claim rates; companies with higher turnover of employees had higher claim rates. Companies using feller bunchers to harvest trees at least part of the time had a significantly lower claim rate than companies not using them. Companies that had more inspections per year had lower claim rates. High injury rates persist even in companies that receive safety training; high employee turnover may affect the efficacy of training programs. The logging industry should be encouraged to facilitate the mechanization of logging tasks, to address barriers to employee retention, and to increase the number of in-the-field performance monitoring inspections. Impact on industry There are many states whose logger safety programs include only about 4-8 hours of safe work practices training. These states may look to West Virginia's expanded training program (the LSI) as a model for their own programs. However, the LSI training may not be reaching loggers due to the delay in administering training to new employees and high levels of employee turnover. Regardless of training status, loggers' claim rates decline significantly the longer they work for a company. It may be that high injury rates in the state of West Virginia would be best addressed by finding ways to encourage and facilitate companies to become more mechanized in their harvesting practices, and to increase employee tenure. Increasing the number of yearly performance inspections may also be a venue to reduce claim rates. Future research could investigate in better detail the working conditions of West Virginia loggers and identify barriers to job tenure, particularly for workers whose primary job task is chainsaw operation. A larger-scale study of the effect of performance monitoring inspections on claim rates is also warranted.

Test and Evaluation of Fiber Optic Sensors for High-Radiation Space Nuclear Power Applications

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

Klemer, Daniel; Fielder, Robert S.; Stinson-Bagby, Kelly L.

2004-07-01

Fiber optic sensors can be used to measure a number of parameters, including temperature, strain, pressure and flow, for instrumentation and control of space nuclear power systems. In the past, this technology has often been rejected for use in such a high-radiation environment based on early experiments that revealed a number of degradation phenomena, including radiation-induced fiber attenuation, or 'graying', and Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fading and wavelength shift. However, this paper reports the results of recent experimental testing that demonstrates readability of fiber optic sensors to extremely high levels of neutron and gamma radiation. Both distributed Fiber Bragg Gratingmore » (FBG) sensors and single-point Extrinsic Fabry Perot Interferometer (EFPI) sensors were continuously monitored over a 2-month period, during which they were exposed to combined neutron and gamma radiation in both in-core and ex-core positions within a nuclear reactor. Total exposure reached approximately 2 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -2} fast neutron (E > 1 MeV) fluence and 8.7 x 10{sup 8} Gy gamma for in-core sensors. FBG sensors were interrogated using a standard Luna Innovations FBG measurement system, which is based on optical frequency-domain reflectometer (OFDR) technology. Approximately 74% of the 19 FBG sensors located at the core centerline in the in-core position exhibited sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to remain readable even after receiving the maximum dose. EFPI sensors were spectrally interrogated using a broadband probe source operating in the 830 nm wavelength region. While these single-point sensors failed early in the test, important additional fiber spectral transmission data was collected, which indicates that interrogation of EFPI sensors in alternate wavelength regions may allow significant improvement in sensor longevity for operation in high-radiation environments. This work was funded through a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract with the Nasa Glenn Research Center. (authors)« less

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation †

PubMed Central

Nof, Shimon Y.; Edan, Yael

2018-01-01

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors’ performance, tasks’ priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems. PMID:29498683

A simple method to predict body temperature of small reptiles from environmental temperature.

PubMed

Vickers, Mathew; Schwarzkopf, Lin

2016-05-01

To study behavioral thermoregulation, it is useful to use thermal sensors and physical models to collect environmental temperatures that are used to predict organism body temperature. Many techniques involve expensive or numerous types of sensors (cast copper models, or temperature, humidity, radiation, and wind speed sensors) to collect the microhabitat data necessary to predict body temperatures. Expense and diversity of requisite sensors can limit sampling resolution and accessibility of these methods. We compare body temperature predictions of small lizards from iButtons, DS18B20 sensors, and simple copper models, in both laboratory and natural conditions. Our aim was to develop an inexpensive yet accurate method for body temperature prediction. Either method was applicable given appropriate parameterization of the heat transfer equation used. The simplest and cheapest method was DS18B20 sensors attached to a small recording computer. There was little if any deficit in precision or accuracy compared to other published methods. We show how the heat transfer equation can be parameterized, and it can also be used to predict body temperature from historically collected data, allowing strong comparisons between current and previous environmental temperatures using the most modern techniques. Our simple method uses very cheap sensors and loggers to extensively sample habitat temperature, improving our understanding of microhabitat structure and thermal variability with respect to small ectotherms. While our method was quite precise, we feel any potential loss in accuracy is offset by the increase in sample resolution, important as it is increasingly apparent that, particularly for small ectotherms, habitat thermal heterogeneity is the strongest influence on transient body temperature.

Thermophysical properties derived from lab measurements and downhole logging at New Jersey Shallow Shelf (IODP Expedition 313)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fehr, A.; Pechnig, R.; Inwood, J.; Lofi, J.; Bosch, F. P.; Clauser, C.

2012-04-01

The IODP drilling expedition 313 New Jersey Shallow Shelf was proposed for obtaining deep sub-seafloor samples and downhole logging measurements in the crucial inner shelf region. The inner to central shelf off-shore New Jersey is an ideal location for studying the history of sea-level changes and its relationship to sequence stratigraphy and onshore/offshore groundwater flows. The region features rapid depositional rates, tectonic stability, and well-preserved, cosmopolitan age control fossils suitable for characterizing the sediments of this margin throughout the time interval of interest. Past sea-level rise and fall is documented in sedimentary layers deposited during Earth's history. In addition, the inner shelf is characterised by relatively fresh pore water intervals alternating vertically with saltier intervals (Mountain et al., 2010). Therefore, three boreholes were drilled in the so-called New Jersey/Mid-Atlantic transect during IODP Expedition 313 New Jersey Shallow Shelf. Numerous questions have arisen concerning the age and origin of the brackish waters recovered offshore at depth. Here we present an analysis of thermophysical properties to be used as input parameters in constructing numerical models for future groundwater flow simulations. Our study is based mainly on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements for inferring porosity and permeability, and thermal conductivity. We performed NMR measurements on samples from boreholes M0027A, M0028A and M0029A and thermal conductivity measurements on the whole round cores prior to the Onshore Party. These results are compared with data from alternative laboratory measurements and with petrophysical properties inferred from downhole logging data. We deduced petrophysical properties from downhole logging data and compared them with results obtained with laboratory measurements. In water saturated samples, the number of spins in the fluid is proportional to sample porosity. NMR porosities were calculated from the zero amplitudes of the transverse relaxation measurements by normalizing the CPMG (Carr, Purcell, Meiboom, Gill) amplitudes of the measured samples to the amplitudes measured on a pure water cylinder which is equivalent to a porosity of 100 %. The NMR porosities fit well with porosities determined by Multi Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) and porosity measured on discrete samples using a helium gas pycnometer. Using log interpretation procedures, the volume fraction of different rock types and their porosity can be derived. From the volume fraction of each rock type and its porosity, continuous profiles of thermal conductivity can be derived by using a suitable mixing law, e.g. such as the geometric mean. In combination with thermal conductivity measurements on cores, these continuous thermal conductivity profiles can be calibrated, validated and finally used to provide reliable input parameter for numerical models. The porosity values from NMR seem to correlate well with porosities deduced from other measurements. In order to compare NMR permeabilities, we need permeability determined by an alternative method. The thermal conductivity derived from logs correlates with the measurements performed on cores. In a next step, a numerical model will be set up and the measured thermophysical properties will be implemented in order to study transport processes in passive continental margins. This numerical model will be based on existing geological models deduced from seismic data and drillings.

222Rn variations in Mystery Cave, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lively, R.S.; Krafthefer, B.C.

1995-01-01

222Rn concentrations and meteorological parameters were measured at 4- h intervals over a 2-y period in Mystery Cave, southeastern Minnesota. Continuous radon monitors and meteorological sensors connected to data loggers were installed at several locations along commercial tour routes. 222Rn concentrations ranged as high as 25 kBq m-3 in summer and 20 kBq m-3 in winter. Average winter concentrations were lower than summer by at least a factor of two. Seasonal radon variations were correlative with outside air temperatures. During the winter, radon concentrations were observed to fluctuate periodically by factors of 20 or more in under 24 h. Both the long- and short-term variations are correlative with temperature- induced mixing of cave air with surface air.

Field research on the spectral properties of crops and soils, volume 1. [Purdue Agronomy Farm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E. (Principal Investigator); Biehl, L. L.; Robinson, B. F.

1980-01-01

The experiment design, data acquisition and preprocessing, data base management, analysis results and development of instrumentation for the AgRISTARS Supporting Research Project, Field Research task are described. Results of several investigations on the spectral reflectance of corn and soybean canopies as influenced by cultural practices, development stage and nitrogen nutrition are reported as well as results of analyses of the spectral properties of crop canopies as a function of canopy geometry, row orientation, sensor view angle and solar illumination angle are presented. The objectives, experiment designs and data acquired in 1980 for field research experiments are described. The development and performance characteristics of a prototype multiband radiometer, data logger, and aerial tower for field research are discussed.

Application of mobile computers in a measuring system supporting examination of posture diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piekarski, Jacek; Klimiec, Ewa; Zaraska, Wiesław

2013-07-01

Measuring system designed and manufactured by the authors and based on mobile computers (smartphones and tablets) working as data recorders has been invented to support diagnosis of orthopedic, especially feet, diseases. The basic idea is to examine a patient in his natural environment, during the usual activities (such as walking or running). The paper describes the proposed system with sensors manufactured from piezoelectric film (PVDF film) and placed in the shoe insole. The mechanical reliability of PVDF film is excellent, though elimination of the pyroelectric effect is required. A possible solution of the problem and the test results are presented in the paper. Data recording is based on wireless transmission to a mobile device used as a data logger.

A glucose concentration and temperature sensor based on long period fiber gratings induced by electric-arc discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Chao; Wang, Qi

2017-10-01

As one of the key parameters in biological and chemical reactions, glucose concentration objectively reflects the characteristics of reactions, so the real-time monitoring of glucose concentration is important in the field of biochemical. Meanwhile, the influence from temperature should be considered. The fiber sensors have been studied extensively for decades due to the advantages of small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference and high sensitivity, which are suitable for the application of biochemical sensing. A long period fiber grating (LPFG) sensor induced by electric-arc discharge has been fabricated and demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of glucose concentration and temperature. The proposed sensor was fabricated by inscribing a sing mode fiber (SMF) with periodic electric-arc discharge technology. During the fabrication process, the electric-arc discharge technology was produced by a commercial fusion splicer, and the period of inscribed LPFG was determined by the movement of translation stages. A serials of periodic geometrical deformations would be formed in SMF after the fabrication, and the discharge intensity and discharge time can be adjusted though the fusion splicer settings screen. The core mode can be coupled into the cladding modes at certain wavelength when they satisfy the phase-matching conditions, and there will be several resonance dips in the transmission spectrum in LPFG. The resonance dips formed by the coupling between cladding modes and core mode have different sensitivity responses, so the simultaneous measurement for multi-parameter can be realized by monitoring the wavelength shifts of the resonance dips. Compared with the LPFG based on conventional SMF, the glucose concentration sensitivity has been obviously enhanced by etching the cladding with hydrofluoric acid solution. Based on the independent measured results, a dual-parameter measurement matrix has been built for signal demodulation. Because of the easy fabrication, low cost, small size and high sensitivity, the sensor is promising to be used for the biochemical sensing field where simultaneous measurement of glucose concentration and temperature is required.

An Assessment of the Icing Blade and the SEA Multi-Element Sensor for Liquid Water Content Calibration of the NASA GRC Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steen, Laura E.; Ide, Robert F.; Van Zante, Judith F.

2016-01-01

The Icing Research Tunnel at NASA Glenn has recently switched from using the Icing Blade to using the SEA Multi-Element Sensor (also known as the multi-wire) for its calibration of cloud liquid water content. In order to peform this transition, tests were completed to compare the Multi-Element Sensor to the Icing Blade, particularly with respect to liquid water content, airspeed, and drop size. The two instruments were found to compare well for the majority of Appendix C conditions. However, it was discovered that the Icing Blade under-measures when the conditions approach the Ludlam Limit. This paper also describes data processing procedures for the Multi-Element Sensor in the IRT, including collision efficiency corrections, mounting underneath a splitter plate, and correcting for a jump in the compensation wire power. Further data is presented to describe the repeatability of the IRT with the Multi-Element Sensor, health-monitoring checks for the instrument, and a sensing-element configuration comparison. Ultimately these tests showed that in the IRT, the multi-wire is a better instrument for measuring cloud liquid water content than the blade.

APT: An Autonomous Tool for Measuring Acceleration, Pressure, and Temperature with Large Dynamic Range and Bandwidth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heesemann, M.; Davis, E. E.

2015-12-01

We describe a new tool developed to facilitate the study of inter-related geodetic, geodynamic, seismic, and oceanographic phenomena. It incorporates a novel tri-axial accelerometer developed by Quartz Seismic Sensors, Inc, a pressure sensor developed by Paroscientific Inc., and a low-power, high-precision frequency counter and data logger built by RBR, Ltd. The sensors, counters, and loggers are housed in a 7 cm o.d., 70 cm long pressure case designed for use in up to 12 km of water. Sampling intervals are programmable from 0.1 s to 1 hr; standard memory can store up to 30 million samples; total power consumption is roughly 115 mW when operating continuously (1 s.p.s. or higher) and proportionately lower when operating intermittently (e.g., 2 mW at 1 sample per min.). Serial and USB communications protocols allow a variety of download and cable-connection options. Measurement precision of the order of 10-8 of full scale (e.g., 4000 m water depth, 1 g) allows observations of pressure and acceleration variations of 0.4 Pa and 0.1 μm s-2. Long-term variations in vertical acceleration are sensitive to displacement through the gravity gradient at a level of roughly 2 cm; long-term variations in horizontal acceleration are sensitive to tilt at a level of 0.01 μRad. With these sensitivities and the broad bandwidth (5 Hz to DC), ground motion associated with microseisms and seismic waves, tidal loading, and slow and rapid geodynamic deformation normally studied by disparate instruments can be observed with a single tool. The first c. 1-year deployment with the instrument connected to the Ocean Networks Canada NEPTUNE observatory cable is underway to study interseismic deformation of the Cascadia subduction zone. It will then be deployed at the Hikurangi subduction zone to study episodic slow slip. Deployment of the tool for the initial test was accomplished by pushing the tool vertically below the seafloor with the remotely operated vehicle Jason, with no profile remaining above the seafloor to cause current-induced noise. The weight of the tool is designed to approximately match the sediment it displaces to optimize coupling.

Soil moisture monitoring in Candelaro basin, Southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campana, C.; Gigante, V.; Iacobellis, V.

2012-04-01

The signature of the hydrologic regime can be investigated, in principle, by recognizing the main mechanisms of runoff generation that take place in the basin and affect the seasonal behavior or the rainfall-driven events. In this framework, besides the implementation of hydrological models, a crucial role should be played by direct observation of key state variables such as soil moisture at different depths and different distances from the river network. In fact, understanding hydrological systems is often limited by the frequency and spatial distribution of observations. Experimental catchments, which are field laboratories with long-term measurements of hydrological variables, are not only sources of data but also sources of knowledge. Wireless distributed sensing platforms are a key technology to address the need for overcoming field limitations such as conflicts between soil use and cable connections. A stand-alone wireless network system has been installed for continuous monitoring of soil water contents at multiple depths along a transect located in Celone basin (sub-basin of Candelaro basin in Puglia, Southern Italy). The transect consists of five verticals, each one having three soil water content sensors at multiple depths: 0,05 m, 0,6 m and 1,2 m below the ground level. The total length of the transect is 307 m and the average distance between the verticals is 77 m. The main elements of the instrumental system installed are: fifteen Decagon 10HS Soil Moisture Sensors, five Decagon Em50R Wireless Radio Data Loggers, one Rain gauge, one Decagon Data Station and one Campbell CR1000 Data Logger. Main advantages of the system as described and presented in this work are that installation of the wireless network system is fast and easy to use, data retrieval and monitoring information over large spatial scales can be obtained in (near) real-time mode and finally other type of sensors can be connected to the system, also offering wide potentials for future applications. First records of the wireless underground network system indicate the presence of interesting patterns in space-time variability of volumetric soil moisture content, that provide evidence of the combined process of vertical infiltration and lateral flow. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The research in this work is supported by the MIRAGE FP7 project (Grant agreement n. 211732).

An Assessment of the Icing Blade and the SEA Multi-Element Sensor for Liquid Water Content Calibration of the NASA GRC Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steen, Laura E.; Ide, Robert F.; Van Zante, Judith Foss

2017-01-01

The Icing Research Tunnel at NASA Glenn has recently switched to from using the Icing Blade to using the SEA Multi-Element Sensor (also known as the multi-wire) for its calibration of cloud liquid water content. In order to perform this transition, tests were completed to compare the Multi-Element Sensor to the Icing Blade, particularly with respect to liquid water content, airspeed, and drop size. The two instruments were found to compare well for the majority of Appendix C conditions. However, it was discovered that the Icing Blade under-measures when the conditions approach the Ludlam Limit. This paper also describes data processing procedures for the Multi-Element Sensor in the IRT, including collection efficiency corrections, mounting underneath a splitter plate, and correcting for a jump in the compensation wire power. Further data is presented to describe the repeatability of the IRT with the Multi-Element sensor, health-monitoring checks for the instrument, and a sensing-element configuration comparison.

AcquiControl: Seismic Data Logger Control via iPhone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golden, S.; Horkley, B.

2010-12-01

Seismic stations are often placed in remote areas, accessible only a few times per year. A typical stand-alone seismic station consists of the seismometer and a data logger, which records the data to attached disk drives or flash memory for later collection by a field crew. Even if the station uses telemetry, maintenance visits may be minimized but rarely entirely avoided. During station visits, field personnel use laptops or handheld devices to control the data logger and seismometer, check their status, and adjust their configuration if necessary. The efficiency and reliability of these on-site quality control tasks has a significant impact on the overall performance of seismic field operations. One widespread seismic data logger is the RT130 by REFTEK Inc., which is traditionally controlled through REFTEK proprietary software designed to run on Palm compatible devices. While this software functions well, compatible Palm handhelds went out of production and are getting hard to find. Also we felt, that its user interface still offered room for improvement. Therefore, we developed a new RT130 control application, named AcquiControl, which runs on Apple’s iPhone or iPod Touch, and features a redesigned, user-friendly interface. The Palm handheld communicates with the data logger through a serial cable. While this is technically also possible with the iPhone or iPod Touch, the production and licensing costs for the required custom cable so far kept us from further pursuing this path. Instead, AcquiControl makes use of the wireless networking capabilities inherent to any iPhone or iPod Touch. To wirelessly connect to an RT130 data logger, we use a wireless-to-serial “dongle” manufactured by Serialio.com, which attaches directly to the data logger’s serial port. First experiments with this setup have shown, that it is actually more convenient to use than a directly attached serial cable, especially during less than ideal environmental conditions such as present while working in the rain. AcquiControl offers a third-party alternative to interface with RT130 data loggers in the field. Currently it covers most frequently used capabilities of the older Palm software through equivalent features, with plans to add more as needed. Beyond that, the application could be easily adapted to support other data loggers than the RT130, possibly even by other manufacturers. This would give users a more uniform interface regardless of data logger model, which could become an advantage during mixed-equipment campaigns. Also, the same software could be expanded to allow the direct input of various field notes, which could be downloaded together with automatically logged configuration data to ease the preparation of seismic metadata or the building of a project-central seismic database.

