Sample records for trigger timing calibration

  1. LHCb detector and trigger performance in Run II

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Francesca, Dordei

    2017-12-01

    The LHCb detector is a forward spectrometer at the LHC, designed to perform high precision studies of b- and c- hadrons. In Run II of the LHC, a new scheme for the software trigger at LHCb allows splitting the triggering of events into two stages, giving room to perform the alignment and calibration in real time. In the novel detector alignment and calibration strategy for Run II, data collected at the start of the fill are processed in a few minutes and used to update the alignment, while the calibration constants are evaluated for each run. This allows identical constants to be used in the online and offline reconstruction, thus improving the correlation between triggered and offline selected events. The required computing time constraints are met thanks to a new dedicated framework using the multi-core farm infrastructure for the trigger. The larger timing budget, available in the trigger, allows to perform the same track reconstruction online and offline. This enables LHCb to achieve the best reconstruction performance already in the trigger, and allows physics analyses to be performed directly on the data produced by the trigger reconstruction. The novel real-time processing strategy at LHCb is discussed from both the technical and operational point of view. The overall performance of the LHCb detector on the data of Run II is presented as well.

  2. Sensitivity analysis and calibration of a dynamic physically based slope stability model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zieher, Thomas; Rutzinger, Martin; Schneider-Muntau, Barbara; Perzl, Frank; Leidinger, David; Formayer, Herbert; Geitner, Clemens

    2017-06-01

    Physically based modelling of slope stability on a catchment scale is still a challenging task. When applying a physically based model on such a scale (1 : 10 000 to 1 : 50 000), parameters with a high impact on the model result should be calibrated to account for (i) the spatial variability of parameter values, (ii) shortcomings of the selected model, (iii) uncertainties of laboratory tests and field measurements or (iv) parameters that cannot be derived experimentally or measured in the field (e.g. calibration constants). While systematic parameter calibration is a common task in hydrological modelling, this is rarely done using physically based slope stability models. In the present study a dynamic, physically based, coupled hydrological-geomechanical slope stability model is calibrated based on a limited number of laboratory tests and a detailed multitemporal shallow landslide inventory covering two landslide-triggering rainfall events in the Laternser valley, Vorarlberg (Austria). Sensitive parameters are identified based on a local one-at-a-time sensitivity analysis. These parameters (hydraulic conductivity, specific storage, angle of internal friction for effective stress, cohesion for effective stress) are systematically sampled and calibrated for a landslide-triggering rainfall event in August 2005. The identified model ensemble, including 25 behavioural model runs with the highest portion of correctly predicted landslides and non-landslides, is then validated with another landslide-triggering rainfall event in May 1999. The identified model ensemble correctly predicts the location and the supposed triggering timing of 73.0 % of the observed landslides triggered in August 2005 and 91.5 % of the observed landslides triggered in May 1999. Results of the model ensemble driven with raised precipitation input reveal a slight increase in areas potentially affected by slope failure. At the same time, the peak run-off increases more markedly, suggesting that precipitation intensities during the investigated landslide-triggering rainfall events were already close to or above the soil's infiltration capacity.

  3. Novel Real-time Alignment and Calibration of the LHCb detector in Run2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinelli, Maurizio; LHCb Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    LHCb has introduced a novel real-time detector alignment and calibration strategy for LHC Run2. Data collected at the start of the fill are processed in a few minutes and used to update the alignment parameters, while the calibration constants are evaluated for each run. This procedure improves the quality of the online reconstruction. For example, the vertex locator is retracted and reinserted for stable beam conditions in each fill to be centred on the primary vertex position in the transverse plane. Consequently its position changes on a fill-by-fill basis. Critically, this new real-time alignment and calibration procedure allows identical constants to be used in the online and offline reconstruction, thus improving the correlation between triggered and offline-selected events. This offers the opportunity to optimise the event selection in the trigger by applying stronger constraints. The required computing time constraints are met thanks to a new dedicated framework using the multi-core farm infrastructure for the trigger. The motivation for a real-time alignment and calibration of the LHCb detector is discussed from both the operational and physics performance points of view. Specific challenges of this novel configuration are discussed, as well as the working procedures of the framework and its performance.

  4. CALET Data Processing and On-Orbit Detector Calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asaoka, Yoichi

    2016-07-01

    The CALET (CALorimetric Electron Telescope), launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in August 2015 and accumulating scientific data since October 2015, aims at long duration observations of high-energy cosmic rays onboard the ISS. The CALET detector features the very thick calorimeter of 30 radiation-length which consists of imaging and total absorption calorimeters (IMC and TASC respectively). It will directly measure the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range of 1 GeV-20 TeV with 2% energy resolution. In addition, the instrument has capabilities to measure the spectra of gamma-rays, protons and nuclei well into the TeV range. Precise pointing direction is determined with an attached Advanced Stellar Camera (ASC). To operate the CALET onboard ISS, the CALET Ground Support Equipment (CALET-GSE) and Waseda CALET Operations Center (WCOC) have been established at JAXA and Waseda Univ., respectively. Scientific operations of CALET are planned in the WCOC taking into account the orbital variations of geomagnetic rigidity cutoff. Scheduled command sequence is utilized to control CALET observation mode on orbit. A calibration data trigger mode, such as recording pedestal and penetrating particle events, a low-energy electron trigger mode operating at high geomagnetic latitude, and other dedicated trigger modes are scheduled around the ISS orbit while maintaining the maximum exposure to high-energy electrons. Scientific raw data called CALET Level 0 data are generated from raw telemetry packets in the CALET-GSE on an hourly basis by correcting time-order and by completing the data set using stored data taken during loss of real-time telemetry downlink. Level 0 data are processed to CALET Level 1 data in the WCOC by interpreting all the raw packets and building cosmic-ray event data as well as house keeping data. Level 1 data are then distributed to the collaboration for scientific data analysis. Level 1 data analysis is focused on the detector calibration which consists of timing, arrival direction, and energy of incoming cosmic-ray events. Timing calibration is performed using time-pair data generated from the timing of the pulse-per-second (PPS) signal obtained in the GPS receiver. Arrival direction is calculated from the reconstructed track using the ASC data. Alignment of fibers in the IMC and of the TASC with respect to the IMC need to be calibrated. Energy calibration is the most important calibration to measure the cosmic-ray spectra and is based on the energy deposit of minimum ionizing particles (MIP). By using a special trigger mode for penetrating particles, it is possible to calibrate the response of each detector element. Position and temperature dependence of the MIP signal are also measured and corrected in the calibration. By applying all the necessary calibrations, CALET Level 2 data for physics analysis are produced from the Level 1 data. In this contribution, we will review offline data processing and calibration of CALET flight data.

  5. Real-time calibration and alignment of the LHCb RICH detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    HE, Jibo

    2017-12-01

    In 2015, the LHCb experiment established a new and unique software trigger strategy with the purpose of increasing the purity of the signal events by applying the same algorithms online and offline. To achieve this, real-time calibration and alignment of all LHCb sub-systems is needed to provide vertexing, tracking, and particle identification of the best possible quality. The calibration of the refractive index of the RICH radiators, the calibration of the Hybrid Photon Detector image, and the alignment of the RICH mirror system, are reported in this contribution. The stability of the RICH performance and the particle identification performance are also discussed.

  6. Online Calibration of the TPC Drift Time in the ALICE High Level Trigger

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rohr, David; Krzewicki, Mikolaj; Zampolli, Chiara; Wiechula, Jens; Gorbunov, Sergey; Chauvin, Alex; Vorobyev, Ivan; Weber, Steffen; Schweda, Kai; Lindenstruth, Volker

    2017-06-01

    A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) is one of the four major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The high level trigger (HLT) is a compute cluster, which reconstructs collisions as recorded by the ALICE detector in real-time. It employs a custom online data-transport framework to distribute data and workload among the compute nodes. ALICE employs subdetectors that are sensitive to environmental conditions such as pressure and temperature, e.g., the time projection chamber (TPC). A precise reconstruction of particle trajectories requires calibration of these detectors. Performing calibration in real time in the HLT improves the online reconstructions and renders certain offline calibration steps obsolete speeding up offline physics analysis. For LHC Run 3, starting in 2020 when data reduction will rely on reconstructed data, online calibration becomes a necessity. Reconstructed particle trajectories build the basis for the calibration making a fast online-tracking mandatory. The main detectors used for this purpose are the TPC and Inner Tracking System. Reconstructing the trajectories in the TPC is the most compute-intense step. We present several improvements to the ALICE HLT developed to facilitate online calibration. The main new development for online calibration is a wrapper that can run ALICE offline analysis and calibration tasks inside the HLT. In addition, we have added asynchronous processing capabilities to support long-running calibration tasks in the HLT framework, which runs event-synchronously otherwise. In order to improve the resiliency, an isolated process performs the asynchronous operations such that even a fatal error does not disturb data taking. We have complemented the original loop-free HLT chain with ZeroMQ data-transfer components. The ZeroMQ components facilitate a feedback loop that inserts the calibration result created at the end of the chain back into tracking components at the beginning of the chain, after a short delay. All these new features are implemented in a general way, such that they have use-cases aside from online calibration. In order to gather sufficient statistics for the calibration, the asynchronous calibration component must process enough events per time interval. Since the calibration is valid only for a certain time period, the delay until the feedback loop provides updated calibration data must not be too long. A first full-scale test of the online calibration functionality was performed during 2015 heavy-ion run under real conditions. Since then, online calibration is enabled and benchmarked in 2016 proton-proton data taking. We present a timing analysis of this first online-calibration test, which concludes that the HLT is capable of online TPC drift time calibration fast enough to calibrate the tracking via the feedback loop. We compare the calibration results with the offline calibration and present a comparison of the residuals of the TPC cluster coordinates with respect to offline reconstruction.

  7. Determination of Delta m(d) and absolute calibration of flavor taggers for the Delta m(s) analysis, in fully reconstructed decays at the CDF experiment

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

    Gomez, Jonatan Piedra

    2005-04-21

    The new trigger processor, the Silicon Vertex Tracking (SVT), has dramatically improved the B physics capabilities of the upgraded CDF II Detector; for the first time in a hadron collider, the SVT has enabled the access to non-lepton-triggered B meson decays. Within the new available range of decay modes, the Bmore » $$0\\atop{s}$$ → D$$-\\atop{s}$$π + signature is of paramount importance in the measurement of the Δm s mixing frequency. The analysis reported here is a step towards the measurement of this frequency; two where our goals: carrying out the absolute calibration of the opposite side flavor taggers, used in the Δm s measurement; and measuring the B$$0\\atop{d}$$ mixing frequency in a B → Dπ sample, establishing the feasibility of the mixing measurement in this sample whose decay-length is strongly biased by the selective SVT trigger. We analyze a total integrated luminosity of 355 pb -1 collected with the CDF II Detector. By triggering on muons, using the conventional di-muon trigger; or displaced tracks, using the SVT trigger, we gather a sample rich in bottom and charm mesons.« less

  8. The on-orbit calibration of the Fermi Large Area Telescope

    DOE PAGES

    Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

    2009-09-06

    The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope began its on-orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft boresight alignments. Here in this work, we describe on-orbit calibration results obtained using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions will be describedmore » in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch. Lastly, these results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly released in August 2009.« less

  9. MoDOT pavement preservation research program volume VII, re-calibration of triggers and performance models.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-10-01

    The objective of this task is to develop the concept and framework for a procedure to routinely create, re-calibrate, and update the : Trigger Tables and Performance Models. The scope of work for Task 6 includes a limited review of the recent pavemen...

  10. The LUX experiment - trigger and data acquisition systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Druszkiewicz, Eryk

    2013-04-01

    The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector is a two-phase xenon time projection chamber designed to detect interactions of dark matter particles with the xenon nuclei. Signals from the detector PMTs are processed by custom-built analog electronics which provide properly shaped signals for the trigger and data acquisition (DAQ) systems. During calibrations, both systems must be able to handle high rates and have large dynamic ranges; during dark matter searches, maximum sensitivity requires low thresholds. The trigger system uses eight-channel 64-MHz digitizers (DDC-8) connected to a Trigger Builder (TB). The FPGA cores on the digitizers perform real-time pulse identification (discriminating between S1 and S2-like signals) and event localization. The TB uses hit patterns, hit maps, and maximum response detection to make trigger decisions, which are reached within few microseconds after the occurrence of an event of interest. The DAQ system is comprised of commercial digitizers with customized firmware. Its real-time baseline suppression allows for a maximum event acquisition rate in excess of 1.5 kHz, which results in virtually no deadtime. The performance of the trigger and DAQ systems during the commissioning runs of LUX will be discussed.

  11. On-orbit operations and offline data processing of CALET onboard the ISS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asaoka, Y.; Ozawa, S.; Torii, S.; Adriani, O.; Akaike, Y.; Asano, K.; Bagliesi, M. G.; Bigongiari, G.; Binns, W. R.; Bonechi, S.; Bongi, M.; Brogi, P.; Buckley, J. H.; Cannady, N.; Castellini, G.; Checchia, C.; Cherry, M. L.; Collazuol, G.; Di Felice, V.; Ebisawa, K.; Fuke, H.; Guzik, T. G.; Hams, T.; Hareyama, M.; Hasebe, N.; Hibino, K.; Ichimura, M.; Ioka, K.; Ishizaki, W.; Israel, M. H.; Javaid, A.; Kasahara, K.; Kataoka, J.; Kataoka, R.; Katayose, Y.; Kato, C.; Kawanaka, N.; Kawakubo, Y.; Krawczynski, H. S.; Krizmanic, J. F.; Kuramata, S.; Lomtadze, T.; Maestro, P.; Marrocchesi, P. S.; Messineo, A. M.; Mitchell, J. W.; Miyake, S.; Mizutani, K.; Moiseev, A. A.; Mori, K.; Mori, M.; Mori, N.; Motz, H. M.; Munakata, K.; Murakami, H.; Nakahira, S.; Nishimura, J.; de Nolfo, G. A.; Okuno, S.; Ormes, J. F.; Pacini, L.; Palma, F.; Papini, P.; Penacchioni, A. V.; Rauch, B. F.; Ricciarini, S. B.; Sakai, K.; Sakamoto, T.; Sasaki, M.; Shimizu, Y.; Shiomi, A.; Sparvoli, R.; Spillantini, P.; Stolzi, F.; Takahashi, I.; Takayanagi, M.; Takita, M.; Tamura, T.; Tateyama, N.; Terasawa, T.; Tomida, H.; Tsunesada, Y.; Uchihori, Y.; Ueno, S.; Vannuccini, E.; Wefel, J. P.; Yamaoka, K.; Yanagita, S.; Yoshida, A.; Yoshida, K.; Yuda, T.

    2018-07-01

    The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), launched for installation on the International Space Station (ISS) in August, 2015, has been accumulating scientific data since October, 2015. CALET is intended to perform long-duration observations of high-energy cosmic rays onboard the ISS. CALET directly measures the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range of 1 GeV to 20 TeV with a 2% energy resolution above 30 GeV. In addition, the instrument can measure the spectrum of gamma rays well into the TeV range, and the spectra of protons and nuclei up to a PeV. In order to operate the CALET onboard ISS, JAXA Ground Support Equipment (JAXA-GSE) and the Waseda CALET Operations Center (WCOC) have been established at JAXA and Waseda University, respectively. Scientific operations using CALET are planned at WCOC, taking into account orbital variations of geomagnetic rigidity cutoff. Scheduled command sequences are used to control the CALET observation modes on orbit. Calibration data acquisition by, for example, recording pedestal and penetrating particle events, a low-energy electron trigger mode operating at high geomagnetic latitude, a low-energy gamma-ray trigger mode operating at low geomagnetic latitude, and an ultra heavy trigger mode, are scheduled around the ISS orbit while maintaining maximum exposure to high-energy electrons and other high-energy shower events by always having the high-energy trigger mode active. The WCOC also prepares and distributes CALET flight data to collaborators in Italy and the United States. As of August 31, 2017, the total observation time is 689 days with a live time fraction of the total time of ∼ 84%. Nearly 450 million events are collected with a high-energy (E > 10 GeV) trigger. In addition, calibration data acquisition and low-energy trigger modes, as well as an ultra-heavy trigger mode, are consistently scheduled around the ISS orbit. By combining all operation modes with the excellent-quality on-orbit data collected thus far, it is expected that a five-year observation period will provide a wealth of new and interesting results.

  12. Calibration of large area Micromegas detectors using cosmic rays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Biebel, O.; Flierl, B.; Herrmann, M.; Hertenberger, R.; Klitzner, F.; Lösel, P.; Müller, R.; Valderanis, C.; Zibell, A.

    2017-06-01

    Currently m2-sized micropattern detectors with spatial resolution better than 100 μm and online trigger capability are of big interest for many experiments. Large size in combination with superb spatial resolution and trigger capability implicates that the construction of these detectors is highly sophisticated and imposes strict mechanical tolerances. We developed a method to survey assembled and working detectors on potential deviations of the micro pattern readout structures from design value as well as deformations of the whole detector, using cosmic muons in a tracking facility. The LMU Cosmic Ray Facility consists of two 8 m2 ATLAS Monitored Drift Tube chambers (MDT) for precision muon reference tracking and two segmented trigger hodoscopes with sub-ns time-resolution and additional 10 cm position information along the wires of the MDTs. It provides information on homogeneity in efficiency and pulse height of one or several micropattern detectors installed in between the MDTs. With an angular acceptance of -30° to +30° the comparison of the reference muon tracking with centroidal position determination or time projection chamber like track reconstruction in the micropattern detector allows for calibration in three dimensions. We present results of a m2-sized one-dimensional resistive strip Micromegas detector consisting of two readout boards with in total 2048 strips, read out by 16 APV25 front-end boards. This 16-fold segmentation along the precision direction in combination with a 10-fold segmentation in orthogonal direction by the resolution of the trigger hodoscope, allows for very detailed analysis of the 1 m2 detector under study by subdivision into 160 partitions, each being analyzed separately. We are able to disentangle deviations from the readout strip straightness and global deformation due to the small overpressure caused by the Ar:CO2 (93:7) gas mixture flux. We introduce the alignment and calibration procedure, report on homogeneity in efficiency and pulse height and present results on deformation and performance of the m2-sized Micromegas.

  13. Measuring the radio emission of cosmic ray air showers with LOPES

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schröder, F. G.; Apel, W. D.; Arteaga, J. C.; Asch, T.; Badea, F.; Bähren, L.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Biermann, P. L.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Brüggemann, M.; Buchholz, P.; Buitink, S.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Falcke, H.; Finger, M.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gemmeke, H.; Ghia, P. L.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horneffer, A.; Huege, T.; Isar, P. G.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Kickelbick, D.; Krömer, O.; Kuijpers, J.; Lafebre, S.; łuczak, P.; Ludwig, M.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Melissas, M.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Navarra, G.; Nehls, S.; Nigl, A.; Oehlschläger, J.; Over, S.; Palmieri, N.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rautenberg, J.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Saftoiu, A.; Schieler, H.; Schmidt, A.; Sima, O.; Singh, K.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Wommer, M.; Zabierowski, J.; Zensus, J. A.

    2010-05-01

    When ultra high energy cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, they produce a shower of millions of secondary particles. Thereby the charged particles in the shower emit a radio pulse whilst deflected in the Earth's magnetic field. LOPES is a digital antenna array measuring these radio pulses in the frequency range from 40 to 80 MHz. It is located at the site of and triggered by the air shower experiment KASCADE-Grande at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. In its present configuration, it consists of 15 east-west-polarized and 15 north-south-polarized, absolutely calibrated short dipole antennas, as well as 10 LPDAs (with two channels each). Furthermore, it serves as a test bench for technological developments, like new antenna types or a radio-based self-triggering ( LOPESSTAR). To achieve a good angular reconstruction and to digitally form a beam into the arrival direction of the shower, it has a precise time calibration.

  14. Readiness of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter for LHC collisions

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

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.

    The Tile hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS detector has undergone extensive testing in the experimental hall since its installation in late 2005. The readout, control and calibration systems have been fully operational since 2007 and the detector has successfully collected data from the LHC single beams in 2008 and first collisions in 2009. This paper gives an overview of the Tile Calorimeter performance as measured using random triggers, calibration data, data from cosmic ray muons and single beam data. The detector operation status, noise characteristics and performance of the calibration systems are presented, as well as the validation of themore » timing and energy calibration carried out with minimum ionising cosmic ray muons data. The calibration systems' precision is well below the design value of 1%. The determination of the global energy scale was performed with an uncertainty of 4%. © 2010 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.« less

  15. Readiness of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter for LHC collisions

    DOE PAGES

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

    2010-12-08

    The Tile hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS detector has undergone extensive testing in the experimental hall since its installation in late 2005. The readout, control and calibration systems have been fully operational since 2007 and the detector has successfully collected data from the LHC single beams in 2008 and first collisions in 2009. This paper gives an overview of the Tile Calorimeter performance as measured using random triggers, calibration data, data from cosmic ray muons and single beam data. The detector operation status, noise characteristics and performance of the calibration systems are presented, as well as the validation of themore » timing and energy calibration carried out with minimum ionising cosmic ray muons data. The calibration systems' precision is well below the design value of 1%. The determination of the global energy scale was performed with an uncertainty of 4%. © 2010 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.« less

  16. Analysis and calibration of Safecasta data relative to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cervone, G.; Hultquist, C.

    2017-12-01

    Citizen-led movements producing scientific hazard data during disasters are increasingly common. After the Japanese earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, and the resulting radioactive releases at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, citizens monitored on-ground levels of radiation with innovative mobile devices built from off-the-shelf components. To date, the citizen-led Safecast project has recorded 50 million radiation measurements world- wide, with the majority of these measurements from Japan. A robust methodology is presented to calibrate contributed Safecast radiation measurements acquired between 2011 and 2016 in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan. The Safecast data are calibrated using official observations acquired by the U.S. Department of Energy at the time of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi power plant nuclear accident. The methodology performs a series of interpolations between the official and contributed datasets at specific time windows and at corresponding spatial locations. The coefficients found are aggregated and interpolated using cubic and linear methods to generate time dependent calibration function. Normal background radiation, decay rates and missing values are taken into account during the analysis. Results show that the official Safecast static transformation function overestimates the official measurements because it fails to capture the presence of two different Cesium isotopes and their changing ratio with time. The new time dependent calibration function takes into account the presence of different Cesium isotopes, and minimizes the error between official and contributed data. This time dependent Safecast calibration function is necessary until 2030, after which date the error caused by the isotopes ratio will become negligible.

  17. Robust calibration of an optical-lattice depth based on a phase shift

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabrera-Gutiérrez, C.; Michon, E.; Brunaud, V.; Kawalec, T.; Fortun, A.; Arnal, M.; Billy, J.; Guéry-Odelin, D.

    2018-04-01

    We report on a method to calibrate the depth of an optical lattice. It consists of triggering the intrasite dipole mode of the cloud by a sudden phase shift. The corresponding oscillatory motion is directly related to the interband frequencies on a large range of lattice depths. Remarkably, for a moderate displacement, a single frequency dominates the oscillation of the zeroth and first orders of the interference pattern observed after a sufficiently long time of flight. The method is robust against atom-atom interactions and the exact value of the extra weak external confinement superimposed to the optical lattice.

  18. Monte Carlo simulations of time-of-flight PET with double-ended readout: calibration, coincidence resolving times and statistical lower bounds

    PubMed Central

    Derenzo, Stephen E

    2017-01-01

    This paper demonstrates through Monte Carlo simulations that a practical positron emission tomograph with (1) deep scintillators for efficient detection, (2) double-ended readout for depth-of-interaction information, (3) fixed-level analog triggering, and (4) accurate calibration and timing data corrections can achieve a coincidence resolving time (CRT) that is not far above the statistical lower bound. One Monte Carlo algorithm simulates a calibration procedure that uses data from a positron point source. Annihilation events with an interaction near the entrance surface of one scintillator are selected, and data from the two photodetectors on the other scintillator provide depth-dependent timing corrections. Another Monte Carlo algorithm simulates normal operation using these corrections and determines the CRT. A third Monte Carlo algorithm determines the CRT statistical lower bound by generating a series of random interaction depths, and for each interaction a set of random photoelectron times for each of the two photodetectors. The most likely interaction times are determined by shifting the depth-dependent probability density function to maximize the joint likelihood for all the photoelectron times in each set. Example calculations are tabulated for different numbers of photoelectrons and photodetector time jitters for three 3 × 3 × 30 mm3 scintillators: Lu2SiO5:Ce,Ca (LSO), LaBr3:Ce, and a hypothetical ultra-fast scintillator. To isolate the factors that depend on the scintillator length and the ability to estimate the DOI, CRT values are tabulated for perfect scintillator-photodetectors. For LSO with 4000 photoelectrons and single photoelectron time jitter of the photodetector J = 0.2 ns (FWHM), the CRT value using the statistically weighted average of corrected trigger times is 0.098 ns FWHM and the statistical lower bound is 0.091 ns FWHM. For LaBr3:Ce with 8000 photoelectrons and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.070 and 0.063 ns FWHM, respectively. For the ultra-fast scintillator with 1 ns decay time, 4000 photoelectrons, and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.021 and 0.017 ns FWHM, respectively. The examples also show that calibration and correction for depth-dependent variations in pulse height and in annihilation and optical photon transit times are necessary to achieve these CRT values. PMID:28327464

  19. Monte Carlo simulations of time-of-flight PET with double-ended readout: calibration, coincidence resolving times and statistical lower bounds

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

    Derenzo, Stephen E.

    Here, this paper demonstrates through Monte Carlo simulations that a practical positron emission tomograph with (1) deep scintillators for efficient detection, (2) double-ended readout for depth-of-interaction information, (3) fixed-level analog triggering, and (4) accurate calibration and timing data corrections can achieve a coincidence resolving time (CRT) that is not far above the statistical lower bound. One Monte Carlo algorithm simulates a calibration procedure that uses data from a positron point source. Annihilation events with an interaction near the entrance surface of one scintillator are selected, and data from the two photodetectors on the other scintillator provide depth-dependent timing corrections. Anothermore » Monte Carlo algorithm simulates normal operation using these corrections and determines the CRT. A third Monte Carlo algorithm determines the CRT statistical lower bound by generating a series of random interaction depths, and for each interaction a set of random photoelectron times for each of the two photodetectors. The most likely interaction times are determined by shifting the depth-dependent probability density function to maximize the joint likelihood for all the photoelectron times in each set. Example calculations are tabulated for different numbers of photoelectrons and photodetector time jitters for three 3 × 3 × 30 mm 3 scintillators: Lu 2SiO 5 :Ce,Ca (LSO), LaBr 3:Ce, and a hypothetical ultra-fast scintillator. To isolate the factors that depend on the scintillator length and the ability to estimate the DOI, CRT values are tabulated for perfect scintillator-photodetectors. For LSO with 4000 photoelectrons and single photoelectron time jitter of the photodetector J = 0.2 ns (FWHM), the CRT value using the statistically weighted average of corrected trigger times is 0.098 ns FWHM and the statistical lower bound is 0.091 ns FWHM. For LaBr 3:Ce with 8000 photoelectrons and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.070 and 0.063 ns FWHM, respectively. For the ultra-fast scintillator with 1 ns decay time, 4000 photoelectrons, and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.021 and 0.017 ns FWHM, respectively. Lastly, the examples also show that calibration and correction for depth-dependent variations in pulse height and in annihilation and optical photon transit times are necessary to achieve these CRT values.« less

  20. Monte Carlo simulations of time-of-flight PET with double-ended readout: calibration, coincidence resolving times and statistical lower bounds

    DOE PAGES

    Derenzo, Stephen E.

    2017-04-11

    Here, this paper demonstrates through Monte Carlo simulations that a practical positron emission tomograph with (1) deep scintillators for efficient detection, (2) double-ended readout for depth-of-interaction information, (3) fixed-level analog triggering, and (4) accurate calibration and timing data corrections can achieve a coincidence resolving time (CRT) that is not far above the statistical lower bound. One Monte Carlo algorithm simulates a calibration procedure that uses data from a positron point source. Annihilation events with an interaction near the entrance surface of one scintillator are selected, and data from the two photodetectors on the other scintillator provide depth-dependent timing corrections. Anothermore » Monte Carlo algorithm simulates normal operation using these corrections and determines the CRT. A third Monte Carlo algorithm determines the CRT statistical lower bound by generating a series of random interaction depths, and for each interaction a set of random photoelectron times for each of the two photodetectors. The most likely interaction times are determined by shifting the depth-dependent probability density function to maximize the joint likelihood for all the photoelectron times in each set. Example calculations are tabulated for different numbers of photoelectrons and photodetector time jitters for three 3 × 3 × 30 mm 3 scintillators: Lu 2SiO 5 :Ce,Ca (LSO), LaBr 3:Ce, and a hypothetical ultra-fast scintillator. To isolate the factors that depend on the scintillator length and the ability to estimate the DOI, CRT values are tabulated for perfect scintillator-photodetectors. For LSO with 4000 photoelectrons and single photoelectron time jitter of the photodetector J = 0.2 ns (FWHM), the CRT value using the statistically weighted average of corrected trigger times is 0.098 ns FWHM and the statistical lower bound is 0.091 ns FWHM. For LaBr 3:Ce with 8000 photoelectrons and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.070 and 0.063 ns FWHM, respectively. For the ultra-fast scintillator with 1 ns decay time, 4000 photoelectrons, and J = 0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.021 and 0.017 ns FWHM, respectively. Lastly, the examples also show that calibration and correction for depth-dependent variations in pulse height and in annihilation and optical photon transit times are necessary to achieve these CRT values.« less

  1. Observing Triggered Earthquakes Across Iran with Calibrated Earthquake Locations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karasozen, E.; Bergman, E.; Ghods, A.; Nissen, E.

    2016-12-01

    We investigate earthquake triggering phenomena in Iran by analyzing patterns of aftershock activity around mapped surface ruptures. Iran has an intense level of seismicity (> 40,000 events listed in the ISC Bulletin since 1960) due to it accommodating a significant portion of the continental collision between Arabia and Eurasia. There are nearly thirty mapped surface ruptures associated with earthquakes of M 6-7.5, mostly in eastern and northwestern Iran, offering a rich potential to study the kinematics of earthquake nucleation, rupture propagation, and subsequent triggering. However, catalog earthquake locations are subject to up to 50 km of location bias from the combination of unknown Earth structure and unbalanced station coverage, making it challenging to assess both the rupture directivity of larger events and the spatial patterns of their aftershocks. To overcome this limitation, we developed a new two-tiered multiple-event relocation approach to obtain hypocentral parameters that are minimally biased and have realistic uncertainties. In the first stage, locations of small clusters of well-recorded earthquakes at local spatial scales (100s of events across 100 km length scales) are calibrated either by using near-source arrival times or independent location constraints (e.g. local aftershock studies, InSAR solutions), using an implementation of the Hypocentroidal Decomposition relocation technique called MLOC. Epicentral uncertainties are typically less than 5 km. Then, these events are used as prior constraints in the code BayesLoc, a Bayesian relocation technique that can handle larger datasets, to yield region-wide calibrated hypocenters (1000s of events over 1000 km length scales). With locations and errors both calibrated, the pattern of aftershock activity can reveal the type of the earthquake triggering: dynamic stress changes promote an increase in the seismicity rate in the direction of unilateral propagation, whereas static stress changes should not be biased by rupture propagation direction. Here we present results from Ahar, Baladeh, Qom, Rigan, Silakhour and Zirkuh clusters, that include early-instrumental and modern mainshock-aftershock sequences. These will in turn provide a greatly improved basis for research into seismic hazards in this region.

  2. Light-Based Triggering and Reconstruction of Michel Electrons in LArIAT

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

    Foreman, W.

    2016-01-19

    The LArIAT Experiment aims to calibrate the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) using a beam of charged particles at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility. It is equipped with a novel scintillation light readout system using PMTs and custom SiPM preamplifier boards to detect light from reflector foils coated with wavelength-shifting TPB. A trigger on delayed secondary flashes of light captures events containing stopping cosmic muons together with the Michel electrons coming from their subsequent decay. This dedicated Michel trigger supplies an abundant sample of low-energy electrons throughout the detector's active volume, providing opportunities to study the combined calorimetric capabilitiesmore » of the light system and the TPC. Preliminary results using scintillation light to study properties of the Michel electron sample are presented.« less

  3. Poroelastic stress-triggering of the 2005 M8.7 Nias earthquake by the 2004 M9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hughes, K.L.H.; Masterlark, Timothy; Mooney, W.D.

    2010-01-01

    The M9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (SAE) occurred three months prior to the M8.7 Nias earthquake (NE). We propose that the NE was mechanically triggered by the SAE, and that poroelastic effects were a major component of this triggering. This study uses 3D finite element models (FEMs) of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone (SASZ) to predict the deformation, stress, and pore pressure fields of the SAE. The coseismic slip distribution for the SAE is calibrated to near-field GPS data using FEM-generated Green's Functions and linear inverse methods. The calibrated FEM is then used to predict the postseismic poroelastic contribution to stress-triggering along the rupture surface of the NE, which is adjacent to the southern margin of the SAE. The coseismic deformation of the SAE, combined with the rheologic configuration of the SASZ produces two transient fluid flow regimes having separate time constants. SAE coseismic pore pressures in the relatively shallow forearc and volcanic arc regions (within a few km depth) dissipate within one month after the SAE. However, pore pressures in the oceanic crust of the down-going slab persist several months after the SAE. Predictions suggest that the SAE initially induced MPa-scale negative pore pressure near the hypocenter of the NE. This pore pressure slowly recovered (increased) during the three-month interval separating the SAE and NE due to lateral migration of pore fluids, driven by coseismic pressure gradients, within the subducting oceanic crust. Because pore pressure is a fundamental component of Coulomb stress, the MPa-scale increase in pore pressure significantly decreased stability of the NE fault during the three-month interval after the SAE and prior to rupture of the NE. A complete analysis of stress-triggering due to the SAE must include a poroelastic component. Failure to include poroelastic mechanics will lead to an incomplete model that cannot account for the time interval between the SAE and NE. Our transient poroelastic model explains both the spatial and temporal characteristics of triggering of the NE by the SAE. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.