Multi-Directional Environmental Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manohara, Harish (Inventor); Del Castillo, Linda Y. (Inventor); Mojarradi, Mohammed M. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention implement multi-directional environmental sensors. In one embodiment, a multi-directional environmental sensor includes: an inner conductive element that is substantially symmetrical about three orthogonal planes; an outer conductive element that is substantially symmetrical about three orthogonal planes; and a device that measures the electrical characteristics of the multi-directional environmental sensor, the device having a first terminal and a second terminal; where the inner conductive element is substantially enclosed within the outer conductive element; where the inner conductive element is electrically coupled to the first terminal of the device; and where the outer conductive element is electrically coupled to the second terminal of the device.

Particle Filter-Based Recursive Data Fusion With Sensor Indexing for Large Core Neutron Flux Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamboli, Prakash Kumar; Duttagupta, Siddhartha P.; Roy, Kallol

2017-06-01

We introduce a sequential importance sampling particle filter (PF)-based multisensor multivariate nonlinear estimator for estimating the in-core neutron flux distribution for pressurized heavy water reactor core. Many critical applications such as reactor protection and control rely upon neutron flux information, and thus their reliability is of utmost importance. The point kinetic model based on neutron transport conveniently explains the dynamics of nuclear reactor. The neutron flux in the large core loosely coupled reactor is sensed by multiple sensors measuring point fluxes located at various locations inside the reactor core. The flux values are coupled to each other through diffusion equation. The coupling facilitates redundancy in the information. It is shown that multiple independent data about the localized flux can be fused together to enhance the estimation accuracy to a great extent. We also propose the sensor anomaly handling feature in multisensor PF to maintain the estimation process even when the sensor is faulty or generates data anomaly.

Highly Sensitive Liquid Core Temperature Sensor Based on Multimode Interference Effects

PubMed Central

Fuentes-Fuentes, Miguel A.; May-Arrioja, Daniel A.; Guzman-Sepulveda, José R.; Torres-Cisneros, Miguel; Sánchez-Mondragón, José J.

2015-01-01

A novel fiber optic temperature sensor based on a liquid-core multimode interference device is demonstrated. The advantage of such structure is that the thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) of the liquid is at least one order of magnitude larger than that of silica and this, combined with the fact that the TOC of silica and the liquid have opposite signs, provides a liquid-core multimode fiber (MMF) highly sensitive to temperature. Since the refractive index of the liquid can be easily modified, this allows us to control the modal properties of the liquid-core MMF at will and the sensor sensitivity can be easily tuned by selecting the refractive index of the liquid in the core of the device. The maximum sensitivity measured in our experiments is 20 nm/°C in the low-temperature regime up to 60 °C. To the best of our knowledge, to date, this is the largest sensitivity reported for fiber-based MMI temperature sensors. PMID:26512664

Elliptical-core two mode fiber sensors and devices incorporating photoinduced refractive index gratings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greene, Jonathan A.; Miller, Mark S.; Starr, Suzanne E.; Fogg, Brian R.; Murphy, Kent A.; Claus, Richard O.; Vengsarkar, Ashish M.

1991-01-01

Results of experiments performed using germanium-doped, elliptical core, two-mode optical fibers whose sensitivity to strain was spatially varied through the use of chirped, refractive-index gratings permanently induced into the core using Argon-ion laser light are presented. This type of distributed sensor falls into the class of eighted-fiber sensors which, through a variety of means, weight the strain sensitivity of a fiber according to a specified spatial profile. We describe results of a weighted-fiber vibration mode filter which successfully enhances the particular vibration mode whose spatial profile corresponds to the profile of the grating chirp. We report on the high temperature survivability of such grating-based sensors and discuss the possibility of multiplexing more than one sensor within a single fiber.

Optical Multi-Gas Monitor Technology Demonstration on the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.; Wood, William R.; Casias, Miguel E.; Vakhtin, Andrei B,; Johnson, Michael D.; Mudgett, Paul D.

2014-01-01

There are a variety of both portable and fixed gas monitors onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Devices range from rack-mounted mass spectrometers to hand-held electrochemical sensors. An optical Multi-Gas Monitor has been developed as an ISS Technology Demonstration to evaluate long-term continuous measurement of 4 gases. Based on tunable diode laser spectroscopy, this technology offers unprecedented selectivity, concentration range, precision, and calibration stability. The monitor utilizes the combination of high performance laser absorption spectroscopy with a rugged optical path length enhancement cell that is nearly impossible to misalign. The enhancement cell serves simultaneously as the measurement sampling cell for multiple laser channels operating within a common measurement volume. Four laser diode based detection channels allow quantitative determination of ISS cabin concentrations of water vapor (humidity), carbon dioxide, ammonia and oxygen. Each channel utilizes a separate vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) at a different wavelength. In addition to measuring major air constituents in their relevant ranges, the multiple gas monitor provides real time quantitative gaseous ammonia measurements between 5 and 20,000 parts-per-million (ppm). A small ventilation fan draws air with no pumps or valves into the enclosure in which analysis occurs. Power draw is only about 3 W from USB sources when installed in Nanoracks or when connected to 28V source from any EXPRESS rack interface. Internal battery power can run the sensor for over 20 hours during portable operation. The sensor is controlled digitally with an FPGA/microcontroller architecture that stores data internally while displaying running average measurements on an LCD screen and interfacing with the rack or laptop via USB. Design, construction and certification of the Multi-Gas Monitor were a joint effort between Vista Photonics, Nanoracks and NASA-Johnson Space Center (JSC). Vista Photonics developed the core technology and built the sensor. Nanoracks designed, constructed the enclosure, interfaces, and battery power management circuitry, integrated all subsystems into the enclosure, and then managed the certification tests, documentation and manifesting. The unit was calibrated in the JSC Toxicology Laboratory. The Multi-Gas Monitor is manifested to fly as a technology demonstration to the ISS in November 2013 and will operate for at least 6 months with data sent to the ground for evaluation. The primary goal is to demonstrate long term interference free operation in the real spacecraft environment.

Core-to-core uniformity improvement in multi-core fiber Bragg gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindley, Emma; Min, Seong-Sik; Leon-Saval, Sergio; Cvetojevic, Nick; Jovanovic, Nemanja; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Lawrence, Jon; Gris-Sanchez, Itandehui; Birks, Tim; Haynes, Roger; Haynes, Dionne

2014-07-01

Multi-core fiber Bragg gratings (MCFBGs) will be a valuable tool not only in communications but also various astronomical, sensing and industry applications. In this paper we address some of the technical challenges of fabricating effective multi-core gratings by simulating improvements to the writing method. These methods allow a system designed for inscribing single-core fibers to cope with MCFBG fabrication with only minor, passive changes to the writing process. Using a capillary tube that was polished on one side, the field entering the fiber was flattened which improved the coverage and uniformity of all cores.

A New Multi-Sensor Track Fusion Architecture for Multi-Sensor Information Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION ...NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company,Marietta,GA,3063 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING...tracking process and degrades the track accuracy. ARCHITECHTURE OF MULTI-SENSOR TRACK FUSION MODEL The Alpha

Wireless Sensor Network Optimization: Multi-Objective Paradigm

PubMed Central

Iqbal, Muhammad; Naeem, Muhammad; Anpalagan, Alagan; Ahmed, Ashfaq; Azam, Muhammad

2015-01-01

Optimization problems relating to wireless sensor network planning, design, deployment and operation often give rise to multi-objective optimization formulations where multiple desirable objectives compete with each other and the decision maker has to select one of the tradeoff solutions. These multiple objectives may or may not conflict with each other. Keeping in view the nature of the application, the sensing scenario and input/output of the problem, the type of optimization problem changes. To address different nature of optimization problems relating to wireless sensor network design, deployment, operation, planing and placement, there exist a plethora of optimization solution types. We review and analyze different desirable objectives to show whether they conflict with each other, support each other or they are design dependent. We also present a generic multi-objective optimization problem relating to wireless sensor network which consists of input variables, required output, objectives and constraints. A list of constraints is also presented to give an overview of different constraints which are considered while formulating the optimization problems in wireless sensor networks. Keeping in view the multi facet coverage of this article relating to multi-objective optimization, this will open up new avenues of research in the area of multi-objective optimization relating to wireless sensor networks. PMID:26205271

Micromagnetic measurement for characterization of ferromagnetic materials' microstructural properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shuo; Shi, Xiaodong; Udpa, Lalita; Deng, Yiming

2018-05-01

Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) is measured in low carbon steels and the relationship between carbon content and parameter extracted from MBN signal has been investigated. The parameter is extracted experimentally by fitting the original profiles with two Gaussian curves. The gap between two peaks (ΔG) of fitted Gaussian curves shows a better linear relationship with carbon contents of samples in the experiment. The result has been validated with simulation by Monte Carlo method. To ensure the sensitivity of measurement, advanced multi-objective optimization algorithm Non-dominant sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA III) has been used to fulfill the optimization of the magnetic core of sensor.

A development of two-dimensional birefringence distribution measurement system with a sampling rate of 1.3 MHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onuma, Takashi; Otani, Yukitoshi

2014-03-01

A two-dimensional birefringence distribution measurement system with a sampling rate of 1.3 MHz is proposed. A polarization image sensor is developed as core device of the system. It is composed of a pixelated polarizer array made from photonic crystal and a parallel read out circuit with a multi-channel analog to digital converter specialized for two-dimensional polarization detection. By applying phase shifting algorism with circularly-polarized incident light, birefringence phase difference and azimuthal angle can be measured. The performance of the system is demonstrated experimentally by measuring actual birefringence distribution and polarization device such as Babinet-Soleil compensator.

The multi-queue model applied to random access protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Xinlong

2013-03-01

The connection of everything in a sensory and an intelligent way is a pursuit in smart environment. This paper introduces the engineered cell-sensors into the multi-agent systems to realize the smart environment. The seamless interface with the natural environment and strong information-processing ability of cell with the achievements of synthetic biology make the construction of engineered cell-sensors possible. However, the engineered cell-sensors are only simple-functional and unreliable computational entities. Therefore how to combine engineered cell-sensors with digital device is a key problem in order to realize the smart environment. We give the abstract structure and interaction modes of the engineered cell-sensors in order to introduce engineered cell-sensors into multi-agent systems. We believe that the introduction of engineered cell-sensors will push forward the development of the smart environment.

A Novel Multi-Sensor Environmental Perception Method Using Low-Rank Representation and a Particle Filter for Vehicle Reversing Safety

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zutao; Li, Yanjun; Wang, Fubing; Meng, Guanjun; Salman, Waleed; Saleem, Layth; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Wang, Chunbai; Hu, Guangdi; Liu, Yugang

2016-01-01

Environmental perception and information processing are two key steps of active safety for vehicle reversing. Single-sensor environmental perception cannot meet the need for vehicle reversing safety due to its low reliability. In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. The proposed system consists of four main steps, namely multi-sensor environmental perception, information fusion, target recognition and tracking using low-rank representation and a particle filter, and vehicle reversing speed control modules. First of all, the multi-sensor environmental perception module, based on a binocular-camera system and ultrasonic range finders, obtains the distance data for obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing. Secondly, the information fusion algorithm using an adaptive Kalman filter is used to process the data obtained with the multi-sensor environmental perception module, which greatly improves the robustness of the sensors. Then the framework of a particle filter and low-rank representation is used to track the main obstacles. The low-rank representation is used to optimize an objective particle template that has the smallest L-1 norm. Finally, the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking is under control of the proposed vehicle reversing control strategy prior to any potential collisions, making the reversing control safer and more reliable. The final system simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. PMID:27294931

A Novel Multi-Sensor Environmental Perception Method Using Low-Rank Representation and a Particle Filter for Vehicle Reversing Safety.

PubMed

Zhang, Zutao; Li, Yanjun; Wang, Fubing; Meng, Guanjun; Salman, Waleed; Saleem, Layth; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Wang, Chunbai; Hu, Guangdi; Liu, Yugang

2016-06-09

Environmental perception and information processing are two key steps of active safety for vehicle reversing. Single-sensor environmental perception cannot meet the need for vehicle reversing safety due to its low reliability. In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. The proposed system consists of four main steps, namely multi-sensor environmental perception, information fusion, target recognition and tracking using low-rank representation and a particle filter, and vehicle reversing speed control modules. First of all, the multi-sensor environmental perception module, based on a binocular-camera system and ultrasonic range finders, obtains the distance data for obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing. Secondly, the information fusion algorithm using an adaptive Kalman filter is used to process the data obtained with the multi-sensor environmental perception module, which greatly improves the robustness of the sensors. Then the framework of a particle filter and low-rank representation is used to track the main obstacles. The low-rank representation is used to optimize an objective particle template that has the smallest L-1 norm. Finally, the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking is under control of the proposed vehicle reversing control strategy prior to any potential collisions, making the reversing control safer and more reliable. The final system simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety.

Extracellular Bio-imaging of Acetylcholine-stimulated PC12 Cells Using a Calcium and Potassium Multi-ion Image Sensor.

PubMed

Matsuba, Sota; Kato, Ryo; Okumura, Koichi; Sawada, Kazuaki; Hattori, Toshiaki

2018-01-01

In biochemistry, Ca 2+ and K + play essential roles to control signal transduction. Much interest has been focused on ion-imaging, which facilitates understanding of their ion flux dynamics. In this paper, we report a calcium and potassium multi-ion image sensor and its application to living cells (PC12). The multi-ion sensor had two selective plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membranes containing ionophores. Each region on the sensor responded to only the corresponding ion. The multi-ion sensor has many advantages including not only label-free and real-time measurement but also simultaneous detection of Ca 2+ and K + . Cultured PC12 cells treated with nerve growth factor were prepared, and a practical observation for the cells was conducted with the sensor. After the PC12 cells were stimulated by acetylcholine, only the extracellular Ca 2+ concentration increased while there was no increase in the extracellular K + concentration. Through the practical observation, we demonstrated that the sensor was helpful for analyzing the cell events with changing Ca 2+ and/or K + concentration.

Initial Validation of NDVI time seriesfrom AVHRR, VEGETATION, and MODIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Pinzon, Jorge E.; Brown, Molly E.; Tucker, Jim; Justice, Christopher O.

2004-01-01

The paper will address Theme 7: Multi-sensor opportunities for VEGETATION. We present analysis of a long-term vegetation record derived from three moderate resolution sensors: AVHRR, VEGETATION, and MODIS. While empirically based manipulation can ensure agreement between the three data sets, there is a need to validate the series. This paper uses atmospherically corrected ETM+ data available over the EOS Land Validation Core Sites as an independent data set with which to compare the time series. We use ETM+ data from 15 globally distributed sites, 7 of which contain repeat coverage in time. These high-resolution data are compared to the values of each sensor by spatially aggregating the ETM+ to each specific sensors' spatial coverage. The aggregated ETM+ value provides a point estimate for a specific site on a specific date. The standard deviation of that point estimate is used to construct a confidence interval for that point estimate. The values from each moderate resolution sensor are then evaluated with respect to that confident interval. Result show that AVHRR, VEGETATION, and MODIS data can be combined to assess temporal uncertainties and address data continuity issues and that the atmospherically corrected ETM+ data provide an independent source with which to compare that record. The final product is a consistent time series climate record that links historical observations to current and future measurements.

A Hybrid FPGA/Tilera Compute Element for Autonomous Hazard Detection and Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Villalpando, Carlos Y.; Werner, Robert A.; Carson, John M., III; Khanoyan, Garen; Stern, Ryan A.; Trawny, Nikolas

2013-01-01

To increase safety for future missions landing on other planetary or lunar bodies, the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) program is developing an integrated sensor for autonomous surface analysis and hazard determination. The ALHAT Hazard Detection System (HDS) consists of a Flash LIDAR for measuring the topography of the landing site, a gimbal to scan across the terrain, and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), along with terrain analysis algorithms to identify the landing site and the local hazards. An FPGA and Manycore processor system was developed to interface all the devices in the HDS, to provide high-resolution timing to accurately measure system state, and to run the surface analysis algorithms quickly and efficiently. In this paper, we will describe how we integrated COTS components such as an FPGA evaluation board, a TILExpress64, and multi-threaded/multi-core aware software to build the HDS Compute Element (HDSCE). The ALHAT program is also working with the NASA Morpheus Project and has integrated the HDS as a sensor on the Morpheus Lander. This paper will also describe how the HDS is integrated with the Morpheus lander and the results of the initial test flights with the HDS installed. We will also describe future improvements to the HDSCE.

A hybrid FPGA/Tilera compute element for autonomous hazard detection and navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villalpando, C. Y.; Werner, R. A.; Carson, J. M.; Khanoyan, G.; Stern, R. A.; Trawny, N.

To increase safety for future missions landing on other planetary or lunar bodies, the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) program is developing an integrated sensor for autonomous surface analysis and hazard determination. The ALHAT Hazard Detection System (HDS) consists of a Flash LIDAR for measuring the topography of the landing site, a gimbal to scan across the terrain, and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), along with terrain analysis algorithms to identify the landing site and the local hazards. An FPGA and Manycore processor system was developed to interface all the devices in the HDS, to provide high-resolution timing to accurately measure system state, and to run the surface analysis algorithms quickly and efficiently. In this paper, we will describe how we integrated COTS components such as an FPGA evaluation board, a TILExpress64, and multi-threaded/multi-core aware software to build the HDS Compute Element (HDSCE). The ALHAT program is also working with the NASA Morpheus Project and has integrated the HDS as a sensor on the Morpheus Lander. This paper will also describe how the HDS is integrated with the Morpheus lander and the results of the initial test flights with the HDS installed. We will also describe future improvements to the HDSCE.

Real-time dynamic range and signal to noise enhancement in beam-scanning microscopy by integration of sensor characteristics, data acquisition hardware, and statistical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kissick, David J.; Muir, Ryan D.; Sullivan, Shane Z.; Oglesbee, Robert A.; Simpson, Garth J.

2013-02-01

Despite the ubiquitous use of multi-photon and confocal microscopy measurements in biology, the core techniques typically suffer from fundamental compromises between signal to noise (S/N) and linear dynamic range (LDR). In this study, direct synchronous digitization of voltage transients coupled with statistical analysis is shown to allow S/N approaching the theoretical maximum throughout an LDR spanning more than 8 decades, limited only by the dark counts of the detector on the low end and by the intrinsic nonlinearities of the photomultiplier tube (PMT) detector on the high end. Synchronous digitization of each voltage transient represents a fundamental departure from established methods in confocal/multi-photon imaging, which are currently based on either photon counting or signal averaging. High information-density data acquisition (up to 3.2 GB/s of raw data) enables the smooth transition between the two modalities on a pixel-by-pixel basis and the ultimate writing of much smaller files (few kB/s). Modeling of the PMT response allows extraction of key sensor parameters from the histogram of voltage peak-heights. Applications in second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy are described demonstrating S/N approaching the shot-noise limit of the detector over large dynamic ranges.