  4. Performance of the LHCb RICH detectors during the LHC Run II

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papanestis, A.; D'Ambrosio, C.; LHCb RICH Collaboration

    2017-12-01

    The LHCb RICH system provides hadron identification over a wide momentum range (2-100 GeV/c). This detector system is key to LHCb's precision flavour physics programme, which has unique sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model. This paper reports on the performance of the LHCb RICH in Run II, following significant changes in the detector and operating conditions. The changes include the refurbishment of significant number of photon detectors, assembled using new vacuum technologies, and the removal of the aerogel radiator. The start of Run II of the LHC saw the beam energy increase to 6.5 TeV per beam and a new trigger strategy for LHCb with full online detector calibration. The RICH information has also been made available for all trigger streams in the High Level Trigger for the first time.

  5. Design and Evaluation of a new mechatronic platform for assessment and prevention of fall risks

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Studying the responses in human behaviour to external perturbations during daily motor tasks is of key importance for understanding mechanisms of balance control and for investigating the functional response of targeted subjects. Experimental platforms as far developed entail a low number of perturbations and, only in few cases, have been designed to measure variables used at run time to trigger events during a certain motor task. Methods This work introduces a new mechatronic device, named SENLY, that provides balance perturbations while subjects carry out daily motor tasks (e.g., walking, upright stance). SENLY mainly consists of two independently-controlled treadmills that destabilize balance by suddenly perturbing belts movements in the horizontal plane. It is also provided with force sensors, which can be used at run time to estimate the ground reaction forces and identify events along the gait cycle in order to trigger the platform perturbation. The paper also describes the customized procedures adopted to calibrate the platform and the first testing trials aimed at evaluating its performance. Results SENLY allows to measure both vertical ground reaction forces and their related location more precisely and more accurately than other platforms of the same size. Moreover, the platform kinematic and kinetic performance meets all required specifications, with a negligible influence of the instrumental noise. Conclusion A new perturbing platform able to reproduce different slipping paradigms while measuring GRFs at run time in order to enable the asynchronous triggering during the gait cycle was designed and developed. Calibration procedures and pilot tests show that SENLY allows to suitably estimate dynamical features of the load and to standardize experimental sessions, improving the efficacy of functional analysis. PMID:22838638

  6. Measurement of the timing behaviour of off-the-shelf cameras

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schatz, Volker

    2017-04-01

    This paper presents a measurement method suitable for investigating the timing properties of cameras. A single light source illuminates the camera detector starting with a varying defined delay after the camera trigger. Pixels from the recorded camera frames are summed up and normalised, and the resulting function is indicative of the overlap between illumination and exposure. This allows one to infer the trigger delay and the exposure time with sub-microsecond accuracy. The method is therefore of interest when off-the-shelf cameras are used in reactive systems or synchronised with other cameras. It can supplement radiometric and geometric calibration methods for cameras in scientific use. A closer look at the measurement results reveals deviations from the ideal camera behaviour of constant sensitivity limited to the exposure interval. One of the industrial cameras investigated retains a small sensitivity long after the end of the nominal exposure interval. All three investigated cameras show non-linear variations of sensitivity at O≤ft({{10}-3}\\right) to O≤ft({{10}-2}\\right) during exposure. Due to its sign, the latter effect cannot be described by a sensitivity function depending on the time after triggering, but represents non-linear pixel characteristics.

  7. First Results from the Telescope Array RAdar (TARA) Detector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Myers, Isaac

    2014-03-01

    The TARA cosmic ray detector has been in operation for about a year and a half. This bi-static radar detector was designed with the goal of detecting cosmic rays in coincidence with Telescope Array (TA). A new high power (25 kW, 5 MW effective radiated power) transmitter and antenna array and 250 MHz fPGA-based DAQ have been operational since August 2013. The eight-Yagi antenna array broadcasts a 54.1 MHz tone across the TA surface detector array toward our receiver station 50 km away at the Long Ridge fluorescence detector. Receiving antennas feed an intelligent DAQ that self-adjusts to the fluctuating radio background and which employs a bank of matched filters that search in real-time for chirp radar echoes. Millions of triggers have been collected in this mode. A second mode is a forced trigger scheme that uses the trigger status of the fluorescence telescope. Of those triggers collected in FD-triggered mode, about 800 correspond with well-reconstructed TA events. I will describe recent advancements in calibrating key components in the transmitter and receiver RF chains and the analysis of FD-triggered data. Work supported by W.M. Keck Foundation and NSF.

  8. Monte Carlo simulations of time-of-flight PET with double-ended readout: calibration, coincidence resolving times and statistical lower bounds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    E Derenzo, Stephen

    2017-05-01

    This paper demonstrates through Monte Carlo simulations that a practical positron emission tomograph with (1) deep scintillators for efficient detection, (2) double-ended readout for depth-of-interaction information, (3) fixed-level analog triggering, and (4) accurate calibration and timing data corrections can achieve a coincidence resolving time (CRT) that is not far above the statistical lower bound. One Monte Carlo algorithm simulates a calibration procedure that uses data from a positron point source. Annihilation events with an interaction near the entrance surface of one scintillator are selected, and data from the two photodetectors on the other scintillator provide depth-dependent timing corrections. Another Monte Carlo algorithm simulates normal operation using these corrections and determines the CRT. A third Monte Carlo algorithm determines the CRT statistical lower bound by generating a series of random interaction depths, and for each interaction a set of random photoelectron times for each of the two photodetectors. The most likely interaction times are determined by shifting the depth-dependent probability density function to maximize the joint likelihood for all the photoelectron times in each set. Example calculations are tabulated for different numbers of photoelectrons and photodetector time jitters for three 3  ×  3  ×  30 mm3 scintillators: Lu2SiO5:Ce,Ca (LSO), LaBr3:Ce, and a hypothetical ultra-fast scintillator. To isolate the factors that depend on the scintillator length and the ability to estimate the DOI, CRT values are tabulated for perfect scintillator-photodetectors. For LSO with 4000 photoelectrons and single photoelectron time jitter of the photodetector J  =  0.2 ns (FWHM), the CRT value using the statistically weighted average of corrected trigger times is 0.098 ns FWHM and the statistical lower bound is 0.091 ns FWHM. For LaBr3:Ce with 8000 photoelectrons and J  =  0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.070 and 0.063 ns FWHM, respectively. For the ultra-fast scintillator with 1 ns decay time, 4000 photoelectrons, and J  =  0.2 ns FWHM, the CRT values are 0.021 and 0.017 ns FWHM, respectively. The examples also show that calibration and correction for depth-dependent variations in pulse height and in annihilation and optical photon transit times are necessary to achieve these CRT values.

  9. A Photo-triggered and photo-calibrated nitric oxide donor: Rational design, spectral characterizations, and biological applications.

    PubMed

    He, Haihong; Liu, Yuxin; Zhou, Zhongneng; Guo, Chunlei; Wang, Hong-Yin; Wang, Zhuang; Wang, Xueli; Zhang, Ziqian; Wu, Fu-Gen; Wang, Haolu; Chen, Daijie; Yang, Dahai; Liang, Xiaowen; Chen, Jinquan; Zhou, Shengmin; Liang, Xin; Qian, Xuhong; Yang, Youjun

    2018-04-27

    Nitric oxide (NO) donors are valuable tools to probe the profound implications of NO in health and disease. The elusive nature of NO bio-relevance has largely limited the use of spontaneous NO donors and promoted the development of next generation NO donors, whose NO release is not only stimulated by a trigger, but also readily monitored via a judiciously built-in self-calibration mechanism. Light is without a doubt the most sensitive, versatile and biocompatible method of choice for both triggering and monitoring, for applications in complex biological matrices. Herein, we designed and synthesized an N-nitroso rhodamine derivative (NOD560) as a photo-triggered and photo-calibrated NO donor to address this need. NOD560 is essentially non-fluorescent. Upon irradiation by green light (532 nm), it efficiently release NO and a rhodamine dye, the dramatic fluorescence turn-on from which could be harnessed to conveniently monitor the localization, flux, and dose of NO release. The potentials of NOD560 for in vitro biological applications were also exemplified in in vitro biological models, i.e. mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) migration suppression. NOD560 is expected to complement the existing NO donors and find widespread applications in chemical biological studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Status of the calibration and alignment framework at the Belle II experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dossett, D.; Sevior, M.; Ritter, M.; Kuhr, T.; Bilka, T.; Yaschenko, S.; Belle Software Group, II

    2017-10-01

    The Belle II detector at the Super KEKB e+e-collider plans to take first collision data in 2018. The monetary and CPU time costs associated with storing and processing the data mean that it is crucial for the detector components at Belle II to be calibrated quickly and accurately. A fast and accurate calibration system would allow the high level trigger to increase the efficiency of event selection, and can give users analysis-quality reconstruction promptly. A flexible framework to automate the fast production of calibration constants is being developed in the Belle II Analysis Software Framework (basf2). Detector experts only need to create two components from C++ base classes in order to use the automation system. The first collects data from Belle II event data files and outputs much smaller files to pass to the second component. This runs the main calibration algorithm to produce calibration constants ready for upload into the conditions database. A Python framework coordinates the input files, order of processing, and submission of jobs. Splitting the operation into collection and algorithm processing stages allows the framework to optionally parallelize the collection stage on a batch system.

  11. ATIC Flight Data Processing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ahn, H. S.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The first flight of the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) experiment from McMurdo, Antarctica lasted for 16 days, starting in December, 2000. The ATIC instrument consists of a fully active 320-crystal, 960-channel Bismuth Germanate (BGO) calorimeter, 202 scintillator strips in 3 hodoscopes interleaved with a graphite target, and a 4480-pixel silicon matrix charge detector. We have developed an Object Oriented data processing package based on ROOT. In this paper, we will describe the data processing scheme used in handling the accumulated 45 GB of flight data. We will also discuss trigger issues by comparing the measured energy-dependent trigger efficiency with its simulation and calibration issues by considering the time-dependence of housekeeping information, etc.

  12. The CMS High-Level Trigger and Trigger Menus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Avetisyan, Aram

    2008-04-01

    The CMS experiment is one of the two general-purpose experiments due to start operation soon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC will collide protons at a centre of mass energy of 14 TeV, with a bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz. The online event selection for the CMS experiment is carried out in two distinct stages. At Level-1 the trigger electronics reduces the 40 MHz collision rate to provide up to 100 kHz of interesting events, based on objects found using its calorimeter and muon subsystems. The High Level Trigger (HLT) that runs in the Filter Farm of the CMS experiment is a set of sophisticated software tools that run in a real-time environment to make a further selection and archive few hundred Hz of interesting events. The coherent tuning of the HLT algorithms to accommodate multiple physics channels is a key issue for CMS, one that literally defines the reach of the experiment's physics program. In this presentation we will discuss the strategies and trigger configuration developed for startup physics program of the CMS experiment, up to a luminosity of 10^31 s-1cm-2. Emphasis will be given to the full trigger menus, including physics and calibration triggers.

  13. NICMOS Cycles 13 and 14 Calibration Plans

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arribas, Santiago; Bergeron, Eddie; de Jong, Roeof; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Mobasher, Bahram; Noll, Keith; Schultz, Al; Wiklind, Tommy; Xu, Chun

    2005-11-01

    This document summarizes the NICMOS Calibration Plans for Cycles 13 and 14. These plans complement the SMOV3b, the Cycle 10 (interim), and the Cycles 11 and 12 (regular) calibration programs executed after the installation of the NICMOS Cooling System (NCS).. These previous programs have shown that the instrument is very stable, which has motivated a further reduction in the frequency of the monitoring programs for Cycle 13. In addition, for Cycle 14 some of these programs were slightly modified to account for 2 Gyro HST operations. The special calibrations on Cycle 13 were focussed on a follow up of the spectroscopic recalibration initiated in Cycle 12. This program led to the discovery of a possible count rate non-linearity, which has triggered a special program for Cycle 13 and a number of subsequent tests and calibrations during Cycle 14. At the time of writing this is a very active area of research. We also briefly comment on other calibrations defined to address other specific issues like: the autoreset test, the SPAR sequences tests, and the low-frequency flat residual for NIC1. The calibration programs for the 2-Gyro campaigns are not included here, since they have been described somewhere else. Further details and updates on specific programs can be found via the NICMOS web site.

  14. High accuracy LADAR scene projector calibration sensor development

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Hajin J.; Cornell, Michael C.; Naumann, Charles B.; Bowden, Mark H.

    2008-04-01

    A sensor system for the characterization of infrared laser radar scene projectors has been developed. Available sensor systems do not provide sufficient range resolution to evaluate the high precision LADAR projector systems developed by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). With timing precision capability to a fraction of a nanosecond, it can confirm the accuracy of simulated return pulses from a nominal range of up to 6.5 km to a resolution of 4cm. Increased range can be achieved through firmware reconfiguration. Two independent amplitude triggers measure both rise and fall time providing a judgment of pulse shape and allowing estimation of the contained energy. Each return channel can measure up to 32 returns per trigger characterizing each return pulse independently. Currently efforts include extending the capability to 8 channels. This paper outlines the development, testing, capabilities and limitations of this new sensor system.

  15. Doppler radar flowmeter

    DOEpatents

    Petlevich, Walter J.; Sverdrup, Edward F.

    1978-01-01

    A Doppler radar flowmeter comprises a transceiver which produces an audio frequency output related to the Doppler shift in frequency between radio waves backscattered from particulate matter carried in a fluid and the radiated radio waves. A variable gain amplifier and low pass filter are provided for amplifying and filtering the transceiver output. A frequency counter having a variable triggering level is also provided to determine the magnitude of the Doppler shift. A calibration method is disclosed wherein the amplifier gain and frequency counter trigger level are adjusted to achieve plateaus in the output of the frequency counter and thereby allow calibration without the necessity of being able to visually observe the flow.

  16. Positional calibrations of the germanium double sided strip detectors for the Compton spectrometer and imager

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lowell, A.; Boggs, S.; Chiu, J. L.; Kierans, C.; McBride, S.; Tseng, C. H.; Zoglauer, A.; Amman, M.; Chang, H. K.; Jean, P.; Lin, C. H.; Sleator, C.; Tomsick, J.; von Ballmoos, P.; Yang, C. Y.

    2016-08-01

    The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) is a medium energy gamma ray (0.2 - 10 MeV) imager designed to observe high-energy processes in the universe from a high altitude balloon platform. At its core, COSI is comprised of twelve high purity germanium double sided strip detectors which measure particle interaction energies and locations with high precision. This manuscript focuses on the positional calibrations of the COSI detectors. The interaction depth in a detector is inferred from the charge collection time difference between the two sides of the detector. We outline our previous approach to this depth calibration and also describe a new approach we have recently developed. Two dimensional localization of interactions along the faces of the detector (x and y) is straightforward, as the location of the triggering strips is simply used. However, we describe a possible technique to improve the x/y position resolution beyond the detector strip pitch of 2 mm. With the current positional calibrations, COSI achieves an angular resolution of 5.6 +/- 0.1 degrees at 662 keV, close to our expectations from simulations.

  17. Photon Tagger Timing Calibration for the Rad Phi Experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Russell, Mammei; Smith, Elton

    2000-10-01

    Vector mesons provide a rich laboratory for the study of fundamental physics and radiative decays probe the very nature of the internal structure of these mesons, which possess the same quantum numbers of photons. Experiment E94-016, which collected data this past summer in Hall B of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), has measured the the branching ratios for rare radiative decays of the phi meson, i.e. φarrow f_0(975)γ arrow π^0π^0γ, φ arrow a_0(980)γ arrow π0 η γ, and φ arrow η'γ. A lead glass calorimeter, in concert with several detectors, measured these decays. A tagged beam of bremsstrahlung photons was directed upon a solid Beryllium target. A three-level trigger was then employed to preferentially select radiative decays of the φ meson. We calibrated timing of each detector by referencing individual detectors to one another. Tight timing will enhance signal relative to background.

  18. On the Origin and Trigger of the Notothenioid Adaptive Radiation

    PubMed Central

    Matschiner, Michael; Hanel, Reinhold; Salzburger, Walter

    2011-01-01

    Adaptive radiation is usually triggered by ecological opportunity, arising through (i) the colonization of a new habitat by its progenitor; (ii) the extinction of competitors; or (iii) the emergence of an evolutionary key innovation in the ancestral lineage. Support for the key innovation hypothesis is scarce, however, even in textbook examples of adaptive radiation. Antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) have been proposed as putative key innovation for the adaptive radiation of notothenioid fishes in the ice-cold waters of Antarctica. A crucial prerequisite for this assumption is the concurrence of the notothenioid radiation with the onset of Antarctic sea ice conditions. Here, we use a fossil-calibrated multi-marker phylogeny of nothothenioid and related acanthomorph fishes to date AFGP emergence and the notothenioid radiation. All time-constraints are cross-validated to assess their reliability resulting in six powerful calibration points. We find that the notothenioid radiation began near the Oligocene-Miocene transition, which coincides with the increasing presence of Antarctic sea ice. Divergence dates of notothenioids are thus consistent with the key innovation hypothesis of AFGP. Early notothenioid divergences are furthermore congruent with vicariant speciation and the breakup of Gondwana. PMID:21533117

  19. Conceptual modelling to predict unobserved system states - the case of groundwater flooding in the UK Chalk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hartmann, A. J.; Ireson, A. M.

    2017-12-01

    Chalk aquifers represent an important source of drinking water in the UK. Due to its fractured-porous structure, Chalk aquifers are characterized by highly dynamic groundwater fluctuations that enhance the risk of groundwater flooding. The risk of groundwater flooding can be assessed by physically-based groundwater models. But for reliable results, a-priori information about the distribution of hydraulic conductivities and porosities is necessary, which is often not available. For that reason, conceptual simulation models are often used to predict groundwater behaviour. They commonly require calibration by historic groundwater observations. Consequently, their prediction performance may reduce significantly, when it comes to system states that did not occur within the calibration time series. In this study, we calibrate a conceptual model to the observed groundwater level observations at several locations within a Chalk system in Southern England. During the calibration period, no groundwater flooding occurred. We then apply our model to predict the groundwater dynamics of the system at a time that includes a groundwater flooding event. We show that the calibrated model provides reasonable predictions before and after the flooding event but it over-estimates groundwater levels during the event. After modifying the model structure to include topographic information, the model is capable of prediction the groundwater flooding event even though groundwater flooding never occurred in the calibration period. Although straight forward, our approach shows how conceptual process-based models can be applied to predict system states and dynamics that did not occur in the calibration period. We believe such an approach can be transferred to similar cases, especially to regions where rainfall intensities are expected to trigger processes and system states that may have not yet been observed.

  20. The NA62 trigger system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krivda, M.; NA62 Collaboration

    2013-08-01

    The main aim of the NA62 experiment (NA62 Technical Design Report, [1]) is to study ultra-rare Kaon decays. In order to select rare events over the overwhelming background, central systems with high-performance, high bandwidth, flexibility and configurability are necessary, that minimize dead time while maximizing data collection reliability. The NA62 experiment consists of 12 sub-detector systems and several trigger and control systems, for a total channel count of less than 100,000. The GigaTracKer (GTK) has the largest number of channels (54,000), and the Liquid Krypton (LKr) calorimeter shares with it the largest raw data rate (19 GB/s). The NA62 trigger system works with 3 trigger levels. The first trigger level is based on a hardware central trigger unit, so-called L0 Trigger Processor (L0TP), and Local Trigger Units (LTU), which are all located in the experimental cavern. Other two trigger levels are based on software, and done with a computer farm located on surface. The L0TP receives information from triggering sub-detectors asynchronously via Ethernet; it processes the information, and then transmits a final trigger decision synchronously to each sub-detector through the Trigger and Timing Control (TTC) system. The interface between L0TP and the TTC system, which is used for trigger and clock distribution, is provided by the Local Trigger Unit board (LTU). The LTU can work in two modes: global and stand-alone. In the global mode, the LTU provides an interface between L0TP and TTC system. In the stand-alone mode, the LTU can fully emulate L0TP and so provides an independent way for each sub-detector for testing or calibration purposes. In addition to the emulation functionality, a further functionality is implemented that allows to synchronize the clock of the LTU with the L0TP and the TTC system. For testing and debugging purposes, a Snap Shot Memory (SSM) interface is implemented, that can work both in an input or an output mode. The trigger rates will be permanently monitored by reading counters at regular intervals. This paper describes the overall NA62 trigger system focusing on the setup for the dry and technical runs in 2012.

  1. Model simulations of flood and debris flow timing in steep catchments after wildfire

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rengers, F. K.; McGuire, L. A.; Kean, J. W.; Staley, D. M.; Hobley, D. E. J.

    2016-08-01

    Debris flows are a typical hazard on steep slopes after wildfire, but unlike debris flows that mobilize from landslides, most postwildfire debris flows are generated from water runoff. The majority of existing debris flow modeling has focused on landslide-triggered debris flows. In this study we explore the potential for using process-based rainfall-runoff models to simulate the timing of water flow and runoff-generated debris flows in recently burned areas. Two different spatially distributed hydrologic models with differing levels of complexity were used: the full shallow water equations and the kinematic wave approximation. Model parameter values were calibrated in two different watersheds, spanning two orders of magnitude in drainage area. These watersheds were affected by the 2009 Station Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, USA. Input data for the numerical models were constrained by time series of soil moisture, flow stage, and rainfall collected at field sites, as well as high-resolution lidar-derived digital elevation models. The calibrated parameters were used to model a third watershed in the burn area, and the results show a good match with observed timing of flow peaks. The calibrated roughness parameter (Manning's n) was generally higher when using the kinematic wave approximation relative to the shallow water equations, and decreased with increasing spatial scale. The calibrated effective watershed hydraulic conductivity was low for both models, even for storms occurring several months after the fire, suggesting that wildfire-induced changes to soil-water infiltration were retained throughout that time. Overall, the two model simulations were quite similar suggesting that a kinematic wave model, which is simpler and more computationally efficient, is a suitable approach for predicting flood and debris flow timing in steep, burned watersheds.

  2. Model simulations of flood and debris flow timing in steep catchments after wildfire

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rengers, Francis K.; McGuire, Luke; Kean, Jason W.; Staley, Dennis M.; Hobley, D.E.J

    2016-01-01

    Debris flows are a typical hazard on steep slopes after wildfire, but unlike debris flows that mobilize from landslides, most post-wildfire debris flows are generated from water runoff. The majority of existing debris-flow modeling has focused on landslide-triggered debris flows. In this study we explore the potential for using process-based rainfall-runoff models to simulate the timing of water flow and runoff-generated debris flows in recently burned areas. Two different spatially distributed hydrologic models with differing levels of complexity were used: the full shallow water equations and the kinematic wave approximation. Model parameter values were calibrated in two different watersheds, spanning two orders of magnitude in drainage area. These watersheds were affected by the 2009 Station Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, USA. Input data for the numerical models were constrained by time series of soil moisture, flow stage, and rainfall collected at field sites, as well as high-resolution lidar-derived digital elevation models. The calibrated parameters were used to model a third watershed in the burn area, and the results show a good match with observed timing of flow peaks. The calibrated roughness parameter (Manning's $n$) was generally higher when using the kinematic wave approximation relative to the shallow water equations, and decreased with increasing spatial scale. The calibrated effective watershed hydraulic conductivity was low for both models, even for storms occurring several months after the fire, suggesting that wildfire-induced changes to soil-water infiltration were retained throughout that time. Overall the two model simulations were quite similar suggesting that a kinematic wave model, which is simpler and more computationally efficient, is a suitable approach for predicting flood and debris flow timing in steep, burned watersheds.

  3. The digital trigger system for the RED-100 detector

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

    Naumov, P. P., E-mail: ddr727@yandex.ru; Akimov, D. Yu.; Belov, V. A.

    The system for forming a trigger for the liquid xenon detector RED-100 is developed. The trigger can be generated for all types of events that the detector needs for calibration and data acquisition, including the events with a single electron of ionization. In the system, a mechanism of event detection is implemented according to which the timestamp and event type are assigned to each event. The trigger system is required in the systems searching for rare events to select and keep only the necessary information from the ADC array. The specifications and implementation of the trigger unit which provides amore » high efficiency of response even to low-energy events are considered.« less

  4. A wide bandwidth electrostatic field sensor for lightning research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zaepfel, K. P.

    1986-01-01

    Data obtained from UHF Radar observation of direct-lightning strikes to the NASA F-106B airplane have indicated that most of the 690 strikes acquired during direct-strike lightning tests were triggered by the aircraft. As an aid in understanding the triggered lightning process, a wide bandwidth electric field measuring system was designed for the F-106B by implementing a clamped-detection signal processing concept originated at the Air Force Cambridge Research Lab in 1953. The detection scheme combines the signals from complementary stator pairs clamped to zero volts at the exact moment when each stator pair is maximally shielded by the rotor, a process that restores the dc level lost by the charge amplifier. The new system was implemented with four shutter-type field mills located at strategic points on the airplane. The bandwidth of the new system was determined in the laboratory to be from dc to over 100 Hz, whereas past designs had upper limits of 10 Hz to 100 Hz. To obtain the undisturbed electric field vector and total aircraft charge, the airborne field mill system is calibrated by using techniques involving results from ground and flight calibrations of the F-106B, laboratory tests of a metallized model, and a finite-difference time-domain electromagnetic computer code.

  5. A wide bandwidth electrostatic field sensor for lightning research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zaepfel, Klaus P.

    1989-01-01

    Data obtained from UHF radar observation of direct-lightning strikes to the NASA F-106B aircraft have indicated that most of the 690 strikes acquired during direct-strike lightning tests were triggered by the aircraft. As an aid in understanding the triggered lightning process, a wide bandwidth electric field measuring system was designed for the F-106B by implementing a clamped-detection signal processing concept originated at the Air Force Cambridge Research Lab in 1953. The detection scheme combines the signals from complementary stator pairs clamped to zero bolts at the exact moment when each stator pair is maximally shielded by the rotor, a process that restores the dc level lost by the charge amplifier. The system was implemented with four shutter-type field mills located at strategic points on the aircraft. The bandwidth of the system was determined in the laboratory to be from dc to over 100 Hz, whereas past designs had upper limits of 10 to 100 Hz. To obtain the undisturbed electric field vector and total aircraft charge, the airborne field mill system is calibrated by using techniques involving results from ground and flight calibrations of the F-106B, laboratory tests of a metallized model, and a finite difference time-domain electromagnetic computer code.

  6. Performance of the ATLAS Hadronic Tile Calorimeter in Run-2 and its Upgrade for the High Luminosity LHC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Solovyanov, Oleg

    2017-10-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is the central hadronic calorimeter designed for energy reconstruction of hadrons, jets, tauparticles and missing transverse energy. TileCal is a scintillator-steel sampling calorimeter and it covers the region of pseudo-rapidity up to 1.7, with almost 10000 channels measuring energies ranging from ˜30 MeV to ˜2 TeV. Each stage of the signal production, from scintillation light to the signal reconstruction, is monitored and calibrated. The performance of the Tile calorimeter has been studied in-situ employing cosmic ray muons and a large sample of proton-proton collisions, acquired during the operations of the LHC. Prompt isolated muons of high momentum from electroweak bosons decays are employed to study the energy response of the calorimeter at the electromagnetic scale. The calorimeter response to hadronic particles is evaluated with a sample of isolated hadrons. The modelling of the response by the Monte Carlo simulation is discussed. The calorimeter timing calibration and resolutions are studied with a sample of multijets events. Results on the calorimeter operation and performance are presented, including the calibration, stability, absolute energy scale, uniformity and time resolution. TileCal performance satisfies the design requirements and has provided an essential contribution to physics results in ATLAS. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has envisaged a series of upgrades towards a High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), delivering five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity. The ATLAS Phase II upgrade, in 2024, will accommodate the detector and data acquisition system for the HL-LHC. In particular, the Tile Calorimeter will undergo a major replacement of its on- and off-detector electronics. All signals will be digitised and then transferred directly to the off-detector electronics, where the signals will be reconstructed, stored, and sent to the first level of trigger at a rate of 40 MHz. This will provide better precision for the calorimeter signals used by the trigger system and will allow the development of more complex trigger algorithms. Changes to the electronics will also contribute to the reliability and redundancy of the system. Three different front-end options are presently being investigated for the upgrade. Results of extensive laboratory tests and with beams of the three options will be presented, as well as the latest results on the development of the power distribution and the off-detector electronics.

  7. A search in strainmeter data for slow slip associated with triggered and ambient tremor near Parkfield, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Smith, E.F.; Gomberg, J.

    2009-01-01

    We test the hypothesis that, as in subduction zones, slow slip facilitates triggered and ambient tremor in the transform boundary setting of California. Our study builds on the study of Peng et al. (2009) of triggered and ambient tremor near Parkfield, California during time intervals surrounding 31, potentially triggering, M ≥ 7.5 teleseismic earthquakes; waves from 10 of these triggered tremor and 29 occurred in periods of ambient tremor activity. We look for transient slow slip during 3-month windows that include 11 of these triggering and nontriggering teleseisms, using continuous strain data recorded on two borehole Gladwin tensor strainmeters (GTSM) located within the distribution of tremor epicenters. We model the GTSM data assuming only tidal and “drift” signals are present and find no detectable slow slip, either ongoing when the teleseismic waves passed or triggered by them. We infer a conservative detection threshold of about 5 nanostrain for abrupt changes and about twice this for slowly evolving signals. This could be lowered slightly by adding analyses of other data types, modeled slow slip signals, and GTSM data calibration. Detection of slow slip also depends on the slipping fault's location and size, which we describe in terms of equivalent earthquake moment magnitude, M. In the best case of the GTSM above a very shallow slipping fault, detectable slip events must exceed M~2, and if the slow slip is beneath the seismogenic zone (below ~15 km depth), even M~5 events are likely to remain hidden.

  8. The ATLAS tile calorimeter performance at the LHC

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

    Calkins, R.

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal), the central section of the hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment, is a key detector component to detect hadrons, jets and taus and to measure the missing transverse energy. Due to the very good muon signal to noise ratio it assists the spectrometer in the identification and reconstruction of muons. TileCal is built of steel and scintillating tiles coupled to optical fibers and read out by photomultipliers. The calorimeter is equipped with systems that allow to monitor and to calibrate each stage of the read out system exploiting different signal sources: laser light, charge injection andmore » a radioactive source. The performance of the calorimeter has been measured and monitored using calibration data, random triggered data, cosmic muons and more importantly LHC collision events. The results presented here assess the absolute energy scale calibration precision, the energy and timing uniformity and the synchronization precision. The ensemble of the results demonstrates a very good understanding of the performance of the Tile Calorimeter that is proved to be well within the design expectations. (authors)« less

  9. Calibration techniques for a fast duo-spectrometer

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

    Chapman, J.T.; Den Hartog, D.J.

    1996-06-01

    The authors have completed the upgrade and calibration of the Ion Dynamics Spectrometer (IDS), a high-speed Doppler duo-spectrometer which measures ion flow and temperature in the MST Reversed-field Pinch. This paper describes an in situ calibration of the diagnostic`s phase and frequency response. A single clock was employed to generate both a digital test signal and a digitizer trigger thus avoiding frequency drift and providing a highly resolved measurement over the system bandwidth. Additionally, they review the measurement of the spectrometer instrument function and absolute intensity response. This calibration and subsequent performance demonstrate the IDS to be one of themore » fastest, highest throughput diagnostics of its kind. Typical measurements are presented.« less

  10. CDF trigger interface board 'FRED'

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

    Campbell, M.; Dell' Orso, M.; Giannetti, P.

    1985-08-01

    We describe FASTBUS boards which interface sixteen different trigger interrupts to the Collider Detector Facility (CDF) data acquisition system. The boards are known to CDF by the acronym 'FRED'. The data acquisition scheme for CDF allows for up to 16 different parts of the detector, called 'Partitions', to run independently. Four partitions are reserved for physics runs and sophisticated calibration and debugging: they use the common Level 1 and Level 2 trigger logic and have access to information from all the components of the CDF detector. These four partitions are called ''CDF Partitions''. The remaining twelve partitions have no accessmore » to the common trigger logic and provide their own Level 1 and Level 2 signals: they are called ''Autonomous Partitions''. Fred collects and interprets signals from independent parts of the CDF trigger system and delivers Level 1 and Level 2 responses to the Trigger Supervisors (FASTBUS masters which control the data acquisition process in each partition).« less

  11. Observationally constrained projections of Antarctic ice sheet instability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Edwards, Tamsin; Ritz, Catherine; Durand, Gael; Payne, Anthony; Peyaud, Vincent; Hindmarsh, Richard

    2015-04-01

    Large parts of the Antarctic ice sheet lie on bedrock below sea level and may be vulnerable to a positive feedback known as Marine Ice Sheet Instability (MISI), a self-sustaining retreat of the grounding line triggered by oceanic or atmospheric changes. There is growing evidence MISI may be underway throughout the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) of West Antarctica, induced by circulation of warm Circumpolar Deep Water. If this retreat is sustained the region could contribute up to 1-2 m to global mean sea level, and if triggered in other areas the potential contribution to sea level on centennial to millennial timescales could be two to three times greater. However, physically plausible projections of Antarctic MISI are challenging: numerical ice sheet models are too low in spatial resolution to resolve grounding line processes or else too computationally expensive to assess modelling uncertainties, and no dynamical models exist of the ocean-atmosphere-ice sheet system. Furthermore, previous numerical ice sheet model projections for Antarctica have not been calibrated with observations, which can reduce uncertainties. Here we estimate the probability of dynamic mass loss in the event of MISI under a medium climate scenario, assessing 16 modelling uncertainties and calibrating the projections with observed mass losses in the ASE from 1992-2011. We project losses of up to 30 cm sea level equivalent (SLE) by 2100 and 72 cm SLE by 2200 (95% credibility interval: CI). Our results are substantially lower than previous estimates. The ASE sustains substantial losses, 83% of the continental total by 2100 and 67% by 2200 (95% CI), but in other regions losses are limited by ice dynamical theory, observations, or a lack of projected triggers.