Application of Advanced Multi-Core Processor Technologies to Oceanographic Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

STM32 NXP LPC series No Proprietary Microchip PIC32/DSPIC No > 500 mW; < 5 W ARM Cortex TI OMAP TI Sitara Broadcom BCM2835 Varies FPGA...1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Application of Advanced Multi-Core Processor Technologies...state-of-the-art information processing architectures. OBJECTIVES Next-generation processor architectures (multi-core, multi-threaded) hold the

Field Micrometeorological Measurements, Process-Level Studies and Modeling of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in a Boreal Wetland Ecosystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verma, S. B.; Arkebauer, T. J.; Ullman, F. G.; Valentine, D. W.; Parton, W. J.; Schimel, D. S.

1998-01-01

The main instrumentation platform consisted of eddy correlation sensors mounted on a scaffold tower at a height of 4.2 m above the peat surface. The sensors were attached to a boom assembly which could be rotated into the prevailing winds. The boom assembly was mounted on a movable sled which, when extended, allowed sensors to be up to 2 m away from the scaffolding structure to minimize flow distortion. When retracted, the sensors could easily be installed, serviced or rotated. An electronic level with linear actuators allowed the sensors to be remotely levelled once the sled was extended. Two instrument arrays were installed. A primary (fast-response) array consisted of a three-dimensional sonic anemometer, a methane sensor (tunable diode laser spectrometer), a carbon dioxide/water vapor sensor, a fine wire thermocouple and a backup one-dimensional sonic anemometer. The secondary array consisted of a one-dimensional sonic anemometer, a fine wire thermocouple and a Krypton hygrometer. Descriptions of these sensors may be found in other reports (e.g., Verma; Suyker and Verma). Slow-response sensors provided supporting measurements including mean air temperature and humidity, mean horizontal windspeed and direction, incoming and reflected solar radiation, net radiation, incoming and reflected photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), soil heat flux, peat temperature, water-table elevation and precipitation. A data acquisition system (consisting of an IBM compatible microcomputer, amplifiers and a 16 bit analog-to-digital converter), housed in a small trailer, was used to record the fast response signals. These signals were low-pass filtered (using 8-pole Butterworth active filters with a 12.5 Hz cutoff frequency) and sampled at 25 Hz. Slow-response signals were sampled every 5 s using a network of CR21X (Campbell Scientific, Inc., Logan Utah) data loggers installed in the fen. All signals were averaged over 30-minute periods (runs).

Commercial activities and subsistence utilization of mangrove forests around the Wouri estuary and the Douala-Edea reserve (Cameroon).

PubMed

Atheull, Adolphe Nfotabong; Din, Ndongo; Longonje, Simon N; Koedam, Nico; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2009-11-17

Worldwide there is growing research interest in the ethnobiology of mangrove forests. Notwithstanding that, little information has been published about ethnobiology of mangrove forests in Cameroon. The aims of this study were a) to analyze the harvesting methods and the local selling of mangrove wood products by loggers in the vicinity of Wouri estuary and b) to investigate the patterns of subsistence uses of mangrove wood products around the Douala-Edea reserve. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 120 active mangrove loggers in 23 Douala wood markets and 103 households located in three villages (Mbiako, Yoyo I and Yoyo II) close to Douala-Edea reserve. In each of the three densely populated villages, every second household was chosen for sampling while in all markets, mangrove loggers were chosen randomly. In addition, log diameters were measured in each market using a wooden foldable tape measure. A post hoc analysis (Newman-Keuls test) was performed in order to detect the common wood class diameter sold in the Douala wood markets. The analysis of the loggers' survey data has shown that large logs of Rhizophora with diameter greater than 40 cm were common in the Douala wood markets and were more closely associated with loggers who used chainsaws. In addition to the general mangroves wood products selling, the analysis on a subsistence level (households' survey) suggests the local population's dependence on mangroves, with multiple uses of Rhizophora racemosa Meyer, R. harrisonii Leechman, Avicennia germinans L. Stearn., Laguncularia racemosa Gaertn. f. and Conocarpus erectus L. timbers for furniture, fences, smoking fish, and fuelwood. Finally, Nypa fruticans (Thunb.) Wurmb. leaves were used as thatching material for house walls and roofs. Our findings revealed that big logs of Rhizophora were commonly sold by the loggers. A majority of loggers (60%) reported that mangrove marketed wood constitute a principal source of income. Most of the villagers (85.83%) often depend on mangroves for subsistence needs and for them there is no substitute for mangrove wood. Therefore, more efforts should be undertaken at the national level to implement conservation, management and sustainable use of these coastal forests.

Commercial activities and subsistence utilization of mangrove forests around the Wouri estuary and the Douala-Edea reserve (Cameroon)

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Worldwide there is growing research interest in the ethnobiology of mangrove forests. Notwithstanding that, little information has been published about ethnobiology of mangrove forests in Cameroon. The aims of this study were a) to analyze the harvesting methods and the local selling of mangrove wood products by loggers in the vicinity of Wouri estuary and b) to investigate the patterns of subsistence uses of mangrove wood products around the Douala-Edea reserve. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 120 active mangrove loggers in 23 Douala wood markets and 103 households located in three villages (Mbiako, Yoyo I and Yoyo II) close to Douala-Edea reserve. In each of the three densely populated villages, every second household was chosen for sampling while in all markets, mangrove loggers were chosen randomly. In addition, log diameters were measured in each market using a wooden foldable tape measure. A post hoc analysis (Newman-Keuls test) was performed in order to detect the common wood class diameter sold in the Douala wood markets. Results The analysis of the loggers' survey data has shown that large logs of Rhizophora with diameter greater than 40 cm were common in the Douala wood markets and were more closely associated with loggers who used chainsaws. In addition to the general mangroves wood products selling, the analysis on a subsistence level (households' survey) suggests the local population's dependence on mangroves, with multiple uses of Rhizophora racemosa Meyer, R. harrisonii Leechman, Avicennia germinans L. Stearn., Laguncularia racemosa Gaertn. f. and Conocarpus erectus L. timbers for furniture, fences, smoking fish, and fuelwood. Finally, Nypa fruticans (Thunb.) Wurmb. leaves were used as thatching material for house walls and roofs. Conclusion Our findings revealed that big logs of Rhizophora were commonly sold by the loggers. A majority of loggers (60%) reported that mangrove marketed wood constitute a principal source of income. Most of the villagers (85.83%) often depend on mangroves for subsistence needs and for them there is no substitute for mangrove wood. Therefore, more efforts should be undertaken at the national level to implement conservation, management and sustainable use of these coastal forests. PMID:19919680

Estimates of in situ gas hydrate concentration from resistivity monitoring of gas hydrate bearing sediments during temperature equilibration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riedel, M.; Long, P.E.; Collett, T.S.

2006-01-01

As part of Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204 at southern Hydrate Ridge off Oregon we have monitored changes in sediment electrical resistivity during controlled gas hydrate dissociation experiments. Two cores were used, each filled with gas hydrate bearing sediments (predominantly mud/silty mud). One core was from Site 1249 (1249F-9H3), 42.1 m below seafloor (mbsf) and the other from Site 1248 (1248C-4X1), 28.8 mbsf. At Site 1247, a third experiment was conducted on a core without gas hydrate (1247B-2H1, 3.6 mbsf). First, the cores were imaged using an infra-red (IR) camera upon recovery to map the gas hydrate occurrence through dissociation cooling. Over a period of several hours, successive runs on the multi-sensor track (includes sensors for P-wave velocity, resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and gamma-ray density) were carried out complemented by X-ray imaging on core 1249F-9H3. After complete equilibration to room temperature (17-18??C) and complete gas hydrate dissociation, the final measurement of electrical resistivity was used to calculate pore-water resistivity and salinities. The calculated pore-water freshening after dissociation is equivalent to a gas hydrate concentration in situ of 35-70% along core 1249F-9H3 and 20-35% for core 1248C-4X1 assuming seawater salinity of in situ pore fluid. Detailed analysis of the IR scan, X-ray images and split-core photographs showed the hydrate mainly occurred disseminated throughout the core. Additionally, in core 1249F-9H3, a single hydrate filled vein, approximately 10 cm long and dipping at about 65??, was identified. Analyses of the logging-while-drilling (LWD) resistivity data revealed a structural dip of 40-80?? in the interval between 40 and 44 mbsf. We further analyzed all resistivity data measured on the recovered core during Leg 204. Generally poor data quality due to gas cracks allowed analyses to be carried out only at selected intervals at Sites 1244, 1245, 1246, 1247, 1248, 1249, and 1252. With a few exceptions, data from these intervals yield low to no gas hydrate concentration, which corresponds to estimates from downhole resistivity logs. However, since the gas cracking may be the result of gas hydrate dissociation, this is a biased sampling. Cores that had contained some gas hydrate may have been excluded. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of core body temperature, time of day, and climate conditions on behavioral patterns of lactating dairy cows experiencing mild to moderate heat stress.

PubMed

Allen, J D; Hall, L W; Collier, R J; Smith, J F

2015-01-01

Cattle show several responses to heat load, including spending more time standing. Little is known about what benefit this may provide for the animals. Data from 3 separate cooling management trials were analyzed to investigate the relationship between behavioral patterns in lactating dairy cows experiencing mild to moderate heat stress and their body temperature. Cows (n=157) were each fitted with a leg data logger that measured position and an intravaginal data logger that measures core body temperature (CBT). Ambient conditions were also collected. All data were standardized to 5-min intervals, and information was divided into several categories: when standing and lying bouts were initiated and the continuance of each bout (7,963 lying and 6,276 standing bouts). In one location, cows were continuously subjected to heat-stress levels according to temperature-humidity index (THI) range (THI≥72). The THI range for the other 2 locations was below and above a heat-stress threshold of 72 THI. Overall and regardless of period of day, cows stood up at greater CBT compared with continuing to stand or switching to a lying position. In contrast, cows lay down at lower CBT compared with continuing to lie or switching to a standing position, and lying bouts lasted longer when cows had lower CBT. Standing bouts also lasted longer when cattle had greater CBT, and they were less likely to lie down (less than 50% of lying bouts initiated) when their body temperature was over 38.8°C. Also, cow standing behavior was affected once THI reached 68. Increasing CBT decreased lying duration and increased standing duration. A CBT of 38.93°C marked a 50% likelihood a cow would be standing. This is the first physiological evidence that standing may help cool cows and provides insight into a communally observed behavioral response to heat. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-Domain SDN Survivability for Agricultural Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Huang, Tao; Yan, Siyu; Yang, Fan; Liu, Jiang

2016-11-06

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely applied in agriculture field; meanwhile, the advent of multi-domain software-defined networks (SDNs) have improved the wireless resource utilization rate and strengthened network management. In recent times, multi-domain SDNs have been applied to agricultural sensor networks, namely multi-domain software-defined wireless sensor networks (SDWSNs). However, when the SDNs controlling agriculture networks suddenly become unavailable, whether intra-domain or inter-domain, sensor network communication is abnormal because of the loss of control. Moreover, there are controller and switch info-updating problems even if the controller becomes available again. To resolve these problems, this paper proposes a new approach based on an Open vSwitch extension for multi-domain SDWSNs, which can enhance agriculture network survivability and stability. We achieved this by designing a connection-state mechanism, a communication mechanism on both L2 and L3, and an info-updating mechanism based on Open vSwitch. The experimental results show that, whether it is agricultural inter-domain or intra-domain during the controller failure period, the sensor switches can enter failure recovery mode as soon as possible so that the sensor network keeps a stable throughput, a short failure recovery time below 300 ms, and low packet loss. Further, the domain can smoothly control the domain network again once the controller becomes available. This approach based on an Open vSwitch extension can enhance the survivability and stability of multi-domain SDWSNs in precision agriculture.

Multi-Domain SDN Survivability for Agricultural Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Huang, Tao; Yan, Siyu; Yang, Fan; Liu, Jiang

2016-01-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely applied in agriculture field; meanwhile, the advent of multi-domain software-defined networks (SDNs) have improved the wireless resource utilization rate and strengthened network management. In recent times, multi-domain SDNs have been applied to agricultural sensor networks, namely multi-domain software-defined wireless sensor networks (SDWSNs). However, when the SDNs controlling agriculture networks suddenly become unavailable, whether intra-domain or inter-domain, sensor network communication is abnormal because of the loss of control. Moreover, there are controller and switch info-updating problems even if the controller becomes available again. To resolve these problems, this paper proposes a new approach based on an Open vSwitch extension for multi-domain SDWSNs, which can enhance agriculture network survivability and stability. We achieved this by designing a connection-state mechanism, a communication mechanism on both L2 and L3, and an info-updating mechanism based on Open vSwitch. The experimental results show that, whether it is agricultural inter-domain or intra-domain during the controller failure period, the sensor switches can enter failure recovery mode as soon as possible so that the sensor network keeps a stable throughput, a short failure recovery time below 300 ms, and low packet loss. Further, the domain can smoothly control the domain network again once the controller becomes available. This approach based on an Open vSwitch extension can enhance the survivability and stability of multi-domain SDWSNs in precision agriculture. PMID:27827971

Instrumentation design and installation for monitoring air injection ground water remediation technologies

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

Hall, B.L.; Baldwin, C.K.; Lachmar, T.E.

2000-03-31

An in situ instrumentation bundle was designed for inclusion in monitoring wells that were installed at the Wasatch Trailer Sales site in Layton, Utah, to evaluate in situ air sparging (IAS) and in-well aeration (IWA). Sensors for the bundle were selected based on laboratory evaluation of accuracy and precision, as well as consideration of size and cost. SenSym pressure transducers, Campbell Scientific, Inc. (CSI) T-type thermocouples, and dissolved oxygen (DO) probes manufactured by Technalithics Inc. (Waco, Texas), were selected for each of the 27 saturated zone bundles. Each saturated zone bundle also included a stirring blade to mix water nearmore » the DO probe. A Figaro oxygen sensor was included in the vadose zone bundle. The monitoring wells were installed by direct push technique to minimize soil disruption and to ensure intimate contact between the 18 inch (46 cm) long screens and the soil. A data acquisition system, comprised of a CSI 21X data logger and four CSI AM416 multiplexers, was used to control the stirring blades and record signals from more than 70 in situ sensors. The instrumentation performed well during evaluation of IAS and IWA at the site. However, the SenSym pressure transducers were not adequately temperature compensated and will need to be replaced.« less

Measurement of air exchange rates in different indoor environments using continuous CO2 sensors.

PubMed

You, Yan; Niu, Can; Zhou, Jian; Liu, Yating; Bai, Zhipeng; Zhang, Jiefeng; He, Fei; Zhang, Nan

2012-01-01

A new air exchange rate (AER) monitoring method using continuous CO2 sensors was developed and validated through both laboratory experiments and field studies. Controlled laboratory simulation tests were conducted in a 1-m3 environmental chamber at different AERs (0.1-10.0 hr(-1)). AERs were determined using the decay method based on box model assumptions. Field tests were conducted in classrooms, dormitories, meeting rooms and apartments during 2-5 weekdays using CO2 sensors coupled with data loggers. Indoor temperature, relative humidity (RH), and CO2 concentrations were continuously monitored while outdoor parameters combined with on-site climate conditions were recorded. Statistical results indicated that good laboratory performance was achieved: duplicate precision was within 10%, and the measured AERs were 90%-120% of the real AERs. Average AERs were 1.22, 1.37, 1.10, 1.91 and 0.73 hr(-1) in dormitories, air-conditioned classrooms, classrooms with an air circulation cooling system, reading rooms, and meeting rooms, respectively. In an elderly particulate matter exposure study, all the homes had AER values ranging from 0.29 to 3.46 hr(-1) in fall, and 0.12 to 1.39 hr(-1) in winter with a median AER of 1.15.

A Radiosonde Using a Humidity Sensor Array with a Platinum Resistance Heater and Multi-Sensor Data Fusion

PubMed Central

Shi, Yunbo; Luo, Yi; Zhao, Wenjie; Shang, Chunxue; Wang, Yadong; Chen, Yinsheng

2013-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a radiosonde which can measure the meteorological temperature, humidity, pressure, and other atmospheric data. The system is composed of a CPU, microwave module, temperature sensor, pressure sensor and humidity sensor array. In order to effectively solve the humidity sensor condensation problem due to the low temperatures in the high altitude environment, a capacitive humidity sensor including four humidity sensors to collect meteorological humidity and a platinum resistance heater was developed using micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) technology. A platinum resistance wire with 99.999% purity and 0.023 mm in diameter was used to obtain the meteorological temperature. A multi-sensor data fusion technique was applied to process the atmospheric data. Static and dynamic experimental results show that the designed humidity sensor with platinum resistance heater can effectively tackle the sensor condensation problem, shorten response times and enhance sensitivity. The humidity sensor array can improve measurement accuracy and obtain a reliable initial meteorological humidity data, while the multi-sensor data fusion technique eliminates the uncertainty in the measurement. The radiosonde can accurately reflect the meteorological changes. PMID:23857263

A radiosonde using a humidity sensor array with a platinum resistance heater and multi-sensor data fusion.

PubMed

Shi, Yunbo; Luo, Yi; Zhao, Wenjie; Shang, Chunxue; Wang, Yadong; Chen, Yinsheng

2013-07-12

This paper describes the design and implementation of a radiosonde which can measure the meteorological temperature, humidity, pressure, and other atmospheric data. The system is composed of a CPU, microwave module, temperature sensor, pressure sensor and humidity sensor array. In order to effectively solve the humidity sensor condensation problem due to the low temperatures in the high altitude environment, a capacitive humidity sensor including four humidity sensors to collect meteorological humidity and a platinum resistance heater was developed using micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) technology. A platinum resistance wire with 99.999% purity and 0.023 mm in diameter was used to obtain the meteorological temperature. A multi-sensor data fusion technique was applied to process the atmospheric data. Static and dynamic experimental results show that the designed humidity sensor with platinum resistance heater can effectively tackle the sensor condensation problem, shorten response times and enhance sensitivity. The humidity sensor array can improve measurement accuracy and obtain a reliable initial meteorological humidity data, while the multi-sensor data fusion technique eliminates the uncertainty in the measurement. The radiosonde can accurately reflect the meteorological changes.

An enhanced data visualization method for diesel engine malfunction classification using multi-sensor signals.

PubMed

Li, Yiqing; Wang, Yu; Zi, Yanyang; Zhang, Mingquan

2015-10-21

The various multi-sensor signal features from a diesel engine constitute a complex high-dimensional dataset. The non-linear dimensionality reduction method, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), provides an effective way to implement data visualization for complex high-dimensional data. However, irrelevant features can deteriorate the performance of data visualization, and thus, should be eliminated a priori. This paper proposes a feature subset score based t-SNE (FSS-t-SNE) data visualization method to deal with the high-dimensional data that are collected from multi-sensor signals. In this method, the optimal feature subset is constructed by a feature subset score criterion. Then the high-dimensional data are visualized in 2-dimension space. According to the UCI dataset test, FSS-t-SNE can effectively improve the classification accuracy. An experiment was performed with a large power marine diesel engine to validate the proposed method for diesel engine malfunction classification. Multi-sensor signals were collected by a cylinder vibration sensor and a cylinder pressure sensor. Compared with other conventional data visualization methods, the proposed method shows good visualization performance and high classification accuracy in multi-malfunction classification of a diesel engine.