  12. Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) Update

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ahn, H. S.; Ganel, O.; Kim, K. C.; Seo, E. S.; Sina, R.; Wang, J. Z.; Wu, J.; Case, G.; Ellison, S. B.; Gould, R.; hide

    2002-01-01

    The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) experiment is designed to measure the composition and energy spectra of Z = 1 to 28 cosmic rays over the energy range of approximately 10 GeV - 100 TeV. ATIC is comprised of an eight-layer, 18 radiation length deep Bismuth Germanate (BGO) calorimeter, downstream of a 0.75 nuclear interaction length graphite target and an approximately 1 sq m finely segmented silicon charge detector. Interleaved with the graphite layers are three scintillator strip hodoscopes for pre-triggering and tracking. ATIC flew for the first time on a Long Duration Balloon (LDB) launched from McMurdo, Antarctica in January 2001. During its 16-day flight ATIC collected more than 30 million science events, along with housekeeping, calibration, and rate data. This presentation will describe the ATIC data processing, including calibration and efficiency corrections, and show results from analysis of this dataset. The next launch is planned for December 2002.

  13. The ATLAS Inner Detector commissioning and calibration

    DOE PAGES

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

    2010-08-20

    The ATLAS Inner Detector is a composite tracking system consisting of silicon pixels, silicon strips and straw tubes in a 2 T magnetic field. Its installation was completed in August 2008 and the detector took part in data-taking with single LHC beams and cosmic rays. The initial detector operation, hardware commissioning and in-situ calibrations are described. Tracking performance has been measured with 7. 6 million cosmic-ray events, collected using a tracking trigger and reconstructed with modular pattern-recognition and fitting software. The intrinsic hit efficiency and tracking trigger efficiencies are close to 100%. Lorentz angle measurements for both electrons and holes,more » specific energy-loss calibration and transition radiation turn-on measurements have been performed. Different alignment techniques have been used to reconstruct the detector geometry. After the initial alignment, a transverse impact parameter resolution of 22.1±0.9 μm and a relative momentum resolution σ p/p=(4. 83 ± 0.16)×10 -4 GeV -1×p T have been measured for high momentum tracks.« less

  14. SHMS Hodoscopes and Time of Flight System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Craycraft, Kayla; Malace, Simona

    2017-09-01

    As part of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility's (Jefferson Lab) upgrade from 6 GeV to 12 GeV, a new magnetic focusing spectrometer, the Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS), was installed in experimental Hall C. The detector stack consists of horizontal drift chambers for tracking, gas Cerenkov and Aerogel detectors and a lead glass calorimeter for particle identification. A hodoscope system consisting of three planes of scintillator detectors (constructed by James Madison University) and one plane of quartz bars (built by North Carolina A&T State University) is used for triggering and time of flight measurements. This presentation consists of discussion of the installation, calibration, and characterization of the detectors used in this Time of Flight system. James Madison University, North Carolina A&T State University.

  15. A compact electron gun for time-resolved electron diffraction

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

    Robinson, Matthew S.; Lane, Paul D.; Wann, Derek A., E-mail: derek.wann@york.ac.uk

    A novel compact time-resolved electron diffractometer has been built with the primary goal of studying the ultrafast molecular dynamics of photoexcited gas-phase molecules. Here, we discuss the design of the electron gun, which is triggered by a Ti:Sapphire laser, before detailing a series of calibration experiments relating to the electron-beam properties. As a further test of the apparatus, initial diffraction patterns have been collected for thin, polycrystalline platinum samples, which have been shown to match theoretical patterns. The data collected demonstrate the focusing effects of the magnetic lens on the electron beam, and how this relates to the spatial resolutionmore » of the diffraction pattern.« less

  16. LHCb Online event processing and filtering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alessio, F.; Barandela, C.; Brarda, L.; Frank, M.; Franek, B.; Galli, D.; Gaspar, C.; Herwijnen, E. v.; Jacobsson, R.; Jost, B.; Köstner, S.; Moine, G.; Neufeld, N.; Somogyi, P.; Stoica, R.; Suman, S.

    2008-07-01

    The first level trigger of LHCb accepts one million events per second. After preprocessing in custom FPGA-based boards these events are distributed to a large farm of PC-servers using a high-speed Gigabit Ethernet network. Synchronisation and event management is achieved by the Timing and Trigger system of LHCb. Due to the complex nature of the selection of B-events, which are the main interest of LHCb, a full event-readout is required. Event processing on the servers is parallelised on an event basis. The reduction factor is typically 1/500. The remaining events are forwarded to a formatting layer, where the raw data files are formed and temporarily stored. A small part of the events is also forwarded to a dedicated farm for calibration and monitoring. The files are subsequently shipped to the CERN Tier0 facility for permanent storage and from there to the various Tier1 sites for reconstruction. In parallel files are used by various monitoring and calibration processes running within the LHCb Online system. The entire data-flow is controlled and configured by means of a SCADA system and several databases. After an overview of the LHCb data acquisition and its design principles this paper will emphasize the LHCb event filter system, which is now implemented using the final hardware and will be ready for data-taking for the LHC startup. Control, configuration and security aspects will also be discussed.

  17. Sensor-triggered sampling to determine instantaneous airborne vapor exposure concentrations.

    PubMed

    Smith, Philip A; Simmons, Michael K; Toone, Phillip

    2018-06-01

    It is difficult to measure transient airborne exposure peaks by means of integrated sampling for organic chemical vapors, even with very short-duration sampling. Selection of an appropriate time to measure an exposure peak through integrated sampling is problematic, and short-duration time-weighted average (TWA) values obtained with integrated sampling are not likely to accurately determine actual peak concentrations attained when concentrations fluctuate rapidly. Laboratory analysis for integrated exposure samples is preferred from a certainty standpoint over results derived in the field from a sensor, as a sensor user typically must overcome specificity issues and a number of potential interfering factors to obtain similarly reliable data. However, sensors are currently needed to measure intra-exposure period concentration variations (i.e., exposure peaks). In this article, the digitized signal from a photoionization detector (PID) sensor triggered collection of whole-air samples when toluene or trichloroethylene vapors attained pre-determined levels in a laboratory atmosphere generation system. Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of whole-air samples (with both 37 and 80% relative humidity) collected using the triggering mechanism with rapidly increasing vapor concentrations showed good agreement with the triggering set point values. Whole-air samples (80% relative humidity) in canisters demonstrated acceptable 17-day storage recoveries, and acceptable precision and bias were obtained. The ability to determine exceedance of a ceiling or peak exposure standard by laboratory analysis of an instantaneously collected sample, and to simultaneously provide a calibration point to verify the correct operation of a sensor was demonstrated. This latter detail may increase the confidence in reliability of sensor data obtained across an entire exposure period.

  18. Onboard Science Insights and Vehicle Dynamics from Scale-Model Trials of the Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) Capsule at Laguna Negra, Chile.

    PubMed

    Lorenz, Ralph D; Cabrol, Nathalie A

    2018-05-01

    A scale model of the proposed Titan Mare Explorer capsule was deployed at the Planetary Lake Lander field site at Laguna Negra, Chile. The tests served to calibrate models of wind-driven drift of the capsule and to understand its attitude motion in the wave field, as well as to identify dynamic and acoustic signatures of shoreline approach. This information enables formulation of onboard trigger criteria for near-shore science data acquisition. Key Words: Titan-Vehicle dynamics-Science autonomy-Lake. Astrobiology 18, 607-618.

  19. Photon Detector System Timing Performance in the DUNE 35-ton Prototype Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber

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

    Adams, D.L.; et al.

    The 35-ton prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector was a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber with an integrated photon detector system, all situated inside a membrane cryostat. The detector took cosmic-ray data for six weeks during the period of February 1, 2016 to March 12, 2016. The performance of the photon detection system was checked with these data. An installed photon detector was demonstrated to measure the arrival times of cosmic-ray muons with a resolution better than 32 ns, limited by the timing of the trigger system. A measurement of the timing resolution using closely-spaced calibration pulses yielded a resolution of 15 ns for pulses at a level of 6 photo-electrons. Scintillation light from cosmic-ray muons was observed to be attenuated with increasing distance with a characteristic length ofmore » $$155 \\pm 28$$ cm.« less

  20. Neutron coincidence counting based on time interval analysis with one- and two-dimensional Rossi-alpha distributions: an application for passive neutron waste assay

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruggeman, M.; Baeten, P.; De Boeck, W.; Carchon, R.

    1996-02-01

    Neutron coincidence counting is commonly used for the non-destructive assay of plutonium bearing waste or for safeguards verification measurements. A major drawback of conventional coincidence counting is related to the fact that a valid calibration is needed to convert a neutron coincidence count rate to a 240Pu equivalent mass ( 240Pu eq). In waste assay, calibrations are made for representative waste matrices and source distributions. The actual waste however may have quite different matrices and source distributions compared to the calibration samples. This often results in a bias of the assay result. This paper presents a new neutron multiplicity sensitive coincidence counting technique including an auto-calibration of the neutron detection efficiency. The coincidence counting principle is based on the recording of one- and two-dimensional Rossi-alpha distributions triggered respectively by pulse pairs and by pulse triplets. Rossi-alpha distributions allow an easy discrimination between real and accidental coincidences and are aimed at being measured by a PC-based fast time interval analyser. The Rossi-alpha distributions can be easily expressed in terms of a limited number of factorial moments of the neutron multiplicity distributions. The presented technique allows an unbiased measurement of the 240Pu eq mass. The presented theory—which will be indicated as Time Interval Analysis (TIA)—is complementary to Time Correlation Analysis (TCA) theories which were developed in the past, but is from the theoretical point of view much simpler and allows a straightforward calculation of deadtime corrections and error propagation. Analytical expressions are derived for the Rossi-alpha distributions as a function of the factorial moments of the efficiency dependent multiplicity distributions. The validity of the proposed theory is demonstrated and verified via Monte Carlo simulations of pulse trains and the subsequent analysis of the simulated data.

  1. The Fogo's Collapse-triggered Megatsunami: Evidence-calibrated Numerical Simulations of Tsunamigenic Potential and Coastal Impact

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Omira, Rachid; Ramalho, Ricardo S.; Quartau, Rui; Ramalho, Inês; Madeira, José; Baptista, Maria Ana

    2017-04-01

    Volcanic Ocean Islands are very prominent and dynamic features involving several constructive and destructive phases during their life-cycles. Large-scale gravitational flank collapses are one of the most destructive processes and can present a major source of hazard, since it has been shown that these events are capable of triggering megatsunamis with significant coastal impact. The Fogo volcanic island, Cape Verde, presents evidence for giant edifice mass-wasting, as attested by both onshore and offshore evidence. A recent study by Ramalho et al. (2015) revealed the presence of tsunamigenic deposits that attest the generation of a megatsunami with devastating impact on the nearby Santiago Island, following Fogo's catastrophic collapse. Evidence from northern Santiago implies local minimum run-ups of 270 m, providing a unique physical framework to test collapse-triggered tsunami numerical simulations. In this study, we investigate the tsunamigenic potential associated with Fogo's flank collapse, and its impact on the Islands of the Cape Verde archipelago using field evidence-calibrated numerical simulations. We first reconstruct the pre-event island morphology, and then employ a multilayer numerical model to simulate the flank failure flow towards and under the sea, the ensuing tsunami generation, propagation and coastal impact. We use a digital elevation model that considers the coastline configuration and the sea level at the time of the event. Preliminary numerical modeling results suggest that collapsed volumes of 90-150 km3, in one single event, generate numerical solutions that are compatible with field evidence. Our simulations suggest that Fogo's collapse triggered a megatsunami that reached the coast of Santiago in 8 min, and with wave heights in excess of 250 m. The tsunami waves propagated with lower amplitudes towards the Cape Verde Islands located northward of Fogo. This study will contribute to more realistically assess the scale of risks associated with these extremely rare but very high impact natural disasters. This work is supported by the EU project ASTARTE -Grant 603839, 7th FP (ENV.2013, 6.4-3), the EU project TSUMAPS-NEAM -Agreement Number: ECHO/SUB/2015/718568/PREV26, and the IF/01641/2015 MEGAWAVE - FCT project.

  2. Verification of Texas superheavy load criteria for bridges.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-11-01

    This report evaluates TxDOT criteria for the superheavy loads that trigger bridge analyses to determine : whether the criteria adequately protects Texas bridges. Researchers used solid modeling calibrated with a : bridge test of a 3-span continuous s...

  3. 47 CFR 2.1505 - Test instrumentation and equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... instrument is to be DC coupled and capable of manually triggered single sweeps. (d) Frequency counter. A... frequency. (e) Signal generator. A calibrated signal generator with an output of at least 75 mW at 121.5 and...

  4. The LHCb Run Control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alessio, F.; Barandela, M. C.; Callot, O.; Duval, P.-Y.; Franek, B.; Frank, M.; Galli, D.; Gaspar, C.; Herwijnen, E. v.; Jacobsson, R.; Jost, B.; Neufeld, N.; Sambade, A.; Schwemmer, R.; Somogyi, P.

    2010-04-01

    LHCb has designed and implemented an integrated Experiment Control System. The Control System uses the same concepts and the same tools to control and monitor all parts of the experiment: the Data Acquisition System, the Timing and the Trigger Systems, the High Level Trigger Farm, the Detector Control System, the Experiment's Infrastructure and the interaction with the CERN Technical Services and the Accelerator. LHCb's Run Control, the main interface used by the experiment's operator, provides access in a hierarchical, coherent and homogeneous manner to all areas of the experiment and to all its sub-detectors. It allows for automated (or manual) configuration and control, including error recovery, of the full experiment in its different running modes. Different instances of the same Run Control interface are used by the various sub-detectors for their stand-alone activities: test runs, calibration runs, etc. The architecture and the tools used to build the control system, the guidelines and components provided to the developers, as well as the first experience with the usage of the Run Control will be presented

  5. Holocene earthquake-triggered turbidites from the Saguenay (Eastern Canada) and Reloncavi (Chilean margin) fjords

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    St-Onge, Guillaume; Chapron, Emmanuel; Mulsow, Sandor; Salas, Marcos; Debret, Maxime; Foucher, Anthony; Mulder, Thierry; Desmet, Marc; Costa, Pedro; Ghaleb, Bassam; Locat, Jacques

    2013-04-01

    Fjords are unique archives of climatic and environmental changes, but also of natural hazards. They can preserve thick sedimentary sequences deposited under very high sediment accumulation rates, making them ideally suited to record historical and pre-historical sedimentological events such as major landslides, floods or earthquakes. In fact, by carefully characterizing and dating the sediments and by comparing the basin fill seismic stratigraphy and sedimentary records with historical events, it is possible to "calibrate" recent rapidly deposited layers such as turbidites with a trigger mechanism and extend these observations further back in time by using seismic reflection profiles and longer sediment cores. Here, we will compare earthquake-triggered turbidites in fjords from the Southern and Northern Hemispheres: the Saguenay (Eastern Canada) and Reloncavi fjords (southern Chilean margin). In both settings, we will first look at basin fill geometries and at the sedimentological properties of historical events before extending the records further back in time. In both fjords, several turbidites were associated with large magnitude historic and pre-historic earthquakes including the 1663 AD (M>7) earthquake in the Saguenay Fjord, and the 1960 (M 9.5), 1837 (M~8) and 1575 AD major Chilean subduction earthquakes in the Reloncavi Fjord. In addition, a sand layer with sea urchin fragments and the exoscopic characteristics typical of a tsunami deposit was observed immediately above the turbidite associated with the 1575 AD earthquake in the Reloncavi Fjord and supports both the chronology and the large magnitude of that historic earthquake. In both fjords, as well as in other recently recognized earthquake-triggered turbidites, the decimeter-to meter-thick normally-graded turbidites are characterized by a homogeneous, but slightly fining upward tail. Finally, new radiocarbon results will be presented and indicate that at least 19 earthquake-triggered turbidites were recorded in the Reloncavi Fjord during the last 7500 cal BP.

  6. g-PRIME: A Free, Windows Based Data Acquisition and Event Analysis Software Package for Physiology in Classrooms and Research Labs.

    PubMed

    Lott, Gus K; Johnson, Bruce R; Bonow, Robert H; Land, Bruce R; Hoy, Ronald R

    2009-01-01

    We present g-PRIME, a software based tool for physiology data acquisition, analysis, and stimulus generation in education and research. This software was developed in an undergraduate neurophysiology course and strongly influenced by instructor and student feedback. g-PRIME is a free, stand-alone, windows application coded and "compiled" in Matlab (does not require a Matlab license). g-PRIME supports many data acquisition interfaces from the PC sound card to expensive high throughput calibrated equipment. The program is designed as a software oscilloscope with standard trigger modes, multi-channel visualization controls, and data logging features. Extensive analysis options allow real time and offline filtering of signals, multi-parameter threshold-and-window based event detection, and two-dimensional display of a variety of parameters including event time, energy density, maximum FFT frequency component, max/min amplitudes, and inter-event rate and intervals. The software also correlates detected events with another simultaneously acquired source (event triggered average) in real time or offline. g-PRIME supports parameter histogram production and a variety of elegant publication quality graphics outputs. A major goal of this software is to merge powerful engineering acquisition and analysis tools with a biological approach to studies of nervous system function.

  7. Spatial and temporal uplift history of South America from calibrated drainage analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodríguez Tribaldos, V.; White, N. J.; Roberts, G. G.; Hoggard, M. J.

    2017-06-01

    A multidisciplinary approach is used to analyze the Cenozoic uplift history of South America. Residual depth anomalies of oceanic crust abutting this continent help to determine the pattern of present-day dynamic topography. Admittance analysis and crustal thickness measurements indicate that the elastic thickness of the Borborema and Altiplano regions is ≤10 km with evidence for sub-plate support at longer wavelengths. A drainage inventory of 1827 river profiles is assembled and used to investigate landscape development. Linear inverse modeling enables river profiles to be fitted as a function of the spatial and temporal history of regional uplift. Erosional parameters are calibrated using observations from the Borborema Plateau and tested against continent-wide stratigraphic and thermochronologic constraints. Our results predict that two phases of regional uplift of the Altiplano plateau occurred in Neogene times. Regional uplift of the southern Patagonian Andes also appears to have occurred in Early Miocene times. The consistency between observed and predicted histories for the Borborema, Altiplano, and Patagonian plateaux implies that drainage networks record coherent signals that are amenable to simple modeling strategies. Finally, the predicted pattern of incision across the Amazon catchment constrains solid sedimentary flux at the Foz do Amazonas. Observed and calculated flux estimates match, suggesting that erosion and deposition were triggered by regional Andean uplift during Miocene times.

  8. The design and performance of the ZEUS Central Tracking Detector z-by-timing system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bailey, D. S.; Foster, B.; Heath, G. P.; Morgado, C. J. S.; Harnew, N.; Khatri, T.; Lancaster, M.; McArthur, I. C.; McFall, J. D.; Nash, J.; Shield, P. D.; Topp-Jorgensen, S.; Wilson, F. F.; Carter, R. C.; Jeffs, M. D.; Milborrow, R.; Morrissey, M. C.; Phillips, D. A.; Quinton, S. P. H.; Westlake, G.; White, D. J.; Lane, J. B.; Nixon, G.; Postranecky, M.

    1997-02-01

    The ZEUS Central Tracking Detector utilizes a time difference measurement to provide a fast determination of the z coordinate of each hit. The z-by-timing measurement is achieved by using a Time-to-Amplitude Converter which has an intrinsic timing resolution of 36 ps, has pipelined readout, and has a multihit capability of 48 ns. In order to maintain the required sub-nanosecond timing accuracy, the technique incorporates an automated self-calibration system. The readout of the z-by-timing data utilizes a fully customized timing control system which runs synchronously with the HERA beam-crossing clock, and a data acquisition system implemented on a network of Transputers. Three dimensional space-points provided by the z-by-timing system are used as input to all three levels of the ZEUS trigger and for offline track reconstruction. The average z resolution is determined to be 4.4 cm for multi-track events from positron-proton collisions in the ZEUS detector.

  9. First LHCb measurement with data from the LHC Run 2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderlini, L.; Amerio, S.

    2017-01-01

    LHCb has recently introduced a novel real-time detector alignment and calibration strategy for the Run 2. Data collected at the start of each LHC fill are processed in few minutes and used to update the alignment. On the other hand, the calibration constants will be evaluated for each run of data taking. An increase in the CPU and disk capacity of the event filter farm, combined with improvements to the reconstruction software, allow for efficient, exclusive selections already in the first stage of the High Level Trigger (HLT1), while the second stage, HLT2, performs complete, offline-quality, event reconstruction. In Run 2, LHCb will collect the largest data sample of charm mesons ever recorded. Novel data processing and analysis techniques are required to maximise the physics potential of this data sample with the available computing resources, taking into account data preservation constraints. In this write-up, we describe the full analysis chain used to obtain important results analysing the data collected in proton-proton collisions in 2015, such as the J/ψ and open charm production cross-sections, and consider the further steps required to obtain real-time results after the LHCb upgrade.

  10. Dataset definition for CMS operations and physics analyses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Franzoni, Giovanni; Compact Muon Solenoid Collaboration

    2016-04-01

    Data recorded at the CMS experiment are funnelled into streams, integrated in the HLT menu, and further organised in a hierarchical structure of primary datasets and secondary datasets/dedicated skims. Datasets are defined according to the final-state particles reconstructed by the high level trigger, the data format and the use case (physics analysis, alignment and calibration, performance studies). During the first LHC run, new workflows have been added to this canonical scheme, to exploit at best the flexibility of the CMS trigger and data acquisition systems. The concepts of data parking and data scouting have been introduced to extend the physics reach of CMS, offering the opportunity of defining physics triggers with extremely loose selections (e.g. dijet resonance trigger collecting data at a 1 kHz). In this presentation, we review the evolution of the dataset definition during the LHC run I, and we discuss the plans for the run II.

  11. Independence of amplitude-frequency and phase calibrations in an SSVEP-based BCI using stepping delay flickering sequences.

    PubMed

    Chang, Hsiang-Chih; Lee, Po-Lei; Lo, Men-Tzung; Lee, I-Hui; Yeh, Ting-Kuang; Chang, Chun-Yen

    2012-05-01

    This study proposes a steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) independent of amplitude-frequency and phase calibrations. Six stepping delay flickering sequences (SDFSs) at 32-Hz flickering frequency were used to implement a six-command BCI system. EEG signals recorded from Oz position were first filtered within 29-35 Hz, segmented based on trigger events of SDFSs to obtain SDFS epochs, and then stored separately in epoch registers. An epoch-average process suppressed the inter-SDFS interference. For each detection point, the latest six SDFS epochs in each epoch register were averaged and the normalized power of averaged responses was calculated. The visual target that induced the maximum normalized power was identified as the visual target. Eight subjects were recruited in this study. All subjects were requested to produce the "563241" command sequence four times. The averaged accuracy, command transfer interval, and information transfer rate (mean ± std.) values for all eight subjects were 97.38 ± 5.97%, 3.56 ± 0.68 s, and 42.46 ± 11.17 bits/min, respectively. The proposed system requires no calibration in either the amplitude-frequency characteristic or the reference phase of SSVEP which may provide an efficient and reliable channel for the neuromuscular disabled to communicate with external environments.

  12. A short-term ensemble wind speed forecasting system for wind power applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baidya Roy, S.; Traiteur, J. J.; Callicutt, D.; Smith, M.

    2011-12-01

    This study develops an adaptive, blended forecasting system to provide accurate wind speed forecasts 1 hour ahead of time for wind power applications. The system consists of an ensemble of 21 forecasts with different configurations of the Weather Research and Forecasting Single Column Model (WRFSCM) and a persistence model. The ensemble is calibrated against observations for a 2 month period (June-July, 2008) at a potential wind farm site in Illinois using the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) technique. The forecasting system is evaluated against observations for August 2008 at the same site. The calibrated ensemble forecasts significantly outperform the forecasts from the uncalibrated ensemble while significantly reducing forecast uncertainty under all environmental stability conditions. The system also generates significantly better forecasts than persistence, autoregressive (AR) and autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models during the morning transition and the diurnal convective regimes. This forecasting system is computationally more efficient than traditional numerical weather prediction models and can generate a calibrated forecast, including model runs and calibration, in approximately 1 minute. Currently, hour-ahead wind speed forecasts are almost exclusively produced using statistical models. However, numerical models have several distinct advantages over statistical models including the potential to provide turbulence forecasts. Hence, there is an urgent need to explore the role of numerical models in short-term wind speed forecasting. This work is a step in that direction and is likely to trigger a debate within the wind speed forecasting community.

  13. Dynamic Triggering of Microseismicity in the North Island of New Zealand following the Mw7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Z.; Yao, D.; Fry, B.; Wallace, L. M.; Kaneko, Y.; Meng, X.

    2017-12-01

    We conduct a systematic search for dynamically triggered earthquakes in the North Island of New Zealand following the 11/13/2016 Mw7.8 Kaikoura earthquake. This event ruptured multiple faults in the northeastern South Island of New Zealand, and propagated for more than 170 km mostly in the NE direction. By examining earthquakes listed in the GeoNet catalog, we can observe a clear increase of microseismicity in the North Island following the Kaikoura mainshock. However, visual inspection of high-frequency seismograms recorded by 130 dense broadband and short-period sensors revealed that many local earthquakes were not captured by the GeoNet catalog, likely due to being obscured by the mainshock coda and intense aftershock sequence in the South Island. To further quantify the triggering phenomenon in the North Island following the mainshock, we apply a waveform matched filter technique to obtain a more complete catalog around the mainshock occurrence time. Assuming many of the triggered North Island events occur on faults that were active prior to the Mw7.8 earthquake, we select 17,500 events listed in the GeoNet catalog from 04/2016 to 03/2017 as templates to scan through continuous data from 11/01/2017 to 11/30/2017. Currently, 19,000 additional events are detected within the one month study period, comparing to 1,950 events listed in the catalog. The initial locations from the GeoNet catalog reveal that most triggered earthquakes occurred in the uppermost crust (<20km), likely linked to inland crustal faults and/or volcanic systems. In addition, another burst of seismicity (including a magnitude 6 event) occurred near the Wairarapa coastline about 400km north of the main rupture, which was likely driven by a M7 slow slip events triggered by the mainshock. Our next step is to calibrate the magnitudes of both catalog and newly detected events by measuring their principle component slopes. In addition, we plan to measure cross-correlation differential times between newly detected and template events to obtain better relative locations, and compare seismicity rate changes with both static and dynamic stress changes to better understand the triggering mechanisms. Updated results will be presented at the meeting.

  14. The Influence of Preferential Flow on Pressure Propagation and Landslide Triggering of the Rocca Pitigliana Landslide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shao, W.; Bogaard, T.; Bakker, M.; Berti, M.; Savenije, H. H. G.

    2016-12-01

    The fast pore water pressure response to rain events is an important triggering factor for slope instability. The fast pressure response may be caused by preferential flow that bypasses the soil matrix. Currently, most of the hydro-mechanical models simulate pore water pressure using a single-permeability model, which cannot quantify the effects of preferential flow on pressure propagation and landslide triggering. Previous studies showed that a model based on the linear-diffusion equation can simulate the fast pressure propagation in near-saturated landslides such as the Rocca Pitigliana landslide. In such a model, the diffusion coefficient depends on the degree of saturation, which makes it difficult to use the model for predictions. In this study, the influence of preferential flow on pressure propagation and slope stability is investigated with a 1D dual-permeability model coupled with an infinite-slope stability approach. The dual-permeability model uses two modified Darcy-Richards equations to simultaneously simulate the matrix flow and preferential flow in hillslopes. The simulated pressure head is used in an infinite-slope stability analysis to identify the influence of preferential flow on the fast pressure response and landslide triggering. The dual-permeability model simulates the height and arrival of the pressure peak reasonably well. Performance of the dual-permeability model is as good as or better than the linear-diffusion model even though the dual-permeability model is calibrated for two single pulse rain events only, while the linear-diffusion model is calibrated for each rain event separately.

  15. High energy ion collisions. Final technical report, December 14, 1995--March 17, 1997

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

    Jacak, B.V.

    1997-12-31

    This grant supported one year of work on Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions at the University of New Mexico. The Principal Investigator, an Adjunct Associate Professor at UNM, recruited a student (Mikhail Kopytine), sent him to CERN for several months to participate in the final data taking period of the NA44 experiment at CERN, then initiated analysis of the data collected during the run. A Hewlett-Packard workstation was purchased and Mr. Kopytine performed calibration, software development, and data analysis using it. A collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory and other faculty members at the University of New Mexico was begun, withmore » the goal of working closely together on the PHENIX experiment for RHIC. At this time, a close collaboration continues, centered around the Muon tracking detectors for PHENIX. Station 1 of the tracking system is under construction at UNM, while stations 2 and 3 are the responsibility of LANL. The following accomplishments were made: (1) Participation in final data taking period of NA44; (2) Work on commissioning of aerogel Cerenkov trigger and performed offline analysis to demonstrate its performance; (3) Calibration of the uranium calorimeter in NA44 in preparation for Data Summary Tape production; (4) An optimized DST production for tapes with single pion, kaon, and proton triggers for Pb+Pb collisions was performed; (5) Analysis of pion and kaon distributions and production cross sections from Pb+Pb collisions; and (6) Participation in MVD development meetings and contributed to planning of the analysis software for MVD.« less

  16. A new Calibrated Deglacial Drainage History for North America and Evidence for an Arctic Trigger for the Younger Dryas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tarasov, L.; Peltier, W. R.

    2004-05-01

    We present a new deglacial drainage history for the North American ice complex using the 3D University of Toronto glacial systems model calibrated against a large set of RSL and geodetic data. During melt-water pulse 1a, large order 0.15 to 0.2 Sverdrup century-scale melt-water discharges into both the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic occur. During this period, it has generally been inferred that strong thermohaline overturning circulation (TOC) was maintained. As such, our results suggest that the TOC is relatively insensitive to injection of melt-water into the Western Atlantic. In contrast with past inferences, we find the periods of strongest combined melt-water and ice calving discharge (with peak flows of order 0.2 Sverdrups over a century) into the NW Arctic to be during both the onset of and within the Younger Dryas. Model results also show no significant freshwater flux into the Western Atlantic during the Younger Dryas onset period. Given that the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian (GIN) seas basin was the only outlet route for Arctic waters at this time, we infer that some combination of reduced Canadian Basin sea surface salinities in combination with enhanced sea-ice export into the GIN seas basin played a critical role in triggering and sustaining the altered TOC that is believed to be responsible for the Younger Dryas cold interval. We also speculate that the prior lack of such large discharges into the Canadian Arctic Basin may explain the apparent uniqueness of the Younger Dryas interval.

  17. Prediction of Groundwater Level at Slope Areas using Electrical Resistivity Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baharuddin, M. F. T.; Hazreek, Z. A. M.; Azman, M. A. A.; Madun, A.

    2018-04-01

    Groundwater level plays an important role as an agent that triggers landslides. Commonly, the conventional method used to monitor the groundwater level is done by using standpipe piezometer. There were several disadvantages of the conventional method related to cost, time and data coverage. The aim of this study is to determine groundwater level at slope areas using electrical resistivity method and to verify groundwater level of the study area with standpipe piezometer data. The data acquisition was performed using ABEM Terrameter SAS4000. For data analysis and processing, RES2DINV and SURFER were used. The groundwater level was calibrated with reference of standpipe piezometer based on electrical resistivity value (ERV).

  18. A method to calibrate phase fluctuation in polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Zenghai; Kasaragod, Deepa K.; Matcher, Stephen J.

    2011-06-01

    A phase fluctuation calibration method is presented for polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography (PS-SS-OCT) using continuous polarization modulation. The method consists of the generation of a continuous triggered tone-burst waveform rather than an asynchronous waveform by use of a function generator and the removal of the global phases of the measured Jones matrices by use of matrix normalization. This could remove the use of auxiliary optical components for the phase fluctuation compensation in the system, which reduces the system complexity. Phase fluctuation calibration is necessary to obtain the reference Jones matrix by averaging the measured Jones matrices at sample surfaces. Measurements on an equine tendon sample were made by the PS-SS-OCT system to validate the proposed method.

  19. Edge Thomson scattering diagnostic on COMPASS tokamak: Installation, calibration, operation, improvements

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

    Bohm, P., E-mail: bohm@ipp.cas.cz; Bilkova, P.; Melich, R.

    2014-11-15

    The core Thomson scattering diagnostic (TS) on the COMPASS tokamak was put in operation and reported earlier. Implementation of edge TS, with spatial resolution along the laser beam up to ∼1/100 of the tokamak minor radius, is presented now. The procedure for spatial calibration and alignment of both core and edge systems is described. Several further upgrades of the TS system, like a triggering unit and piezo motor driven vacuum window shutter, are introduced as well. The edge TS system, together with the core TS, is now in routine operation and provides electron temperature and density profiles.

  20. Sub-nanosecond ranging possibilities of optical radar at various signal levels and transmitted pulse widths

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Poultney, S. K.

    1971-01-01

    The behavior of the photomultiplier is considered, as well as the method of derivation of the photomultiplier output pulse and its relation to the reflected light pulse width and amplitude, and the calibration of range precision and accuracy. Pulsed laser radars with light pulse widths of 30, 3, and 0.1 nanosec a considered, with the 0.1 nanosec system capable of highest precision in several modes of operation, including a high repetition rate, single photoelectron reception mode. An alternate calibration scheme using a fast, triggerable light pulser is described in detail.

  1. An integrated system for rainfall induced shallow landslides modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Formetta, Giuseppe; Capparelli, Giovanna; Rigon, Riccardo; Versace, Pasquale

    2014-05-01

    Rainfall induced shallow landslides (RISL) cause significant damages involving loss of life and properties. Predict susceptible locations for RISL is a complex task that involves many disciplines: hydrology, geotechnical science, geomorphology, statistic. Usually to accomplish this task two main approaches are used: statistical or physically based model. In this work an open source (OS), 3-D, fully distributed hydrological model was integrated in an OS modeling framework (Object Modeling System). The chain is closed by linking the system to a component for safety factor computation with infinite slope approximation able to take into account layered soils and suction contribution to hillslope stability. The model composition was tested for a case study in Calabria (Italy) in order to simulate the triggering of a landslide happened in the Cosenza Province. The integration in OMS allows the use of other components such as a GIS to manage inputs-output processes, and automatic calibration algorithms to estimate model parameters. Finally, model performances were quantified by comparing modelled and simulated trigger time. This research is supported by Ambito/Settore AMBIENTE E SICUREZZA (PON01_01503) project.

  2. Rupture complexity of the Mw 8.3 sea of okhotsk earthquake: Rapid triggering of complementary earthquakes?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wei, Shengji; Helmberger, Don; Zhan, Zhongwen; Graves, Robert

    2013-01-01

    We derive a finite slip model for the 2013 Mw 8.3 Sea of Okhotsk Earthquake (Z = 610 km) by inverting calibrated teleseismic P waveforms. The inversion shows that the earthquake ruptured on a 10° dipping rectangular fault zone (140 km × 50 km) and evolved into a sequence of four large sub-events (E1–E4) with an average rupture speed of 4.0 km/s. The rupture process can be divided into two main stages. The first propagated south, rupturing sub-events E1, E2, and E4. The second stage (E3) originated near E2 with a delay of 12 s and ruptured northward, filling the slip gap between E1 and E2. This kinematic process produces an overall slip pattern similar to that observed in shallow swarms, except it occurs over a compressed time span of about 30 s and without many aftershocks, suggesting that sub-event triggering for deep events is significantly more efficient than for shallow events.

  3. Trigger and Readout System for the Ashra-1 Detector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aita, Y.; Aoki, T.; Asaoka, Y.; Morimoto, Y.; Motz, H. M.; Sasaki, M.; Abiko, C.; Kanokohata, C.; Ogawa, S.; Shibuya, H.; Takada, T.; Kimura, T.; Learned, J. G.; Matsuno, S.; Kuze, S.; Binder, P. M.; Goldman, J.; Sugiyama, N.; Watanabe, Y.

    Highly sophisticated trigger and readout system has been developed for All-sky Survey High Resolution Air-shower (Ashra) detector. Ashra-1 detector has 42 degree diameter field of view. Detection of Cherenkov and fluorescence light from large background in the large field of view requires finely segmented and high speed trigger and readout system. The system is composed of optical fiber image transmission system, 64 × 64 channel trigger sensor and FPGA based trigger logic processor. The system typically processes the image within 10 to 30 ns and opens the shutter on the fine CMOS sensor. 64 × 64 coarse split image is transferred via 64 × 64 precisely aligned optical fiber bundle to a photon sensor. Current signals from the photon sensor are discriminated by custom made trigger amplifiers. FPGA based processor processes 64 × 64 hit pattern and correspondent partial area of the fine image is acquired. Commissioning earth skimming tau neutrino observational search was carried out with this trigger system. In addition to the geometrical advantage of the Ashra observational site, the excellent tau shower axis measurement based on the fine imaging and the night sky background rejection based on the fine and fast imaging allow zero background tau shower search. Adoption of the optical fiber bundle and trigger LSI realized 4k channel trigger system cheaply. Detectability of tau shower is also confirmed by simultaneously observed Cherenkov air shower. Reduction of the trigger threshold appears to enhance the effective area especially in PeV tau neutrino energy region. New two dimensional trigger LSI was introduced and the trigger threshold was lowered. New calibration system of the trigger system was recently developed and introduced to the Ashra detector

  4. Summary of the Second Workshop on Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Research and Development in the United States

    DOE PAGES

    Acciarri, R.; Adamowski, M.; Artrip, D.; ...

    2015-07-28

    The second workshop to discuss the development of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) in the United States was held at Fermilab on July 8-9, 2014. The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors, a body that was initiated by the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields. All presentations at the workshop were made in six topical plenary sessions: i) Argon Purity and Cryogenics, ii) TPC and High Voltage, iii) Electronics, Data Acquisition and Triggering, iv) Scintillation Light Detection, v) Calibration and Test Beams, and vi) Software. This document summarizes the currentmore » efforts in each of these areas. It primarily focuses on the work in the US, but also highlights work done elsewhere in the world.« less

  5. Calibration of AN Acoustic Sensor (geophone) for Continuous Bedload Monitoring in Mountainous Streams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsakiris, A. G.; Papanicolaou, T.

    2010-12-01

    Measurement of bedload rates is a crucial component in the study of alluvial processes in mountainous streams. Stream restoration efforts, the validation of morphodynamic models and the calibration empirical transport formulae rely on accurate bedload transport measurements. Bedload measurements using traditional methods (e.g. samplers, traps) are time consuming, resource intensive and not always feasible, especially at higher flow conditions. These limitations could potentially be addressed by acoustic instruments, which may provide unattended, continuous bedload measurements even at higher flow conditions, provided that these instruments are properly calibrated. The objective of this study is to calibrate an acoustic instrument (geophone) for performing bedload measurements in a well-monitored laboratory environment at conditions corresponding to low flow regime in mountainous streams. The geophone was manufactured by ClampOn® and was attached to the bottom of a steel plate with dimensions 0.15x0.15 m. The geophone registers the energy of the acoustic signal produced by the movement of the bedload particles over the steel plate with time resolution of one second. The plate-sensor system was installed in an acrylic housing such that the steel plate top surface was at the same level with the surface of a flat porous bed consisting of unisize spheres with diameter 19.1 mm. Unisize spherical glass particles, 15.9 mm in diameter, were preplaced along a 2 m long section upstream of the sensor, and were entrained over the steel plate. In these experiments, the geophone records spanned the complete experiment duratio. Plan view video of the particle movement over the steel plate was recorded via an overhead camera, and was used to calculate the actual bedload rate over the steel plate. Synchronized analysis of this plan view video and the geophone time series revealed that the geophone detected 62% of the bedload particles passing over the steel plate, which triggered discernable peaks in the time series. The bedload rate over the plate correlated as a power law relation with the magnitude of the registered peaks. This relation can be used for estimating the temporal variations of bedload from the record of the geophones records, which can produce continuous records and thus bedload measurements over extended time periods. Future research on the geophones is guaranteed and will aim on calibrating the geophones for particle movement at higher flow conditions where general sediment movement and possibly particle saltation occur.

  6. The influence of preferential flow on pressure propagation and landslide triggering of the Rocca Pitigliana landslide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shao, Wei; Bogaard, Thom; Bakker, Mark; Berti, Matteo

    2016-12-01

    The fast pore water pressure response to rain events is an important triggering factor for slope instability. The fast pressure response may be caused by preferential flow that bypasses the soil matrix. Currently, most of the hydro-mechanical models simulate pore water pressure using a single-permeability model, which cannot quantify the effects of preferential flow on pressure propagation and landslide triggering. Previous studies showed that a model based on the linear-diffusion equation can simulate the fast pressure propagation in near-saturated landslides such as the Rocca Pitigliana landslide. In such a model, the diffusion coefficient depends on the degree of saturation, which makes it difficult to use the model for predictions. In this study, the influence of preferential flow on pressure propagation and slope stability is investigated with a 1D dual-permeability model coupled with an infinite-slope stability approach. The dual-permeability model uses two modified Darcy-Richards equations to simultaneously simulate the matrix flow and preferential flow in hillslopes. The simulated pressure head is used in an infinite-slope stability analysis to identify the influence of preferential flow on the fast pressure response and landslide triggering. The dual-permeability model simulates the height and arrival of the pressure peak reasonably well. Performance of the dual-permeability model is as good as or better than the linear-diffusion model even though the dual-permeability model is calibrated for two single pulse rain events only, while the linear-diffusion model is calibrated for each rain event separately. In conclusion, the 1D dual-permeability model is a promising tool for landslides under similar conditions.

  7. Automatic Setting Procedure for Exoskeleton-Assisted Overground Gait: Proof of Concept on Stroke Population

    PubMed Central

    Gandolla, Marta; Guanziroli, Eleonora; D'Angelo, Andrea; Cannaviello, Giovanni; Molteni, Franco; Pedrocchi, Alessandra

    2018-01-01

    Stroke-related locomotor impairments are often associated with abnormal timing and intensity of recruitment of the affected and non-affected lower limb muscles. Restoring the proper lower limbs muscles activation is a key factor to facilitate recovery of gait capacity and performance, and to reduce maladaptive plasticity. Ekso is a wearable powered exoskeleton robot able to support over-ground gait training. The user controls the exoskeleton by triggering each single step during the gait cycle. The fine-tuning of the exoskeleton control system is crucial—it is set according to the residual functional abilities of the patient, and it needs to ensure lower limbs powered gait to be the most physiological as possible. This work focuses on the definition of an automatic calibration procedure able to detect the best Ekso setting for each patient. EMG activity has been recorded from Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Semitendinosus muscles in a group of 7 healthy controls and 13 neurological patients. EMG signals have been processed so to obtain muscles activation patterns. The mean muscular activation pattern derived from the controls cohort has been set as reference. The developed automatic calibration procedure requires the patient to perform overground walking trials supported by the exoskeleton while changing parameters setting. The Gait Metric index is calculated for each trial, where the closer the performance is to the normative muscular activation pattern, in terms of both relative amplitude and timing, the higher the Gait Metric index is. The trial with the best Gait Metric index corresponds to the best parameters set. It has to be noted that the automatic computational calibration procedure is based on the same number of overground walking trials, and the same experimental set-up as in the current manual calibration procedure. The proposed approach allows supporting the rehabilitation team in the setting procedure. It has been demonstrated to be robust, and to be in agreement with the current gold standard (i.e., manual calibration performed by an expert engineer). The use of a graphical user interface is a promising tool for the effective use of an automatic procedure in a clinical context. PMID:29615890

  8. Automatic Setting Procedure for Exoskeleton-Assisted Overground Gait: Proof of Concept on Stroke Population.

    PubMed

    Gandolla, Marta; Guanziroli, Eleonora; D'Angelo, Andrea; Cannaviello, Giovanni; Molteni, Franco; Pedrocchi, Alessandra

    2018-01-01

    Stroke-related locomotor impairments are often associated with abnormal timing and intensity of recruitment of the affected and non-affected lower limb muscles. Restoring the proper lower limbs muscles activation is a key factor to facilitate recovery of gait capacity and performance, and to reduce maladaptive plasticity. Ekso is a wearable powered exoskeleton robot able to support over-ground gait training. The user controls the exoskeleton by triggering each single step during the gait cycle. The fine-tuning of the exoskeleton control system is crucial-it is set according to the residual functional abilities of the patient, and it needs to ensure lower limbs powered gait to be the most physiological as possible. This work focuses on the definition of an automatic calibration procedure able to detect the best Ekso setting for each patient. EMG activity has been recorded from Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Semitendinosus muscles in a group of 7 healthy controls and 13 neurological patients. EMG signals have been processed so to obtain muscles activation patterns. The mean muscular activation pattern derived from the controls cohort has been set as reference. The developed automatic calibration procedure requires the patient to perform overground walking trials supported by the exoskeleton while changing parameters setting. The Gait Metric index is calculated for each trial, where the closer the performance is to the normative muscular activation pattern, in terms of both relative amplitude and timing, the higher the Gait Metric index is. The trial with the best Gait Metric index corresponds to the best parameters set. It has to be noted that the automatic computational calibration procedure is based on the same number of overground walking trials, and the same experimental set-up as in the current manual calibration procedure. The proposed approach allows supporting the rehabilitation team in the setting procedure. It has been demonstrated to be robust, and to be in agreement with the current gold standard (i.e., manual calibration performed by an expert engineer). The use of a graphical user interface is a promising tool for the effective use of an automatic procedure in a clinical context.

  9. The Calibration of an Ultra-High Energy Muon Hodoscope and Search for Cosmic Gamma Ray Anisotropies.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCarthy, Thomas K.

    1996-01-01

    The Homestake Deep Underground Hodoscope is a liquid scintillation detector that lies at a depth of 4200 mwe within a cavernous chamber of granite within the Homestake Gold Mine. At this depth, it is shielded from all but the most energetic elementary particles, in particular, muons with an energy of less than 27 TeV. Consequently, primaries with energies greater than 1 PeV are indirectly detected. The detector has two tiers of detectors each comprised of 40 scintillation modules of dimension.305 m x.305 m x 7.925 m, separated by a distance of 8.047 m. With this geometrical arrangement and the use of fast timing triggers (2.5 ns resolution), a directional study of ultra -high energy particles was conducted. By exploiting the fact that these particles enter the detector at very nearly the speed of light and that the trigger window has a fixed timing limit, a methodology was developed to fine tune the detector using these constraints. Once calibration was established, noisy events are easily eliminated and the resulting data is used to compute the flux of muons entering the detector, to plot the number of muons entering the detector as a function of angle and to compare this with theoretical profiles and, finally, to extrapolate the muon's velocity vector back onto the celestial sphere to search for anisotropies. The results of this study indicate a flux that is constant in time and is consistent with other, independent measurements. The angular profile is consistent with theoretical models, although a different scale factor was required to make a precise agreement. This may be due to the particular nature of the Homestake stratum. There was no indication for discrete gamma ray sources of cosmic origin, supporting earlier work using the same detector. Lastly, the methodology developed can be applied to similar detection facilities that are in operation on a long term basis. With its use of a personal computer, on site, a large facility could be monitored quite effectively.

  10. Radio emission of energetic cosmic ray air showers: Polarization measurements with LOPES

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lopes Collaboration; Isar, P. G.; Apel, W. D.; Arteaga, J. C.; Asch, T.; Auffenberg, J.; Badea, F.; Bähren, L.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Biermann, P. L.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Brüggemann, M.; Buchholz, P.; Buitink, S.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Falcke, H.; Finger, M.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gemmeke, H.; Ghia, P. L.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horneffer, A.; Huang, X.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Kickelbick, D.; Kolotaev, Y.; Krömer, O.; Kuijpers, J.; Lafebre, S.; Łuczak, P.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Navarra, G.; Nehls, S.; Nigl, A.; Oehlschläger, J.; Over, S.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rautenberg, J.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Saftoiu, A.; Schieler, H.; Schmidt, A.; Schröder, F.; Sima, O.; Singh, K.; Stümpert, M.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Walkowiak, W.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Wommer, M.; Zabierowski, J.; Zensus, J. A.; LOPES Collaboration

    2009-06-01

    LOPES is a radio antenna array co-located with the Karlsruhe Shower Core and Array DEtector, KASCADE-Grande in Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, which provides well-calibrated trigger information and air shower parameters for primary energies up to 10eV. By the end of 2006, the radio antennas were re-configured to perform polarization measurements of the radio signal of cosmic ray air showers, recording in the same time both, the East-West and North-South polarization directions of the radio emission. The main goal of these measurements is to reconstruct the polarization characteristics of the emitted signal. This will allow a detailed comparison with theoretical predictions. The current status of these measurements is reported here.

  11. Data acquisition and readout system for the LUX dark matter experiment

    DOE PAGES

    Akerib, D. S.; Bai, X.; Bedikian, S.; ...

    2011-11-28

    LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the LUX detector are processed by custom-built analog electronics which provide properly shaped signals for the trigger and data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The DAQ is comprised of commercial digitizers with firmware customized for the LUX experiment. Data acquisition systems in rare-event searches must accommodate high rate and large dynamic range during precision calibrations involving radioactive sources, while also delivering low threshold for maximum sensitivity. The LUX DAQ meets these challenges using real-time baseline sup- pression that allows formore » a maximum event acquisition rate in excess of 1.5 kHz with virtually no deadtime. This work describes the LUX DAQ and the novel acquisition techniques employed in the LUX experiment.« less

  12. Identification and energy calibration of hadronically decaying tau leptons with the ATLAS experiment in pp collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].

    PubMed

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Shabalina, E; Shamim, M; Shan, L Y; Shang, R; Shank, J T; Shapiro, M; Shatalov, P B; Shaw, K; Shehu, C Y; Sherwood, P; Shi, L; Shimizu, S; Shimmin, C O; Shimojima, M; Shiyakova, M; Shmeleva, A; Saadi, D Shoaleh; Shochet, M J; Short, D; Shrestha, S; Shulga, E; Shupe, M A; Shushkevich, S; Sicho, P; Sidiropoulou, O; Sidorov, D; Sidoti, A; Siegert, F; Sijacki, Dj; Silva, J; Silver, Y; Silverstein, D; Silverstein, S B; Simak, V; Simard, O; Simic, Lj; Simion, S; Simioni, E; Simmons, B; Simon, D; Simoniello, R; Sinervo, P; Sinev, N B; Siragusa, G; Sircar, A; Sisakyan, A N; Sivoklokov, S Yu; Sjölin, J; Sjursen, T B; Skottowe, H P; Skovpen, K Yu; Skubic, P; Slater, M; Slavicek, T; Slawinska, M; Sliwa, K; Smakhtin, V; Smart, B H; Smestad, L; Smirnov, S Yu; Smirnov, Y; Smirnova, L N; Smirnova, O; Smith, K M; Smizanska, M; Smolek, K; Snesarev, A A; Snidero, G; Snyder, S; Sobie, R; Socher, F; Soffer, A; Soh, D A; Solans, C A; Solar, M; Solc, J; Soldatov, E Yu; Soldevila, U; Solodkov, A A; Soloshenko, A; Solovyanov, O V; Solovyev, V; Sommer, P; Song, H Y; Soni, N; Sood, A; Sopczak, A; Sopko, B; Sopko, V; Sorin, V; Sosebee, M; Soualah, R; Soueid, P; Soukharev, A M; South, D; Spagnolo, S; Spanò, F; Spearman, W R; Spettel, F; Spighi, R; Spigo, G; Spiller, L A; Spousta, M; Spreitzer, T; Denis, R D St; Staerz, S; Stahlman, J; Stamen, R; Stamm, S; Stanecka, E; Stanek, R W; Stanescu, C; Stanescu-Bellu, M; Stanitzki, M M; Stapnes, S; Starchenko, E A; Stark, J; Staroba, P; Starovoitov, P; Staszewski, R; Stavina, P; Steinberg, P; Stelzer, B; Stelzer, H J; Stelzer-Chilton, O; Stenzel, H; Stern, S; Stewart, G A; Stillings, J A; Stockton, M C; Stoebe, M; Stoicea, G; Stolte, P; Stonjek, S; Stradling, A R; Straessner, A; Stramaglia, M E; Strandberg, J; Strandberg, S; Strandlie, A; Strauss, E; Strauss, M; Strizenec, P; Ströhmer, R; Strom, D M; Stroynowski, R; Strubig, A; Stucci, S A; Stugu, B; Styles, N A; Su, D; Su, J; Subramaniam, R; Succurro, A; Sugaya, Y; Suhr, C; Suk, M; Sulin, V V; Sultansoy, S; Sumida, T; Sun, S; Sun, X; Sundermann, J E; Suruliz, K; Susinno, G; Sutton, M R; Suzuki, Y; Svatos, M; Swedish, S; Swiatlowski, M; Sykora, I; Sykora, T; Ta, D; Taccini, C; Tackmann, K; Taenzer, J; Taffard, A; Tafirout, R; Taiblum, N; Takai, H; Takashima, R; Takeda, H; Takeshita, T; Takubo, Y; Talby, M; Talyshev, A A; Tam, J Y C; Tan, K G; Tanaka, J; Tanaka, R; Tanaka, S; Tanaka, S; Tanasijczuk, A J; Tannenwald, B B; Tannoury, N; Tapprogge, S; Tarem, S; Tarrade, F; Tartarelli, G F; Tas, P; Tasevsky, M; Tashiro, T; Tassi, E; Tavares Delgado, A; Tayalati, Y; Taylor, F E; Taylor, G N; Taylor, W; Teischinger, F A; Teixeira Dias Castanheira, M; Teixeira-Dias, P; Temming, K K; Ten Kate, H; Teng, P K; Teoh, J J; Terada, S; Terashi, K; Terron, J; Terzo, S; Testa, M; Teuscher, R J; Therhaag, J; Theveneaux-Pelzer, T; Thomas, J P; Thomas-Wilsker, J; Thompson, E N; Thompson, P D; Thompson, P D; Thompson, R J; Thompson, A S; Thomsen, L A; Thomson, E; Thomson, M; Thong, W M; Thun, R P; Tian, F; Tibbetts, M J; Tikhomirov, V O; Tikhonov, Yu A; Timoshenko, S; Tiouchichine, E; Tipton, P; Tisserant, S; Todorov, T; Todorova-Nova, S; Tojo, J; Tokár, S; Tokushuku, K; Tollefson, K; Tolley, E; Tomlinson, L; Tomoto, M; Tompkins, L; Toms, K; Topilin, N D; Torrence, E; Torres, H; Torró Pastor, E; Toth, J; Touchard, F; Tovey, D R; Tran, H L; Trefzger, T; Tremblet, L; Tricoli, A; Trigger, I M; Trincaz-Duvoid, S; Tripiana, M F; Trischuk, W; Trocmé, B; Troncon, C; Trottier-McDonald, M; Trovatelli, M; True, P; Trzebinski, M; Trzupek, A; Tsarouchas, C; Tseng, J C-L; Tsiareshka, P V; Tsionou, D; Tsipolitis, G; Tsirintanis, N; Tsiskaridze, S; Tsiskaridze, V; Tskhadadze, E G; Tsukerman, I I; Tsulaia, V; Tsuno, S; Tsybychev, D; Tudorache, A; Tudorache, V; Tuna, A N; Tupputi, S A; Turchikhin, S; Turecek, D; Turk Cakir, I; Turra, R; Turvey, A J; Tuts, P M; Tykhonov, A; Tylmad, M; Tyndel, M; Uchida, K; Ueda, I; Ueno, R; Ughetto, M; Ugland, M; Uhlenbrock, M; Ukegawa, F; Unal, G; Undrus, A; Unel, G; Ungaro, F C; Unno, Y; Unverdorben, C; Urban, J; Urbaniec, D; Urquijo, P; Usai, G; Usanova, A; Vacavant, L; Vacek, V; Vachon, B; Valencic, N; Valentinetti, S; Valero, A; Valery, L; Valkar, S; Valladolid Gallego, E; Vallecorsa, S; Valls Ferrer, J A; Van Den Wollenberg, W; Van Der Deijl, P C; van der Geer, R; van der Graaf, H; Van Der Leeuw, R; van der Ster, D; van Eldik, N; van Gemmeren, P; Van Nieuwkoop, J; van Vulpen, I; van Woerden, M C; Vanadia, M; Vandelli, W; Vanguri, R; Vaniachine, A; Vankov, P; Vannucci, F; Vardanyan, G; Vari, R; Varnes, E W; Varol, T; Varouchas, D; Vartapetian, A; Varvell, K E; Vazeille, F; Vazquez Schroeder, T; Veatch, J; Veloso, F; Velz, T; Veneziano, S; Ventura, A; Ventura, D; Venturi, M; Venturi, N; Venturini, A; Vercesi, V; Verducci, M; Verkerke, W; Vermeulen, J C; Vest, A; Vetterli, M C; Viazlo, O; Vichou, I; Vickey, T; Vickey Boeriu, O E; Viehhauser, G H A; Viel, S; Vigne, R; Villa, M; Villaplana Perez, M; Vilucchi, E; Vincter, M G; Vinogradov, V B; Virzi, J; Vivarelli, I; Vives Vaque, F; Vlachos, S; Vladoiu, D; Vlasak, M; Vogel, A; Vogel, M; Vokac, P; Volpi, G; Volpi, M; von der Schmitt, H; von Radziewski, H; von Toerne, E; Vorobel, V; Vorobev, K; Vos, M; Voss, R; Vossebeld, J H; Vranjes, N; Vranjes Milosavljevic, M; Vrba, V; Vreeswijk, M; Vu Anh, T; Vuillermet, R; Vukotic, I; Vykydal, Z; Wagner, P; Wagner, W; Wahlberg, H; Wahrmund, S; Wakabayashi, J; Walder, J; Walker, R; Walkowiak, W; Wall, R; Waller, P; Walsh, B; Wang, C; Wang, C; Wang, F; Wang, H; Wang, H; Wang, J; Wang, J; Wang, K; Wang, R; Wang, S M; Wang, T; Wang, X; Wanotayaroj, C; Warburton, A; Ward, C P; Wardrope, D R; Warsinsky, M; Washbrook, A; Wasicki, C; Watkins, P M; Watson, A T; Watson, I J; Watson, M F; Watts, G; Watts, S; Waugh, B M; Webb, S; Weber, M S; Weber, S W; Webster, J S; Weidberg, A R; Weinert, B; Weingarten, J; Weiser, C; Weits, H; Wells, P S; Wenaus, T; Wendland, D; Weng, Z; Wengler, T; Wenig, S; Wermes, N; Werner, M; Werner, P; Wessels, M; Wetter, J; Whalen, K; White, A; White, M J; White, R; White, S; Whiteson, D; Wicke, D; Wickens, F J; Wiedenmann, W; Wielers, M; Wienemann, P; Wiglesworth, C; Wiik-Fuchs, L A M; Wijeratne, P A; Wildauer, A; Wildt, M A; Wilkens, H G; Williams, H H; Williams, S; Willis, C; Willocq, S; Wilson, A; Wilson, J A; Wingerter-Seez, I; Winklmeier, F; Winter, B T; Wittgen, M; Wittig, T; Wittkowski, J; Wollstadt, S J; Wolter, M W; Wolters, H; Wosiek, B K; Wotschack, J; Woudstra, M J; Wozniak, K W; Wright, M; Wu, M; Wu, S L; Wu, X; Wu, Y; Wulf, E; Wyatt, T R; Wynne, B M; Xella, S; Xiao, M; Xu, D; Xu, L; Yabsley, B; Yacoob, S; Yakabe, R; Yamada, M; Yamaguchi, H; Yamaguchi, Y; Yamamoto, A; Yamamoto, S; Yamamura, T; Yamanaka, T; Yamauchi, K; Yamazaki, Y; Yan, Z; Yang, H; Yang, H; Yang, U K; Yang, Y; Yanush, S; Yao, L; Yao, W-M; Yasu, Y; Yatsenko, E; Yau Wong, K H; Ye, J; Ye, S; Yeletskikh, I; Yen, A L; Yildirim, E; Yilmaz, M; Yoosoofmiya, R; Yorita, K; Yoshida, R; Yoshihara, K; Young, C; Young, C J S; Youssef, S; Yu, D R; Yu, J; Yu, J M; Yu, J; Yuan, L; Yurkewicz, A; Yusuff, I; Zabinski, B; Zaidan, R; Zaitsev, A M; Zaman, A; Zambito, S; Zanello, L; Zanzi, D; Zeitnitz, C; Zeman, M; Zemla, A; Zengel, K; Zenin, O; Ženiš, T; Zerwas, D; Zevi Della Porta, G; Zhang, D; Zhang, F; Zhang, H; Zhang, J; Zhang, L; Zhang, R; Zhang, X; Zhang, Z; Zhao, Y; Zhao, Z; Zhemchugov, A; Zhong, J; Zhou, B; Zhou, L; Zhou, N; Zhu, C G; Zhu, H; Zhu, J; Zhu, Y; Zhuang, X; Zhukov, K; Zibell, A; Zieminska, D; Zimine, N I; Zimmermann, C; Zimmermann, R; Zimmermann, S; Zimmermann, S; Zinonos, Z; Ziolkowski, M; Zobernig, G; Zoccoli, A; Zur Nedden, M; Zurzolo, G; Zutshi, V; Zwalinski, L

    This paper describes the trigger and offline reconstruction, identification and energy calibration algorithms for hadronic decays of tau leptons employed for the data collected from pp collisions in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC center-of-mass energy [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. The performance of these algorithms is measured in most cases with [Formula: see text] decays to tau leptons using the full 2012 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb[Formula: see text]. An uncertainty on the offline reconstructed tau energy scale of 2-4 %, depending on transverse energy and pseudorapidity, is achieved using two independent methods. The offline tau identification efficiency is measured with a precision of 2.5 % for hadronically decaying tau leptons with one associated track, and of 4 % for the case of three associated tracks, inclusive in pseudorapidity and for a visible transverse energy greater than 20 [Formula: see text]. For hadronic tau lepton decays selected by offline algorithms, the tau trigger identification efficiency is measured with a precision of 2-8 %, depending on the transverse energy. The performance of the tau algorithms, both offline and at the trigger level, is found to be stable with respect to the number of concurrent proton-proton interactions and has supported a variety of physics results using hadronically decaying tau leptons at ATLAS.

  13. Identification and energy calibration of hadronically decaying tau leptons with the ATLAS experiment in pp collisions at $$\\sqrt{s}=8$$ $$\\,\\hbox {TeV}$$ TeV

    DOE PAGES

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

    2015-07-02

    This study describes the trigger and offline reconstruction, identification and energy calibration algorithms for hadronic decays of tau leptons employed for the data collected from pp collisions in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC center-of-mass energy √s=8 TeV. The performance of these algorithms is measured in most cases with Z decays to tau leptons using the full 2012 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb –1. An uncertainty on the offline reconstructed tau energy scale of 2–4%, depending on transverse energy and pseudorapidity, is achieved using two independent methods. The offline tau identification efficiency is measuredmore » with a precision of 2.5% for hadronically decaying tau leptons with one associated track, and of 4% for the case of three associated tracks, inclusive in pseudorapidity and for a visible transverse energy greater than 20 GeV. For hadronic tau lepton decays selected by offline algorithms, the tau trigger identification efficiency is measured with a precision of 2–8%, depending on the transverse energy. The performance of the tau algorithms, both offline and at the trigger level, is found to be stable with respect to the number of concurrent proton–proton interactions and has supported a variety of physics results using hadronically decaying tau leptons at ATLAS.« less

  14. Automatic Classification of Extensive Aftershock Sequences Using Empirical Matched Field Processing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gibbons, Steven J.; Harris, David B.; Kværna, Tormod; Dodge, Douglas A.

    2013-04-01

    The aftershock sequences that follow large earthquakes create considerable problems for data centers attempting to produce comprehensive event bulletins in near real-time. The greatly increased number of events which require processing can overwhelm analyst resources and reduce the capacity for analyzing events of monitoring interest. This exacerbates a potentially reduced detection capability at key stations, due the noise generated by the sequence, and a deterioration in the quality of the fully automatic preliminary event bulletins caused by the difficulty in associating the vast numbers of closely spaced arrivals over the network. Considerable success has been enjoyed by waveform correlation methods for the automatic identification of groups of events belonging to the same geographical source region, facilitating the more time-efficient analysis of event ensembles as opposed to individual events. There are, however, formidable challenges associated with the automation of correlation procedures. The signal generated by a very large earthquake seldom correlates well enough with the signals generated by far smaller aftershocks for a correlation detector to produce statistically significant triggers at the correct times. Correlation between events within clusters of aftershocks is significantly better, although the issues of when and how to initiate new pattern detectors are still being investigated. Empirical Matched Field Processing (EMFP) is a highly promising method for detecting event waveforms suitable as templates for correlation detectors. EMFP is a quasi-frequency-domain technique that calibrates the spatial structure of a wavefront crossing a seismic array in a collection of narrow frequency bands. The amplitude and phase weights that result are applied in a frequency-domain beamforming operation that compensates for scattering and refraction effects not properly modeled by plane-wave beams. It has been demonstrated to outperform waveform correlation as a classifier of ripple-fired mining blasts since the narrowband procedure is insensitive to differences in the source-time functions. For sequences in which the spectral content and time-histories of the signals from the main shock and aftershocks vary greatly, the spatial structure calibrated by EMFP is an invariant that permits reliable detection of events in the specific source region. Examples from the 2005 Kashmir and 2011 Van earthquakes demonstrate how EMFP templates from the main events detect arrivals from the aftershock sequences with high sensitivity and exceptionally low false alarm rates. Classical waveform correlation detectors are demonstrated to fail for these examples. Even arrivals with SNR below unity can produce significant EMFP triggers as the spatial pattern of the incoming wavefront is identified, leading to robust detections at a greater number of stations and potentially more reliable automatic bulletins. False EMFP triggers are readily screened by scanning a space of phase shifts relative to the imposed template. EMFP has the potential to produce a rapid and robust overview of the evolving aftershock sequence such that correlation and subspace detectors can be applied semi-autonomously, with well-chosen parameter specifications, to identify and classify clusters of very closely spaced aftershocks.

  15. Measurement of micro gears with a touch-trigger probe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, YenChih; Chang, Kai-Hsiung; An, Nia-Chun; Yan, Sheng-Zhan; Tsai, Hsiu-An

    2013-01-01

    The measurement of micro gears with a touch-trigger probe will be introduced in this paper. Due to the small size and complex geometry of micro gears, it is difficult to measure them by traditional instruments like coordinate measuring machines (CMM) or laser displacement sensors. This study focuses on this topic and proposes an approach to measure the three dimensional profile of micro gears. The methodology is based on coordinate measurement. A special touch-trigger probe which detects the moment of contact is employed in the measuring system. The diameter of the probe tip is smaller than 2µm and therefore small enough for measuring micro structures. All the calibration and error compensation for the measuring system are discussed in the view of micro metrology. The comparison of measured profiles from both coordinate and image measurement is discussed. Results of experiments show that the proposed approach is worth of further development in the future.