An Enhanced Data Visualization Method for Diesel Engine Malfunction Classification Using Multi-Sensor Signals

PubMed Central

Li, Yiqing; Wang, Yu; Zi, Yanyang; Zhang, Mingquan

2015-01-01

The various multi-sensor signal features from a diesel engine constitute a complex high-dimensional dataset. The non-linear dimensionality reduction method, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), provides an effective way to implement data visualization for complex high-dimensional data. However, irrelevant features can deteriorate the performance of data visualization, and thus, should be eliminated a priori. This paper proposes a feature subset score based t-SNE (FSS-t-SNE) data visualization method to deal with the high-dimensional data that are collected from multi-sensor signals. In this method, the optimal feature subset is constructed by a feature subset score criterion. Then the high-dimensional data are visualized in 2-dimension space. According to the UCI dataset test, FSS-t-SNE can effectively improve the classification accuracy. An experiment was performed with a large power marine diesel engine to validate the proposed method for diesel engine malfunction classification. Multi-sensor signals were collected by a cylinder vibration sensor and a cylinder pressure sensor. Compared with other conventional data visualization methods, the proposed method shows good visualization performance and high classification accuracy in multi-malfunction classification of a diesel engine. PMID:26506347

FPGA-based real-time embedded system for RISS/GPS integrated navigation.

PubMed

Abdelfatah, Walid Farid; Georgy, Jacques; Iqbal, Umar; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2012-01-01

Navigation algorithms integrating measurements from multi-sensor systems overcome the problems that arise from using GPS navigation systems in standalone mode. Algorithms which integrate the data from 2D low-cost reduced inertial sensor system (RISS), consisting of a gyroscope and an odometer or wheel encoders, along with a GPS receiver via a Kalman filter has proved to be worthy in providing a consistent and more reliable navigation solution compared to standalone GPS receivers. It has been also shown to be beneficial, especially in GPS-denied environments such as urban canyons and tunnels. The main objective of this paper is to narrow the idea-to-implementation gap that follows the algorithm development by realizing a low-cost real-time embedded navigation system capable of computing the data-fused positioning solution. The role of the developed system is to synchronize the measurements from the three sensors, relative to the pulse per second signal generated from the GPS, after which the navigation algorithm is applied to the synchronized measurements to compute the navigation solution in real-time. Employing a customizable soft-core processor on an FPGA in the kernel of the navigation system, provided the flexibility for communicating with the various sensors and the computation capability required by the Kalman filter integration algorithm.

FPGA-Based Real-Time Embedded System for RISS/GPS Integrated Navigation

PubMed Central

Abdelfatah, Walid Farid; Georgy, Jacques; Iqbal, Umar; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2012-01-01

Navigation algorithms integrating measurements from multi-sensor systems overcome the problems that arise from using GPS navigation systems in standalone mode. Algorithms which integrate the data from 2D low-cost reduced inertial sensor system (RISS), consisting of a gyroscope and an odometer or wheel encoders, along with a GPS receiver via a Kalman filter has proved to be worthy in providing a consistent and more reliable navigation solution compared to standalone GPS receivers. It has been also shown to be beneficial, especially in GPS-denied environments such as urban canyons and tunnels. The main objective of this paper is to narrow the idea-to-implementation gap that follows the algorithm development by realizing a low-cost real-time embedded navigation system capable of computing the data-fused positioning solution. The role of the developed system is to synchronize the measurements from the three sensors, relative to the pulse per second signal generated from the GPS, after which the navigation algorithm is applied to the synchronized measurements to compute the navigation solution in real-time. Employing a customizable soft-core processor on an FPGA in the kernel of the navigation system, provided the flexibility for communicating with the various sensors and the computation capability required by the Kalman filter integration algorithm. PMID:22368460

Multi-Sensor Characterization of the Boreal Forest: Initial Findings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reith, Ernest; Roberts, Dar A.; Prentiss, Dylan

2001-01-01

Results are presented in an initial apriori knowledge approach toward using complementary multi-sensor multi-temporal imagery in characterizing vegetated landscapes over a site in the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS). Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) data were segmented using multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis and binary decision tree approaches. Individual date/sensor land cover maps had overall accuracies between 55.0% - 69.8%. The best eight land cover layers from all dates and sensors correctly characterized 79.3% of the cover types. An overlay approach was used to create a final land cover map. An overall accuracy of 71.3% was achieved in this multi-sensor approach, a 1.5% improvement over our most accurate single scene technique, but 8% less than the original input. Black spruce was evaluated to be particularly undermapped in the final map possibly because it was also contained within jack pine and muskeg land coverages.

Ultra-miniature wireless temperature sensor for thermal medicine applications

PubMed Central

Khairi, Ahmad; Hung, Shih-Chang; Paramesh, Jeyanandh; Fedder, Gary; Rabin, Yoed

2017-01-01

This study presents a prototype design of an ultra-miniature, wireless, battery-less, and implantable temperature-sensor, with applications to thermal medicine such as cryosurgery, hyperthermia, and thermal ablation. The design aims at a sensory device smaller than 1.5 mm in diameter and 3 mm in length, to enable minimally invasive deployment through a hypodermic needle. While the new device may be used for local temperature monitoring, simultaneous data collection from an array of such sensors can be used to reconstruct the 3D temperature field in the treated area, offering a unique capability in thermal medicine. The new sensory device consists of three major subsystems: a temperature-sensing core, a wireless data-communication unit, and a wireless power reception and management unit. Power is delivered wirelessly to the implant from an external source using an inductive link. To meet size requirements while enhancing reliability and minimizing cost, the implant is fully integrated in a regular foundry CMOS technology (0.15 μm in the current study), including the implant-side inductor of the power link. A temperature-sensing core that consists of a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) circuit has been designed and characterized. It employs a microwatt chopper stabilized op-amp and dynamic element-matched current sources to achieve high absolute accuracy. A second order sigma-delta (Σ-Δ) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is designed to convert the temperature reading to a digital code, which is transmitted by backscatter through the same antenna used for receiving power. A high-efficiency multi-stage differential CMOS rectifier has been designed to provide a DC supply to the sensing and communication subsystems. This paper focuses on the development of the all-CMOS temperature sensing core circuitry part of the device, and briefly reviews the wireless power delivery and communication subsystems. PMID:28989222

VLBI-resolution radio-map algorithms: Performance analysis of different levels of data-sharing on multi-socket, multi-core architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabik, S.; Romero, L. F.; Mimica, P.; Plata, O.; Zapata, E. L.

2012-09-01

A broad area in astronomy focuses on simulating extragalactic objects based on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio-maps. Several algorithms in this scope simulate what would be the observed radio-maps if emitted from a predefined extragalactic object. This work analyzes the performance and scaling of this kind of algorithms on multi-socket, multi-core architectures. In particular, we evaluate a sharing approach, a privatizing approach and a hybrid approach on systems with complex memory hierarchy that includes shared Last Level Cache (LLC). In addition, we investigate which manual processes can be systematized and then automated in future works. The experiments show that the data-privatizing model scales efficiently on medium scale multi-socket, multi-core systems (up to 48 cores) while regardless of algorithmic and scheduling optimizations, the sharing approach is unable to reach acceptable scalability on more than one socket. However, the hybrid model with a specific level of data-sharing provides the best scalability over all used multi-socket, multi-core systems.

LSPR and Interferometric Sensor Modalities Combined Using a Double-Clad Optical Fiber.

PubMed

Muri, Harald Ian; Bano, Andon; Hjelme, Dag Roar

2018-01-11

We report on characterization of an optical fiber-based multi-parameter sensor concept combining localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) signal and interferometric sensing using a double-clad optical fiber. The sensor consists of a micro-Fabry-Perot in the form of a hemispherical stimuli-responsive hydrogel with immobilized gold nanorods on the facet of a cleaved double-clad optical fiber. The swelling degree of the hydrogel is measured interferometrically using the single-mode inner core, while the LSPR signal is measured using the multi-mode inner cladding. The quality of the interferometric signal is comparable to previous work on hydrogel micro-Fabry-Perot sensors despite having gold nanorods immobilized in the hydrogel. We characterize the effect of hydrogel swelling and variation of bulk solution refractive index on the LSPR peak wavelength. The results show that pH-induced hydrogel swelling causes only weak redshifts of the longitudinal LSPR mode, while increased bulk refractive index using glycerol and sucrose causes large blueshifts. The redshifts are likely due to reduced plasmon coupling of the side-by-side configuration as the interparticle distance increases with increasing swelling. The blueshifts with increasing bulk refractive index are likely due to alteration of the surface electronic structure of the gold nanorods donated by the anionic polymer network and glycerol or sucrose solutions. The recombination of biotin-streptavidin on gold nanorods in hydrogel showed a 7.6 nm redshift of the longitudinal LSPR. The LSPR response of biotin-streptavidin recombination is due to the change in local refractive index (RI), which is possible to discriminate from the LSPR response due to changes in bulk RI. In spite of the large LSPR shifts due to bulk refractive index, we show, using biotin-functionalized gold nanorods binding to streptavidin, that LSPR signal from gold nanorods embedded in the anionic hydrogel can be used for label-free biosensing. These results demonstrate the utility of immobilizing gold nanorods in a hydrogel on a double-clad optical fiber-end facet to obtain multi-parameter sensing.

Linear FBG Temperature Sensor Interrogation with Fabry-Perot ITU Multi-wavelength Reference.

PubMed

Park, Hyoung-Jun; Song, Minho

2008-10-29

The equidistantly spaced multi-passbands of a Fabry-Perot ITU filter are used as an efficient multi-wavelength reference for fiber Bragg grating sensor demodulation. To compensate for the nonlinear wavelength tuning effect in the FBG sensor demodulator, a polynomial fitting algorithm was applied to the temporal peaks of the wavelength-scanned ITU filter. The fitted wavelength values are assigned to the peak locations of the FBG sensor reflections, obtaining constant accuracy, regardless of the wavelength scan range and frequency. A linearity error of about 0.18% against a reference thermocouple thermometer was obtained with the suggested method.

Technical note: Data loggers are a valid method for assessing the feeding behavior of dairy cows using the Calan Broadbent Feeding System.

PubMed

Krawczel, P D; Klaiber, L M; Thibeau, S S; Dann, H M

2012-08-01

Assessing feeding behavior is important in understanding the effects of nutrition and management on the well-being of dairy cows. Historically, collection of these data from cows fed with a Calan Broadbent Feeding System (American Calan Inc., Northwood, NH) required the labor-intensive practices of direct observation or video review. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agreement between the output of a HOBO change-of-state data logger (Onset Computer Corp., Bourne, MA), mounted to the door shell and latch plate, and video data summarized with continuous sampling. Data (number of feed bin visits per day and feeding time in minutes per day) were recorded with both methods from 26 lactating cows and 10 nonlactating cows for 3 d per cow (n=108). The agreement of the data logger and video methods was evaluated using the REG procedure of SAS to compare the mean response of the methods against the difference between the methods. The maximum allowable difference (MAD) was set at ±3 for bin visits and ±20 min for feeding time. Ranges for feed bin visits (2 to 140 per d) and feeding time (28 to 267 min/d) were established from video data. Using the complete data set, agreement was partially established between the data logger and video methods for feed bin visits, but not established for feeding time. The complete data set generated by the data logger was screened to remove visits of a duration ≤3 s, reflecting a cow unable to enter a feed bin (representing 7% of all data) and ≥5,400 s, reflecting a failure of the data logger to align properly with its corresponding magnetic field (representing <1% of all data). Using the resulting screened data set, agreement was established for feed bin visits and feeding time. For bin visits, 4% of the data was beyond the MAD. For feeding time, 3% of the data was beyond the MAD and 74% of the data was ±1 min. The insignificant P-value, low coefficient of determination, and concentration of the data within the MAD indicate the agreement of the change-of-state data logger and video data. This suggests the usage of a change-of-state data logger to assess the feeding behavior of cows feeding from a Calan Broadbent Feeding System is appropriate. Use of the screening criteria for data analysis is recommended. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Behavioural mapping of a pelagic seabird: combining multiple sensors and a hidden Markov model reveals the distribution of at-sea behaviour

PubMed Central

Dean, Ben; Freeman, Robin; Kirk, Holly; Leonard, Kerry; Phillips, Richard A.; Perrins, Chris M.; Guilford, Tim

2013-01-01

The use of miniature data loggers is rapidly increasing our understanding of the movements and habitat preferences of pelagic seabirds. However, objectively interpreting behavioural information from the large volumes of highly detailed data collected by such devices can be challenging. We combined three biologging technologies—global positioning system (GPS), saltwater immersion and time–depth recorders—to build a detailed picture of the at-sea behaviour of the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) during the breeding season. We used a hidden Markov model to explore discrete states within the combined GPS and immersion data, and found that behaviour could be organized into three principal activities representing (i) sustained direct flight, (ii) sitting on the sea surface, and (iii) foraging, comprising tortuous flight interspersed with periods of immersion. The additional logger data verified that the foraging activity corresponded well to the occurrence of diving. Applying this approach to a large tracking dataset revealed that birds from two different colonies foraged in local waters that were exclusive, but overlapped in one key area: the Irish Sea Front (ISF). We show that the allocation of time to each activity differed between colonies, with birds breeding furthest from the ISF spending the greatest proportion of time engaged in direct flight and the smallest proportion of time engaged in foraging activity. This type of analysis has considerable potential for application in future biologging studies and in other taxa. PMID:23034356

Unmanned Aerial System Aids Dry-season Stream Temperature Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, M.; Detweiler, C.; Higgins, J.; Ore, J. P.; Dralle, D.; Thompson, S. E.

2016-12-01

In freshwater ecosystems, temperature affects biogeochemistry and ecology, and is thus a primary physical determinant of habitat quality. Measuring temperatures in spatially heterogeneous water bodies poses a serious challenge to researchers due to constraints associated with currently available methods: in situ loggers record temporally continuous temperature measurements but are limited to discrete spatial locations, while distributed temperature and remote sensing provide fine-resolution spatial measurements that are restricted to only two-dimensions (i.e. streambed and surface, respectively). Using a commercially available quadcopter equipped with a 6m cable and temperature-pressure sensor system, we measured stream temperatures at two confluences at the South Fork Eel River, where cold water inputs from the tributary to the mainstem create thermal refugia for juvenile salmonids during the dry season. As a mobile sensing platform, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can facilitate quick and repeated sampling with minimal disturbance to the ecosystem, and their datasets can be interpolated to create a three-dimensional thermal map of a water body. The UAS-derived data was compared to data from in situ data loggers to evaluate whether the UAS is better able to capture fine-scale temperature dynamics at each confluence. The UAS has inherent limitations defined by battery life and flight times, as well as operational constraints related to maneuverability under wind and streamflow conditions. However, the platform is able to serve as an additional field tool for researchers to capture complex thermal structures in water bodies.

Temperature estimation for the most upper part of magmatic chamber of the Elbrus volcano

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Likhodeev, Dmitry

2013-04-01

The results of theoretical and experimental studies on thermal processes in the Elbrus volcanic center and adjacent territories are presented. Distributed temperature measurements on the Elbrus volcano and near the Maloye Azau glacier by means of temperature data loggers («High Capacity Temperature Loggers iButton» and «Rejim-avtomat-termo-10-100») have been performed. The comparative time series analysis is provided. On the basis of the Geophysical Observatory in Northern Caucasus, in the laboratory located some 20 km from the Elbrus volcano in the tunnel at a depth of 4 km the array of temperature sensors has been deployed. Results of continuous observations over variations of underground temperatures, including pin-point measurements in the vicinity of sources of carbonaceous mineral waters are presented and discussed. Temperature estimations for the most upper part of the shallow magmatic chamber of the of the Elbrus volcano were obtained on the basis of experimental measurements in the 180-meter deep borehole drilled through the glacier on the western plateau of Mount Elbrus. The estimations of deep temperatures have confirmed the possibility of existence of the magmatic chamber at depths of 0-1 km below sea level. At the same time the magnitudes of local heat flux were identified with enhanced precision. Thus, the original scientific results provide significant extension to our knowledge on possible resumption of volcanic activity in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus.

A Passive Wireless Multi-Sensor SAW Technology Device and System Perspectives

PubMed Central

Malocha, Donald C.; Gallagher, Mark; Fisher, Brian; Humphries, James; Gallagher, Daniel; Kozlovski, Nikolai

2013-01-01

This paper will discuss a SAW passive, wireless multi-sensor system under development by our group for the past several years. The device focus is on orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW sensors, which use both frequency diversity and pulse position reflectors to encode the device ID and will be briefly contrasted to other embodiments. A synchronous correlator transceiver is used for the hardware and post processing and correlation techniques of the received signal to extract the sensor information will be presented. Critical device and system parameters addressed include encoding, operational range, SAW device parameters, post-processing, and antenna-SAW device integration. A fully developed 915 MHz OFC SAW multi-sensor system is used to show experimental results. The system is based on a software radio approach that provides great flexibility for future enhancements and diverse sensor applications. Several different sensor types using the OFC SAW platform are shown. PMID:23666124

Clinicians’ and researchers’ perspectives on manual wheelchair data loggers

PubMed Central

Routhier, François; Lettre, Josiane; Miller, William C.; Borisoff, Jaimie F.; Keetch, Kate; Mitchell, Ian M.

2017-01-01

Recent studies have employed data loggers to record a wide range of, sometimes differing, objective outcomes associated with the use of manual wheelchairs. To identify which outcomes are broadly perceived to be the most important to measure when objectively documenting manual wheelchair use, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with groups of researchers and clinicians in the field of wheeled mobility. We also surveyed the challenges these groups experienced when using data loggers. The survey was informed by a previous scoping review of the scientific and gray literature. Seventy-four people, with various academic and professional backgrounds, completed the survey: 57 researchers (77.0%) and 17 clinicians (23.0%). Regarding the importance they attributed to commonly measured outcomes, the most highly rated outcome identified by both groups was “distance traveled.” There were significant differences between the groups’ perspectives in rating and ranking the importance of “pressure-relief activities”, “seat pressure” and “acceleration.” In terms of challenges or barriers associated with the use of data loggers for monitoring manual wheelchair use, it appears that researchers and clinicians have relatively similar needs and preferences. However, only clinicians reported that the time they wanted to, or could, allocate to review recorded information was a potential hardship. Our hope is that these results will help further development and increase the functionality and applicability of data loggers for manual wheelchairs in research and clinical contexts. PMID:28202382

Study and Experiment on Non-Contact Voltage Sensor Suitable for Three-Phase Transmission Line

PubMed Central

Zhou, Qiang; He, Wei; Xiao, Dongping; Li, Songnong; Zhou, Kongjun

2015-01-01

A voltage transformer, as voltage signal detection equipment, plays an important role in a power system. Presently, more and more electric power systems are adopting potential transformer and capacitance voltage transformers. Transformers are often large in volume and heavyweight, their insulation design is difficult, and an iron core or multi-grade capacitance voltage division structure is generally adopted. As a result, the detection accuracy of transformer is reduced, a huge phase difference exists between detection signal and voltage signal to be measured, and the detection signal cannot accurately and timely reflect the change of conductor voltage signal to be measured. By aiming at the current problems of electric transformation, based on electrostatic induction principle, this paper designed a non-contact voltage sensor and gained detection signal of the sensor through electrostatic coupling for the electric field generated by electric charges of the conductor to be measured. The insulation structure design of the sensor is simple and its volume is small; phase difference of sensor measurement is effectively reduced through optimization design of the electrode; and voltage division ratio and measurement accuracy are increased. The voltage sensor was tested on the experimental platform of simulating three-phase transmission line. According to the result, the designed non-contact voltage sensor can realize accurate and real-time measurement for the conductor voltage. It can be applied to online monitoring for the voltage of three-phase transmission line or three-phase distribution network line, which is in accordance with the development direction of the smart grid. PMID:26729119

Study and Experiment on Non-Contact Voltage Sensor Suitable for Three-Phase Transmission Line.

PubMed

Zhou, Qiang; He, Wei; Xiao, Dongping; Li, Songnong; Zhou, Kongjun

2015-12-30

A voltage transformer, as voltage signal detection equipment, plays an important role in a power system. Presently, more and more electric power systems are adopting potential transformer and capacitance voltage transformers. Transformers are often large in volume and heavyweight, their insulation design is difficult, and an iron core or multi-grade capacitance voltage division structure is generally adopted. As a result, the detection accuracy of transformer is reduced, a huge phase difference exists between detection signal and voltage signal to be measured, and the detection signal cannot accurately and timely reflect the change of conductor voltage signal to be measured. By aiming at the current problems of electric transformation, based on electrostatic induction principle, this paper designed a non-contact voltage sensor and gained detection signal of the sensor through electrostatic coupling for the electric field generated by electric charges of the conductor to be measured. The insulation structure design of the sensor is simple and its volume is small; phase difference of sensor measurement is effectively reduced through optimization design of the electrode; and voltage division ratio and measurement accuracy are increased. The voltage sensor was tested on the experimental platform of simulating three-phase transmission line. According to the result, the designed non-contact voltage sensor can realize accurate and real-time measurement for the conductor voltage. It can be applied to online monitoring for the voltage of three-phase transmission line or three-phase distribution network line, which is in accordance with the development direction of the smart grid.

CMS Readiness for Multi-Core Workload Scheduling

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

Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Balcas, J.; Hernandez, J.

In the present run of the LHC, CMS data reconstruction and simulation algorithms benefit greatly from being executed as multiple threads running on several processor cores. The complexity of the Run 2 events requires parallelization of the code to reduce the memory-per- core footprint constraining serial execution programs, thus optimizing the exploitation of present multi-core processor architectures. The allocation of computing resources for multi-core tasks, however, becomes a complex problem in itself. The CMS workload submission infrastructure employs multi-slot partitionable pilots, built on HTCondor and GlideinWMS native features, to enable scheduling of single and multi-core jobs simultaneously. This provides amore » solution for the scheduling problem in a uniform way across grid sites running a diversity of gateways to compute resources and batch system technologies. This paper presents this strategy and the tools on which it has been implemented. The experience of managing multi-core resources at the Tier-0 and Tier-1 sites during 2015, along with the deployment phase to Tier-2 sites during early 2016 is reported. The process of performance monitoring and optimization to achieve efficient and flexible use of the resources is also described.« less

CMS readiness for multi-core workload scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Balcas, J.; Hernandez, J.; Aftab Khan, F.; Letts, J.; Mason, D.; Verguilov, V.

2017-10-01

In the present run of the LHC, CMS data reconstruction and simulation algorithms benefit greatly from being executed as multiple threads running on several processor cores. The complexity of the Run 2 events requires parallelization of the code to reduce the memory-per- core footprint constraining serial execution programs, thus optimizing the exploitation of present multi-core processor architectures. The allocation of computing resources for multi-core tasks, however, becomes a complex problem in itself. The CMS workload submission infrastructure employs multi-slot partitionable pilots, built on HTCondor and GlideinWMS native features, to enable scheduling of single and multi-core jobs simultaneously. This provides a solution for the scheduling problem in a uniform way across grid sites running a diversity of gateways to compute resources and batch system technologies. This paper presents this strategy and the tools on which it has been implemented. The experience of managing multi-core resources at the Tier-0 and Tier-1 sites during 2015, along with the deployment phase to Tier-2 sites during early 2016 is reported. The process of performance monitoring and optimization to achieve efficient and flexible use of the resources is also described.

Open Source Dataturbine (OSDT) Android Sensorpod in Environmental Observing Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fountain, T. R.; Shin, P.; Tilak, S.; Trinh, T.; Smith, J.; Kram, S.

2014-12-01

The OSDT Android SensorPod is a custom-designed mobile computing platform for assembling wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring applications. Funded by an award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the OSDT SensorPod represents a significant technological advance in the application of mobile and cloud computing technologies to near-real-time applications in environmental science, natural resources management, and disaster response and recovery. It provides a modular architecture based on open standards and open-source software that allows system developers to align their projects with industry best practices and technology trends, while avoiding commercial vendor lock-in to expensive proprietary software and hardware systems. The integration of mobile and cloud-computing infrastructure represents a disruptive technology in the field of environmental science, since basic assumptions about technology requirements are now open to revision, e.g., the roles of special purpose data loggers and dedicated site infrastructure. The OSDT Android SensorPod was designed with these considerations in mind, and the resulting system exhibits the following characteristics - it is flexible, efficient and robust. The system was developed and tested in the three science applications: 1) a fresh water limnology deployment in Wisconsin, 2) a near coastal marine science deployment at the UCSD Scripps Pier, and 3) a terrestrial ecological deployment in the mountains of Taiwan. As part of a public education and outreach effort, a Facebook page with daily ocean pH measurements from the UCSD Scripps pier was developed. Wireless sensor networks and the virtualization of data and network services is the future of environmental science infrastructure. The OSDT Android SensorPod was designed and developed to harness these new technology developments for environmental monitoring applications.

A SERS-active sensor based on heterogeneous gold nanostar core-silver nanoparticle satellite assemblies for ultrasensitive detection of aflatoxinB1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Aike; Tang, Lijuan; Song, Dan; Song, Shanshan; Ma, Wei; Xu, Liguang; Kuang, Hua; Wu, Xiaoling; Liu, Liqiang; Chen, Xin; Xu, Chuanlai

2016-01-01

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor based on gold nanostar (Au NS) core-silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) satellites was fabricated for the first time to detect aflatoxinB1 (AFB1). We constructed the SERS sensor using AFB1 aptamer (DNA1)-modified Ag satellites and a complementary sequence (DNA2)-modified Au NS core. The Raman label (ATP) was modified on the surface of Ag satellites. The SERS signal was enhanced when the satellite NP was attached to the Au core NS. The AFB1 aptamer on the surface of Ag satellites would bind to the targets when AFB1 was present in the system, Ag satellites were then removed and the SERS signal decreased. This SERS sensor showed superior specificity for AFB1 and the linear detection range was from 1 to 1000 pg mL-1 with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.48 pg mL-1. The excellent recovery experiment using peanut milk demonstrated that the sensor could be applied in food and environmental detection.A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor based on gold nanostar (Au NS) core-silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) satellites was fabricated for the first time to detect aflatoxinB1 (AFB1). We constructed the SERS sensor using AFB1 aptamer (DNA1)-modified Ag satellites and a complementary sequence (DNA2)-modified Au NS core. The Raman label (ATP) was modified on the surface of Ag satellites. The SERS signal was enhanced when the satellite NP was attached to the Au core NS. The AFB1 aptamer on the surface of Ag satellites would bind to the targets when AFB1 was present in the system, Ag satellites were then removed and the SERS signal decreased. This SERS sensor showed superior specificity for AFB1 and the linear detection range was from 1 to 1000 pg mL-1 with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.48 pg mL-1. The excellent recovery experiment using peanut milk demonstrated that the sensor could be applied in food and environmental detection. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08372a

Loggers' Views on Training After Attending a Three-Day Educational Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeb, James E.

1996-01-01

Surveyed 120 loggers who attended a 3-day educational program on first aid and adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation, forest ecology and silviculture, woods safety, and small business management. Results indicate that the training was worthwhile to the participants and they would be willing to attend additional training. (JRH)

In-fiber refractive index sensor based on single eccentric hole-assisted dual-core fiber.

PubMed

Yang, Jing; Guan, Chunying; Tian, Peixuan; Yuan, Tingting; Zhu, Zheng; Li, Ping; Shi, Jinhui; Yang, Jun; Yuan, Libo

2017-11-01

We propose a novel and simple in-fiber refractive index sensor based on resonant coupling, constructed by a short section of single eccentric hole-assisted dual-core fiber (SEHADCF) spliced between two single-mode fibers. The coupling characteristics of the SEHADCF are calculated numerically. The strong resonant coupling occurs when the fundamental mode of the center core phase-matches to that of the suspended core in the air hole. The effective refractive index of the fundamental mode of the suspended core can be obviously changed by injecting solution into the air hole. The responses of the proposed devices to the refractive index and temperature are experimentally measured. The refractive index sensitivity is 627.5 nm/refractive index unit in the refractive index range of 1.335-1.385. The sensor without solution filling is insensitive to temperature in the range of 30-90°C. The proposed refractive index sensor has outstanding advantages, such as simple fabrication, good mechanical strength, and excellent microfluidic channel, and will be of importance in biological detection, chemical analysis, and environment monitoring.

Application of zonal model on indoor air sensor network design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y. Lisa; Wen, Jin

2007-04-01

Growing concerns over the safety of the indoor environment have made the use of sensors ubiquitous. Sensors that detect chemical and biological warfare agents can offer early warning of dangerous contaminants. However, current sensor system design is more informed by intuition and experience rather by systematic design. To develop a sensor system design methodology, a proper indoor airflow modeling approach is needed. Various indoor airflow modeling techniques, from complicated computational fluid dynamics approaches to simplified multi-zone approaches, exist in the literature. In this study, the effects of two airflow modeling techniques, multi-zone modeling technique and zonal modeling technique, on indoor air protection sensor system design are discussed. Common building attack scenarios, using a typical CBW agent, are simulated. Both multi-zone and zonal models are used to predict airflows and contaminant dispersion. Genetic Algorithm is then applied to optimize the sensor location and quantity. Differences in the sensor system design resulting from the two airflow models are discussed for a typical office environment and a large hall environment.

Multi-Threaded DNA Tag/Anti-Tag Library Generator for Multi-Core Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

base pair)  Watson ‐ Crick  strand pairs that bind perfectly within pairs, but poorly across pairs. A variety  of  DNA  strand hybridization metrics...AFRL-RI-RS-TR-2009-131 Final Technical Report May 2009 MULTI-THREADED DNA TAG/ANTI-TAG LIBRARY GENERATOR FOR MULTI-CORE PLATFORMS...TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) Jun 08 – Feb 09 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE MULTI-THREADED DNA TAG/ANTI-TAG LIBRARY GENERATOR FOR MULTI-CORE

Two-mode elliptical-core weighted fiber sensors for vibration analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vengsarkar, Ashish M.; Murphy, Kent A.; Fogg, Brian R.; Miller, William V.; Greene, Jonathan A.; Claus, Richard O.

1992-01-01

Two-mode, elliptical-core optical fibers are demonstrated in weighted, distributed and selective vibration-mode-filtering applications. We show how appropriate placement of optical fibers on a vibrating structure can lead to vibration mode filtering. Selective vibration-mode suppression on the order of 10 dB has been obtained using tapered two-mode, circular-core fibers with tapering functions that match the second derivatives of the modes of vibration to be enhanced. We also demonstrate the use of chirped, two-mode gratings in fibers as spatial modal sensors that are equivalents of shaped piezoelectric sensors.

Highly Stretchable Core-Sheath Fibers via Wet-Spinning for Wearable Strain Sensors.

PubMed

Tang, Zhenhua; Jia, Shuhai; Wang, Fei; Bian, Changsheng; Chen, Yuyu; Wang, Yonglin; Li, Bo

2018-02-21

Lightweight, stretchable, and wearable strain sensors have recently been widely studied for the development of health monitoring systems, human-machine interfaces, and wearable devices. Herein, highly stretchable polymer elastomer-wrapped carbon nanocomposite piezoresistive core-sheath fibers are successfully prepared using a facile and scalable one-step coaxial wet-spinning assembly approach. The carbon nanotube-polymeric composite core of the stretchable fiber is surrounded by an insulating sheath, similar to conventional cables, and shows excellent electrical conductivity with a low percolation threshold (0.74 vol %). The core-sheath elastic fibers are used as wearable strain sensors, exhibiting ultra-high stretchability (above 300%), excellent stability (>10 000 cycles), fast response, low hysteresis, and good washability. Furthermore, the piezoresistive core-sheath fiber possesses bending-insensitiveness and negligible torsion-sensitive properties, and the strain sensing performance of piezoresistive fibers maintains a high degree of stability under harsh conditions. On the basis of this high level of performance, the fiber-shaped strain sensor can accurately detect both subtle and large-scale human movements by embedding it in gloves and garments or by directly attaching it to the skin. The current results indicate that the proposed stretchable strain sensor has many potential applications in health monitoring, human-machine interfaces, soft robotics, and wearable electronics.

Analysis of a ferrofluid core differential transformer tilt measurement sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvegy, T.; Molnár, Á.; Molnár, G.; Gugolya, Z.

2017-04-01

In our work, we developed a ferrofluid core differential transformer sensor, which can be used to measure tilt and acceleration. The proposed sensor consisted of three coils, from which the primary was excited with an alternating current. In the space surrounded by the coils was a cell half-filled with ferrofluid, therefore in the horizontal state of the sensor the fluid distributes equally in the three sections of the cell surrounded by the three coils. Nevertheless when the cell is being tilted or accelerated (in the direction of the axis of the coils), there is a different amount of ferrofluid in the three sections. The voltage induced in the secondary coils strongly depends on the amount of ferrofluid found in the core surrounded by them, so the tilt or the acceleration of the cell becomes measurable. We constructed the sensor in several layouts. The linearly coiled sensor had an excellent resolution. Another version with a toroidal cell had almost perfect linearity and a virtually infinite measuring range.

Tuning the field distribution and fabrication of an Al@ZnO core-shell nanostructure for a SPR-based fiber optic phenyl hydrazine sensor.

PubMed

Tabassum, Rana; Kaur, Parvinder; Gupta, Banshi D

2016-05-27

We report the fabrication and characterization of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based fiber optic sensor that uses coatings of silver and aluminum (Al)-zinc oxide (ZnO) core-shell nanostructure (Al@ZnO) for the detection of phenyl hydrazine (Ph-Hyd). To optimize the volume fraction (f) of Al in ZnO and the thickness of the core-shell nanostructure layer (d), the electric field intensity along the normal to the multilayer system is simulated using the two-dimensional multilayer matrix method. The Al@ZnO core-shell nanostructure is prepared using the laser ablation technique. Various probes are fabricated with different values of f and an optimized thickness of core-shell nanostructure for the characterization of the Ph-Hyd sensor. The performance of the Ph-Hyd sensor is evaluated in terms of sensitivity. It is found that the Ag/Al@ZnO nanostructure core-shell-coated SPR probe with f = 0.25 and d = 0.040 μm possesses the maximum sensitivity towards Ph-Hyd. These results are in agreement with the simulated ones obtained using electric field intensity. In addition, the performance of the proposed probe is compared with that of probes coated with (i) Al@ZnO nanocomposite, (ii) Al nanoparticles and (iii) ZnO nanoparticles. It is found that the probe coated with an Al@ZnO core-shell nanostructure shows the largest resonance wavelength shift. The detailed mechanism of the sensing (involving chemical reactions) is presented. The sensor also manifests optimum performance at pH 7.

All-in-one: a versatile gas sensor based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for monitoring postharvest fruit conservation and ripening.

PubMed

Jochum, Tobias; Rahal, Leila; Suckert, Renè J; Popp, Jürgen; Frosch, Torsten

2016-03-21

In today's fruit conservation rooms the ripening of harvested fruit is delayed by precise management of the interior oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Ethylene (C2H4), a natural plant hormone, is commonly used to trigger fruit ripening shortly before entering the market. Monitoring of these critical process gases, also of the increasingly favored cooling agent ammonia (NH3), is a crucial task in modern postharvest fruit management. The goal of this work was to develop and characterize a gas sensor setup based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for fast (time resolution of a few minutes) and non-destructive process gas monitoring throughout the complete postharvest production chain encompassing storage and transport in fruit conservation chambers as well as commercial fruit ripening in industrial ripening rooms. Exploiting a micro-structured hollow-core photonic crystal fiber for analyte gas confinement and sensitivity enhancement, the sensor features simultaneous quantification of O2, CO2, NH3 and C2H4 without cross-sensitivity in just one single measurement. Laboratory measurements of typical fruit conservation gas mixtures showed that the sensor is capable of quantifying O2 and CO2 concentration levels with accuracy of 3% or less with respect to reference concentrations. The sensor detected ammonia concentrations, relevant for chemical alarm purposes. Due to the high spectral resolution of the gas sensor, ethylene could be quantified simultaneously with O2 and CO2 in a multi-component mixture. These results indicate that fiber enhanced Raman sensors have a potential to become universally usable on-site gas sensors for controlled atmosphere applications in postharvest fruit management.

Mesomorphic properties of multi-arm chenodeoxycholic acid-derived liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Liang; Yao, Miao; Wu, Shuang-jie; Yao, Dan-Shu; Hu, Jian-She; He, Xiao-zhi; Tian, Mei

2017-12-01

Four multi-arm liquid crystals (LCs) based on chenodeoxycholic acid, termed as 2G-PD, 2G-IB, 2G-BD and 5G-GC, respectively, have been synthesised by convergent method, which nematic LC, 6-(4-((4-ethoxybenzoyl)oxy)phenoxy)-6-oxohexanoic acid, was used as side arm, and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) was used as the first core, 1,2-propanediol (PD), isosorbide (IB), 4,4‧-biphenyldiol (BD) and glucose (GC) were used as the second core, respectively. The first generation product, CDCA2EA, displayed cholesteric phase. The second generation products 2G-BD and 5G-GC displayed cholesteric phase, while 2G-PD and 2G-IB exhibited nematic phase. The multi-arm LC, 2G-IB, did not display cholesteric phase although the two cores were all chiral ones. The result indicated that chirality of the second core sometimes made the multi-arm LCs display nematic phase when cholesteric CDCA-derivative were introduced into the second core. Some attention should be paid on molecular conformation besides the introduction of chiral cores for multi-chiral-core LCs to obtain cholesteric phase.

Evaluation of accelerometer based multi-sensor versus single-sensor activity recognition systems.