  16. Method for controlling powertrain pumps

    DOEpatents

    Sime, Karl Andrew; Spohn, Brian L; Demirovic, Besim; Martini, Ryan D; Miller, Jean Marie

    2013-10-22

    A method of controlling a pump supplying a fluid to a transmission includes sensing a requested power and an excess power for a powertrain. The requested power substantially meets the needs of the powertrain, while the excess power is not part of the requested power. The method includes sensing a triggering condition in response to the ability to convert the excess power into heat in the transmission, and determining that an operating temperature of the transmission is below a maximum. The method also includes determining a calibrated baseline and a dissipation command for the pump. The calibrated baseline command is configured to supply the fluid based upon the requested power, and the dissipation command is configured to supply additional fluid and consume the excess power with the pump. The method operates the pump at a combined command, which is equal to the calibrated baseline command plus the dissipation command.

  17. Identification of Younger Dryas outburst flood path from Lake Agassiz to the Arctic Ocean.

    PubMed

    Murton, Julian B; Bateman, Mark D; Dallimore, Scott R; Teller, James T; Yang, Zhirong

    2010-04-01

    The melting Laurentide Ice Sheet discharged thousands of cubic kilometres of fresh water each year into surrounding oceans, at times suppressing the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and triggering abrupt climate change. Understanding the physical mechanisms leading to events such as the Younger Dryas cold interval requires identification of the paths and timing of the freshwater discharges. Although Broecker et al. hypothesized in 1989 that an outburst from glacial Lake Agassiz triggered the Younger Dryas, specific evidence has so far proved elusive, leading Broecker to conclude in 2006 that "our inability to identify the path taken by the flood is disconcerting". Here we identify the missing flood path-evident from gravels and a regional erosion surface-running through the Mackenzie River system in the Canadian Arctic Coastal Plain. Our modelling of the isostatically adjusted surface in the upstream Fort McMurray region, and a slight revision of the ice margin at this time, allows Lake Agassiz to spill into the Mackenzie drainage basin. From optically stimulated luminescence dating we have determined the approximate age of this Mackenzie River flood into the Arctic Ocean to be shortly after 13,000 years ago, near the start of the Younger Dryas. We attribute to this flood a boulder terrace near Fort McMurray with calibrated radiocarbon dates of over 11,500 years ago. A large flood into the Arctic Ocean at the start of the Younger Dryas leads us to reject the widespread view that Agassiz overflow at this time was solely eastward into the North Atlantic Ocean.

  18. Sensor Prototype to Evaluate the Contact Force in Measuring with Coordinate Measuring Arms

    PubMed Central

    Cuesta, Eduardo; Telenti, Alejandro; Patiño, Hector; González-Madruga, Daniel; Martínez-Pellitero, Susana

    2015-01-01

    This paper describes the design, development and evaluation tests of an integrated force sensor prototype for portable Coordinate Measuring Arms (CMAs or AACMMs). The development is based on the use of strain gauges located on the surface of the CMAs’ hard probe. The strain gauges as well as their cables and connectors have been protected with a custom case, made by Additive Manufacturing techniques (Polyjet 3D). The same method has been selected to manufacture an ergonomic handle that includes trigger mechanics and the electronic components required for synchronizing the trigger signal when probing occurs. The paper also describes the monitoring software that reads the signals in real time, the calibration procedure of the prototype and the validation tests oriented towards increasing knowledge of the forces employed in manual probing. Several experiments read and record the force in real time comparing different ways of probing (discontinuous and continuous contact) and measuring different types of geometric features, from single planes to exterior cylinders, cones, or spheres, through interior features. The probing force is separated into two components allowing the influence of these strategies in probe deformation to be known. The final goal of this research is to improve the probing technique, for example by using an operator training programme, allowing extra-force peaks and bad contacts to be minimized or just to avoid bad measurements. PMID:26057038

  19. Electronics and triggering challenges for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lobanov, A.

    2018-02-01

    The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), presently being designed by the CMS collaboration to replace the CMS endcap calorimeters for the High Luminosity phase of LHC, will feature six million channels distributed over 52 longitudinal layers. The requirements for the front-end electronics are extremely challenging, including high dynamic range (0.2 fC-10 pC), low noise (~2000 e- to be able to calibrate on single minimum ionising particles throughout the detector lifetime) and low power consumption (~20 mW/channel), as well as the need to select and transmit trigger information with a high granularity. Exploiting the intrinsic precision-timing capabilities of silicon sensors also requires careful design of the front-end electronics as well as the whole system, particularly clock distribution. The harsh radiation environment and requirement to keep the whole detector as dense as possible will require novel solutions to the on-detector electronics layout. Processing the data from the HGCAL imposes equally large challenges on the off-detector electronics, both for the hardware and incorporated algorithms. We present an overview of the complete electronics architecture, as well as the performance of prototype components and algorithms.

  20. Stress triggering of the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake by transient deformation following the 1992 Landers earthquake

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pollitz, F.F.; Sacks, I.S.

    2002-01-01

    The M 7.3 June 28, 1992 Landers and M 7.1 October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes, California, both right lateral strike-slip events on NNW-trending subvertical faults, occurred in close proximity in space and time in a region where recurrence times for surface-rupturing earthquakes are thousands of years. This suggests a causal role for the Landers earthquake in triggering the Hector Mine earthquake. Previous modeling of the static stress change associated with the Landers earthquake shows that the area of peak Hector Mine slip lies where the Coulomb failure stress promoting right-lateral strike-slip failure was high, but the nucleation point of the Hector Mine rupture was neutrally to weakly promoted, depending on the assumed coefficient of friction. Possible explanations that could account for the 7-year delay between the two ruptures include background tectonic stressing, dissipation of fluid pressure gradients, rate- and state-dependent friction effects, and post-Landers viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and upper mantle. By employing a viscoelastic model calibrated by geodetic data collected during the time period between the Landers and Hector Mine events, we calculate that postseismic relaxation produced a transient increase in Coulomb failure stress of about 0.7 bars on the impending Hector Mine rupture surface. The increase is greatest over the broad surface that includes the 1999 nucleation point and the site of peak slip further north. Since stress changes of magnitude greater than or equal to 0.1 bar are associated with documented causal fault interactions elsewhere, viscoelastic relaxation likely contributed to the triggering of the Hector Mine earthquake. This interpretation relies on the assumption that the faults occupying the central Mojave Desert (i.e., both the Landers and Hector Mine rupturing faults) were critically stressed just prior to the Landers earthquake.

  1. Characterization of the Exradin W1 scintillator for use in radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Carrasco, P; Jornet, N; Jordi, O; Lizondo, M; Latorre-Musoll, A; Eudaldo, T; Ruiz, A; Ribas, M

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate the main characteristics of the Exradin W1 scintillator as a dosimeter and to estimate measurement uncertainties when used in radiotherapy. We studied the calibration procedure, energy and modality dependence, short-term repeatability, dose-response linearity, angular dependence, temperature dependence, time to reach thermal equilibrium, dose-rate dependence, water-equivalent depth of the effective measurement point, and long-term stability. An uncertainty budget was derived for relative and absolute dose measurements in photon and electron beams. Exradin W1 showed a temperature dependence of -0.225% °C(-1). The loss of sensitivity with accumulated dose decreased with use. The sensitivity of Exradin W1 was energy independent for high-energy photon and electron beams. All remaining dependencies of Exradin W1 were around or below 0.5%, leading to an uncertainty budget of about 1%. When a dual channel electrometer with automatic trigger was not used, timing effects became significant, increasing uncertainties by one order of magnitude. The Exradin W1 response is energy independent for high energy x-rays and electron beams, and only one calibration coefficient is needed. A temperature correction factor should be applied to keep uncertainties around 2% for absolute dose measurements and around 1% for relative measurements in high-energy photon and electron beams. The Exradin W1 scintillator is an excellent alternative to detectors such as diodes for relative dose measurements.

  2. The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector: Construction, operation, and performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alice Collaboration

    2018-02-01

    The Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) was designed and built to enhance the capabilities of the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While aimed at providing electron identification and triggering, the TRD also contributes significantly to the track reconstruction and calibration in the central barrel of ALICE. In this paper the design, construction, operation, and performance of this detector are discussed. A pion rejection factor of up to 410 is achieved at a momentum of 1 GeV/ c in p-Pb collisions and the resolution at high transverse momentum improves by about 40% when including the TRD information in track reconstruction. The triggering capability is demonstrated both for jet, light nuclei, and electron selection.

  3. Trigger drift chamber for the upgraded mark II detector at PEP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ford, W. T.; Smith, J. G.; Wagner, S. R.; Weber, P.; White, S. L.; Alvarez, M.; Calviño, F.; Fernandez, E.

    1987-04-01

    A small cylindrical track detector was built as an array of single-wire drift cells with aluminized mylar cathode tubes. Point measurement resolution of ˜ 90 μm was achieved with a drift gas of 50% argon-50% ethane at atmospheric pressure. The chamber construction, electronics, and calibration are discussed. Performance results from PEP colliding-beam data are presented.

  4. Classification of Earthquake-triggered Landslide Events - Review of Classical and Particular Cases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Braun, A.; Havenith, H. B.; Schlögel, R.

    2016-12-01

    Seismically induced landslides often contribute to a significant degree to the losses related to earthquakes. The identification of possible extends of landslide affected areas can help to target emergency measures when an earthquake occurs or improve the resilience of inhabited areas and critical infrastructure in zones of high seismic hazard. Moreover, landslide event sizes are an important proxy for the estimation of the intensity and magnitude of past earthquakes in paleoseismic studies, allowing us to improve seismic hazard assessment over longer terms. Not only earthquake intensity, but also factors such as the fault characteristics, topography, climatic conditions and the geological environment have a major impact on the intensity and spatial distribution of earthquake induced landslides. Inspired by classical reviews of earthquake induced landslides, e.g. by Keefer or Jibson, we present here a review of factors contributing to earthquake triggered slope failures based on an `event-by-event' classification approach. The objective of this analysis is to enable the short-term prediction of earthquake triggered landslide event sizes in terms of numbers and size of the affected area right after an earthquake event occurred. Five main factors, `Intensity', `Fault', `Topographic energy', `Climatic conditions' and `Surface geology' were used to establish a relationship to the number and spatial extend of landslides triggered by an earthquake. Based on well-documented recent earthquakes (e.g. Haiti 2010, Wenchuan 2008) and on older events for which reliable extensive information was available (e.g. Northridge 1994, Loma Prieta 1989, Guatemala 1976, Peru 1970) the combination and relative weight of the factors was calibrated. The calibrated factor combination was then applied to more than 20 earthquake events for which landslide distribution characteristics could be crosschecked. We present cases where our prediction model performs well and discuss particular cases where it does not. These are e.g. cases of far distant, delayed or ancient earthquake induced landslides.

  5. SQL Triggers Reacting on Time Events: An Extension Proposal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Behrend, Andreas; Dorau, Christian; Manthey, Rainer

    Being able to activate triggers at timepoints reached or after time intervals elapsed has been acknowledged by many authors as a valuable functionality of a DBMS. Recently, the interest in time-based triggers has been renewed in the context of data stream monitoring. However, up till now SQL triggers react to data changes only, even though research proposals and prototypes have been supporting several other event types, in particular time-based ones, since long. We therefore propose a seamless extension of the SQL trigger concept by time-based triggers, focussing on semantic issues arising from such an extension.

  6. Calibrated tree priors for relaxed phylogenetics and divergence time estimation.

    PubMed

    Heled, Joseph; Drummond, Alexei J

    2012-01-01

    The use of fossil evidence to calibrate divergence time estimation has a long history. More recently, Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo has become the dominant method of divergence time estimation, and fossil evidence has been reinterpreted as the specification of prior distributions on the divergence times of calibration nodes. These so-called "soft calibrations" have become widely used but the statistical properties of calibrated tree priors in a Bayesian setting hashave not been carefully investigated. Here, we clarify that calibration densities, such as those defined in BEAST 1.5, do not represent the marginal prior distribution of the calibration node. We illustrate this with a number of analytical results on small trees. We also describe an alternative construction for a calibrated Yule prior on trees that allows direct specification of the marginal prior distribution of the calibrated divergence time, with or without the restriction of monophyly. This method requires the computation of the Yule prior conditional on the height of the divergence being calibrated. Unfortunately, a practical solution for multiple calibrations remains elusive. Our results suggest that direct estimation of the prior induced by specifying multiple calibration densities should be a prerequisite of any divergence time dating analysis.

  7. SU-E-J-141: Assessment of the Magnitude and Impact of Trigger Delay in Respiratory Triggered Real-Time Imaging during Radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Duan, J; Shen, S; Popple, R; Wu, X; Cardan, R; Brezovich, I

    2012-06-01

    To assess the trigger delay in respiratory triggered real-time imaging and its impact on image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) with Varian TrueBeam System. A sinusoidal motion phantom with 2cm motion amplitude was used. The trigger delay was determined directly with video image, and indirectly by the distance between expected and actual triggering phantom positions. For the direct method, a fluorescent screen was placed on the phantom to visualize the x-ray. The motion of the screen was recorded at 60 frames/second. The number of frames between the time when the phantom reached expected triggering position and the time when the screen was illuminated by the x-ray was used to determine the trigger delay. In the indirect method, triggered kV x-ray images were acquired in real-time during 'treatment' with triggers set at 25% and 75% respiratory phases where the phantom moved at the maximum speed. 39-40 triggered images were acquired continuously in each series. The distance between the expected and actual triggering points, d, was measured on the images to determine the delay time t by d=Asin(wt), where w=2π/T, T=period and A=amplitude. Motion periods of 2s and 4s were used in the measurement. The trigger delay time determined with direct video imaging was 125ms (7.5 video frames). The average distance between the expected and actual triggering positions determined by the indirect method was 3.93±0.74mm for T=4s and 7.02±1.25mm for T=2s, yielding mean trigger delay times of 126±24ms and 120±22ms, respectively. Although the mean over-travel distance is significant at 25% and 75% phases, clinically, the target over-travel resulted from the trigger delay at the end of expiration (50% phase) is negligibly small(< 0.5mm). The trigger delay in respiration-triggered imaging is in the range of 120-126ms. This delay has negligible clinical effect on gated IGRT. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  8. Effect of antecedent-hydrological conditions on rainfall triggering of debris flows in ash-fall pyroclastic mantled slopes of Campania (southern Italy)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Napolitano, E.; Fusco, F; Baum, Rex L.; Godt, Jonathan W.; De Vita, P.

    2016-01-01

    Mountainous areas surrounding the Campanian Plain and the Somma-Vesuvius volcano (southern Italy) are among the most risky areas of Italy due to the repeated occurrence of rainfallinduced debris flows along ash-fall pyroclastic soil-mantled slopes. In this geomorphological framework, rainfall patterns, hydrological processes taking place within multi-layered ash-fall pyroclastic deposits and soil antecedent moisture status are the principal factors to be taken into account to assess triggering rainfall conditions and the related hazard. This paper presents the outcomes of an experimental study based on integrated analyses consisting of the reconstruction of physical models of landslides, in situ hydrological monitoring, and hydrological and slope stability modeling, carried out on four representative source areas of debris flows that occurred in May 1998 in the Sarno Mountain Range. The hydrological monitoring was carried out during 2011 using nests of tensiometers and Watermark pressure head sensors and also through a rainfall and air temperature recording station. Time series of measured pressure head were used to calibrate a hydrological numerical model of the pyroclastic soil mantle for 2011, which was re-run for a 12-year period beginning in 2000, given the availability of rainfall and air temperature monitoring data. Such an approach allowed us to reconstruct the regime of pressure head at a daily time scale for a long period, which is representative of about 11 hydrologic years with different meteorological conditions. Based on this simulated time series, average winter and summer hydrological conditions were chosen to carry out hydrological and stability modeling of sample slopes and to identify Intensity- Duration rainfall thresholds by a deterministic approach. Among principal results, the opposing winter and summer antecedent pressure head (soil moisture) conditions were found to exert a significant control on intensity and duration of rainfall triggering events. Going from winter to summer conditions requires a strong increase of intensity and/or duration to induce landslides. The results identify an approach to account for different hazard conditions related to seasonality of hydrological processes inside the ash-fall pyroclastic soil mantle. Moreover, they highlight another important factor of uncertainty that potentially affects rainfall thresholds triggering shallow landslides reconstructed by empirical approaches.

  9. Compensatable muon collider calorimeter with manageable backgrounds

    DOEpatents

    Raja, Rajendran

    2015-02-17

    A method and system for reducing background noise in a particle collider, comprises identifying an interaction point among a plurality of particles within a particle collider associated with a detector element, defining a trigger start time for each of the pixels as the time taken for light to travel from the interaction point to the pixel and a trigger stop time as a selected time after the trigger start time, and collecting only detections that occur between the start trigger time and the stop trigger time in order to thereafter compensate the result from the particle collider to reduce unwanted background detection.

  10. The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector: Construction, operation, and performance

    DOE PAGES

    Acharya, S; Adam, J; Adamova, D; ...

    2017-09-21

    The Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) was designed and built to enhance the capabilities of the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While aimed at providing electron identification and triggering, the TRD also contributes significantly to the track reconstruction and calibration in the central barrel of ALICE. In this article, the design, construction, operation, and performance of this detector are discussed. A pion rejection factor of up to 410 is achieved at a momentum of 1 GeV/c in p-Pb collisions and the resolution at high transverse momentum improves by about 40% when including the TRD information in track reconstruction.more » The triggering capability is demonstrated both for jet, light nuclei, and electron selection.« less

  11. From Heavy-Ion Collisions to Quark Matter (2/3)

    ScienceCinema

    Lourenco, C.

    2018-05-23

    The art of experimental (high-energy heavy-ion) physics 1) many experimental issues are crucial to properly understand the measurements and derive a correct physics interpretation: Acceptance and phase space windows; Efficiencies (of track reconstruction, vertexing, track matching, trigger, etc); Resolutions (of mass, momenta, energies, etc); Backgrounds, feed-downs and "expected sources"; Data selection; Monte Carlo adjustments, calibrations and smearing; luminosity and trigger conditions; Evaluation of systematic uncertainties, and several others. 2) "New Physics" often appears as excesses or suppressions with respect to "normal baselines", which must be very carefully established, on the basis of "reference" physics processes and collision systems. If we misunderstand these issues we can miss an important discovery...or we can "discover" non-existent "new physics."

  12. The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector: Construction, operation, and performance

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

    Acharya, S; Adam, J; Adamova, D

    The Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) was designed and built to enhance the capabilities of the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While aimed at providing electron identification and triggering, the TRD also contributes significantly to the track reconstruction and calibration in the central barrel of ALICE. In this article, the design, construction, operation, and performance of this detector are discussed. A pion rejection factor of up to 410 is achieved at a momentum of 1 GeV/c in p-Pb collisions and the resolution at high transverse momentum improves by about 40% when including the TRD information in track reconstruction.more » The triggering capability is demonstrated both for jet, light nuclei, and electron selection.« less

  13. Electrons and photons at High Level Trigger in CMS for Run II

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anuar, Afiq A.

    2015-12-01

    The CMS experiment has been designed with a 2-level trigger system. The first level is implemented using custom-designed electronics. The second level is the so-called High Level Trigger (HLT), a streamlined version of the CMS offline reconstruction software running on a computer farm. For Run II of the Large Hadron Collider, the increase in center-of-mass energy and luminosity will raise the event rate to a level challenging for the HLT algorithms. New approaches have been studied to keep the HLT output rate manageable while maintaining thresholds low enough to cover physics analyses. The strategy mainly relies on porting online the ingredients that have been successfully applied in the offline reconstruction, thus allowing to move HLT selection closer to offline cuts. Improvements in HLT electron and photon definitions will be presented, focusing in particular on: updated clustering algorithm and the energy calibration procedure, new Particle-Flow-based isolation approach and pileup mitigation techniques, and the electron-dedicated track fitting algorithm based on Gaussian Sum Filter.

  14. Networked event-triggered control: an introduction and research trends

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahmoud, Magdi S.; Sabih, Muhammad

    2014-11-01

    A physical system can be studied as either continuous time or discrete-time system depending upon the control objectives. Discrete-time control systems can be further classified into two categories based on the sampling: (1) time-triggered control systems and (2) event-triggered control systems. Time-triggered systems sample states and calculate controls at every sampling instant in a periodic fashion, even in cases when states and calculated control do not change much. This indicates unnecessary and useless data transmission and computation efforts of a time-triggered system, thus inefficiency. For networked systems, the transmission of measurement and control signals, thus, cause unnecessary network traffic. Event-triggered systems, on the other hand, have potential to reduce the communication burden in addition to reducing the computation of control signals. This paper provides an up-to-date survey on the event-triggered methods for control systems and highlights the potential research directions.

  15. Advances in x-ray framing cameras at the National Ignition Facility to improve quantitative precision in x-ray imaging

    DOE PAGES

    Benedetti, L. R.; Holder, J. P.; Perkins, M.; ...

    2016-02-26

    We describe an experimental method to measure the gate profile of an x-ray framing camera and to determine several important functional parameters: relative gain (between strips), relative gain droop (within each strip), gate propagation velocity, gate width, and actual inter-strip timing. Several of these parameters cannot be measured accurately by any other technique. This method is then used to document cross talk-induced gain variations and artifacts created by radiation that arrives before the framing camera is actively amplifying x-rays. Electromagnetic cross talk can cause relative gains to vary significantly as inter-strip timing is varied. This imposes a stringent requirement formore » gain calibration. If radiation arrives before a framing camera is triggered, it can cause an artifact that manifests as a high-intensity, spatially varying background signal. Furthermore, we have developed a device that can be added to the framing camera head to prevent these artifacts.« less

  16. Advances in x-ray framing cameras at the National Ignition Facility to improve quantitative precision in x-ray imaging.

    PubMed

    Benedetti, L R; Holder, J P; Perkins, M; Brown, C G; Anderson, C S; Allen, F V; Petre, R B; Hargrove, D; Glenn, S M; Simanovskaia, N; Bradley, D K; Bell, P

    2016-02-01

    We describe an experimental method to measure the gate profile of an x-ray framing camera and to determine several important functional parameters: relative gain (between strips), relative gain droop (within each strip), gate propagation velocity, gate width, and actual inter-strip timing. Several of these parameters cannot be measured accurately by any other technique. This method is then used to document cross talk-induced gain variations and artifacts created by radiation that arrives before the framing camera is actively amplifying x-rays. Electromagnetic cross talk can cause relative gains to vary significantly as inter-strip timing is varied. This imposes a stringent requirement for gain calibration. If radiation arrives before a framing camera is triggered, it can cause an artifact that manifests as a high-intensity, spatially varying background signal. We have developed a device that can be added to the framing camera head to prevent these artifacts.

  17. Enhancing patient freedom in rehabilitation robotics using gaze-based intention detection.

    PubMed

    Novak, Domen; Riener, Robert

    2013-06-01

    Several design strategies for rehabilitation robotics have aimed to improve patients' experiences using motivating and engaging virtual environments. This paper presents a new design strategy: enhancing patient freedom with a complex virtual environment that intelligently detects patients' intentions and supports the intended actions. A 'virtual kitchen' scenario has been developed in which many possible actions can be performed at any time, allowing patients to experiment and giving them more freedom. Remote eye tracking is used to detect the intended action and trigger appropriate support by a rehabilitation robot. This approach requires no additional equipment attached to the patient and has a calibration time of less than a minute. The system was tested on healthy subjects using the ARMin III arm rehabilitation robot. It was found to be technically feasible and usable by healthy subjects. However, the intention detection algorithm should be improved using better sensor fusion, and clinical tests with patients are needed to evaluate the system's usability and potential therapeutic benefits.

  18. Developing strategies for predicting hyperkalemia in potassium-increasing drug-drug interactions.

    PubMed

    Eschmann, Emmanuel; Beeler, Patrick Emanuel; Schneemann, Markus; Blaser, Jürg

    2017-01-01

    To compare different strategies predicting hyperkalemia (serum potassium level ≥5.5 mEq/l) in hospitalized patients for whom medications triggering potassium-increasing drug-drug interactions (DDIs) were ordered. We investigated 5 strategies that combined prediction triggered at onset of DDI versus continuous monitoring and taking into account an increasing number of patient parameters. The considered patient parameters were identified using generalized additive models, and the thresholds of the prediction strategies were calculated by applying Youden's J statistic to receiver operation characteristic curves. Half of the data served as the calibration set, half as the validation set. We identified 132 incidences of hyperkalemia induced by 8413 potentially severe potassium-increasing DDIs among 76 467 patients. The positive predictive value (PPV) of those strategies predicting hyperkalemia at the onset of DDI ranged from 1.79% (undifferentiated anticipation of hyperkalemia due to the DDI) to 3.02% (additionally considering the baseline serum potassium) and 3.10% (including further patient parameters). Continuous monitoring significantly increased the PPV to 8.25% (considering the current serum potassium) and 9.34% (additional patient parameters). Continuous monitoring of the risk for hyperkalemia based on current potassium level shows a better predictive power than predictions triggered at the onset of DDI. This contrasts with efforts to improve DDI alerts by taking into account more patient parameters at the time of ordering. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Calibration of the BEV GPS Receiver by Using TWSTFT

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    40th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting 543 CALIBRATION OF THE BEV GPS RECEIVER BY USING TWSTFT A. Niessner1, W...a calibration of the BEV reference GPS time receiver by using Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ). Due to antenna changes, a new...calibration of the BEV receiver was necessary. This receiver is the first GPS receiver with calibration through TWSTFT and used for UTC computation

  20. Detonation control

    DOEpatents

    Mace, Jonathan L.; Seitz, Gerald J.; Bronisz, Lawrence E.

    2016-10-25

    Detonation control modules and detonation control circuits are provided herein. A trigger input signal can cause a detonation control module to trigger a detonator. A detonation control module can include a timing circuit, a light-producing diode such as a laser diode, an optically triggered diode, and a high-voltage capacitor. The trigger input signal can activate the timing circuit. The timing circuit can control activation of the light-producing diode. Activation of the light-producing diode illuminates and activates the optically triggered diode. The optically triggered diode can be coupled between the high-voltage capacitor and the detonator. Activation of the optically triggered diode causes a power pulse to be released from the high-voltage capacitor that triggers the detonator.

  1. The Anticounter System of the PAMELA Space Experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pearce, M.; Carlson, P.; Lund, J.; Lundquist, J.; Orsi, S.; Rydstroem

    2003-07-01

    The PAMELA space experiment [4] will be launched on-board of a polarorbiting Resurs DK1 satellite in 2004. The primary objective of PAMELA is to measure the flux of antiprotons (80 MeV 190 GeV) and positrons (50 MeV 270 GeV) in the cosmic radiation. PAMELA is built around a permanent magnet silicon spectrometer which is surrounded by an anticounter system. The anticounter system uses sheets of plastic scintillator to identify particles which do not pass cleanly through the acceptance of the spectrometer but still give rise to coincidental energy deposits in the time-of-flight / trigger scintillators positioned at the entrance and exit of the spectrometer. The construction of the anticounter system is described in detail along with the custom read-out, data acquisition and calibration electronics. Results from qualification studies are also discussed.

  2. Interpretation of F106B and CV580 in-flight lightning data and form factor determination

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rudolph, T.; Horembala, J.; Eriksen, F. J.; Weigel, H. S.; Elliott, J. R.; Parker, S. L.; Perala, R. A.

    1989-01-01

    Two topics of in-flight aircraft/lightning interaction are addressed. The first is the analysis of measured data from the NASA F106B Thunderstorm Research Aircraft and the CV580 research program run by the FAA and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The CV580 data was investigated in a mostly qualitative sense, while the F106B data was subjected to both statistical and quantitative analysis using linear triggered lightning finite difference models. The second main topic is the analysis of field mill data and the calibration of the field mill systems. The calibration of the F106B field mill system was investigated using an improved finite difference model of the aircraft having a spatial resolution of one-quarter meter. The calibration was applied to measured field mill data acquired during the 1985 thunderstorm season. The experimental determination of form factors useful for field mill calibration was also investigated both experimentally and analytically. The experimental effort involved the use of conducting scale models and an electrolytic tank. An analytic technique was developed to aid in the understanding of the experimental results.

  3. Integrated calibration sphere and calibration step fixture for improved coordinate measurement machine calibration

    DOEpatents

    Clifford, Harry J [Los Alamos, NM

    2011-03-22

    A method and apparatus for mounting a calibration sphere to a calibration fixture for Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) calibration and qualification is described, decreasing the time required for such qualification, thus allowing the CMM to be used more productively. A number of embodiments are disclosed that allow for new and retrofit manufacture to perform as integrated calibration sphere and calibration fixture devices. This invention renders unnecessary the removal of a calibration sphere prior to CMM measurement of calibration features on calibration fixtures, thereby greatly reducing the time spent qualifying a CMM.

  4. Susceptibility and triggering scenarios at a regional scale for shallow landslides

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gullà, G.; Antronico, L.; Iaquinta, P.; Terranova, O.

    2008-07-01

    The work aims at identifying susceptible areas and pluviometric triggering scenarios at a regional scale in Calabria (Italy), with reference to shallow landsliding events. The proposed methodology follows a statistical approach and uses a database linked to a GIS that has been created to support the various steps of spatial data management and manipulation. The shallow landslide predisposing factors taken into account are derived from (i) the 40-m digital terrain model of the region, an ˜ 15,075 km 2 extension; (ii) outcropping lithology; (iii) soils; and (iv) land use. More precisely, a map of the slopes has been drawn from the digital terrain model. Two kinds of covers [prevalently coarse-grained (CG cover) or fine-grained (FG cover)] were identified, referring to the geotechnical characteristics of geomaterial covers and to the lithology map; soilscapes were drawn from soil maps; and finally, the land use map was employed without any prior processing. Subsequently, the inventory maps of some shallow landsliding events, totaling more than 30,000 instabilities of the past and detected by field surveys and photo aerial restitution, were employed to calibrate the relative importance of these predisposing factors. The use of single factors (first level analysis) therefore provides three different susceptibility maps. Second level analysis, however, enables better location of areas susceptible to shallow landsliding events by crossing the single susceptibility maps. On the basis of the susceptibility map obtained by the second level analysis, five different classes of susceptibility to shallow landsliding events have been outlined over the regional territory: 8.9% of the regional territory shows very high susceptibility, 14.3% high susceptibility, 15% moderate susceptibility, 3.6% low susceptibility, and finally, about 58% very low susceptibility. Finally, the maps of two significant shallow landsliding events of the past and their related rainfalls have been utilized to identify the relevant pluviometric triggering scenarios. By using 205 daily rainfall series, different triggering pluviometric scenarios have been identified with reference to CG and FG covers: a value of 365 mm of the total rainfall of the event and/or 170 mm/d of the rainfall maximum intensity and a value of 325 mm of the total rainfall of the event and/or 158 mm/d of the rainfall maximum intensity are able to trigger shallow landsliding events for CG and FG covers, respectively. The results obtained from this study can help administrative authorities to plan future development activities and mitigation measures in shallow landslide-prone areas. In addition, the proposed methodology can be useful in managing emergency situations at a regional scale for shallow landsliding events triggered by intense rainfalls; through this approach, the susceptibility and the pluviometric triggering scenario maps will be improved by means of finer calibration of the involved factors.

  5. Prediction of earthquake-triggered landslide event sizes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Braun, Anika; Havenith, Hans-Balder; Schlögel, Romy

    2016-04-01

    Seismically induced landslides are a major environmental effect of earthquakes, which may significantly contribute to related losses. Moreover, in paleoseismology landslide event sizes are an important proxy for the estimation of the intensity and magnitude of past earthquakes and thus allowing us to improve seismic hazard assessment over longer terms. Not only earthquake intensity, but also factors such as the fault characteristics, topography, climatic conditions and the geological environment have a major impact on the intensity and spatial distribution of earthquake induced landslides. We present here a review of factors contributing to earthquake triggered slope failures based on an "event-by-event" classification approach. The objective of this analysis is to enable the short-term prediction of earthquake triggered landslide event sizes in terms of numbers and size of the affected area right after an earthquake event occurred. Five main factors, 'Intensity', 'Fault', 'Topographic energy', 'Climatic conditions' and 'Surface geology' were used to establish a relationship to the number and spatial extend of landslides triggered by an earthquake. The relative weight of these factors was extracted from published data for numerous past earthquakes; topographic inputs were checked in Google Earth and through geographic information systems. Based on well-documented recent earthquakes (e.g. Haiti 2010, Wenchuan 2008) and on older events for which reliable extensive information was available (e.g. Northridge 1994, Loma Prieta 1989, Guatemala 1976, Peru 1970) the combination and relative weight of the factors was calibrated. The calibrated factor combination was then applied to more than 20 earthquake events for which landslide distribution characteristics could be cross-checked. One of our main findings is that the 'Fault' factor, which is based on characteristics of the fault, the surface rupture and its location with respect to mountain areas, has the most important contribution for the prediction of the number (and concentration) of induced landslides. This, for instance, partly explains why the Wenchuan 2008 earthquake triggered far more landslides than the Nepal 2015 earthquake. Moreover, according to our prediction the most severe earthquake-triggered landslide event would have been the Assam 1950 earthquake (India), followed by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Regarding the overall performance of our prediction method it can be seen that the number of landslides is overestimated for a series of earthquakes, while the size of the affected area is often underestimated. Especially for older events the incompleteness of the published catalogues can partly explain the overestimation of the landslide numbers. The underestimation of the affected area however is real and must be attributed to particular remote effects of earthquakes.

  6. Hardware for dynamic quantum computing experiments: Part I

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Blake; Ryan, Colm; Riste, Diego; Donovan, Brian; Ohki, Thomas

    Static, pre-defined control sequences routinely achieve high-fidelity operation on superconducting quantum processors. Efforts toward dynamic experiments depending on real-time information have mostly proceeded through hardware duplication and triggers, requiring a combinatorial explosion in the number of channels. We provide a hardware efficient solution to dynamic control with a complete platform of specialized FPGA-based control and readout electronics; these components enable arbitrary control flow, low-latency feedback and/or feedforward, and scale far beyond single-qubit control and measurement. We will introduce the BBN Arbitrary Pulse Sequencer 2 (APS2) control system and the X6 QDSP readout platform. The BBN APS2 features: a sequencer built around implementing short quantum gates, a sequence cache to allow long sequences with branching structures, subroutines for code re-use, and a trigger distribution module to capture and distribute steering information. The X6 QDSP features a single-stage DSP pipeline that combines demodulation with arbitrary integration kernels, and multiple taps to inspect data flow for debugging and calibration. We will show system performance when putting it all together, including a latency budget for feedforward operations. This research was funded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), through the Army Research Office Contract No. W911NF-10-1-0324.

  7. Elves, Forbush Decreases and Solar Activity Studies at the Pierre Auger Observatory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colalillo, Roberta

    The Pierre Auger Observatory, designed to observe cosmic rays at the highest energies, can also be a valid ground based instrument for the observation of transient luminous events and for studying the modulation of galactic cosmic rays due to solar activity. The Fluorescence Detector can observe elves, transient luminous emissions from altitudes between 80 and 95 km above sea level, with timescales of tens of microseconds, which are triggered by lightning activity. A dedicated trigger and an extended readout scheme were introduced to enhance detection efficiency of these events and to improve the knowledge of some peculiar characteristics. The low energy mode of the Surface Detector, on the other hand, records variations in the flux of low energy secondary particles with extreme detail. With the Scaler mode, it is possible to register the rate of signals for deposited energies between 15-100 MeV; the Histogram mode, using the calibration peak and charge histograms of the individual pulses detected by each water-Cherenkov station, covers different deposited energy ranges up to 1 GeV. The variations in the flux of galactic cosmic rays have been studied on short and intermediate time scales (Forbush decreases), but also a long-term analysis, which shows the sensitivity of the Observatory to the solar cycle variation, is in progress.

  8. Readiness of the ATLAS detector: Performance with the first beam and cosmic data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pastore, F.

    2010-05-01

    During 2008 the ATLAS experiment went through an intense period of preparation to have the detector fully commissioned for the first beam period. In about 30 h of beam time available to ATLAS in 2008 the systems went through a rapid setup sequence, from successfully recording the first bunch ever reaching ATLAS, to setting up the timing of the trigger system synchronous to the incoming single beams. The so-called splash events were recorded, where the beam was stopped on a collimator 140 m upstream of ATLAS, showering the experiment with millions of particles per beam shot. These events were found to be extremely useful for timing setup. After the stop of the beam operation, the experiment went through an extensive cosmic ray data taking campaign, recording more than 500 million cosmic ray events. These events have been used to make significant progress on the calibration and alignment of the detector. This paper describes the commissioning programme and the results obtained from both the single beam data and the cosmic data recorded in 2008.

  9. A combined triggering-propagation modeling approach for the assessment of rainfall induced debris flow susceptibility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stancanelli, Laura Maria; Peres, David Johnny; Cancelliere, Antonino; Foti, Enrico

    2017-07-01

    Rainfall-induced shallow slides can evolve into debris flows that move rapidly downstream with devastating consequences. Mapping the susceptibility to debris flow is an important aid for risk mitigation. We propose a novel practical approach to derive debris flow inundation maps useful for susceptibility assessment, that is based on the integrated use of DEM-based spatially-distributed hydrological and slope stability models with debris flow propagation models. More specifically, the TRIGRS infiltration and infinite slope stability model and the FLO-2D model for the simulation of the related debris flow propagation and deposition are combined. An empirical instability-to-debris flow triggering threshold calibrated on the basis of observed events, is applied to link the two models and to accomplish the task of determining the amount of unstable mass that develops as a debris flow. Calibration of the proposed methodology is carried out based on real data of the debris flow event occurred on 1 October 2009, in the Peloritani mountains area (Italy). Model performance, assessed by receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC) indexes, evidences fairly good reproduction of the observed event. Comparison with the performance of the traditional debris flow modeling procedure, in which sediment and water hydrographs are inputed as lumped at selected points on top of the streams, is also performed, in order to assess quantitatively the limitations of such commonly applied approach. Results show that the proposed method, besides of being more process-consistent than the traditional hydrograph-based approach, can potentially provide a more accurate simulation of debris-flow phenomena, in terms of spatial patterns of erosion and deposition as well on the quantification of mobilized volumes and depths, avoiding overestimation of debris flow triggering volume and, thus, of maximum inundation flow depths.

  10. The Cherenkov Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Billoir, Pierre

    2014-12-01

    The Pierre Auger Observatory detects the atmospheric showers induced by cosmic rays of ultra-high energy (UHE). It is the first one to use the hybrid technique. A set of telescopes observes the fluorescence of the nitrogen molecules on clear moonless nights, giving access to the longitudinal profile of the shower. These telescopes surround a giant array of 1600 water Cherenkov tanks (covering more than 3000 km2), which works continuously and samples the particles reaching the ground (mainly muons, photons and electrons/positrons); the light produced within the water is recorded into FADC (Fast Analog to Digital Convertes) traces. A subsample of hybrid events provides a cross calibration of the two components. We describe the structure of the Cherenkov detectors, their sensitivity to different particles and the information they can give on the direction of origin, the energy and the nature of the primary UHE object; we discuss also their discrimination power for rare events (UHE photons or neutrinos). To cope with the variability of weather conditions and the limitations of the communication system, the procedures for trigger and real time calibration have been shared between local processors and a central acquisition system. The overall system has been working almost continuously for 10 years, while being progressively completed and increased by the creation of a dense "infill" subarray.

  11. Geologic fracturing method and resulting fractured geologic structure

    DOEpatents

    Mace, Jonathan L.; Bradley, Christopher R.; Greening, Doran R.; Steedman, David W.

    2016-11-08

    Detonation control modules and detonation control circuits are provided herein. A trigger input signal can cause a detonation control module to trigger a detonator. A detonation control module can include a timing circuit, a light-producing diode such as a laser diode, an optically triggered diode, and a high-voltage capacitor. The trigger input signal can activate the timing circuit. The timing circuit can control activation of the light-producing diode. Activation of the light-producing diode illuminates and activates the optically triggered diode. The optically triggered diode can be coupled between the high-voltage capacitor and the detonator. Activation of the optically triggered diode causes a power pulse to be released from the high-voltage capacitor that triggers the detonator.

  12. Annually laminated lake sediments as recorders of flood events: evidence from combining monitoring and calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kämpf, Lucas; Brauer, Achim; Mueller, Philip; Güntner, Andreas; Merz, Bruno

    2015-04-01

    The relation of changing climate and the occurrence of strong flood events has been controversially debated over the last years. One major limitation in this respect is the temporal extension of instrumental flood time series, rarely exceeding 50-100 years, which is too short to reflect the full range of natural climate variability in a region. Therefore, geoarchives are increasingly explored as natural flood recorders far beyond the range of instrumental flood time series. Annually laminated (varved) lake sediments provide particularly valuable archives since (i) lakes form ideal traps in the landscape continuously recording sediment flux from the catchment and (ii) individual flood events are recorded as detrital layers and can be dated with seasonal precision by varve counting. Despite the great potential of varved lake sediments for reconstructing long flood time series, there are still some confinements with respect to their interpretation due to a lack in understanding processes controlling the formation of detrital layers. For this purpose, we investigated the formation of detrital flood layers in Lake Mondsee (Upper Austria) in great detail by monitoring flood-related sediment flux and comparing detrital layers in sub-recent sediments with river runoff data. Sediment flux at the lake bottom was trapped over a three-year period (2011-2013) at two locations in Lake Mondsee, one located 0.9 km off the main inflow (proximal) and one in a more distal position at a distance of 2.8 km. The monitoring data include 26 floods of different amplitude (max. hourly discharge=10-110 cbm/s) which triggered variable fluxes of catchment sediment to the lake floor (4-760 g/(sqm*d)). The comparison of runoff and sediment data revealed empiric runoff thresholds for triggering significant detrital sediment influx to the proximal (20 cbm/s) and distal lake basin (30 cbm/s) and an exponential relation between runoff amplitude and the amount of deposited sediment. A succession of 20 sub-millimetre to maximum 8 mm thick flood-triggered detrital layers, deposited between 1976 and 2005, was detected in two varved surface sediment cores from the same locations as the sediment traps. Calibration of the detrital layer record with river runoff data revealed empirical thresholds for flood layer deposition. These thresholds are higher than those for trapped sediment flux but, similarly to the trap results, increasing from the proximal (50-60 cbm/s; daily mean=40 cbm/s) to the distal lake basin (80 cbm/s, 2 days>40 cbm/s). Three flood events above the threshold for detrital layer formation in the proximal and one in the distal lake basin were also recorded in the monitoring period. These events resulted in exceptional sediment transfer to the lake of more than 400 g/sqm at both sites, which is therefore interpreted as the minimum sediment amount for producing a visible detrital layer.

  13. Novel crystal timing calibration method based on total variation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Xingjian; Isobe, Takashi; Watanabe, Mitsuo; Liu, Huafeng

    2016-11-01

    A novel crystal timing calibration method based on total variation (TV), abbreviated as ‘TV merge’, has been developed for a high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) system. The proposed method was developed for a system with a large number of crystals, it can provide timing calibration at the crystal level. In the proposed method, the timing calibration process was formulated as a linear problem. To robustly optimize the timing resolution, a TV constraint was added to the linear equation. Moreover, to solve the computer memory problem associated with the calculation of the timing calibration factors for systems with a large number of crystals, the merge component was used for obtaining the crystal level timing calibration values. Compared with other conventional methods, the data measured from a standard cylindrical phantom filled with a radioisotope solution was sufficient for performing a high-precision crystal-level timing calibration. In this paper, both simulation and experimental studies were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the TV merge method. We compare the timing resolutions of a 22Na point source, which was located in the field of view (FOV) of the brain PET system, with various calibration techniques. After implementing the TV merge method, the timing resolution improved from 3.34 ns at full width at half maximum (FWHM) to 2.31 ns FWHM.

  14. Pulse Height Analyzer Interfacing and Computer Programming in the Environmental Laser Propagation Project

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1976-06-01

    United States Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey , California, 1974. 6. Anton , H., Elementary Linear Algebra , John Wiley & Sons, 1973. 7. Parrat, L. G...CONVERTER ln(laser & bias) PULSE HEIGHT ANALYZER © LINEAR AMPLIFIER SAMPLE TRIGGER OSCILLATOR early ln(laser & bias) SCINTILLOMETERS recent BACKGROUND...DEMODULATOR LASER CALIBRATION BOX LASER OR CAL VOLTAGE LOG CONVERTER LN (LASER OR CAL VOLT) LINEAR AMPLIFIER uLN (LASER OR CAL VOLT) PULSE HEIGHTEN ANALYZER V

  15. Beyond discrimination: A comparison of calibration methods and clinical usefulness of predictive models of readmission risk.

    PubMed

    Walsh, Colin G; Sharman, Kavya; Hripcsak, George

    2017-12-01

    Prior to implementing predictive models in novel settings, analyses of calibration and clinical usefulness remain as important as discrimination, but they are not frequently discussed. Calibration is a model's reflection of actual outcome prevalence in its predictions. Clinical usefulness refers to the utilities, costs, and harms of using a predictive model in practice. A decision analytic approach to calibrating and selecting an optimal intervention threshold may help maximize the impact of readmission risk and other preventive interventions. To select a pragmatic means of calibrating predictive models that requires a minimum amount of validation data and that performs well in practice. To evaluate the impact of miscalibration on utility and cost via clinical usefulness analyses. Observational, retrospective cohort study with electronic health record data from 120,000 inpatient admissions at an urban, academic center in Manhattan. The primary outcome was thirty-day readmission for three causes: all-cause, congestive heart failure, and chronic coronary atherosclerotic disease. Predictive modeling was performed via L1-regularized logistic regression. Calibration methods were compared including Platt Scaling, Logistic Calibration, and Prevalence Adjustment. Performance of predictive modeling and calibration was assessed via discrimination (c-statistic), calibration (Spiegelhalter Z-statistic, Root Mean Square Error [RMSE] of binned predictions, Sanders and Murphy Resolutions of the Brier Score, Calibration Slope and Intercept), and clinical usefulness (utility terms represented as costs). The amount of validation data necessary to apply each calibration algorithm was also assessed. C-statistics by diagnosis ranged from 0.7 for all-cause readmission to 0.86 (0.78-0.93) for congestive heart failure. Logistic Calibration and Platt Scaling performed best and this difference required analyzing multiple metrics of calibration simultaneously, in particular Calibration Slopes and Intercepts. Clinical usefulness analyses provided optimal risk thresholds, which varied by reason for readmission, outcome prevalence, and calibration algorithm. Utility analyses also suggested maximum tolerable intervention costs, e.g., $1720 for all-cause readmissions based on a published cost of readmission of $11,862. Choice of calibration method depends on availability of validation data and on performance. Improperly calibrated models may contribute to higher costs of intervention as measured via clinical usefulness. Decision-makers must understand underlying utilities or costs inherent in the use-case at hand to assess usefulness and will obtain the optimal risk threshold to trigger intervention with intervention cost limits as a result. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. LiDAR-IMU Time Delay Calibration Based on Iterative Closest Point and Iterated Sigma Point Kalman Filter.

    PubMed

    Liu, Wanli

    2017-03-08

    The time delay calibration between Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) is an essential prerequisite for its applications. However, the correspondences between LiDAR and IMU measurements are usually unknown, and thus cannot be computed directly for the time delay calibration. In order to solve the problem of LiDAR-IMU time delay calibration, this paper presents a fusion method based on iterative closest point (ICP) and iterated sigma point Kalman filter (ISPKF), which combines the advantages of ICP and ISPKF. The ICP algorithm can precisely determine the unknown transformation between LiDAR-IMU; and the ISPKF algorithm can optimally estimate the time delay calibration parameters. First of all, the coordinate transformation from the LiDAR frame to the IMU frame is realized. Second, the measurement model and time delay error model of LiDAR and IMU are established. Third, the methodology of the ICP and ISPKF procedure is presented for LiDAR-IMU time delay calibration. Experimental results are presented that validate the proposed method and demonstrate the time delay error can be accurately calibrated.

  17. On aspects of characterising and calibrating the interferometric gravitational wave detector, GEO 600

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hewitson, Martin R.

    Gravitational waves are small disturbances, or strains, in the fabric of space-time. The detection of these waves has been a major goal of modern physics since they were predicted as a consequence of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Large-scale astro- physical events, such as colliding neutron stars or supernovae, are predicted to release energy in the form of gravitational waves. However, even with such cataclysmic events, the strain amplitudes of the gravitational waves expected to be seen at the Earth are incredibly small: of the order 1 part in 10. 21 or less at audio frequencies. Because of theseextremely small amplitudes, the search for gravitational waves remains one of the most challenging goals of modem physics. This thesis starts by detailing the data recording system of GEO 600: an essential part of producing a calibrated data set. The full data acquisition system, including all hardware and software aspects, is described in detail. Comprehensive tests of the stability and timing accuracy of the system show that it has a typical duty cycle of greater than 99% with an absolute timing accuracy (measured against GPS) of the order 15 mus. The thesis then goes on to describe the design and implementation of a time-domain calibration method, based on the use of time-domain filters, for the power-recycled configuration of GEO 600. This time-domain method is then extended to deal with the more complicated case of calibrating the dual-recycled configuration of GEO 600. The time-domain calibration method was applied to two long data-taking (science) runs. The method proved successful in recovering (in real-time) a calibrated strain time-series suitable for use in astrophysical searches. The accuracy of the calibration process was shown to be good to 10% or less across the detection band of the detector. In principle, the time-domain method presents no restrictions in the achievable calibration accuracy; most of the uncertainty in the calibration process is shown to arise from the actuator used to inject the calibradon signals. The recovered strain series was shown to be equivalent to a frequency-domain calibration at the level of a few percent. A number of ways are presented in which the initial calibration pipeline can be improved to increase the calibration accuracy. The production and subsequent distribution of a calibrated time- series allows for a single point of control over the validity and quality of the calibrated data. The techniques developed in this thesis are currently being adopted by the LIGO interferometers to perform time-domain calibration of their three long-baseline detectors. In addition, a data storage system is currently being developed by the author, together with the LIGO calibration team, to allow all the information used in the time-domain calibration process to be captured in a concise and coherent form that is consistent across multiple detectors in the LSC. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

  18. A Synthesis of VIIRS Solar and Lunar Calibrations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eplee, Robert E.; Turpie, Kevin R.; Meister, Gerhard; Patt, Frederick S.; Fireman, Gwyn F.; Franz, Bryan A.; McClain, Charles R.

    2013-01-01

    The NASA VIIRS Ocean Science Team (VOST) has developed two independent calibrations of the SNPP VIIRS moderate resolution reflective solar bands using solar diffuser and lunar observations through June 2013. Fits to the solar calibration time series show mean residuals per band of 0.078-0.10%. There are apparent residual lunar libration correlations in the lunar calibration time series that are not accounted for by the ROLO photometric model of the Moon. Fits to the lunar time series that account for residual librations show mean residuals per band of 0.071-0.17%. Comparison of the solar and lunar time series shows that the relative differences in the two calibrations are 0.12-0.31%. Relative uncertainties in the VIIRS solar and lunar calibration time series are comparable to those achieved for SeaWiFS, Aqua MODIS, and Terra MODIS. Intercomparison of the VIIRS lunar time series with those from SeaWiFS, Aqua MODIS, and Terra MODIS shows that the scatter in the VIIRS lunar observations is consistent with that observed for the heritage instruments. Based on these analyses, the VOST has derived a calibration lookup table for VIIRS ocean color data based on fits to the solar calibration time series.

  19. A real-time freehand ultrasound calibration system with automatic accuracy feedback and control.

    PubMed

    Chen, Thomas Kuiran; Thurston, Adrian D; Ellis, Randy E; Abolmaesumi, Purang

    2009-01-01

    This article describes a fully automatic, real-time, freehand ultrasound calibration system. The system was designed to be simple and sterilizable, intended for operating-room usage. The calibration system employed an automatic-error-retrieval and accuracy-control mechanism based on a set of ground-truth data. Extensive validations were conducted on a data set of 10,000 images in 50 independent calibration trials to thoroughly investigate the accuracy, robustness, and performance of the calibration system. On average, the calibration accuracy (measured in three-dimensional reconstruction error against a known ground truth) of all 50 trials was 0.66 mm. In addition, the calibration errors converged to submillimeter in 98% of all trials within 12.5 s on average. Overall, the calibration system was able to consistently, efficiently and robustly achieve high calibration accuracy with real-time performance.

  20. Diversity and disparity through time in the adaptive radiation of Antarctic notothenioid fishes.

    PubMed

    Colombo, M; Damerau, M; Hanel, R; Salzburger, W; Matschiner, M

    2015-02-01

    According to theory, adaptive radiation is triggered by ecological opportunity that can arise through the colonization of new habitats, the extinction of antagonists or the origin of key innovations. In the course of an adaptive radiation, diversification and morphological evolution are expected to slow down after an initial phase of rapid adaptation to vacant ecological niches, followed by speciation. Such 'early bursts' of diversification are thought to occur because niche space becomes increasingly filled over time. The diversification of Antarctic notothenioid fishes into over 120 species has become one of the prime examples of adaptive radiation in the marine realm and has likely been triggered by an evolutionary key innovation in the form of the emergence of antifreeze glycoproteins. Here, we test, using a novel time-calibrated phylogeny of 49 species and five traits that characterize notothenioid body size and shape as well as buoyancy adaptations and habitat preferences, whether the notothenioid adaptive radiation is compatible with an early burst scenario. Extensive Bayesian model comparison shows that phylogenetic age estimates are highly dependent on model choice and that models with unlinked gene trees are generally better supported and result in younger age estimates. We find strong evidence for elevated diversification rates in Antarctic notothenioids compared to outgroups, yet no sign of rate heterogeneity in the course of the radiation, except that the notothenioid family Artedidraconidae appears to show secondarily elevated diversification rates. We further observe an early burst in trophic morphology, suggesting that the notothenioid radiation proceeds in stages similar to other prominent examples of adaptive radiation. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society for Evolutionary Biology.

  1. Externally Calibrated Parallel Imaging for 3D Multispectral Imaging Near Metallic Implants Using Broadband Ultrashort Echo Time Imaging

    PubMed Central

    Wiens, Curtis N.; Artz, Nathan S.; Jang, Hyungseok; McMillan, Alan B.; Reeder, Scott B.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose To develop an externally calibrated parallel imaging technique for three-dimensional multispectral imaging (3D-MSI) in the presence of metallic implants. Theory and Methods A fast, ultrashort echo time (UTE) calibration acquisition is proposed to enable externally calibrated parallel imaging techniques near metallic implants. The proposed calibration acquisition uses a broadband radiofrequency (RF) pulse to excite the off-resonance induced by the metallic implant, fully phase-encoded imaging to prevent in-plane distortions, and UTE to capture rapidly decaying signal. The performance of the externally calibrated parallel imaging reconstructions was assessed using phantoms and in vivo examples. Results Phantom and in vivo comparisons to self-calibrated parallel imaging acquisitions show that significant reductions in acquisition times can be achieved using externally calibrated parallel imaging with comparable image quality. Acquisition time reductions are particularly large for fully phase-encoded methods such as spectrally resolved fully phase-encoded three-dimensional (3D) fast spin-echo (SR-FPE), in which scan time reductions of up to 8 min were obtained. Conclusion A fully phase-encoded acquisition with broadband excitation and UTE enabled externally calibrated parallel imaging for 3D-MSI, eliminating the need for repeated calibration regions at each frequency offset. Significant reductions in acquisition time can be achieved, particularly for fully phase-encoded methods like SR-FPE. PMID:27403613

  2. ATLAS Tile Calorimeter time calibration, monitoring and performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davidek, T.; ATLAS Collaboration

    2017-11-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. This sampling device is made of plastic scintillating tiles alternated with iron plates and its response is calibrated to electromagnetic scale by means of several dedicated calibration systems. The accurate time calibration is important for the energy reconstruction, non-collision background removal as well as for specific physics analyses. The initial time calibration with so-called splash events and subsequent fine-tuning with collision data are presented. The monitoring of the time calibration with laser system and physics collision data is discussed as well as the corrections for sudden changes performed still before the recorded data are processed for physics analyses. Finally, the time resolution as measured with jets and isolated muons is presented.

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. Operator assistant to support deep space network link monitor and control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cooper, Lynne P.; Desai, Rajiv; Martinez, Elmain

    1992-01-01

    Preparing the Deep Space Network (DSN) stations to support spacecraft missions (referred to as pre-cal, for pre-calibration) is currently an operator and time intensive activity. Operators are responsible for sending and monitoring several hundred operator directivities, messages, and warnings. Operator directives are used to configure and calibrate the various subsystems (antenna, receiver, etc.) necessary to establish a spacecraft link. Messages and warnings are issued by the subsystems upon completion of an operation, changes of status, or an anomalous condition. Some points of pre-cal are logically parallel. Significant time savings could be realized if the existing Link Monitor and Control system (LMC) could support the operator in exploiting the parallelism inherent in pre-cal activities. Currently, operators may work on the individual subsystems in parallel, however, the burden of monitoring these parallel operations resides solely with the operator. Messages, warnings, and directives are all presented as they are received; without being correlated to the event that triggered them. Pre-cal is essentially an overhead activity. During pre-cal, no mission is supported, and no other activity can be performed using the equipment in the link. Therefore, it is highly desirable to reduce pre-cal time as much as possible. One approach to do this, as well as to increase efficiency and reduce errors, is the LMC Operator Assistant (OA). The LMC OA prototype demonstrates an architecture which can be used in concert with the existing LMC to exploit parallelism in pre-cal operations while providing the operators with a true monitoring capability, situational awareness and positive control. This paper presents an overview of the LMC OA architecture and the results from initial prototyping and test activities.

  6. A 16 channel discriminator VME board with enhanced triggering capabilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borsato, E.; Garfagnini, A.; Menon, G.

    2012-08-01

    Electronics and data acquisition systems used in small and large scale laboratories often have to handle analog signals with varying polarity, amplitude and duration which have to be digitized to be used as trigger signals to validate the acquired data. In the specific case of experiments dealing with ionizing radiation, ancillary particle detectors (for instance plastic scintillators or Resistive Plate Chambers) are used to trigger and select the impinging particles for the experiment. A novel approach using commercial LVDS line receivers as discriminator devices is presented. Such devices, with a proper calibration, can handle positive and negative analog signals in a wide dynamic range (from 20 mV to 800 mV signal amplitude). The clear advantages, with respect to conventional discriminator devices, are reduced costs, high reliability of a mature technology and the possibility of high integration scale. Moreover, commercial discriminator boards with positive input signal and a wide threshold swing are not available on the market. The present paper describes the design and characterization of a VME board capable to handle 16 differential or single-ended input channels. The output digital signals, available independently for each input, can be combined in the board into three independent trigger logic units which provide additional outputs for the end user.

  7. Upon the reconstruction of accidents triggered by tire explosion. Analytical model and case study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gaiginschi, L.; Agape, I.; Talif, S.

    2017-10-01

    Accident Reconstruction is important in the general context of increasing road traffic safety. In the casuistry of traffic accidents, those caused by tire explosions are critical under the severity of consequences, because they are usually happening at high speeds. Consequently, the knowledge of the running speed of the vehicle involved at the time of the tire explosion is essential to elucidate the circumstances of the accident. The paper presents an analytical model for the kinematics of a vehicle which, after the explosion of one of its tires, begins to skid, overturns and rolls. The model consists of two concurent approaches built as applications of the momentum conservation and energy conservation principles, and allows determination of the initial speed of the vehicle involved, by running backwards the sequences of the road event. The authors also aimed to both validate the two distinct analytical approaches by calibrating the calculation algorithms on a case study

  8. A new device for intraoperative renal blood flow measurement during open-heart surgery: an experimental study and the clinical pilot study.

    PubMed

    Tirilomis, Theodor; Popov, Aron F; Hanekop, Gunnar G; Braeuer, Anselm; Quintel, Michael; Schoendube, Friedrich A; Friedrich, Martin G

    2013-10-01

    Renal blood flow (RBF) may vary during cardiopulmonary bypass and low flow may cause insufficient blood supply of the kidney triggering renal failure postoperatively. Still, a valid intraoperative method of continuous RBF measurement is not available. A new catheter combining thermodilution and intravascular Doppler was developed, first calibrated in an in vitro model, and the catheter specific constant was determined. Then, application of the device was evaluated in a pilot study in an adult cardiovascular population. The data of the clinical pilot study revealed high correlation between the flow velocities detected by intravascular Doppler and the RBF measured by thermodilution (Pearson's correlation range: 0.78 to 0.97). In conclusion, the RBF can be measured excellently in real time using the new catheter, even under cardiopulmonary bypass. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation.

  9. Adaptive Event-Triggered Control Based on Heuristic Dynamic Programming for Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems.

    PubMed

    Dong, Lu; Zhong, Xiangnan; Sun, Changyin; He, Haibo

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents the design of a novel adaptive event-triggered control method based on the heuristic dynamic programming (HDP) technique for nonlinear discrete-time systems with unknown system dynamics. In the proposed method, the control law is only updated when the event-triggered condition is violated. Compared with the periodic updates in the traditional adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) control, the proposed method can reduce the computation and transmission cost. An actor-critic framework is used to learn the optimal event-triggered control law and the value function. Furthermore, a model network is designed to estimate the system state vector. The main contribution of this paper is to design a new trigger threshold for discrete-time systems. A detailed Lyapunov stability analysis shows that our proposed event-triggered controller can asymptotically stabilize the discrete-time systems. Finally, we test our method on two different discrete-time systems, and the simulation results are included.

  10. LiDAR-IMU Time Delay Calibration Based on Iterative Closest Point and Iterated Sigma Point Kalman Filter

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Wanli

    2017-01-01

    The time delay calibration between Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) is an essential prerequisite for its applications. However, the correspondences between LiDAR and IMU measurements are usually unknown, and thus cannot be computed directly for the time delay calibration. In order to solve the problem of LiDAR-IMU time delay calibration, this paper presents a fusion method based on iterative closest point (ICP) and iterated sigma point Kalman filter (ISPKF), which combines the advantages of ICP and ISPKF. The ICP algorithm can precisely determine the unknown transformation between LiDAR-IMU; and the ISPKF algorithm can optimally estimate the time delay calibration parameters. First of all, the coordinate transformation from the LiDAR frame to the IMU frame is realized. Second, the measurement model and time delay error model of LiDAR and IMU are established. Third, the methodology of the ICP and ISPKF procedure is presented for LiDAR-IMU time delay calibration. Experimental results are presented that validate the proposed method and demonstrate the time delay error can be accurately calibrated. PMID:28282897

  11. The electric field changes and UHF radiations caused by the triggered lightning in Japan

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kawasaki, Zen-Ichiro; Kanao, Tadashi; Matsuura, Kenji; Nakano, Minoru; Horii, Kenji; Nakamura, Koichi

    1991-01-01

    In the rocket triggered lightning experiment of fiscal 1989, researchers observed electromagnetic field changes and UHF electromagnetic radiation accompanying rocket triggered lightning. It was found that no rapid changes corresponding to the return stroke of natural lightning were observed in the electric field changes accompanying rocket triggered lightning. However, continuous currents were present. In the case of rocket triggered lightning to the tower, electromagnetic field changes corresponding to the initiation of triggered lightning showed a bipolar pulse of a relatively large amplitude. In contrast, the rocket triggered lightning to the ground did not have such a bipolar pulse. The UHF radiation accompanying the rocket triggered lightning preceded the waveform portions corresponding to the first changes in electromagnetic fields. The number of isolated pulses in the UHF radiation showed a correlation with the time duration from rocket launching up to triggered lightning. The time interval between consecutive isolated pulses tended to get shorter with the passage of time, just like the stepped leaders of natural lightning.

  12. Comparison Between One-Point Calibration and Two-Point Calibration Approaches in a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Algorithm

    PubMed Central

    Mahmoudi, Zeinab; Johansen, Mette Dencker; Christiansen, Jens Sandahl

    2014-01-01

    Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using a 1-point calibration approach instead of a 2-point calibration approach on the accuracy of a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) algorithm. Method: A previously published real-time CGM algorithm was compared with its updated version, which used a 1-point calibration instead of a 2-point calibration. In addition, the contribution of the corrective intercept (CI) to the calibration performance was assessed. Finally, the sensor background current was estimated real-time and retrospectively. The study was performed on 132 type 1 diabetes patients. Results: Replacing the 2-point calibration with the 1-point calibration improved the CGM accuracy, with the greatest improvement achieved in hypoglycemia (18.4% median absolute relative differences [MARD] in hypoglycemia for the 2-point calibration, and 12.1% MARD in hypoglycemia for the 1-point calibration). Using 1-point calibration increased the percentage of sensor readings in zone A+B of the Clarke error grid analysis (EGA) in the full glycemic range, and also enhanced hypoglycemia sensitivity. Exclusion of CI from calibration reduced hypoglycemia accuracy, while slightly increased euglycemia accuracy. Both real-time and retrospective estimation of the sensor background current suggest that the background current can be considered zero in the calibration of the SCGM1 sensor. Conclusions: The sensor readings calibrated with the 1-point calibration approach indicated to have higher accuracy than those calibrated with the 2-point calibration approach. PMID:24876420

  13. Link calibration against receiver calibration: an assessment of GPS time transfer uncertainties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rovera, G. D.; Torre, J.-M.; Sherwood, R.; Abgrall, M.; Courde, C.; Laas-Bourez, M.; Uhrich, P.

    2014-10-01

    We present a direct comparison between two different techniques for the relative calibration of time transfer between remote time scales when using the signals transmitted by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Relative calibration estimates the delay of equipment or the delay of a time transfer link with respect to reference equipment. It is based on the circulation of some travelling GPS equipment between the stations in the network, against which the local equipment is measured. Two techniques can be considered: first a station calibration by the computation of the hardware delays of the local GPS equipment; second the computation of a global hardware delay offset for the time transfer between the reference points of two remote time scales. This last technique is called a ‘link’ calibration, with respect to the other one, which is a ‘receiver’ calibration. The two techniques require different measurements on site, which change the uncertainty budgets, and we discuss this and related issues. We report on one calibration campaign organized during Autumn 2013 between Observatoire de Paris (OP), Paris, France, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA), Calern, France, and NERC Space Geodesy Facility (SGF), Herstmonceux, United Kingdom. The travelling equipment comprised two GPS receivers of different types, along with the required signal generator and distribution amplifier, and one time interval counter. We show the different ways to compute uncertainty budgets, leading to improvement factors of 1.2 to 1.5 on the hardware delay uncertainties when comparing the relative link calibration to the relative receiver calibration.

  14. Externally calibrated parallel imaging for 3D multispectral imaging near metallic implants using broadband ultrashort echo time imaging.

    PubMed

    Wiens, Curtis N; Artz, Nathan S; Jang, Hyungseok; McMillan, Alan B; Reeder, Scott B

    2017-06-01

    To develop an externally calibrated parallel imaging technique for three-dimensional multispectral imaging (3D-MSI) in the presence of metallic implants. A fast, ultrashort echo time (UTE) calibration acquisition is proposed to enable externally calibrated parallel imaging techniques near metallic implants. The proposed calibration acquisition uses a broadband radiofrequency (RF) pulse to excite the off-resonance induced by the metallic implant, fully phase-encoded imaging to prevent in-plane distortions, and UTE to capture rapidly decaying signal. The performance of the externally calibrated parallel imaging reconstructions was assessed using phantoms and in vivo examples. Phantom and in vivo comparisons to self-calibrated parallel imaging acquisitions show that significant reductions in acquisition times can be achieved using externally calibrated parallel imaging with comparable image quality. Acquisition time reductions are particularly large for fully phase-encoded methods such as spectrally resolved fully phase-encoded three-dimensional (3D) fast spin-echo (SR-FPE), in which scan time reductions of up to 8 min were obtained. A fully phase-encoded acquisition with broadband excitation and UTE enabled externally calibrated parallel imaging for 3D-MSI, eliminating the need for repeated calibration regions at each frequency offset. Significant reductions in acquisition time can be achieved, particularly for fully phase-encoded methods like SR-FPE. Magn Reson Med 77:2303-2309, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  15. Signal Processing for Indian and Pakistan Nuclear Tests Recorded at IMS Stations Located in Israel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gitterman, Y.; Pinsky, V.; Hofstetter, R.