PubMed

Gao, Lei; Bourke, A K; Nelson, John

2014-06-01

Physical activity has a positive impact on people's well-being and it had been shown to decrease the occurrence of chronic diseases in the older adult population. To date, a substantial amount of research studies exist, which focus on activity recognition using inertial sensors. Many of these studies adopt a single sensor approach and focus on proposing novel features combined with complex classifiers to improve the overall recognition accuracy. In addition, the implementation of the advanced feature extraction algorithms and the complex classifiers exceed the computing ability of most current wearable sensor platforms. This paper proposes a method to adopt multiple sensors on distributed body locations to overcome this problem. The objective of the proposed system is to achieve higher recognition accuracy with "light-weight" signal processing algorithms, which run on a distributed computing based sensor system comprised of computationally efficient nodes. For analysing and evaluating the multi-sensor system, eight subjects were recruited to perform eight normal scripted activities in different life scenarios, each repeated three times. Thus a total of 192 activities were recorded resulting in 864 separate annotated activity states. The methods for designing such a multi-sensor system required consideration of the following: signal pre-processing algorithms, sampling rate, feature selection and classifier selection. Each has been investigated and the most appropriate approach is selected to achieve a trade-off between recognition accuracy and computing execution time. A comparison of six different systems, which employ single or multiple sensors, is presented. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed multi-sensor system can achieve an overall recognition accuracy of 96.4% by adopting the mean and variance features, using the Decision Tree classifier. The results demonstrate that elaborate classifiers and feature sets are not required to achieve high recognition accuracies on a multi-sensor system. Copyright © 2014 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The tension sensor of Photonic Crystal Fiber based on core-offset splicing and waist-enlarged fiber taper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Guangwei; Li, Qifeng; Li, Yunpu; Yang, Jiandong; Fu, Xinghu; Bi, Weihong; Li, Yanjun

2016-10-01

A tension sensor of Photonic Crystal Fiber(PCF) is presented based on core-offset splicing and waist-enlarged fiber taper. The tension response characteristics of the sensor are studied experimentally. To analyzing the modal interference, many samples with different PCF lengths between the two splicing areas, different core-offset distances and different waist-enlarged fiber taper diameters are fabricated and tested. When the tension range is 0 to 4000μɛ, the results show that the spectrum is blue shift with the increasing of the axial tension. The sensitivity is-2.1 pm/μɛ. The experimental results show that the tension sensitivity can be not influenced by the PCF lengths, the core-offset distances.The waist-enlarged fiber taper diameters and the tension sensor is very sensitive to axial tension and the relationship between the wavelength shift and tension is linearity. To determine the number of the interfering modes, the transmission spectra of these sensor is transformed by the fast fourier transform (FFT) method. There are several peaks in the spatial frequency spectra at these sensors. Only one cladding mode is dominantly excited, while the other cladding modes are weak. The spatial frequency is proportional to the differential mode group index. Compared with the traditional fiber sensor, this sensor has some advantages including the easily fabricated, simple structure and high sensitivity. It can be used in industrial production, building monitoring, aerospace and other fields.

Soil specific re-calibration of water content sensors for a field-scale sensor network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasch, Caley K.; Brown, David J.; Anderson, Todd; Brooks, Erin S.; Yourek, Matt A.

2015-04-01

Obtaining accurate soil moisture data from a sensor network requires sensor calibration. Soil moisture sensors are factory calibrated, but multiple site specific factors may contribute to sensor inaccuracies. Thus, sensors should be calibrated for the specific soil type and conditions in which they will be installed. Lab calibration of a large number of sensors prior to installation in a heterogeneous setting may not be feasible, and it may not reflect the actual performance of the installed sensor. We investigated a multi-step approach to retroactively re-calibrate sensor water content data from the dielectric permittivity readings obtained by sensors in the field. We used water content data collected since 2009 from a sensor network installed at 42 locations and 5 depths (210 sensors total) within the 37-ha Cook Agronomy Farm with highly variable soils located in the Palouse region of the Northwest United States. First, volumetric water content was calculated from sensor dielectric readings using three equations: (1) a factory calibration using the Topp equation; (2) a custom calibration obtained empirically from an instrumented soil in the field; and (3) a hybrid equation that combines the Topp and custom equations. Second, we used soil physical properties (particle size and bulk density) and pedotransfer functions to estimate water content at saturation, field capacity, and wilting point for each installation location and depth. We also extracted the same reference points from the sensor readings, when available. Using these reference points, we re-scaled the sensor readings, such that water content was restricted to the range of values that we would expect given the physical properties of the soil. The re-calibration accuracy was assessed with volumetric water content measurements obtained from field-sampled cores taken on multiple dates. In general, the re-calibration was most accurate when all three reference points (saturation, field capacity, and wilting point) were represented in the sensor readings. We anticipate that obtaining water retention curves for field soils will improve the re-calibration accuracy by providing more precise estimates of saturation, field capacity, and wilting point. This approach may serve as an alternative method for sensor calibration in lieu of or to complement pre-installation calibration.

Stretchable Dual-Capacitor Multi-Sensor for Touch-Curvature-Pressure-Strain Sensing.

PubMed

Jin, Hanbyul; Jung, Sungchul; Kim, Junhyung; Heo, Sanghyun; Lim, Jaeik; Park, Wonsang; Chu, Hye Yong; Bien, Franklin; Park, Kibog

2017-09-07

We introduce a new type of multi-functional capacitive sensor that can sense several different external stimuli. It is fabricated only with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films and silver nanowire electrodes by using selective oxygen plasma treatment method without photolithography and etching processes. Differently from the conventional single-capacitor multi-functional sensors, our new multi-functional sensor is composed of two vertically-stacked capacitors (dual-capacitor). The unique dual-capacitor structure can detect the type and strength of external stimuli including curvature, pressure, strain, and touch with clear distinction, and it can also detect the surface-normal directionality of curvature, pressure, and touch. Meanwhile, the conventional single-capacitor sensor has ambiguity in distinguishing curvature and pressure and it can detect only the strength of external stimulus. The type, directionality, and strength of external stimulus can be determined based on the relative capacitance changes of the two stacked capacitors. Additionally, the logical flow reflected on a tree structure with its branches reaching the direction and strength of the corresponding external stimulus unambiguously is devised. This logical flow can be readily implemented in the sensor driving circuit if the dual-capacitor sensor is commercialized actually in the future.

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications.

PubMed

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-11-04

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA-0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C-1.79 mV/°C in the range 20-300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(V excit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min) -0.1 in the tested range of 0-4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries.

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications †

PubMed Central

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-01-01

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA–0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C–1.79 mV/°C in the range 20–300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(Vexcit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min)−0.1 in the tested range of 0–4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries. PMID:27827904

Physical Activity and Bone Density in Women

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowley, Susan M.; Whalen, R. T.

2000-01-01

A mathematical model of bone density regulation as a function of the daily tissue "effective" stress has been derived. Using the model, the influence of daily activity in the form of a daily loading history has been related to bone density of the calcaneus. The theory incorporates a stress exponent m to account for differences in the importance of magnitude and number of load cycles experienced during daily activity. We have derived a parameter from the model, the "Bone Density Index" (BDI). We have developed a method of collecting daily habitual loading histories using an insole force sensor interfaced to a portable digital data logger carried in a fanny pack. Our goal for this study was to determine a stress exponent, m, relating GRFz history to Calcaneal Bone Mineral Density (CBMD).

An automated digital imaging system for environmental monitoring applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bogle, Rian; Velasco, Miguel; Vogel, John

2013-01-01

Recent improvements in the affordability and availability of high-resolution digital cameras, data loggers, embedded computers, and radio/cellular modems have advanced the development of sophisticated automated systems for remote imaging. Researchers have successfully placed and operated automated digital cameras in remote locations and in extremes of temperature and humidity, ranging from the islands of the South Pacific to the Mojave Desert and the Grand Canyon. With the integration of environmental sensors, these automated systems are able to respond to local conditions and modify their imaging regimes as needed. In this report we describe in detail the design of one type of automated imaging system developed by our group. It is easily replicated, low-cost, highly robust, and is a stand-alone automated camera designed to be placed in remote locations, without wireless connectivity.

A flexible tactile sensitive sheet using a hetero-core fiber optic sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujino, S.; Yamazaki, H.; Hosoki, A.; Watanabe, K.

2014-05-01

In this report, we have designed a tactile sensitive sheet based on a hetero-core fiber-optic sensor, which realize an areal sensing by using single sensor potion in one optical fiber line. Recently, flexible and wide-area tactile sensing technology is expected to applied to acquired biological information in living space and robot achieve long-term care services such as welfare and nursing-care and humanoid technology. A hetero-core fiber-optic sensor has several advantages such as thin and flexible transmission line, immunity to EMI. Additionally this sensor is sensitive to moderate bending actions with optical loss changes and is independent of temperature fluctuation. Thus, the hetero-core fiber-optic sensor can be suitable for areal tactile sensing. We measure pressure characteristic of the proposed sensitive sheet by changing the pressure position and pinching characteristic on the surface. The proposed tactile sensitive sheet shows monotonic responses on the whole sensitive sheet surface although different sensitivity by the position is observed at the sensitive sheet surface. Moreover, the tactile sensitive sheet could sufficiently detect the pinching motion. In addition, in order to realize the discrimination between pressure and pinch, we fabricated a doubled-over sensor using a set of tactile sensitive sheets, which has different kinds of silicon robbers as a sensitive sheet surface. In conclusion, the flexible material could be given to the tactile sensation which is attached under proposed sensitive sheet.

Advanced and flexible multi-carrier receiver architecture for high-count multi-core fiber based space division multiplexed applications

PubMed Central

Asif, Rameez

2016-01-01

Space division multiplexing (SDM), incorporating multi-core fibers (MCFs), has been demonstrated for effectively maximizing the data capacity in an impending capacity crunch. To achieve high spectral-density through multi-carrier encoding while simultaneously maintaining transmission reach, benefits from inter-core crosstalk (XT) and non-linear compensation must be utilized. In this report, we propose a proof-of-concept unified receiver architecture that jointly compensates optical Kerr effects, intra- and inter-core XT in MCFs. The architecture is analysed in multi-channel 512 Gbit/s dual-carrier DP-16QAM system over 800 km 19-core MCF to validate the digital compensation of inter-core XT. Through this architecture: (a) we efficiently compensates the inter-core XT improving Q-factor by 4.82 dB and (b) achieve a momentous gain in transmission reach, increasing the maximum achievable distance from 480 km to 1208 km, via analytical analysis. Simulation results confirm that inter-core XT distortions are more relentless for cores fabricated around the central axis of cladding. Predominantly, XT induced Q-penalty can be suppressed to be less than 1 dB up-to −11.56 dB of inter-core XT over 800 km MCF, offering flexibility to fabricate dense core structures with same cladding diameter. Moreover, this report outlines the relationship between core pitch and forward-error correction (FEC). PMID:27270381

Use of fathometers and electrical-conductivity probes to monitor riverbed scour at bridge piers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Donald C.; Drummond, F.E.

1995-01-01

Two methods, a fathometer system and an electrical- conductivity probe system, were developed to monitor scour at bridge piers. The scour-monitoring systems consisted of a sensor (fathometer or electrical- conductivity probe), power supply, data logger, relay, and system program. The fathometer system was installed and tested at a bridge over the Leipsic River at Leipsic, Delaware, and at a bridge over Sinepuxent Bay near Ocean City. Maryland. Field data collected indicate that fathometers can be used to identify and monitor the riverbed elevation if post processing of the data and trends in the data are used to determine the riverbed location in relation to the transducer. The accuracy of the system is approximately the same as the resolution of the fathometer. Signal scatter can be a major source of error in the data. The electrical- conductivity probe system was installed and tested at a bridge over the Pamunkey River near Hanover, Virginia. The approximate elevation of the riverbed is determined by comparing conductivities of the surface-water flow with conductivities of submerged bed material from sensors located in each. Field data collected indicate that an electrical- conductivity probe, as tested, has limited usefulness in identifying and monitoring the riverbed elevation during high flows. As the discharge increases, the concentration of sediment in the surface-water flow increases, especially near the riverbed. Conductivities, measured at the sensors in the surface-water flow could not be distinguished from conductivities measured at the shallowest sensor in the submerged bed material.

Multi-sensor analysis of urban ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gallo, Kevin P.; Ji, Lei

2004-01-01

This study examines the synthesis of multiple space-based sensors to characterize the urban environment Single scene data (e.g., ASTER visible and near-IR surface reflectance, and land surface temperature data), multi-temporal data (e.g., one year of 16-day MODIS and AVHRR vegetation index data), and DMSP-OLS nighttime light data acquired in the early 1990s and 2000 were evaluated for urban ecosystem analysis. The advantages of a multi-sensor approach for the analysis of urban ecosystem processes are discussed.

Linear FBG Temperature Sensor Interrogation with Fabry-Perot ITU Multi-wavelength Reference

PubMed Central

Park, Hyoung-Jun; Song, Minho

2008-01-01

The equidistantly spaced multi-passbands of a Fabry-Perot ITU filter are used as an efficient multi-wavelength reference for fiber Bragg grating sensor demodulation. To compensate for the nonlinear wavelength tuning effect in the FBG sensor demodulator, a polynomial fitting algorithm was applied to the temporal peaks of the wavelength-scanned ITU filter. The fitted wavelength values are assigned to the peak locations of the FBG sensor reflections, obtaining constant accuracy, regardless of the wavelength scan range and frequency. A linearity error of about 0.18% against a reference thermocouple thermometer was obtained with the suggested method. PMID:27873898

Fiber Loop Ringdown — a Time-Domain Sensing Technique for Multi-Function Fiber Optic Sensor Platforms: Current Status and Design Perspectives

PubMed Central

Wang, Chuji

2009-01-01

Fiber loop ringdown (FLRD) utilizes an inexpensive telecommunications light source, a photodiode, and a section of single-mode fiber to form a uniform fiber optic sensor platform for sensing various quantities, such as pressure, temperature, strain, refractive index, chemical species, biological cells, and small volume of fluids. In FLRD, optical losses of a light pulse in a fiber loop induced by changes in a quantity are measured by the light decay time constants. FLRD measures time to detect a quantity; thus, FLRD is referred to as a time-domain sensing technique. FLRD sensors have near real-time response, multi-pass enhanced high-sensitivity, and relatively low cost (i.e., without using an optical spectral analyzer). During the last eight years since the introduction of the original form of fiber ringdown spectroscopy, there has been increasing interest in the FLRD technique in fiber optic sensor developments, and new application potential is being explored. This paper first discusses the challenging issues in development of multi-function, fiber optic sensors or sensor networks using current fiber optic sensor sensing schemes, and then gives a review on current fiber optic sensor development using FLRD technique. Finally, design perspectives on new generation, multi-function, fiber optic sensor platforms using FLRD technique are particularly presented. PMID:22408471

Late Quaternary stratigraphy of the La Janda Basin (SW Spain) - first results and palaeoenvironmental significance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höbig, Nicole; Santisteban, Juan; Mediavilla, Rosa; May, Simon Matthias; Klasen, Nicole; Brückner, Helmut; van't Hoff, Jasmijn; Reicherter, Klaus

2017-04-01

The La Janda basin in southern Spain is a near-shore geo-bio-archive comprising a variable Quaternary depositional history, with shallow marine, lacustrine, palustrine, and terrestrial strata. In the 1930s the lake was drained and is serving now as a huge agricultural area. The 33 m-core recovered in fall 2016 along with several shallower drill cores up to c. 15 m, reveals insights into a unique mixed terrestrial palaeo-environmental archive in Andalucia influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and hence the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) within the Gulf of Cádiz. The basin's evolution was influenced both by the postglacial marine transgression and by an active tectonic fault controlling most of the accommodation space by causing subsidence. Our long core was accompanied by further corings along an E-W striking transect in order to reveal also the relation of the influence of tectonic activity with sedimentary sequences. Multi-Sensor Core Logging has been completed. Results of sedimentological, geochemical and micropalaeontological analyses will be presented in the frame of the climate variations during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene, along with a preliminary age-depth model based on radiocarbon (AMS-14C) and optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques. Our investigations ultimately aim at providing valuable information on major Late Pleistocene to Holocene climatic and palaeo-environmental fluctuations in the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Efficiently Scheduling Multi-core Guest Virtual Machines on Multi-core Hosts in Network Simulation

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

Yoginath, Srikanth B; Perumalla, Kalyan S

2011-01-01

Virtual machine (VM)-based simulation is a method used by network simulators to incorporate realistic application behaviors by executing actual VMs as high-fidelity surrogates for simulated end-hosts. A critical requirement in such a method is the simulation time-ordered scheduling and execution of the VMs. Prior approaches such as time dilation are less efficient due to the high degree of multiplexing possible when multiple multi-core VMs are simulated on multi-core host systems. We present a new simulation time-ordered scheduler to efficiently schedule multi-core VMs on multi-core real hosts, with a virtual clock realized on each virtual core. The distinguishing features of ourmore » approach are: (1) customizable granularity of the VM scheduling time unit on the simulation time axis, (2) ability to take arbitrary leaps in virtual time by VMs to maximize the utilization of host (real) cores when guest virtual cores idle, and (3) empirically determinable optimality in the tradeoff between total execution (real) time and time-ordering accuracy levels. Experiments show that it is possible to get nearly perfect time-ordered execution, with a slight cost in total run time, relative to optimized non-simulation VM schedulers. Interestingly, with our time-ordered scheduler, it is also possible to reduce the time-ordering error from over 50% of non-simulation scheduler to less than 1% realized by our scheduler, with almost the same run time efficiency as that of the highly efficient non-simulation VM schedulers.« less

Long-Term Simultaneous Localization and Mapping in Dynamic Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

core competencies required for autonomous mobile robotics is the ability to use sensors to perceive the environment. From this noisy sensor data, the...and mapping (SLAM), is a prerequisite for almost all higher-level autonomous behavior in mobile robotics. By associating the robot???s sensory...distributed stochastic neighbor embedding x ABSTRACT One of the core competencies required for autonomous mobile robotics is the ability to use sensors

A Method for Improving the Pose Accuracy of a Robot Manipulator Based on Multi-Sensor Combined Measurement and Data Fusion

PubMed Central

Liu, Bailing; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua

2015-01-01

An improvement method for the pose accuracy of a robot manipulator by using a multiple-sensor combination measuring system (MCMS) is presented. It is composed of a visual sensor, an angle sensor and a series robot. The visual sensor is utilized to measure the position of the manipulator in real time, and the angle sensor is rigidly attached to the manipulator to obtain its orientation. Due to the higher accuracy of the multi-sensor, two efficient data fusion approaches, the Kalman filter (KF) and multi-sensor optimal information fusion algorithm (MOIFA), are used to fuse the position and orientation of the manipulator. The simulation and experimental results show that the pose accuracy of the robot manipulator is improved dramatically by 38%∼78% with the multi-sensor data fusion. Comparing with reported pose accuracy improvement methods, the primary advantage of this method is that it does not require the complex solution of the kinematics parameter equations, increase of the motion constraints and the complicated procedures of the traditional vision-based methods. It makes the robot processing more autonomous and accurate. To improve the reliability and accuracy of the pose measurements of MCMS, the visual sensor repeatability is experimentally studied. An optimal range of 1 × 0.8 × 1 ∼ 2 × 0.8 × 1 m in the field of view (FOV) is indicated by the experimental results. PMID:25850067

Turbidity threshold sampling for suspended sediment load estimation

Treesearch

Jack Lewis; Rand Eads

2001-01-01

Abstract - The paper discusses an automated procedure for measuring turbidity and sampling suspended sediment. The basic equipment consists of a programmable data logger, an in situ turbidimeter, a pumping sampler, and a stage-measuring device. The data logger program employs turbidity to govern sample collection during each transport event. Mounting configurations and...