    - In compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT) the International Monitoring System (IMS) was designed for detection and location of the clandestine Nuclear Tests (NT). Two auxiliary IMS seismic stations MRNI and EIL, deployed recently, were subjected to detectability, travel-time calibration and discrimination analysis. The study is based on the three recent 1998 underground nuclear explosions: one of India and two of Pakistan, which provided a ground-truth test of the existing IMS. These events, attaining magnitudes of 5.2, 4.8 and 4.6 correspondingly, were registered by many IMS and other seismic stations.The MRNI and EIL broadband (BB) stations are located in Israel at teleseismic distances (from the explosions) of 3600, 2800 and 2700km, respectively, where the signals from the tests are already weak. The Indian and the second Pakistan NT were not detected by the short-period Israel Seismic Network (ISN), using standard STA/LTA triggering. Therefore, for the chosen IMS stations we compare the STA/LTA response to the results of the more sensitive Murdock-Hutt (MH) and the Adaptive Statistically Optimal Detector (OD) that showed triggering for these three events. The second Pakistan NT signal arrived at the ISN and the IMS stations in the coda of a strong Afghanistan earthquake and was further disturbed by a preceding signal from a local earthquake. However, the NT signal was successfully extracted at EIL and MRNI stations using MH and OD procedures. For comparison we provide the signal analysis of the cooperating BB station JER, with considerably worse noise conditions than EIL and MRNI, and show that OD can detect events when the other algorithms fail. Using the most quiet EIL station, the most sensitive OD and different bandpass filters we tried in addition to detect the small Kazakh chemical 100-ton calibration explosion of 1998, with magnitude 3.7 at a distance approaching 4000km. The detector response curve showed uprising in the expected signal time interval, but yet was low for a reliable decision.After an NT is detected it should be recognized. Spectra were calculated in a 15-sec window including P and P-coda waves. The spectra for the first Pakistan NT showed a pronounced spectral null at 1.7Hz for all three components of the EIL station. The effect was confirmed by observation of the same spectral null at the vertical component of the ISN stations. For this ground-truth explosion with a reported shallow source depth, the phenomenon can be explained in terms of the interference of P and pP phases. However, the spectral null feature, considered separately, cannot serve as a reliable identification characteristic of nuclear explosions, because not all the tests provide the nulls, whereas some earthquakes show this feature. Therefore, the multi-channel spectral discrimination analysis, based on a spectral ratio of low-to-high frequency energy (in the 0.6-1Hz and 1-3Hz bands), and a semblance of spectral curves (in the 0.6-2Hz band), was conducted. Both statistics were calculated for the vertical component of the ISN stations as well for the three components of the EIL station. The statistics provided a reliable discrimination between the recent NT and several nearby earthquakes, and showed compliance with the former analysis of Soviet and Chinese NT, where nuclear tests demonstrated lower values of energy ratio and spectral semblance than earthquakes. Accurate location of NT requires calibration of travel time for IMS stations. Using known source locations, IASPEI91 travel-time tables and NEIC origin times we calculated expected arrival time for the P waves to the EIL and MRNI stations and showed that the measured arrival time has a delay of about 4 sec. Similar results were obtained for the nearby Pakistan earthquakes. The analysis was complimented by the P travel-time measurements for the set of Semipalatinsk NT, which showed delays of about 3.7sec to the short-period MBH station which is a surrogate station for EIL. Similar delays at different stations evidence a path- rather than site-effect. The results can be used for calibration of the IMS stations EIL and MRNI regarding Asian seismic events.

  16. Improved GPS-based time link calibration involving ROA and PTB.

    PubMed

    Esteban, Héctor; Palacio, Juan; Galindo, Francisco Javier; Feldmann, Thorsten; Bauch, Andreas; Piester, Dirk

    2010-03-01

    The calibration of time transfer links is mandatory in the context of international collaboration for the realization of International Atomic Time. In this paper, we present the results of the calibration of the GPS time transfer link between the Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada (ROA) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) by means of a traveling geodetic-type GPS receiver and an evaluation of the achieved type A and B uncertainty. The time transfer results were achieved by using CA, P3, and also carrier phase PPP comparison techniques. We finally use these results to re-calibrate the two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) link between ROA and PTB, using one month of data. We show that a TWSTFT link can be calibrated by means of GPS time comparisons with an uncertainty below 2 ns, and that potentially even sub-nanosecond uncertainty can be achieved. This is a novel and cost-effective approach compared with the more common calibration using a traveling TWSTFT station.

  17. Supplement: “The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred from Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914” (2016, ApJL, 833, L1)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D’Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Fournier, J.-D.; Franco, S.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gatto, A.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Gendre, B.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; K, Haris; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kéfélian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.-M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O’Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O’Reilly, B.; O’Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Simakov, D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, N. D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson, S.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.; Wesels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrożny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

    2016-12-01

    This article provides supplemental information for a Letter reporting the rate of (BBH) coalescences inferred from 16 days of coincident Advanced LIGO observations surrounding the transient (GW) signal GW150914. In that work we reported various rate estimates whose 90% confidence intervals fell in the range 2–600 Gpc‑3 yr‑1. Here we give details on our method and computations, including information about our search pipelines, a derivation of our likelihood function for the analysis, a description of the astrophysical search trigger distribution expected from merging BBHs, details on our computational methods, a description of the effects and our model for calibration uncertainty, and an analytic method for estimating our detector sensitivity, which is calibrated to our measurements.

  18. The recalibration of the IUE scientific instrument

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Imhoff, Catherine L.; Oliversen, Nancy A.; Nichols-Bohlin, Joy; Casatella, Angelo; Lloyd, Christopher

    1988-01-01

    The IUE instrument was recalibrated because of long time-scale changes in the scientific instrument, a better understanding of the performance of the instrument, improved sets of calibration data, and improved analysis techniques. Calibrations completed or planned include intensity transfer functions (ITF), low-dispersion absolute calibrations, high-dispersion ripple corrections and absolute calibrations, improved geometric mapping of the ITFs to spectral images, studies to improve the signal-to-noise, enhanced absolute calibrations employing corrections for time, temperature, and aperture dependence, and photometric and geometric calibrations for the FES.

  19. Single Vector Calibration System for Multi-Axis Load Cells and Method for Calibrating a Multi-Axis Load Cell

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parker, Peter A. (Inventor)

    2003-01-01

    A single vector calibration system is provided which facilitates the calibration of multi-axis load cells, including wind tunnel force balances. The single vector system provides the capability to calibrate a multi-axis load cell using a single directional load, for example loading solely in the gravitational direction. The system manipulates the load cell in three-dimensional space, while keeping the uni-directional calibration load aligned. The use of a single vector calibration load reduces the set-up time for the multi-axis load combinations needed to generate a complete calibration mathematical model. The system also reduces load application inaccuracies caused by the conventional requirement to generate multiple force vectors. The simplicity of the system reduces calibration time and cost, while simultaneously increasing calibration accuracy.

  20. A new time calibration method for switched-capacitor-array-based waveform samplers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, H.; Chen, C.-T.; Eclov, N.; Ronzhin, A.; Murat, P.; Ramberg, E.; Los, S.; Moses, W.; Choong, W.-S.; Kao, C.-M.

    2014-12-01

    We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be 2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.

  1. A New Time Calibration Method for Switched-capacitor-array-based Waveform Samplers.

    PubMed

    Kim, H; Chen, C-T; Eclov, N; Ronzhin, A; Murat, P; Ramberg, E; Los, S; Moses, W; Choong, W-S; Kao, C-M

    2014-12-11

    We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.

  2. A New Time Calibration Method for Switched-capacitor-array-based Waveform Samplers

    PubMed Central

    Kim, H.; Chen, C.-T.; Eclov, N.; Ronzhin, A.; Murat, P.; Ramberg, E.; Los, S.; Moses, W.; Choong, W.-S.; Kao, C.-M.

    2014-01-01

    We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration. PMID:25506113

  3. Application of six sigma and AHP in analysis of variable lead time calibration process instrumentation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rimantho, Dino; Rahman, Tomy Abdul; Cahyadi, Bambang; Tina Hernawati, S.

    2017-02-01

    Calibration of instrumentation equipment in the pharmaceutical industry is an important activity to determine the true value of a measurement. Preliminary studies indicated that occur lead-time calibration resulted in disruption of production and laboratory activities. This study aimed to analyze the causes of lead-time calibration. Several methods used in this study such as, Six Sigma in order to determine the capability process of the calibration instrumentation of equipment. Furthermore, the method of brainstorming, Pareto diagrams, and Fishbone diagrams were used to identify and analyze the problems. Then, the method of Hierarchy Analytical Process (AHP) was used to create a hierarchical structure and prioritize problems. The results showed that the value of DPMO around 40769.23 which was equivalent to the level of sigma in calibration equipment approximately 3,24σ. This indicated the need for improvements in the calibration process. Furthermore, the determination of problem-solving strategies Lead Time Calibration such as, shortens the schedule preventive maintenance, increase the number of instrument Calibrators, and train personnel. Test results on the consistency of the whole matrix of pairwise comparisons and consistency test showed the value of hierarchy the CR below 0.1.

  4. Evaluation of factors affecting CGMS calibration.

    PubMed

    Buckingham, Bruce A; Kollman, Craig; Beck, Roy; Kalajian, Andrea; Fiallo-Scharer, Rosanna; Tansey, Michael J; Fox, Larry A; Wilson, Darrell M; Weinzimer, Stuart A; Ruedy, Katrina J; Tamborlane, William V

    2006-06-01

    The optimal number/timing of calibrations entered into the CGMS (Medtronic MiniMed, Northridge, CA) continuous glucose monitoring system have not been previously described. Fifty subjects with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (10-18 years old) were hospitalized in a clinical research center for approximately 24 h on two separate days. CGMS and OneTouch Ultra meter (LifeScan, Milpitas, CA) data were obtained. The CGMS was retrospectively recalibrated using the Ultra data varying the number and timing of calibrations. Resulting CGMS values were compared against laboratory reference values. There was a modest improvement in accuracy with increasing number of calibrations. The median relative absolute deviation (RAD) was 14%, 15%, 13%, and 13% when using three, four, five, and seven calibration values, respectively (P < 0.001). Corresponding percentages of CGMS-reference pairs meeting the International Organisation for Standardisation criteria were 66%, 67%, 71%, and 72% (P < 0.001). Nighttime accuracy improved when daytime calibrations (pre-lunch and pre-dinner) were removed leaving only two calibrations at 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. (median difference, -2 vs. -9 mg/dL, P < 0.001; median RAD, 12% vs. 15%, P = 0.001). Accuracy was better on visits where the average absolute rate of glucose change at the times of calibration was lower. On visits with average absolute rates <0.5, 0.5 to <1.0, 1.0 to <1.5, and >or=1.5 mg/dL/min, median RAD values were 13% versus 14% versus 17% versus 19%, respectively (P = 0.05). Although accuracy is slightly improved with more calibrations, the timing of the calibrations appears more important. Modifying the algorithm to put less weight on daytime calibrations for nighttime values and calibrating during times of relative glucose stability may have greater impact on accuracy.

  5. Evaluation of Factors Affecting CGMS Calibration

    PubMed Central

    2006-01-01

    Background The optimal number/timing of calibrations entered into the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (“CGMS”; Medtronic MiniMed, Northridge, CA) have not been previously described. Methods Fifty subjects with T1DM (10–18y) were hospitalized in a clinical research center for ~24h on two separate days. CGMS and OneTouch® Ultra® Meter (“Ultra”; LifeScan, Milpitas, CA) data were obtained. The CGMS was retrospectively recalibrated using the Ultra data varying the number and timing of calibrations. Resulting CGMS values were compared against laboratory reference values. Results There was a modest improvement in accuracy with increasing number of calibrations. The median relative absolute deviation (RAD) was 14%, 15%, 13% and 13% when using 3, 4, 5 and 7 calibration values, respectively (p<0.001). Corresponding percentages of CGMS-reference pairs meeting the ISO criteria were 66%, 67%, 71% and 72% (p<0.001). Nighttime accuracy improved when daytime calibrations (pre-lunch and pre-dinner) were removed leaving only two calibrations at 9p.m. and 6a.m. (median difference: −2 vs. −9mg/dL, p<0.001; median RAD: 12% vs. 15%, p=0.001). Accuracy was better on visits where the average absolute rate of glucose change at the times of calibration was lower. On visits with average absolute rates <0.5, 0.5-<1.0, 1.0-<1.5 and ≥1.5mg/dL/min, median RAD values were 13% vs. 14% vs. 17% vs. 19%, respectively (p=0.05). Conclusions Although accuracy is slightly improved with more calibrations, the timing of the calibrations appears more important. Modifying the algorithm to put less weight on daytime calibrations for nighttime values and calibrating during times of relative glucose stability may have greater impact on accuracy. PMID:16800753

  6. Using the cloud to speed-up calibration of watershed-scale hydrologic models (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goodall, J. L.; Ercan, M. B.; Castronova, A. M.; Humphrey, M.; Beekwilder, N.; Steele, J.; Kim, I.

    2013-12-01

    This research focuses on using the cloud to address computational challenges associated with hydrologic modeling. One example is calibration of a watershed-scale hydrologic model, which can take days of execution time on typical computers. While parallel algorithms for model calibration exist and some researchers have used multi-core computers or clusters to run these algorithms, these solutions do not fully address the challenge because (i) calibration can still be too time consuming even on multicore personal computers and (ii) few in the community have the time and expertise needed to manage a compute cluster. Given this, another option for addressing this challenge that we are exploring through this work is the use of the cloud for speeding-up calibration of watershed-scale hydrologic models. The cloud used in this capacity provides a means for renting a specific number and type of machines for only the time needed to perform a calibration model run. The cloud allows one to precisely balance the duration of the calibration with the financial costs so that, if the budget allows, the calibration can be performed more quickly by renting more machines. Focusing specifically on the SWAT hydrologic model and a parallel version of the DDS calibration algorithm, we show significant speed-up time across a range of watershed sizes using up to 256 cores to perform a model calibration. The tool provides a simple web-based user interface and the ability to monitor the calibration job submission process during the calibration process. Finally this talk concludes with initial work to leverage the cloud for other tasks associated with hydrologic modeling including tasks related to preparing inputs for constructing place-based hydrologic models.

  7. Comparison of different strategies for using fossil calibrations to generate the time prior in Bayesian molecular clock dating.

    PubMed

    Barba-Montoya, Jose; Dos Reis, Mario; Yang, Ziheng

    2017-09-01

    Fossil calibrations are the utmost source of information for resolving the distances between molecular sequences into estimates of absolute times and absolute rates in molecular clock dating analysis. The quality of calibrations is thus expected to have a major impact on divergence time estimates even if a huge amount of molecular data is available. In Bayesian molecular clock dating, fossil calibration information is incorporated in the analysis through the prior on divergence times (the time prior). Here, we evaluate three strategies for converting fossil calibrations (in the form of minimum- and maximum-age bounds) into the prior on times, which differ according to whether they borrow information from the maximum age of ancestral nodes and minimum age of descendent nodes to form constraints for any given node on the phylogeny. We study a simple example that is analytically tractable, and analyze two real datasets (one of 10 primate species and another of 48 seed plant species) using three Bayesian dating programs: MCMCTree, MrBayes and BEAST2. We examine how different calibration strategies, the birth-death process, and automatic truncation (to enforce the constraint that ancestral nodes are older than descendent nodes) interact to determine the time prior. In general, truncation has a great impact on calibrations so that the effective priors on the calibration node ages after the truncation can be very different from the user-specified calibration densities. The different strategies for generating the effective prior also had considerable impact, leading to very different marginal effective priors. Arbitrary parameters used to implement minimum-bound calibrations were found to have a strong impact upon the prior and posterior of the divergence times. Our results highlight the importance of inspecting the joint time prior used by the dating program before any Bayesian dating analysis. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Calibrating GPS With TWSTFT For Accurate Time Transfer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    40th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting 577 CALIBRATING GPS WITH TWSTFT FOR ACCURATE TIME TRANSFER Z. Jiang1 and...primary time transfer techniques are GPS and TWSTFT (Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer, TW for short). 83% of UTC time links are...Calibrating GPS With TWSTFT For Accurate Time Transfer 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT

  9. Performance of a full scale prototype detector at the BR2 reactor for the SoLid experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abreu, Y.; Amhis, Y.; Arnold, L.; Ban, G.; Beaumont, W.; Bongrand, M.; Boursette, D.; Castle, B. C.; Clark, K.; Coupé, B.; Cussans, D.; De Roeck, A.; D'Hondt, J.; Durand, D.; Fallot, M.; Ghys, L.; Giot, L.; Guillon, B.; Ihantola, S.; Janssen, X.; Kalcheva, S.; Kalousis, L. N.; Koonen, E.; Labare, M.; Lehaut, G.; Manzanillas, L.; Mermans, J.; Michiels, I.; Moortgat, C.; Newbold, D.; Park, J.; Pestel, V.; Petridis, K.; Piñera, I.; Pommery, G.; Popescu, L.; Pronost, G.; Rademacker, J.; Ryckbosch, D.; Ryder, N.; Saunders, D.; Schune, M.-H.; Simard, L.; Vacheret, A.; Van Dyck, S.; Van Mulders, P.; van Remortel, N.; Vercaemer, S.; Verstraeten, M.; Weber, A.; Yermia, F.

    2018-05-01

    The SoLid collaboration has developed a new detector technology to detect electron anti-neutrinos at close proximity to the Belgian BR2 reactor at surface level. A 288 kg prototype detector was deployed in 2015 and collected data during the operational period of the reactor and during reactor shut-down. Dedicated calibration campaigns were also performed with gamma and neutron sources. This paper describes the construction of the prototype detector with a high control on its proton content and the stability of its operation over a period of several months after deployment at the BR2 reactor site. All detector cells provide sufficient light yields to achieve a target energy resolution of better than 20%/√E(MeV). The capability of the detector to track muons is exploited to equalize the light response of a large number of channels to a precision of 3% and to demonstrate the stability of the energy scale over time. Particle identification based on pulse-shape discrimination is demonstrated with calibration sources. Despite a lower neutron detection efficiency due to triggering constraints, the main backgrounds at the reactor site were determined and taken into account in the shielding strategy for the main experiment. The results obtained with this prototype proved essential in the design optimization of the final detector.

  10. An X-Band Radar Terrain Feature Detection Method for Low-Altitude SVS Operations and Calibration Using LiDAR

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Young, Steve; UijtdeHaag, Maarten; Campbell, Jacob

    2004-01-01

    To enable safe use of Synthetic Vision Systems at low altitudes, real-time range-to-terrain measurements may be required to ensure the integrity of terrain models stored in the system. This paper reviews and extends previous work describing the application of x-band radar to terrain model integrity monitoring. A method of terrain feature extraction and a transformation of the features to a common reference domain are proposed. Expected error distributions for the extracted features are required to establish appropriate thresholds whereby a consistency-checking function can trigger an alert. A calibration-based approach is presented that can be used to obtain these distributions. To verify the approach, NASA's DC-8 airborne science platform was used to collect data from two mapping sensors. An Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping (ALTM) sensor was installed in the cargo bay of the DC-8. After processing, the ALTM produced a reference terrain model with a vertical accuracy of less than one meter. Also installed was a commercial-off-the-shelf x-band radar in the nose radome of the DC-8. Although primarily designed to measure precipitation, the radar also provides estimates of terrain reflectivity at low altitudes. Using the ALTM data as the reference, errors in features extracted from the radar are estimated. A method to estimate errors in features extracted from the terrain model is also presented.

  11. Relative Source Locations of Continuous Tremor Before and After the Subplinian Events at Shinmoe-dake, in 2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ichihara, M.; Matsumoto, S.

    2017-11-01

    Volcano monitoring systems are not always ready to resolve signals at the onset of eruptive activity. This study makes use of stations installed later to calibrate the performance of the stations that had been operated before the eruption. Seven stations recorded continuous volcanic tremor before and during the subplinian eruptions of Shinmoe-dake, Japan, in 2011. We estimated the source locations of the tremor using the amplitude distribution. The stability of the analysis was obtained by careful selection of time windows in which signals from a single source are dominated. The site effects and the regional attenuation factor were evaluated using tremor recorded after the major eruptions by a dense seismic array and a good number of stations. A tremor source changed its depth beneath the crater for 1 week before the major eruption, rising from a depth of a few kilometer to the water layer 3 times, each of which occurred following shallow inflation and minor eruptions. It is interpreted as migration of gas probably with magma, which further transported heat to the water layer and triggered the subplinian eruptions.