Characteristics of West Virginia loggers during economically difficult times

Treesearch

Ben Spong; Jinxing Wang; David Summerfield

2011-01-01

West Virginia licensed loggers have been surveyed over the years regarding their business, operational, and personal characteristics. An update of this study was completed in 2009 to illustrate the impacts of the current economic conditions on the forestry and forest products industries. Additionally, this survey will help demonstrate the preparedness of the logging...

Improving temperature monitoring in the vaccine cold chain at the periphery: an intervention study using a 30-day electronic refrigerator temperature logger (Fridge-tag).

PubMed

Kartoğlu, Umit; Nelaj, Erida; Maire, Denis

2010-05-28

This intervention study was conducted in Albania to establish the superiority of the Fridge-tag (30-day electronic refrigerator temperature logger) against thermometers. Intervention sites used Fridge-tag and a modified temperature control record sheet, while control sites continued with their routine operation with thermometers. All refrigerators in both groups were equipped with downloadable electronic data loggers to record temperatures for reference. Focus group sessions were conducted with involved staff to discuss temperature monitoring, Fridge-tag use and its user-friendliness. Significant discrepancies were observed between thermometer readings and the electronic data loggers in control sites, while all alarms from Fridge-tag were confirmed in the intervention group. Thermometers are not sufficient to monitor temperatures in refrigerators since they miss the great majority of low and high alarms. Fridge-tag has proven to be an effective tool in providing health workers with the information they need to take the necessary actions when there are refrigerator temperature variations. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The hydraulic connectivity, perennial warming and relationship to seismicity of the Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field, Salton Trough, California from new and recent temperature time-series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Amar P.

The Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field is a cluster of about 50 transtension-related geothermal seeps in the Imperial Valley, southeastern California. Five temperature time-series were collected from four features and compared to one another, against prior time-series, and to local seismicity. Loggers placed in separate vents within one seep returned moderate anti-correlation. Vents may selectively clog and unclog. Clogging frequencies explaining the observed level of negative correlation were given. Loggers placed in the same vent produced 87-92% positive correlation. It is therefore likely that the vast majority of temperature data measured with loggers possesses meaningful accuracy. Loggers placed in separate seeps exhibited correlation close to or greater than the statistically significant 60% threshold. I propose two lineaments provide a hydraulic connection between these seeps. Two Mw>3.0 earthquake swarms, including one Mw>4.0 event, within 24 kilometers showed possible linkage with >5 degree Celsius temperature perturbations. Seepage warmed 14.5-36.8 degrees Celsius over 5-7 years.

A software defined RTU multi-protocol automatic adaptation data transmission method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Huiying; Xu, Xingwu; Wang, Zhanfeng; Ma, Weijun; Li, Sheng; Su, Yong; Pan, Yunpeng

2018-02-01

Remote terminal unit (RTU) is the core device of the monitor system in hydrology and water resources. Different devices often have different communication protocols in the application layer, which results in the difficulty in information analysis and communication networking. Therefore, we introduced the idea of software defined hardware, and abstracted the common feature of mainstream communication protocols of RTU application layer, and proposed a uniformed common protocol model. Then, various communication protocol algorithms of application layer are modularized according to the model. The executable codes of these algorithms are labeled by the virtual functions and stored in the flash chips of embedded CPU to form the protocol stack. According to the configuration commands to initialize the RTU communication systems, it is able to achieve dynamic assembling and loading of various application layer communication protocols of RTU and complete the efficient transport of sensor data from RTU to central station when the data acquisition protocol of sensors and various external communication terminals remain unchanged.

Comments on airborne ISR radar utilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doerry, A. W.

2016-05-01

A sensor/payload operator for modern multi-sensor multi-mode Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms is often confronted with a plethora of options in sensors and sensor modes. This often leads an over-worked operator to down-select to favorite sensors and modes; for example a justifiably favorite Full Motion Video (FMV) sensor at the expense of radar modes, even if radar modes can offer unique and advantageous information. At best, sensors might be used in a serial monogamous fashion with some cross-cueing. The challenge is then to increase the utilization of the radar modes in a manner attractive to the sensor/payload operator. We propose that this is best accomplished by combining sensor modes and displays into `super-modes'.

Geomicrobial Optical Logging Detectors (GOLD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bramall, N. E.; Stoker, C. R.; Price, P. B.; Coates, J. D.; Allamandola, L. J.; Mattioda, A. L.

2008-12-01

We will present concepts for downhole instrumentation that could be used in the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). We envision optical borehole-logging instruments that could monitor bacterial concentration, mineralogy, aromatic organics, temperature and oxygen concentration, allowing for the in situ monitoring of time-dependent microbial and short-scale geologic processes and provide valuable in situ data on stratigraphy to supplement core analyses, especially where instances of missing or damaged core sections make such studies difficult. Incorporated into these instruments will be a sampling/inoculation tool to allow for the recovery and/or manipulation of particularly interesting sections of the borehole wall for further study, enabling a series of microbiological studies. The borehole tools we will develop revolve around key emerging technologies and methods, some of which are briefly described below: 1) Autofluorescence Spectroscopy: Building on past instruments, we will develop a new borehole logger that searches for microbial life and organics using fluorescence spectroscopy. Many important organic compounds (e.g. PAHs) and biomolecules (e.g. aromatic amino acids, proteins, methanogenic coenzymes) fluoresce when excited with ultraviolet and visible light. Through the careful selection of excitation wavelength(s) and temporal gating parameters, a borehole logging instrument can detect and differentiate between these different compounds and the mineral matrix in which they exist. 2) Raman Spectroscopy: Though less sensitive than fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy is more definitive: it can provide important mineral phase distribution/proportions and other chemical data enabling studies of mineralogy and microbe-mineral interactions (when combined with fluorescence). 3) Borehole Camera: Imaging of the borehole wall with extended information in the UV, visible, and NIR for a more informative view can provide a lot of insight to in situ processes. 4) Temperature and Oxygen Sensors: The ambient temperature will be recorded as well as the presence of oxygen. Oxygen presence can be measured using a fluorescence quenching fiber optic probe to avoid interference from other gases. We forsee that this technology will enable experiments including studies of gene transfer, microbial habitat, in situ stratigraphy and hydrological processes. In addition, though designed to scan borehole walls, GOLD could be used to scan core samples as they are recovered for rapid quantification and analysis in order to discover samples of particular interest that could then be prioritized for more in-depth, traditional analysis.

Compact TDLAS based sensor design using interband cascade lasers for mid-IR trace gas sensing

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

Dong, Lei; Tittel, Frank K.; Li, Chunguang

2016-02-25

Two compact TDLAS sensor systems based on different structural optical cores were developed. The two optical cores combine two recent developments, gallium antimonide (GaSb)-based ICL and a compact multipass gas cell (MPGC) with the goal to create compact TDLAS based sensors for the mid-IR gas detection with high detection sensitivity and low power consumption. The sensors achieved minimum detection limits of ~5 ppbv and ~8 ppbv, respectively, for CH 4 and C 2H 6 concentration measurements with a 3.7-W power consumption.

Progress on Platforms, Sensors and Applications with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in soil science and geomorphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anders, Niels; Suomalainen, Juha; Seeger, Manuel; Keesstra, Saskia; Bartholomeus, Harm; Paron, Paolo

2014-05-01

The recent increase of performance and endurance of electronically controlled flying platforms, such as multi-copters and fixed-wing airplanes, and decreasing size and weight of different sensors and batteries leads to increasing popularity of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for scientific purposes. Modern workflows that implement UAS include guided flight plan generation, 3D GPS navigation for fully automated piloting, and automated processing with new techniques such as "Structure from Motion" photogrammetry. UAS are often equipped with normal RGB cameras, multi- and hyperspectral sensors, radar, or other sensors, and provide a cheap and flexible solution for creating multi-temporal data sets. UAS revolutionized multi-temporal research allowing new applications related to change analysis and process monitoring. The EGU General Assembly 2014 is hosting a session on platforms, sensors and applications with UAS in soil science and geomorphology. This presentation briefly summarizes the outcome of this session, addressing the current state and future challenges of small-platform data acquisition in soil science and geomorphology.

Distributed multi-sensor particle filter for bearings-only tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jungen; Ji, Hongbing

2012-02-01

In this article, the classical bearings-only tracking (BOT) problem for a single target is addressed, which belongs to the general class of non-linear filtering problems. Due to the fact that the radial distance observability of the target is poor, the algorithm-based sequential Monte-Carlo (particle filtering, PF) methods generally show instability and filter divergence. A new stable distributed multi-sensor PF method is proposed for BOT. The sensors process their measurements at their sites using a hierarchical PF approach, which transforms the BOT problem from Cartesian coordinate to the logarithmic polar coordinate and separates the observable components from the unobservable components of the target. In the fusion centre, the target state can be estimated by utilising the multi-sensor optimal information fusion rule. Furthermore, the computation of a theoretical Cramer-Rao lower bound is given for the multi-sensor BOT problem. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed tracking method can provide better performances than the traditional PF method.

Estradiol alters body temperature regulation in the female mouse.

PubMed

Krajewski-Hall, Sally J; Blackmore, Elise M; McMinn, Jessi R; Rance, Naomi E

2018-01-01

Hot flushes are due to estrogen withdrawal and characterized by the episodic activation of heat dissipation effectors. Recent studies (in humans and rats) have implicated neurokinin 3 (NK 3 ) receptor signaling in the genesis of hot flushes. Although transgenic mice are increasingly used for biomedical research, there is limited information on how 17β-estradiol and NK 3 receptor signaling alters thermoregulation in the mouse. In this study, a method was developed to measure tail skin temperature (T SKIN ) using a small data-logger attached to the surface of the tail, which, when combined with a telemetry probe for core temperature (T CORE ), allowed us to monitor thermoregulation in freely-moving mice over long durations. We report that estradiol treatment of ovariectomized mice reduced T CORE during the light phase (but not the dark phase) while having no effect on T SKIN or activity. Estradiol also lowered T CORE in mice exposed to ambient temperatures ranging from 20 to 36°C. Unlike previous studies in the rat, estradiol treatment of ovariectomized mice did not reduce T SKIN during the dark phase. Subcutaneous injections of an NK 3 receptor agonist (senktide) in ovariectomized mice caused an acute increase in T SKIN and a reduction in T CORE , consistent with the activation of heat dissipation effectors. These changes were reduced by estradiol, suggesting that estradiol lowers the sensitivity of central thermoregulatory pathways to NK 3 receptor activation. Overall, we show that estradiol treatment of ovariectomized mice decreases T CORE during the light phase, reduces the thermoregulatory effects of senktide and modulates thermoregulation differently than previously described in the rat.

Late Quaternary paleohydrology deduced from new marine sediment cores taken on the proximal Amazon continental margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nace, T.; Baker, P. A.; Dwyer, G. S.; Hollander, D. J.; Silva, C. G.

2010-12-01

Throughout the late Quaternary the Amazon Basin has been influenced by abrupt North-South climate forcing and has undergone several large climate variations as recorded in previously reported speleothem records. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle there are few continuous, high-resolution records of the Amazon Basin that date back to and beyond the last glacial period. In this study, we report the first results of a marine geological expedition to the Amazon continental shelf and fan region. During this expedition we collected eight ~30 meter piston cores along with gravity, box and multicores. At both sites we undertook complementary multibeam and high resolution seismic reflection profiling. Analyses will be presented from two sets of box/gravity/piston cores. One core (32m) is from a high sedimentation site on the northern flank of the main submarine canyon within the Amazon Fan complex at 1700m water depth. The other core (30m) is located on a seamount to the south of the Amazon Fan complex at 3100m water depth. A mixed assemblage of foraminifera is used for 14C dating to obtain an age model and bulk organic geochemistry is analyzed to determine percent organic carbon, C/N ratios, δ13C and δ15N. The cores were continuously measured shipboard for magnetic susceptibility and gamma density using a GEOTEK logger. These findings uncover the contribution of pelagic and terrestrial organic matter, whether the terrigenous carbon is derived from C3 versus C4 vegetation, and whether the marine organic matter is composed of phytoplankton or marine algae.

Integration of Fiber-Optic Sensor Arrays into a Multi-Modal Tactile Sensor Processing System for Robotic End-Effectors

PubMed Central

Kampmann, Peter; Kirchner, Frank

2014-01-01

With the increasing complexity of robotic missions and the development towards long-term autonomous systems, the need for multi-modal sensing of the environment increases. Until now, the use of tactile sensor systems has been mostly based on sensing one modality of forces in the robotic end-effector. The use of a multi-modal tactile sensory system is motivated, which combines static and dynamic force sensor arrays together with an absolute force measurement system. This publication is focused on the development of a compact sensor interface for a fiber-optic sensor array, as optic measurement principles tend to have a bulky interface. Mechanical, electrical and software approaches are combined to realize an integrated structure that provides decentralized data pre-processing of the tactile measurements. Local behaviors are implemented using this setup to show the effectiveness of this approach. PMID:24743158

Advances in Multi-Sensor Information Fusion: Theory and Applications 2017.

PubMed

Jin, Xue-Bo; Sun, Shuli; Wei, Hong; Yang, Feng-Bao

2018-04-11

The information fusion technique can integrate a large amount of data and knowledge representing the same real-world object and obtain a consistent, accurate, and useful representation of that object. The data may be independent or redundant, and can be obtained by different sensors at the same time or at different times. A suitable combination of investigative methods can substantially increase the profit of information in comparison with that from a single sensor. Multi-sensor information fusion has been a key issue in sensor research since the 1970s, and it has been applied in many fields. For example, manufacturing and process control industries can generate a lot of data, which have real, actionable business value. The fusion of these data can greatly improve productivity through digitization. The goal of this special issue is to report innovative ideas and solutions for multi-sensor information fusion in the emerging applications era, focusing on development, adoption, and applications.

Multi-Axis Force/Torque Sensor Based on Simply-Supported Beam and Optoelectronics.

PubMed

Noh, Yohan; Bimbo, Joao; Sareh, Sina; Wurdemann, Helge; Fraś, Jan; Chathuranga, Damith Suresh; Liu, Hongbin; Housden, James; Althoefer, Kaspar; Rhode, Kawal

2016-11-17

This paper presents a multi-axis force/torque sensor based on simply-supported beam and optoelectronic technology. The sensor's main advantages are: (1) Low power consumption; (2) low-level noise in comparison with conventional methods of force sensing (e.g., using strain gauges); (3) the ability to be embedded into different mechanical structures; (4) miniaturisation; (5) simple manufacture and customisation to fit a wide-range of robot systems; and (6) low-cost fabrication and assembly of sensor structure. For these reasons, the proposed multi-axis force/torque sensor can be used in a wide range of application areas including medical robotics, manufacturing, and areas involving human-robot interaction. This paper shows the application of our concept of a force/torque sensor to flexible continuum manipulators: A cylindrical MIS (Minimally Invasive Surgery) robot, and includes its design, fabrication, and evaluation tests.

Multi-Sensor Integration to Map Odor Distribution for the Detection of Chemical Sources.

PubMed

Gao, Xiang; Acar, Levent

2016-07-04

This paper addresses the problem of mapping odor distribution derived from a chemical source using multi-sensor integration and reasoning system design. Odor localization is the problem of finding the source of an odor or other volatile chemical. Most localization methods require a mobile vehicle to follow an odor plume along its entire path, which is time consuming and may be especially difficult in a cluttered environment. To solve both of the above challenges, this paper proposes a novel algorithm that combines data from odor and anemometer sensors, and combine sensors' data at different positions. Initially, a multi-sensor integration method, together with the path of airflow was used to map the pattern of odor particle movement. Then, more sensors are introduced at specific regions to determine the probable location of the odor source. Finally, the results of odor source location simulation and a real experiment are presented.

Clinicians' and Researchers' Perspectives on Manual Wheelchair Data Loggers.

PubMed

Routhier, François; Lettre, Josiane; Miller, William C; Borisoff, Jaimie F; Keetch, Kate; Mitchell, Ian M

2017-07-01

Recent studies have used data loggers to record a wide range of, sometimes differing, objective outcomes associated with the use of manual wheelchairs. To identify which outcomes are broadly perceived to be the most important to measure when objectively documenting manual wheelchair use, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with groups of researchers and clinicians in the field of wheeled mobility. We also surveyed the challenges these groups experienced when using data loggers. The survey was informed by a previous scoping review of the scientific and gray literature. Seventy-four people with various academic and professional backgrounds completed the survey: 57 researchers (77.0%) and 17 clinicians (23.0%). Regarding the importance they attributed to commonly measured outcomes, the most highly rated outcome identified by both groups was "distance traveled." There were significant differences between the groups' perspectives in rating and ranking the importance of "pressure-relief activities," "seat pressure," and "acceleration." In terms of challenges or barriers associated with the use of data loggers for monitoring manual wheelchair use, it appears that researchers and clinicians have relatively similar needs and preferences. However, only clinicians reported that the time they wanted to, or could, allocate to review recorded information was a potential hardship. Our hope is that these results will help further development and increase the functionality and applicability of data loggers for manual wheelchairs in research and clinical contexts. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Triple-Mode Flexible E-Skin Sensor Interface for Multi-Purpose Wearable Applications

PubMed Central

Kim, Sung-Woo; Lee, Youngoh; Park, Jonghwa; Kim, Seungmok; Chae, Heeyoung; Ko, Hyunhyub

2017-01-01

This study presents a flexible wireless electronic skin (e-skin) sensor system that includes a multi-functional sensor device, a triple-mode reconfigurable readout integrated circuit (ROIC), and a mobile monitoring interface. The e-skin device’s multi-functionality is achieved by an interlocked micro-dome array structure that uses a polyvinylidene fluoride and reduced graphene oxide (PVDF/RGO) composite material that is inspired by the structure and functions of the human fingertip. For multi-functional implementation, the proposed triple-mode ROIC is reconfigured to support piezoelectric, piezoresistance, and pyroelectric interfaces through single-type e-skin sensor devices. A flexible system prototype was developed and experimentally verified to provide various wireless wearable sensing functions—including pulse wave, voice, chewing/swallowing, breathing, knee movements, and temperature—while their real-time sensed data are displayed on a smartphone. PMID:29286312

Testing and evaluation of tactical electro-optical sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Middlebrook, Christopher T.; Smith, John G.

2002-07-01

As integrated electro-optical sensor payloads (multi- sensors) comprised of infrared imagers, visible imagers, and lasers advance in performance, the tests and testing methods must also advance in order to fully evaluate them. Future operational requirements will require integrated sensor payloads to perform missions at further ranges and with increased targeting accuracy. In order to meet these requirements sensors will require advanced imaging algorithms, advanced tracking capability, high-powered lasers, and high-resolution imagers. To meet the U.S. Navy's testing requirements of such multi-sensors, the test and evaluation group in the Night Vision and Chemical Biological Warfare Department at NAVSEA Crane is developing automated testing methods, and improved tests to evaluate imaging algorithms, and procuring advanced testing hardware to measure high resolution imagers and line of sight stabilization of targeting systems. This paper addresses: descriptions of the multi-sensor payloads tested, testing methods used and under development, and the different types of testing hardware and specific payload tests that are being developed and used at NAVSEA Crane.

Tools and Data Services from the NASA Earth Satellite Observations for Remote Sensing Commercial Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vicente, Gilberto

2005-01-01

Several commercial applications of remote sensing data, such as water resources management, environmental monitoring, climate prediction, agriculture, forestry, preparation for and migration of extreme weather events, require access to vast amounts of archived high quality data, software tools and services for data manipulation and information extraction. These on the other hand require gaining detailed understanding of the data's internal structure and physical implementation of data reduction, combination and data product production. The time-consuming task must be undertaken before the core investigation can begin and is an especially difficult challenge when science objectives require users to deal with large multi-sensor data sets of different formats, structures, and resolutions.

Simultaneous strain and temperature measure based on a single suspended core photonic crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rota-Rodrigo, S.; López-Amo, M.; Kobelke, J.; Schuster, K.; Santos, J. L.; Frazão, O.

2014-05-01

In this work a simultaneous strain and temperature sensor based on a suspended core fiber is proposed. The sensor comprises a 3mm suspended core PCF between SMFs and is based on the combination of two multimodal interferences with different frequency fringe patterns. The interference of the both signal has different sensitivity responses to strain and temperature. Thought a low-pass frequency filtering of the detected spectrum, the wavelength shift of the two interferences can be measured allowing the discrimination of strain and temperature simultaneously. The resolutions of this sensor are 0.45 ºC and 4.02 μɛ.

Sub-micron surface plasmon resonance sensor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glazier, James A. (Inventor); Amarie, Dragos (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A sensor for detecting the presence of a target analyte, ligand or molecule in a test fluid, comprising a light transmissive substrate on which an array of surface plasmon resonant (SPR) elements is mounted is described. A multi-channel sensor for detecting the presence of several targets with a single microchip sensor is described. A multi-channel sensor including collections of SPR elements which are commonly functionalized to one of several targets is also described. The detectors sense changes in the resonant response of the SPR elements indicative of binding with the targets.

Sub-micron surface plasmon resonance sensor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glazier, James A. (Inventor); Dragnea, Bogdan (Inventor); Amarie, Dragos (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A sensor for detecting the presence of a target analyte, ligand or molecule in a test fluid, comprising a light transmissive substrate on which an array of surface plasmon resonant (SPR) elements is mounted is described. A multi-channel sensor for detecting the presence of several targets with a single microchip sensor is described. A multi-channel sensor including collections of SPR elements which are commonly functionalized to one of several targets is also described. The detectors sense changes in the resonant response of the SPR elements indicative of binding with the targets.

Sub-micron surface plasmon resonance sensor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amarie, Dragos (Inventor); Glazier, James A. (Inventor); Dragnea, Bogdan (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A sensor for detecting the presence of a target analyte, ligand or molecule in a test fluid, comprising a light transmissive substrate on which an array of surface plasmon resonant (SPR) elements is mounted is described. A multi-channel sensor for detecting the presence of several targets with a single micro-chip sensor is described. A multi-channel sensor including collections of SPR elements which are commonly functionalized to one of several targets is also described. The detectors sense changes in the resonant response of the SPR elements indicative of binding with the targets.

Sub-micron surface plasmon resonance sensor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glazier, James A. (Inventor); Amarie, Dragos (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A sensor for detecting the presence of a target analyte, ligand or molecule in a test fluid, comprising a light transmissive substrate on which an array of surface plasmon resonant (SPR) elements is mounted is described. A multi-channel sensor for detecting the presence of several targets with a single micro-chip sensor is described. A multi-channel sensor including collections of SPR elements which are commonly functionalized to one of several targets is also described. The detectors sense changes in the resonant response of the SPR elements indicative of binding with the targets.

Low concentration biomolecular detection using liquid core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF) SERS sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chao; Zhang, Yi; Gu, Claire; Seballos, Leo; Zhang, Jin Z.

2008-02-01

This work demonstrates the use of a highly sensitive Liquid Core Photonic Crystal Fiber (LCPCF) Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) sensor in detecting biological and biochemical molecules. The Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) probe was prepared by carefully sealing the cladding holes using a fusion splicer while leaving the central hollow core open, which ensures that the liquid mixture of the analyte and silver nanoparticles only fills in the hollow core of the PCF, therefore preserving the photonic bandgap. The dependence of the SERS signal on the excitation power and sample concentration was fully characterized using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules. The result shows that the LCPCF sensor has significant advantages over flat surface SERS detections at lower concentrations. This is attributed to the lower absorption at lower concentration leading to a longer effective interaction length inside the LCPCF, which in turn, results in a stronger SERS signal. Several biomolecules, such as Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and alpha-synuclein, which are indicators of prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, respectively, and fail to be detected directly, are successfully detected by the LCPCF sensor. Our results demonstrate the potential of the LCPCF SERS sensor for biomedical detection at low concentrations.

Quaternion-Based Unscented Kalman Filter for Accurate Indoor Heading Estimation Using Wearable Multi-Sensor System

PubMed Central

Yuan, Xuebing; Yu, Shuai; Zhang, Shengzhi; Wang, Guoping; Liu, Sheng

2015-01-01

Inertial navigation based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs) has attracted numerous researchers due to its high reliability and independence. The heading estimation, as one of the most important parts of inertial navigation, has been a research focus in this field. Heading estimation using magnetometers is perturbed by magnetic disturbances, such as indoor concrete structures and electronic equipment. The MEMS gyroscope is also used for heading estimation. However, the accuracy of gyroscope is unreliable with time. In this paper, a wearable multi-sensor system has been designed to obtain the high-accuracy indoor heading estimation, according to a quaternion-based unscented Kalman filter (UKF) algorithm. The proposed multi-sensor system including one three-axis accelerometer, three single-axis gyroscopes, one three-axis magnetometer and one microprocessor minimizes the size and cost. The wearable multi-sensor system was fixed on waist of pedestrian and the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for heading estimation experiments in our college building. The results show that the mean heading estimation errors are less 10° and 5° to multi-sensor system fixed on waist of pedestrian and the quadrotor UAV, respectively, compared to the reference path. PMID:25961384

NASA GES DISC Level 2 Aerosol Analysis and Visualization Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wei, Jennifer; Petrenko, Maksym; Ichoku, Charles; Yang, Wenli; Johnson, James; Zhao, Peisheng; Kempler, Steve

2015-01-01

Overview of NASA GES DISC Level 2 aerosol analysis and visualization services: DQViz (Data Quality Visualization)MAPSS (Multi-sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System), and MAPSS_Explorer (Multi-sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System Explorer).

An Improved Multi-Sensor Fusion Navigation Algorithm Based on the Factor Graph

PubMed Central

Zeng, Qinghua; Chen, Weina; Liu, Jianye; Wang, Huizhe

2017-01-01

An integrated navigation system coupled with additional sensors can be used in the Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) applications because the multi-sensor information is redundant and complementary, which can markedly improve the system accuracy. How to deal with the information gathered from different sensors efficiently is an important problem. The fact that different sensors provide measurements asynchronously may complicate the processing of these measurements. In addition, the output signals of some sensors appear to have a non-linear character. In order to incorporate these measurements and calculate a navigation solution in real time, the multi-sensor fusion algorithm based on factor graph is proposed. The global optimum solution is factorized according to the chain structure of the factor graph, which allows for a more general form of the conditional probability density. It can convert the fusion matter into connecting factors defined by these measurements to the graph without considering the relationship between the sensor update frequency and the fusion period. An experimental MUAV system has been built and some experiments have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:28335570

An Improved Multi-Sensor Fusion Navigation Algorithm Based on the Factor Graph.

PubMed

Zeng, Qinghua; Chen, Weina; Liu, Jianye; Wang, Huizhe

2017-03-21

An integrated navigation system coupled with additional sensors can be used in the Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) applications because the multi-sensor information is redundant and complementary, which can markedly improve the system accuracy. How to deal with the information gathered from different sensors efficiently is an important problem. The fact that different sensors provide measurements asynchronously may complicate the processing of these measurements. In addition, the output signals of some sensors appear to have a non-linear character. In order to incorporate these measurements and calculate a navigation solution in real time, the multi-sensor fusion algorithm based on factor graph is proposed. The global optimum solution is factorized according to the chain structure of the factor graph, which allows for a more general form of the conditional probability density. It can convert the fusion matter into connecting factors defined by these measurements to the graph without considering the relationship between the sensor update frequency and the fusion period. An experimental MUAV system has been built and some experiments have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method.

High sensitivity optical fiber liquid level sensor based on a compact MMF-HCF-FBG structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunshan; Zhang, Weigang; Chen, Lei; Zhang, Yanxin; Wang, Song; Yan, Tieyi

2018-05-01

An ultra-high sensitivity fiber liquid level sensor based on wavelength demodulation is proposed and demonstrated. The sensor is composed of a segment of multimode fiber and a large aperture hollow-core fiber assisted by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). Interference occurs due to core mismatching and different modes with different effective refractive indices. The experimental results show that the liquid level sensitivity of the sensor is 1.145 nm mm‑1, and the linearity is up to 0.996. The dynamic temperature compensation of the sensor can be achieved by cascading an FBG. Considering the high sensitivity and compact structure of the sensor, it can be used for real-time intelligent monitoring of tiny changes in liquid level.

Quality Test of Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) With Short Open Test Using Law Ohm Approach through Embedded Fuzzy Logic Based On Open Source Arduino Data Logger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohmanu, Ajar; Everhard, Yan

2017-04-01

A technological development, especially in the field of electronics is very fast. One of the developments in the electronics hardware device is Flexible Flat Cable (FFC), which serves as a media liaison between the main boards with other hardware parts. The production of Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) will go through the process of testing and measuring of the quality Flexible Flat Cable (FFC). Currently, the testing and measurement is still done manually by observing the Light Emitting Diode (LED) by the operator, so there were many problems. This study will be made of test quality Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) computationally utilize Open Source Embedded System. The method used is the measurement with Short Open Test method using Ohm’s Law approach to 4-wire (Kelvin) and fuzzy logic as a decision maker measurement results based on Open Source Arduino Data Logger. This system uses a sensor current INA219 as a sensor to read the voltage value thus obtained resistance value Flexible Flat Cable (FFC). To get a good system we will do the Black-box testing as well as testing the accuracy and precision with the standard deviation method. In testing the system using three models samples were obtained the test results in the form of standard deviation for the first model of 1.921 second model of 4.567 and 6.300 for the third model. While the value of the Standard Error of Mean (SEM) for the first model of the model 0.304 second at 0.736 and 0.996 of the third model. In testing this system, we will also obtain the average value of the measurement tolerance resistance values for the first model of - 3.50% 4.45% second model and the third model of 5.18% with the standard measurement of prisoners and improve productivity becomes 118.33%. From the results of the testing system is expected to improve the quality and productivity in the process of testing Flexible Flat Cable (FFC).

Energy balance measurements over a small reservoir in Ghana's Upper East Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van de Giesen, Nick; Ohene Annor, Frank

2013-04-01

Near the small village of Binaba (10.778927 deg N, 0.464859 deg E), a small irrigation reservoir has been instrumented to measure different parts of the energy balance of this water body. Instruments were placed on, or attached to, a spar platform. This platform consisted of a long PVC pipe, the spar, which is closed at the bottom. On the PVC pipe rests an aluminum frame platform that carries instrumentation and solar power panel. In turn, the platform rests partially on a large inflated tire. At the bottom of the PVC pipe, lead weights and batteries were placed to ensure a very low point of gravity to minimize wave impact on the platform movement. The tire ensures a large second moment of the water plane. The combination of large second momentum of the water plane and small displacement, ensures a high placement of the metacenter. The distance between the point of gravity and the metacenter is relatively long and the weight is large due to the weights and batteries. This ensures that the eigenfrequency of the platform is very low. On the platform, we fixed a WindMaster Pro (sonic anemometer for 3D wind speed and air temperature to perform eddy covariance measurements of sensible heat flux), a NR Lite (net radiometer), and air temperature and relative humidity sensors. Water temperature at different depths was measured with a string of TidbiT's (waterproof temperature sensors and loggers). The platform had a wind vane and the spar could turn freely around its anchor cable to ensure that the anemometer always faced upwind. A compass in the logger completed this setup. First results suggest, as expected, that the sensible heat flux is relatively small with on average 20 W/m2 over the course of a day. Sensible heat flux peaked around midnight at 35 W/m2, when the warm water warmed up the air from the colder surrounding land. The dynamics of heat storage during the daytime and longwave radiation during the night time, are important to calculate the latent heat flux.

Evaluation of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM with All Weather Gauge Observations over CONUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, S.; Qi, Y.; Hu, B.; Hu, J.; Hong, Y.

2015-12-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is composed of an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow. Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) is the state-of-art precipitation products with high spatio-temporal resolution of 0.1°/30min. IMERG unifies precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites with the core sensors dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) and microwave imager (GMI) on board a "Core" satellite. Additionally, IMERG blends the advantages of currently most popular satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) algorithms, i.e. TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS). The real-time and post real-time IMERG products are now available online at https://stormpps.gsfc.nasa.gov/storm. In this study, the final run post real-time IMERG is evaluated with all-weather manual gauge observations over CONUS from June 2014 through May 2015. Relative Bias (RB), Root-Mean-Squared Error (RMSE), Correlation Coefficient (CC), Probability Of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), and Critical Success Index (CSI) are used to quantify the performance of IMERG. The performance of IMERG in estimating snowfall precipitation is highlighted in the study. This timely evaluation with all-weather gauge observations is expected to offer insights into performance of IMERG and thus provide useful feedback to the algorithm developers as well as the GPM data users.

Intra-Inversion Filtering for Use of Magnetic Fields to Locate and Characterize Magnetic Dipoles for Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Cleanup

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-26

IIGE Intra-Inversion Gradient Estimation JPG Jefferson Proving Ground (Indiana); www.jpgbrac.com MTADS Multi- sensor Towed Array Detection...wherein the Statement of Need sought development of algorithms to exploit data from current state-of-the-art geophysical sensors and advanced sensors ...profile direction using an array of magnetometers as in the Multi- sensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS). In most instances, such data may be

Working safely in summertime heat

Treesearch

Robert B. Rummer

1997-01-01

As logging operations continue in the hotter months of he year, the safety hazard of heat stress appears. Loggers are particularly at risk, because the combination of hard physical work and outdoor conditions puts high demands on the body. While loggers rarely die from heat stress, they may suffer heat illness symptoms ranging from the discomfort of heat rash to nausea...

The Role of Communicative Feedback in Successful Water Conservation Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tom, Gail; Tauchus, Gail; Williams, Jared; Tong, Stephanie

2011-01-01

The Sacramento County Water Agency has made available 2 water conservation programs to its customers. The Data Logger Program attaches the Meter Master Model 100 EL data logger to the customer's water meter for 1 week and provides a detailed report of water usage from each fixture. The Water Wise House Call Program provides findings and…

Impact of a Professional Development Program Using Data-Loggers on Science Teachers' Attitudes towards Inquiry-Based Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tosa, Sachiko; Martin, Fred

2010-01-01

This study examined how a professional development program which incorporates the use of electronic data-loggers could impact on science teachers' attitudes towards inquiry-based teaching. The participants were 28 science or technology teachers who attended workshops offered in the United States and Japan. The professional development program…

An Assessment of the SEA Multi-Element Sensor for Liquid Water Content Calibration of the NASA GRC Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steen, Laura E.; Ide, Robert F.; Van Zante, Judith F.

2015-01-01

The NASA Glenn Icing Research tunnel has been using an Icing Blade technique to measure cloud liquid water content (LWC) since 1980. The IRT conducted tests with SEA Multi-Element sensors from 2009 to 2011 to assess their performance in measuring LWC. These tests revealed that the Multi-Element sensors showed some significant advantages over the Icing Blade, particularly at higher water contents, higher impingement rates, and large drop sizes. Results of these and other tests are presented here.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E.

2013-05-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing datasets on our own nodes and in the Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. We will also present a concept/prototype for staging NASA's A-Train Atmospheric datasets (Levels 2 & 3) in the Amazon Cloud so that any number of compute jobs can be executed "near" the multi-sensor data. Given such a system, multi-sensor climate studies over 10-20 years of data could be performed in an efficient way, with the researcher paying only his own Cloud compute bill.; Figure 1 -- Architecture.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2013-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the 'A-Train' platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (MERRA), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the 'cloud scenes' from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically 'sharded' by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved 'clock time' speedups in fusing datasets on our own compute nodes and in the public Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. We will also present a concept/prototype for staging NASA's A-Train Atmospheric datasets (Levels 2 & 3) in the Amazon Cloud so that any number of compute jobs can be executed 'near' the multi-sensor data. Given such a system, multi-sensor climate studies over 10-20 years of data could be performed in an efficient way, with the researcher paying only his own Cloud compute bill. SciReduce Architecture

A high sensitivity wear debris sensor using ferrite cores for online oil condition monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Xiaoliang; Zhong, Chong; Zhe, Jiang

2017-07-01

Detecting wear debris and measuring the increasing number of wear debris in lubrication oil can indicate abnormal machine wear well ahead of machine failure, and thus are indispensable for online machine health monitoring. A portable wear debris sensor with ferrite cores for online monitoring is presented. The sensor detects wear debris by measuring the inductance change of two planar coils wound around a pair of ferrite cores that make the magnetic flux denser and more uniform in the sensing channel, thereby improving the sensitivity of the sensor. Static testing results showed this wear debris sensor is capable of detecting 11 µm and 50 µm ferrous debris in 1 mm and 7 mm diameter fluidic pipes, respectively; such a high sensitivity has not been achieved before. Furthermore, a synchronized sampling method was also applied to reduce the data size and realize real-time data processing. Dynamic testing results demonstrated that the sensor is capable of detecting wear debris in real time with a high throughput of 750 ml min-1 the measured debris concentration is in good agreement with the actual concentration.

MIMO signal progressing with RLSCMA algorithm for multi-mode multi-core optical transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Yuan; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Li-jia; Xin, Xiang-jun; Zhang, Qi; Wang, Yong-jun; Tian, Qing-hua; Tian, Feng; Mao, Ya-ya

2018-01-01

In the process of transmitting signals of multi-mode multi-core fiber, there will be mode coupling between modes. The mode dispersion will also occur because each mode has different transmission speed in the link. Mode coupling and mode dispersion will cause damage to the useful signal in the transmission link, so the receiver needs to deal received signal with digital signal processing, and compensate the damage in the link. We first analyzes the influence of mode coupling and mode dispersion in the process of transmitting signals of multi-mode multi-core fiber, then presents the relationship between the coupling coefficient and dispersion coefficient. Then we carry out adaptive signal processing with MIMO equalizers based on recursive least squares constant modulus algorithm (RLSCMA). The MIMO equalization algorithm offers adaptive equalization taps according to the degree of crosstalk in cores or modes, which eliminates the interference among different modes and cores in space division multiplexing(SDM) transmission system. The simulation results show that the distorted signals are restored efficiently with fast convergence speed.