  12. Readiness of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter for LHC collisions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; Abdelalim, A. A.; Abdesselam, A.; Abdinov, O.; Abi, B.; Abolins, M.; Abramowicz, H.; Abreu, H.; Acharya, B. S.; Adams, D. L.; Addy, T. N.; Adelman, J.; Adorisio, C.; Adragna, P.; Adye, T.; Aefsky, S.; Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A.; Aharrouche, M.; Ahlen, S. P.; Ahles, F.; Ahmad, A.; Ahmed, H.; Ahsan, M.; Aielli, G.; Akdogan, T.; Åkesson, T. P. A.; Akimoto, G.; Akimov, A. V.; Aktas, A.; Alam, M. S.; Alam, M. A.; Albert, J.; Albrand, S.; Aleksa, M.; Aleksandrov, I. N.; Alessandria, F.; Alexa, C.; Alexander, G.; Alexandre, G.; Alexopoulos, T.; Alhroob, M.; Aliev, M.; Alimonti, G.; Alison, J.; Aliyev, M.; Allport, P. P.; Allwood-Spiers, S. E.; Almond, J.; Aloisio, A.; Alon, R.; Alonso, A.; Alviggi, M. G.; Amako, K.; Amelung, C.; Ammosov, V. V.; Amorim, A.; Amorós, G.; Amram, N.; Anastopoulos, C.; Andeen, T.; Anders, C. F.; Anderson, K. J.; Andreazza, A.; Andrei, V.; Anduaga, X. S.; Angerami, A.; Anghinolfi, F.; Anjos, N.; Antonaki, A.; Antonelli, M.; Antonelli, S.; Antunovic, B.; Anulli, F.; Aoun, S.; Arabidze, G.; Aracena, I.; Arai, Y.; Arce, A. T. H.; Archambault, J. P.; Arfaoui, S.; Arguin, J.-F.; Argyropoulos, T.; Arik, E.; Arik, M.; Armbruster, A. J.; Arnaez, O.; Arnault, C.; Artamonov, A.; Arutinov, D.; Asai, M.; Asai, S.; Asfandiyarov, R.; Ask, S.; Åsman, B.; Asner, D.; Asquith, L.; Assamagan, K.; Astbury, A.; Astvatsatourov, A.; Atoian, G.; Auerbach, B.; Auge, E.; Augsten, K.; Aurousseau, M.; Austin, N.; Avolio, G.; Avramidou, R.; Axen, D.; Ay, C.; Azuelos, G.; Azuma, Y.; Baak, M. A.; Baccaglioni, G.; Bacci, C.; Bach, A.; Bachacou, H.; Bachas, K.; Backes, M.; Badescu, E.; Bagnaia, P.; Bai, Y.; Bailey, D. C.; Bain, T.; Baines, J. T.; Baker, O. K.; Baker, M. D.; Dos Santos Pedrosa, F. Baltasar; Banas, E.; Banerjee, P.; Banerjee, S.; Banfi, D.; Bangert, A.; Bansal, V.; Baranov, S. P.; Baranov, S.; Barashkou, A.; Barber, T.; Barberio, E. L.; Barberis, D.; Barbero, M.; Bardin, D. Y.; Barillari, T.; Barisonzi, M.; Barklow, T.; Barlow, N.; Barnett, B. M.; Barnett, R. M.; Baron, S.; Baroncelli, A.; Barr, A. J.; Barreiro, F.; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, J.; Barrillon, P.; Barros, N.; Bartoldus, R.; Bartsch, D.; Bastos, J.; Bates, R. L.; Bathe, S.; Batkova, L.; Batley, J. R.; Battaglia, A.; Battistin, M.; Bauer, F.; Bawa, H. S.; Bazalova, M.; Beare, B.; Beau, T.; Beauchemin, P. H.; Beccherle, R.; Becerici, N.; Bechtle, P.; Beck, G. A.; Beck, H. P.; Beckingham, M.; Becks, K. H.; Bedajanek, I.; Beddall, A. J.; Beddall, A.; Bednár, P.; Bednyakov, V. A.; Bee, C.; Begel, M.; Behar Harpaz, S.; Behera, P. K.; Beimforde, M.; Belanger-Champagne, C.; Bell, P. J.; Bell, W. H.; Bella, G.; Bellagamba, L.; Bellina, F.; Bellomo, M.; Belloni, A.; Belotskiy, K.; Beltramello, O.; Ben Ami, S.; Benary, O.; Benchekroun, D.; Bendel, M.; Benedict, B. H.; Benekos, N.; Benhammou, Y.; Benincasa, G. P.; Benjamin, D. P.; Benoit, M.; Bensinger, J. R.; Benslama, K.; Bentvelsen, S.; Beretta, M.; Berge, D.; Bergeaas Kuutmann, E.; Berger, N.; Berghaus, F.; Berglund, E.; Beringer, J.; Bernardet, K.; Bernat, P.; Bernhard, R.; Bernius, C.; Berry, T.; Bertin, A.; Besson, N.; Bethke, S.; Bianchi, R. M.; Bianco, M.; Biebel, O.; Biesiada, J.; Biglietti, M.; Bilokon, H.; Bindi, M.; Binet, S.; Bingul, A.; Bini, C.; Biscarat, C.; Bitenc, U.; Black, K. M.; Blair, R. E.; Blanchard, J.-B.; Blanchot, G.; Blocker, C.; Blocki, J.; Blondel, A.; Blum, W.; Blumenschein, U.; Bobbink, G. J.; Bocci, A.; Boehler, M.; Boek, J.; Boelaert, N.; Böser, S.; Bogaerts, J. A.; Bogouch, A.; Bohm, C.; Bohm, J.; Boisvert, V.; Bold, T.; Boldea, V.; Boldyrev, A.; Bondarenko, V. G.; Bondioli, M.; Boonekamp, M.; Booth, J. R. A.; Bordoni, S.; Borer, C.; Borisov, A.; Borissov, G.; Borjanovic, I.; Borroni, S.; Bos, K.; Boscherini, D.; Bosman, M.; Bosteels, M.; Boterenbrood, H.; Bouchami, J.; Boudreau, J.; Bouhova-Thacker, E. 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M.; Mehdiyev, R.; Mehlhase, S.; Mehta, A.; Meier, K.; Meirose, B.; Melamed-Katz, A.; Mellado Garcia, B. R.; Meng, Z.; Menke, S.; Meoni, E.; Merkl, D.; Mermod, P.; Merola, L.; Meroni, C.; Merritt, F. S.; Messina, A. M.; Messmer, I.; Metcalfe, J.; Mete, A. S.; Meyer, J.-P.; Meyer, J.; Meyer, T. C.; Meyer, W. T.; Miao, J.; Micu, L.; Middleton, R. P.; Migas, S.; Mijović, L.; Mikenberg, G.; Mikuž, M.; Miller, D. W.; Mills, W. J.; Mills, C. M.; Milov, A.; Milstead, D. A.; Minaenko, A. A.; Miñano, M.; Minashvili, I. A.; Mincer, A. I.; Mindur, B.; Mineev, M.; Mir, L. M.; Mirabelli, G.; Misawa, S.; Miscetti, S.; Misiejuk, A.; Mitrevski, J.; Mitsou, V. A.; Miyagawa, P. S.; Mjörnmark, J. U.; Mladenov, D.; Moa, T.; Mockett, P.; Moed, S.; Moeller, V.; Mönig, K.; Möser, N.; Mohn, B.; Mohr, W.; Mohrdieck-Möck, S.; Moles-Valls, R.; Molina-Perez, J.; Moloney, G.; Monk, J.; Monnier, E.; Montesano, S.; Monticelli, F.; Moore, R. W.; Herrera, C. 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O.; Osculati, B.; Osuna, C.; Otec, R.; P Ottersbach, J.; Ould-Saada, F.; Ouraou, A.; Ouyang, Q.; Owen, M.; Owen, S.; Ozcan, V. E.; Ozone, K.; Ozturk, N.; Pacheco Pages, A.; Padhi, S.; Padilla Aranda, C.; Paganis, E.; Pahl, C.; Paige, F.; Pajchel, K.; Pal, A.; Palestini, S.; Pallin, D.; Palma, A.; Palmer, J. D.; Pan, Y. B.; Panagiotopoulou, E.; Panes, B.; Panikashvili, N.; Panitkin, S.; Pantea, D.; Panuskova, M.; Paolone, V.; Papadopoulou, Th. D.; Park, S. J.; Park, W.; Parker, M. A.; Parker, S. I.; Parodi, F.; Parsons, J. A.; Parzefall, U.; Pasqualucci, E.; Passardi, G.; Passeri, A.; Pastore, F.; Pastore, Fr.; Pásztor, G.; Pataraia, S.; Pater, J. R.; Patricelli, S.; Patwa, A.; Pauly, T.; Peak, L. S.; Pecsy, M.; Pedraza Morales, M. I.; Peleganchuk, S. V.; Peng, H.; Penson, A.; Penwell, J.; Perantoni, M.; Perez, K.; Perez Codina, E.; Pérez García-Estañ, M. T.; Perez Reale, V.; Perini, L.; Pernegger, H.; Perrino, R.; Perrodo, P.; Persembe, S.; Perus, P.; Peshekhonov, V. D.; Petersen, B. A.; Petersen, J.; Petersen, T. C.; Petit, E.; Petridou, C.; Petrolo, E.; Petrucci, F.; Petschull, D.; Petteni, M.; Pezoa, R.; Pfeifer, B.; Phan, A.; Phillips, A. W.; Piacquadio, G.; Piccinini, M.; Piegaia, R.; Pilcher, J. E.; Pilkington, A. D.; Pina, J.; Pinamonti, M.; Pinfold, J. L.; Ping, J.; Pinto, B.; Pirotte, O.; Pizio, C.; Placakyte, R.; Plamondon, M.; Plano, W. G.; Pleier, M.-A.; Poblaguev, A.; Poddar, S.; Podlyski, F.; Poffenberger, P.; Poggioli, L.; Pohl, M.; Polci, F.; Polesello, G.; Policicchio, A.; Polini, A.; Poll, J.; Polychronakos, V.; Pomarede, D. M.; Pomeroy, D.; Pommès, K.; Pontecorvo, L.; Pope, B. G.; Popovic, D. S.; Poppleton, A.; Popule, J.; Portell Bueso, X.; Porter, R.; Pospelov, G. E.; Pospichal, P.; Pospisil, S.; Potekhin, M.; Potrap, I. N.; Potter, C. J.; Potter, C. T.; Potter, K. P.; Poulard, G.; Poveda, J.; Prabhu, R.; Pralavorio, P.; Prasad, S.; Pravahan, R.; Preda, T.; Pretzl, K.; Pribyl, L.; Price, D.; Price, L. E.; Prichard, P. M.; Prieur, D.; Primavera, M.; Prokofiev, K.; Prokoshin, F.; Protopopescu, S.; Proudfoot, J.; Prudent, X.; Przysiezniak, H.; Psoroulas, S.; Ptacek, E.; Puigdengoles, C.; Purdham, J.; Purohit, M.; Puzo, P.; Pylypchenko, Y.; Qi, M.; Qian, J.; Qian, W.; Qian, Z.; Qin, Z.; Qing, D.; Quadt, A.; Quarrie, D. R.; Quayle, W. B.; Quinonez, F.; Raas, M.; Radeka, V.; Radescu, V.; Radics, B.; Rador, T.; Ragusa, F.; Rahal, G.; Rahimi, A. M.; Rahm, D.; Rajagopalan, S.; Rammes, M.; Ratoff, P. N.; Rauscher, F.; Rauter, E.; Raymond, M.; Read, A. L.; Rebuzzi, D. M.; Redelbach, A.; Redlinger, G.; Reece, R.; Reeves, K.; Reinherz-Aronis, E.; Reinsch, A.; Reisinger, I.; Reljic, D.; Rembser, C.; Ren, Z. L.; Renkel, P.; Rescia, S.; Rescigno, M.; Resconi, S.; Resende, B.; Reznicek, P.; Rezvani, R.; Richards, A.; Richards, R. A.; Richter, D.; Richter, R.; Richter-Was, E.; Ridel, M.; Rieke, S.; Rijpstra, M.; Rijssenbeek, M.; Rimoldi, A.; Rinaldi, L.; Rios, R. R.; Riu, I.; Rivoltella, G.; Rizatdinova, F.; Rizvi, E. R.; Roa Romero, D. A.; Robertson, S. H.; Robichaud-Veronneau, A.; Robinson, D.; Robinson, M.; Robson, A.; Rocha de Lima, J. G.; Roda, C.; Rodriguez, D.; Rodriguez Garcia, Y.; Roe, S.; Røhne, O.; Rojo, V.; Rolli, S.; Romaniouk, A.; Romanov, V. M.; Romeo, G.; Romero Maltrana, D.; Roos, L.; Ros, E.; Rosati, S.; Rosenbaum, G. A.; Rosenberg, E. I.; Rosselet, L.; Rossi, L. P.; Rotaru, M.; Rothberg, J.; Rottländer, I.; Rousseau, D.; Royon, C. R.; Rozanov, A.; Rozen, Y.; Ruan, X.; Ruckert, B.; Ruckstuhl, N.; Rud, V. I.; Rudolph, G.; Rühr, F.; Ruggieri, F.; Ruiz-Martinez, A.; Rumyantsev, L.; Rusakovich, N. A.; Rutherfoord, J. P.; Ruwiedel, C.; Ruzicka, P.; Ryabov, Y. F.; Ryadovikov, V.; Ryan, P.; Rybkin, G.; Rzaeva, S.; Saavedra, A. F.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Sadykov, R.; Sakamoto, H.; Salamanna, G.; Salamon, A.; Saleem, M.; Salihagic, D.; Salnikov, A.; Salt, J.; Salvachua Ferrando, B. M.; Salvatore, D.; Salvatore, F.; Salvucci, A.; Salzburger, A.; Sampsonidis, D.; Samset, B. H.; Sanchis Lozano, M. A.; Sandaker, H.; Sander, H. G.; Sanders, M. P.; Sandhoff, M.; Sandstroem, R.; Sandvoss, S.; Sankey, D. P. C.; Sanny, B.; Sansoni, A.; Santamarina Rios, C.; Santi, L.; Santoni, C.; Santonico, R.; Santos, D.; Santos, J.; Saraiva, J. G.; Sarangi, T.; Sarkisyan-Grinbaum, E.; Sarri, F.; Sasaki, O.; Sasaki, T.; Sasao, N.; Satsounkevitch, I.; Sauvage, G.; Savard, P.; Savine, A. Y.; Savinov, V.; Sawyer, L.; Saxon, D. H.; Says, L. P.; Sbarra, C.; Sbrizzi, A.; Scannicchio, D. A.; Schaarschmidt, J.; Schacht, P.; Schäfer, U.; Schaetzel, S.; Schaffer, A. C.; Schaile, D.; Schamberger, R. D.; Schamov, A. G.; Schegelsky, V. A.; Scheirich, D.; Schernau, M.; Scherzer, M. I.; Schiavi, C.; Schieck, J.; Schioppa, M.; Schlenker, S.; Schlereth, J. L.; Schmid, P.; Schmidt, M. P.; Schmieden, K.; Schmitt, C.; Schmitz, M.; Schott, M.; Schouten, D.; Schovancova, J.; Schram, M.; Schreiner, A.; Schroeder, C.; Schroer, N.; Schroers, M.; Schuler, G.; Schultes, J.; Schultz-Coulon, H.-C.; Schumacher, J.; Schumacher, M.; Schumm, B. A.; Schune, Ph.; Schwanenberger, C.; Schwartzman, A.; Schwemling, Ph.; Schwienhorst, R.; Schwierz, R.; Schwindling, J.; Scott, W. G.; Searcy, J.; Sedykh, E.; Segura, E.; Seidel, S. C.; Seiden, A.; Seifert, F.; Seixas, J. M.; Sekhniaidze, G.; Seliverstov, D. M.; Sellden, B.; Seman, M.; Semprini-Cesari, N.; Serfon, C.; Serin, L.; Seuster, R.; Severini, H.; Sevior, M. E.; Sfyrla, A.; Shamim, M.; Shan, L. Y.; Shank, J. T.; Shao, Q. T.; Shapiro, M.; Shatalov, P. B.; Shaver, L.; Shaw, C.; Shaw, K.; Sherman, D.; Sherwood, P.; Shibata, A.; Shimojima, M.; Shin, T.; Shmeleva, A.; Shochet, M. J.; Shupe, M. A.; Sicho, P.; Sidoti, A.; Siebel, A.; Siegert, F.; Siegrist, J.; Sijacki, Dj.; Silbert, O.; Silva, J.; Silver, Y.; Silverstein, D.; Silverstein, S. B.; Simak, V.; Simic, Lj.; Simion, S.; Simmons, B.; Simonyan, M.; Sinervo, P.; Sinev, N. B.; Sipica, V.; Siragusa, G.; Sisakyan, A. N.; Sivoklokov, S. Yu.; Sjoelin, J.; Sjursen, T. B.; Skubic, P.; Skvorodnev, N.; Slater, M.; Slavicek, T.; Sliwa, K.; Sloper, J.; Sluka, T.; Smakhtin, V.; Smirnov, S. Yu.; Smirnov, Y.; Smirnova, L. N.; Smirnova, O.; Smith, B. C.; Smith, D.; Smith, K. M.; Smizanska, M.; Smolek, K.; Snesarev, A. A.; Snow, S. W.; Snow, J.; Snuverink, J.; Snyder, S.; Soares, M.; Sobie, R.; Sodomka, J.; Soffer, A.; Solans, C. A.; Solar, M.; Solfaroli Camillocci, E.; Solodkov, A. A.; Solovyanov, O. V.; Soluk, R.; Sondericker, J.; Sopko, V.; Sopko, B.; Sosebee, M.; Sosnovtsev, V. V.; Sospedra Suay, L.; Soukharev, A.; Spagnolo, S.; Spanò, F.; Speckmayer, P.; Spencer, E.; Spighi, R.; Spigo, G.; Spila, F.; Spiwoks, R.; Spousta, M.; Spreitzer, T.; Spurlock, B.; Denis, R. D. St.; Stahl, T.; Stamen, R.; Stancu, S. N.; Stanecka, E.; Stanek, R. W.; Stanescu, C.; Stapnes, S.; Starchenko, E. A.; Stark, J.; Staroba, P.; Starovoitov, P.; Stastny, J.; Staude, A.; Stavina, P.; Stavropoulos, G.; Steinbach, P.; Steinberg, P.; Stekl, I.; Stelzer, B.; Stelzer, H. J.; Stelzer-Chilton, O.; Stenzel, H.; Stevenson, K.; Stewart, G.; Stockton, M. C.; Stoerig, K.; Stoicea, G.; Stonjek, S.; Strachota, P.; Stradling, A.; Straessner, A.; Strandberg, J.; Strandberg, S.; Strandlie, A.; Strauss, M.; Strizenec, P.; Ströhmer, R.; Strom, D. M.; Strong, J. A.; Stroynowski, R.; Strube, J.; Stugu, B.; Stumer, I.; Soh, D. A.; Su, D.; Suchkov, S. I.; Sugaya, Y.; Sugimoto, T.; Suhr, C.; Suk, M.; Sulin, V. V.; Sultansoy, S.; Sumida, T.; Sun, X.; Sundermann, J. E.; Suruliz, K.; Sushkov, S.; Susinno, G.; Sutton, M. R.; Suzuki, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Sviridov, Yu. M.; Sykora, I.; Sykora, T.; Szymocha, T.; Sánchez, J.; Ta, D.; Tackmann, K.; Taffard, A.; Tafirout, R.; Taga, A.; Takahashi, Y.; Takai, H.; Takashima, R.; Takeda, H.; Takeshita, T.; Talby, M.; Talyshev, A.; Tamsett, M. C.; Tanaka, J.; Tanaka, R.; Tanaka, S.; Tanaka, S.; Tappern, G. P.; Tapprogge, S.; Tardif, D.; Tarem, S.; Tarrade, F.; Tartarelli, G. F.; Tas, P.; Tasevsky, M.; Tassi, E.; Taylor, C.; Taylor, F. E.; Taylor, G. N.; Taylor, R. P.; Taylor, W.; Teixeira-Dias, P.; Ten Kate, H.; Teng, P. K.; Terada, S.; Terashi, K.; Terron, J.; Terwort, M.; Testa, M.; Teuscher, R. J.; Tevlin, C. M.; Thadome, J.; Thananuwong, R.; Thioye, M.; Thoma, S.; Thomas, J. P.; Thomas, T. L.; Thompson, E. N.; Thompson, P. D.; Thompson, P. D.; Thompson, R. J.; Thompson, A. S.; Thomson, E.; Thun, R. P.; Tic, T.; Tikhomirov, V. O.; Tikhonov, Y. A.; Timmermans, C. J. W. P.; Tipton, P.; Tique Aires Viegas, F. J.; Tisserant, S.; Tobias, J.; Toczek, B.; Todorov, T.; Todorova-Nova, S.; Toggerson, B.; Tojo, J.; Tokár, S.; Tokushuku, K.; Tollefson, K.; Tomasek, L.; Tomasek, M.; Tomasz, F.; Tomoto, M.; Tompkins, D.; Tompkins, L.; Toms, K.; Tong, G.; Tonoyan, A.; Topfel, C.; Topilin, N. D.; Torrence, E.; Torró Pastor, E.; Toth, J.; Touchard, F.; Tovey, D. R.; Tovey, S. N.; Trefzger, T.; Tremblet, L.; Tricoli, A.; Trigger, I. M.; Trincaz-Duvoid, S.; Trinh, T. N.; Tripiana, M. F.; Triplett, N.; Trivedi, A.; Trocmé, B.; Troncon, C.; Trzupek, A.; Tsarouchas, C.; Tseng, J. C.-L.; Tsiafis, I.; Tsiakiris, M.; Tsiareshka, P. V.; Tsionou, D.; Tsipolitis, G.; Tsiskaridze, V.; Tskhadadze, E. G.; Tsukerman, I. I.; Tsulaia, V.; Tsung, J.-W.; Tsuno, S.; Tsybychev, D.; Turala, M.; Turecek, D.; Turk Cakir, I.; Turlay, E.; Tuts, P. M.; Twomey, M. S.; Tylmad, M.; Tyndel, M.; Tzanakos, G.; Uchida, K.; Ueda, I.; Uhlenbrock, M.; Uhrmacher, M.; Ukegawa, F.; Unal, G.; Underwood, D. G.; Undrus, A.; Unel, G.; Unno, Y.; Urbaniec, D.; Urkovsky, E.; Urquijo, P.; Urrejola, P.; Usai, G.; Uslenghi, M.; Vacavant, L.; Vacek, V.; Vachon, B.; Vahsen, S.; Valenta, J.; Valente, P.; Valentinetti, S.; Valkar, S.; Valladolid Gallego, E.; Vallecorsa, S.; Valls Ferrer, J. A.; van Berg, R.; van der Graaf, H.; van der Kraaij, E.; van der Poel, E.; van der Ster, D.; van Eldik, N.; van Gemmeren, P.; van Kesteren, Z.; van Vulpen, I.; Vandelli, W.; Vandoni, G.; Vaniachine, A.; Vankov, P.; Vannucci, F.; Varela Rodriguez, F.; Vari, R.; Varnes, E. W.; Varouchas, D.; Vartapetian, A.; Varvell, K. E.; Vasilyeva, L.; Vassilakopoulos, V. I.; Vazeille, F.; Vegni, G.; Veillet, J. J.; Vellidis, C.; Veloso, F.; Veness, R.; Veneziano, S.; Ventura, A.; Ventura, D.; Venturi, M.; Venturi, N.; Vercesi, V.; Verducci, M.; Verkerke, W.; Vermeulen, J. C.; Vetterli, M. C.; Vichou, I.; Vickey, T.; Viehhauser, G. H. A.; Villa, M.; Villani, E. G.; Villaplana Perez, M.; Villate, J.; Vilucchi, E.; Vincter, M. G.; Vinek, E.; Vinogradov, V. B.; Viret, S.; Virzi, J.; Vitale, A.; Vitells, O. V.; Vivarelli, I.; Vives Vaques, F.; Vlachos, S.; Vlasak, M.; Vlasov, N.; Vogt, H.; Vokac, P.; Volpi, M.; Volpini, G.; von der Schmitt, H.; von Loeben, J.; von Radziewski, H.; von Toerne, E.; Vorobel, V.; Vorobiev, A. P.; Vorwerk, V.; Vos, M.; Voss, R.; Voss, T. T.; Vossebeld, J. H.; Vranjes, N.; Vranjes Milosavljevic, M.; Vrba, V.; Vreeswijk, M.; Vu Anh, T.; Vudragovic, D.; Vuillermet, R.; Vukotic, I.; Wagner, P.; Wahlen, H.; Walbersloh, J.; Walder, J.; Walker, R.; Walkowiak, W.; Wall, R.; Wang, C.; Wang, H.; Wang, J.; Wang, J. C.; Wang, S. M.; Ward, C. P.; Warsinsky, M.; Wastie, R.; Watkins, P. M.; Watson, A. T.; Watson, M. F.; Watts, G.; Watts, S.; Waugh, A. T.; Waugh, B. M.; Webel, M.; Weber, J.; Weber, M. D.; Weber, M.; Weber, M. S.; Weber, P.; Weidberg, A. R.; Weingarten, J.; Weiser, C.; Wellenstein, H.; Wells, P. S.; Wen, M.; Wenaus, T.; Wendler, S.; Wengler, T.; Wenig, S.; Wermes, N.; Werner, M.; Werner, P.; Werth, M.; Werthenbach, U.; Wessels, M.; Whalen, K.; Wheeler-Ellis, S. J.; Whitaker, S. P.; White, A.; White, M. J.; White, S.; Whiteson, D.; Whittington, D.; Wicek, F.; Wicke, D.; Wickens, F. J.; Wiedenmann, W.; Wielers, M.; Wienemann, P.; Wiglesworth, C.; Wiik, L. A. M.; Wildauer, A.; Wildt, M. A.; Wilhelm, I.; Wilkens, H. G.; Williams, E.; Williams, H. H.; Willis, W.; Willocq, S.; Wilson, J. A.; Wilson, M. G.; Wilson, A.; Wingerter-Seez, I.; Winklmeier, F.; Wittgen, M.; Wolter, M. W.; Wolters, H.; Wosiek, B. K.; Wotschack, J.; Woudstra, M. J.; Wraight, K.; Wright, C.; Wright, D.; Wrona, B.; Wu, S. L.; Wu, X.; Wulf, E.; Xella, S.; Xie, S.; Xie, Y.; Xu, D.; Xu, N.; Yamada, M.; Yamamoto, A.; Yamamoto, S.; Yamamura, T.; Yamanaka, K.; Yamaoka, J.; Yamazaki, T.; Yamazaki, Y.; Yan, Z.; Yang, H.; Yang, U. K.; Yang, Y.; Yang, Z.; Yao, W.-M.; Yao, Y.; Yasu, Y.; Ye, J.; Ye, S.; Yilmaz, M.; Yoosoofmiya, R.; Yorita, K.; Yoshida, R.; Young, C.; Youssef, S. P.; Yu, D.; Yu, J.; Yu, M.; Yu, X.; Yuan, J.; Yuan, L.; Yurkewicz, A.; Zaidan, R.; Zaitsev, A. M.; Zajacova, Z.; Zambrano, V.; Zanello, L.; Zarzhitsky, P.; Zaytsev, A.; Zeitnitz, C.; Zeller, M.; Zema, P. F.; Zemla, A.; Zendler, C.; Zenin, O.; Zenis, T.; Zenonos, Z.; Zenz, S.; Zerwas, D.; Zevi Della Porta, G.; Zhan, Z.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, Q.; Zhang, X.; Zhao, L.; Zhao, T.; Zhao, Z.; Zhemchugov, A.; Zheng, S.; Zhong, J.; Zhou, B.; Zhou, N.; Zhou, Y.; Zhu, C. G.; Zhu, H.; Zhu, Y.; Zhuang, X.; Zhuravlov, V.; Zilka, B.; Zimmermann, R.; Zimmermann, S.; Zimmermann, S.; Ziolkowski, M.; Zitoun, R.; Živković, L.; Zmouchko, V. V.; Zobernig, G.; Zoccoli, A.; Zur Nedden, M.; Zutshi, V.

    2010-12-01

    The ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter has been operating continuously since August 2006. At this time, only part of the calorimeter was readout, but since the beginning of 2008, all calorimeter cells have been connected to the ATLAS readout system in preparation for LHC collisions. This paper gives an overview of the liquid argon calorimeter performance measured in situ with random triggers, calibration data, cosmic muons, and LHC beam splash events. Results on the detector operation, timing performance, electronics noise, and gain stability are presented. High energy deposits from radiative cosmic muons and beam splash events allow to check the intrinsic constant term of the energy resolution. The uniformity of the electromagnetic barrel calorimeter response along η (averaged over φ) is measured at the percent level using minimum ionizing cosmic muons. Finally, studies of electromagnetic showers from radiative muons have been used to cross-check the Monte Carlo simulation. The performance results obtained using the ATLAS readout, data acquisition, and reconstruction software indicate that the liquid argon calorimeter is well-prepared for collisions at the dawn of the LHC era.

  13. Rapid settlement of Majuro Atoll, central Pacific, following its emergence at 2000 years CalBP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kayanne, Hajime; Yasukochi, Toru; Yamaguchi, Toru; Yamano, Hiroya; Yoneda, Minoru

    2011-10-01

    Atoll islands are areas of low, flat land, and the sustainability of habitable land in such environments is sensitive to even slight changes in sea level. The projected rise in sea level during this century may lead to the submergence of atoll islands and the widespread loss of habitable land. However, the actual time sequence of past sea level change, island emergence events, and human settlement of newly emerged islands remain poorly constrained. The results of geomorphological and archaeological surveys, combined with calibrated radiocarbon age dates, at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, central Pacific, reveal that the emergence of the island, triggered by a fall in sea level, was quickly followed by human settlement. The elevation of the central body of the island exceeded high water level at 2000 years CalBP, and the complete formation of the island occurred within an interval of 100 years. The island was colonized by people shortly after emergence, at 2000 years CalBP, prior to the establishment of dense vegetation, and has been continuously settled since that time.

  14. Readiness of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter for LHC collisions

    DOE PAGES

    Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

    2010-08-20

    The ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter has been operating continuously since August 2006. At this time, only part of the calorimeter was readout, but since the beginning of 2008, all calorimeter cells have been connected to the ATLAS readout system in preparation for LHC collisions. This paper gives an overview of the liquid argon calorimeter performance measured in situ with random triggers, calibration data, cosmic muons, and LHC beam splash events. Results on the detector operation, timing performance, electronics noise, and gain stability are presented. High energy deposits from radiative cosmic muons and beam splash events allow to check the intrinsicmore » constant term of the energy resolution. The uniformity of the electromagnetic barrel calorimeter response along η (averaged over Φ) is measured at the percent level using minimum ionizing cosmic muons. Finally, studies of electromagnetic showers from radiative muons have been used to cross-check the Monte Carlo simulation. The performance results obtained using the ATLAS readout, data acquisition, and reconstruction software indicate that the liquid argon calorimeter is well-prepared for collisions at the dawn of the LHC era.« less

  15. Calibration and field application of passive sampling for episodic exposure to polar organic pesticides in streams.

    PubMed

    Fernández, Diego; Vermeirssen, Etiënne L M; Bandow, Nicole; Muñoz, Katherine; Schäfer, Ralf B

    2014-11-01

    Rainfall-triggered runoff is a major driver of pesticide input in streams. Only few studies have examined the suitability of passive sampling to quantify such episodic exposures. In this study, we used Empore™ styrene-divinylbenzene reverse phase sulfonated disks (SDB disks) and event-driven water samples (EDS) to assess exposure to 15 fungicides and 4 insecticides in 17 streams in a German vineyard area during 4 rainfall events. We also conducted a microcosm experiment to determine the SDB-disk sampling rates and provide a free-software solution to derive sampling rates under time-variable exposure. Sampling rates ranged from 0.26 to 0.77 L d(-1) and time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations from 0.05 to 2.11 μg/L. The 2 sampling systems were in good agreement and EDS exceeded TWA concentrations on average by a factor of 3. Our study demonstrates that passive sampling is suitable to quantify episodic exposures from polar organic pesticides. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Design of a tracked ultrasound calibration phantom made of LEGO bricks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walsh, Ryan; Soehl, Marie; Rankin, Adam; Lasso, Andras; Fichtinger, Gabor

    2014-03-01

    PURPOSE: Spatial calibration of tracked ultrasound systems is commonly performed using precisely fabricated phantoms. Machining or 3D printing has relatively high cost and not easily available. Moreover, the possibilities for modifying the phantoms are very limited. Our goal was to find a method to construct a calibration phantom from affordable, widely available components, which can be built in short time, can be easily modified, and provides comparable accuracy to the existing solutions. METHODS: We designed an N-wire calibration phantom made of LEGO® bricks. To affirm the phantom's reproducibility and build time, ten builds were done by first-time users. The phantoms were used for a tracked ultrasound calibration by an experienced user. The success of each user's build was determined by the lowest root mean square (RMS) wire reprojection error of three calibrations. The accuracy and variance of calibrations were evaluated for the calibrations produced for various tracked ultrasound probes. The proposed model was compared to two of the currently available phantom models for both electromagnetic and optical tracking. RESULTS: The phantom was successfully built by all ten first-time users in an average time of 18.8 minutes. It cost approximately $10 CAD for the required LEGO® bricks and averaged a 0.69mm of error in the calibration reproducibility for ultrasound calibrations. It is one third the cost of similar 3D printed phantoms and takes much less time to build. The proposed phantom's image reprojections were 0.13mm more erroneous than those of the highest performing current phantom model The average standard deviation of multiple 3D image reprojections differed by 0.05mm between the phantoms CONCLUSION: It was found that the phantom could be built in less time, was one third the cost, compared to similar 3D printed models. The proposed phantom was found to be capable of producing equivalent calibrations to 3D printed phantoms.

  17. Experimental Demonstration of In-Place Calibration for Time Domain Microwave Imaging System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kwon, S.; Son, S.; Lee, K.

    2018-04-01

    In this study, the experimental demonstration of in-place calibration was conducted using the developed time domain measurement system. Experiments were conducted using three calibration methods—in-place calibration and two existing calibrations, that is, array rotation and differential calibration. The in-place calibration uses dual receivers located at an equal distance from the transmitter. The received signals at the dual receivers contain similar unwanted signals, that is, the directly received signal and antenna coupling. In contrast to the simulations, the antennas are not perfectly matched and there might be unexpected environmental errors. Thus, we experimented with the developed experimental system to demonstrate the proposed method. The possible problems with low signal-to-noise ratio and clock jitter, which may exist in time domain systems, were rectified by averaging repeatedly measured signals. The tumor was successfully detected using the three calibration methods according to the experimental results. The cross correlation was calculated using the reconstructed image of the ideal differential calibration for a quantitative comparison between the existing rotation calibration and the proposed in-place calibration. The mean value of cross correlation between the in-place calibration and ideal differential calibration was 0.80, and the mean value of cross correlation of the rotation calibration was 0.55. Furthermore, the results of simulation were compared with the experimental results to verify the in-place calibration method. A quantitative analysis was also performed, and the experimental results show a tendency similar to the simulation.

  18. The Role of Ground Truth in Improved Identification of Mining Explosion Signals Utilization of Calibration Explosions and Acoustic Signals

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2000-09-01

    and the Porphyry Copper District (PCD) of east central Arizona and south west New Mexico were used in gathering ground truth ranging from mine records...previous studies of large coal cast blasting operations in Wyoming that trigger the IMS (Hedlin et al. 2000), the porphyry copper region of Arizona and...local mines producing the sources. Close cooperation has been developed with the Phelps Dodge mines in Morenci, Arizona and Tyrone, New Mexico where in

  19. Implement an adjustable delay time digital trigger for an NI data acquisition card in a high-speed demodulation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hongtao; Fan, Lingling; Wang, Pengfei; Park, Seong-Wook

    2012-06-01

    A National Instruments (NI) DAQ card PCI 5105 is installed in a high-speed demodulation system based on Fiber Fabry-Pérot Tunable Filter. The instability of the spectra of Fiber Bragg Grating sensors caused by intrinsic drifts of FFP-TF needs an appropriate, flexible trigger. However, the driver of the DAQ card in the current development environment does not provide the functions of analog trigger but digital trigger type. Moreover, the high level of the trigger signal from the tuning voltage of FFP-TF is larger than the maximum input overload voltage of PCI 5105 card. To resolve this incompatibility, a novel converter to change an analog trigger signal into a digital trigger signal has been reported previously. However, the obvious delay time between input and output signals limits the function of demodulation system. Accordingly, we report an improved low-cost, small-size converter with an adjustable delay time. This new scheme can decline the delay time to or close to zero when the frequency of trigger signal is less than 3,000 Hz. This method might be employed to resolve similar problems or to be applied in semiconductor integrated circuits.

  20. TIME CALIBRATED OSCILLOSCOPE SWEEP CIRCUIT

    DOEpatents

    Smith, V.L.; Carstensen, H.K.

    1959-11-24

    An improved time calibrated sweep circuit is presented, which extends the range of usefulness of conventional oscilloscopes as utilized for time calibrated display applications in accordance with U. S. Patent No. 2,832,002. Principal novelty resides in the provision of a pair of separate signal paths, each of which is phase and amplitude adjustable, to connect a high-frequency calibration oscillator to the output of a sawtooth generator also connected to the respective horizontal deflection plates of an oscilloscope cathode ray tube. The amplitude and phase of the calibration oscillator signals in the two signal paths are adjusted to balance out feedthrough currents capacitively coupled at high frequencies of the calibration oscillator from each horizontal deflection plate to the vertical plates of the cathode ray tube.

  1. Proposal for a model to assess the effect of seismic activity on the triggering of debris flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vidar Vangelsten, Bjørn; Liu, Zhongqiang; Eidsvig, Unni; Luna, Byron Quan; Nadim, Farrokh

    2013-04-01

    Landslide triggered by earthquakes is a serious threat for many communities around the world, and in some cases is known to have caused 25-50% of the earthquake fatalities. Seismic shaking can contribute to the triggering of debris flows either during the seismic event or indirectly by increasing the susceptibility of the slope to debris flow during intense rainfall in a period after the seismic event. The paper proposes a model to quantify both these effects. The model is based on an infinite slope formulation where precipitation and earthquakes influence the slope stability as follows: (1) During the shaking, the factor of safety is reduced due to cyclic pore pressure build-up where the cyclic pore pressure is modelled as a function of earthquake duration and intensity (measured as number of equivalent shear stress cycles and cyclic shear stress magnitude) and in-situ soil conditions (measured as average normalised shear stress). The model is calibrated using cyclic triaxial and direct simple shear (DSS) test data on clay and sand. (2) After the shaking, the factor of safety is modified using a combined empirical and analytical model that links observed earthquake induced changes in rainfall thresholds for triggering of debris flow to an equivalent reduction in soil shear strength. The empirical part uses data from past earthquakes to propose a conceptual model linking a site-specific reduction factor for rainfall intensity threshold (needed to trigger debris flows) to earthquake magnitude, distance from the epicentre and time period after the earthquake. The analytical part is a hydrological model for transient rainfall infiltration into an infinite slope in order to translate the change in rainfall intensity threshold into an equivalent reduction in soil shear strength. This is generalised into a functional form giving a site-specific shear strength reduction factor as function of earthquake history and soil conditions. The model is suitable for hazard and risk assessment at local and regional scale for earthquake and rainfall induced landslide. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under grant agreement No 265138 New Multi-HAzard and MulTi-RIsK Assessment MethodS for Europe (MATRIX).

  2. Calibrated birth-death phylogenetic time-tree priors for bayesian inference.

    PubMed

    Heled, Joseph; Drummond, Alexei J

    2015-05-01

    Here we introduce a general class of multiple calibration birth-death tree priors for use in Bayesian phylogenetic inference. All tree priors in this class separate ancestral node heights into a set of "calibrated nodes" and "uncalibrated nodes" such that the marginal distribution of the calibrated nodes is user-specified whereas the density ratio of the birth-death prior is retained for trees with equal values for the calibrated nodes. We describe two formulations, one in which the calibration information informs the prior on ranked tree topologies, through the (conditional) prior, and the other which factorizes the prior on divergence times and ranked topologies, thus allowing uniform, or any arbitrary prior distribution on ranked topologies. Although the first of these formulations has some attractive properties, the algorithm we present for computing its prior density is computationally intensive. However, the second formulation is always faster and computationally efficient for up to six calibrations. We demonstrate the utility of the new class of multiple-calibration tree priors using both small simulations and a real-world analysis and compare the results to existing schemes. The two new calibrated tree priors described in this article offer greater flexibility and control of prior specification in calibrated time-tree inference and divergence time dating, and will remove the need for indirect approaches to the assessment of the combined effect of calibration densities and tree priors in Bayesian phylogenetic inference. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists.

  3. A definitive calibration record for the Landsat-5 thematic mapper anchored to the Landsat-7 radiometric scale

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Teillet, P.M.; Helder, D.L.; Ruggles, T.A.; Landry, R.; Ahern, F.J.; Higgs, N.J.; Barsi, J.; Chander, G.; Markham, B.L.; Barker, J.L.; Thome, K.J.; Schott, J.R.; Palluconi, Frank Don

    2004-01-01

    A coordinated effort on the part of several agencies has led to the specification of a definitive radiometric calibration record for the Landsat-5 thematic mapper (TM) for its lifetime since launch in 1984. The time-dependent calibration record for Landsat-5 TM has been placed on the same radiometric scale as the Landsat-7 enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+). It has been implemented in the National Landsat Archive Production Systems (NLAPS) in use in North America. This paper documents the results of this collaborative effort and the specifications for the related calibration processing algorithms. The specifications include (i) anchoring of the Landsat-5 TM calibration record to the Landsat-7 ETM+ absolute radiometric calibration, (ii) new time-dependent calibration processing equations and procedures applicable to raw Landsat-5 TM data, and (iii) algorithms for recalibration computations applicable to some of the existing processed datasets in the North American context. The cross-calibration between Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ was achieved using image pairs from the tandem-orbit configuration period that was programmed early in the Laridsat-7 mission. The time-dependent calibration for Landsat-5 TM is based on a detailed trend analysis of data from the on-board internal calibrator. The new lifetime radiometric calibration record for Landsat-5 will overcome problems with earlier product generation owing to inadequate maintenance and documentation of the calibration over time and will facilitate the quantitative examination of a continuous, near-global dataset at 30-m scale that spans almost two decades.

  4. Performance of the CMS precision electromagnetic calorimeter at LHC Run II and prospects for High-Luminosity LHC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Zhicai

    2018-04-01

    Many physics analyses using the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at the LHC require accurate, high-resolution electron and photon energy measurements. Following the excellent performance achieved during LHC Run I at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) is operating at the LHC with proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy. The instantaneous luminosity delivered by the LHC during Run II has achieved unprecedented levels. The average number of concurrent proton-proton collisions per bunch-crossing (pileup) has reached up to 40 interactions in 2016 and may increase further in 2017. These high pileup levels necessitate a retuning of the ECAL readout and trigger thresholds and reconstruction algorithms. In addition, the energy response of the detector must be precisely calibrated and monitored. We present new reconstruction algorithms and calibration strategies that were implemented to maintain the excellent performance of the CMS ECAL throughout Run II. We will show performance results from the 2015-2016 data taking periods and provide an outlook on the expected Run II performance in the years to come. Beyond the LHC, challenging running conditions for CMS are expected after the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC) . We review the design and R&D studies for the CMS ECAL and present first test beam studies. Particular challenges at HL-LHC are the harsh radiation environment, the increasing data rates, and the extreme level of pile-up events, with up to 200 simultaneous proton-proton collisions. We present test beam results of hadron irradiated PbWO crystals up to fluences expected at the HL-LHC . We also report on the R&D for the new readout and trigger electronics, which must be upgraded due to the increased trigger and latency requirements at the HL-LHC.

  5. Video-guided calibration of an augmented reality mobile C-arm.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xin; Naik, Hemal; Wang, Lejing; Navab, Nassir; Fallavollita, Pascal

    2014-11-01

    The augmented reality (AR) fluoroscope augments an X-ray image by video and provides the surgeon with a real-time in situ overlay of the anatomy. The overlay alignment is crucial for diagnostic and intra-operative guidance, so precise calibration of the AR fluoroscope is required. The first and most complex step of the calibration procedure is the determination of the X-ray source position. Currently, this is achieved using a biplane phantom with movable metallic rings on its top layer and fixed X-ray opaque markers on its bottom layer. The metallic rings must be moved to positions where at least two pairs of rings and markers are isocentric in the X-ray image. The current "trial and error" calibration process currently requires acquisition of many X-ray images, a task that is both time consuming and radiation intensive. An improved process was developed and tested for C-arm calibration. Video guidance was used to drive the calibration procedure to minimize both X-ray exposure and the time involved. For this, a homography between X-ray and video images is estimated. This homography is valid for the plane at which the metallic rings are positioned and is employed to guide the calibration procedure. Eight users having varying calibration experience (i.e., 2 experts, 2 semi-experts, 4 novices) were asked to participate in the evaluation. The video-guided technique reduced the number of intra-operative X-ray calibration images by 89% and decreased the total time required by 59%. A video-based C-arm calibration method has been developed that improves the usability of the AR fluoroscope with a friendlier interface, reduced calibration time and clinically acceptable radiation doses.

  6. Multiple calibrator measurements improve accuracy and stability estimates of automated assays.

    PubMed

    Akbas, Neval; Budd, Jeffrey R; Klee, George G

    2016-01-01

    The effects of combining multiple calibrations on assay accuracy (bias) and measurement of calibration stability were investigated for total triiodothyronine (TT3), vitamin B12 and luteinizing hormone (LH) using Beckman Coulter's Access 2 analyzer. Three calibration procedures (CC1, CC2 and CC3) combined 12, 34 and 56 calibrator measurements over 1, 2, and 3 days. Bias was calculated between target values and average measured value over 3 consecutive days after calibration. Using regression analysis of calibrator measurements versus measurement date, calibration stability was determined as the maximum number of days before a calibrator measurement exceeded 5% tolerance limits. Competitive assays (TT3, vitamin B12) had positive time regression slopes, while sandwich assay (LH) had a negative slope. Bias values for TT3 were -2.49%, 1.49%, and -0.50% using CC1, CC2 and CC3 respectively, with calibrator stability of 32, 20, and 30 days. Bias values for vitamin B12 were 2.44%, 0.91%, and -0.50%, with calibrator stability of 4, 9, and 12 days. Bias values for LH were 2.26%, 1.44% and -0.29% with calibrator stability of >43, 39 and 36 days. Measured stability was more consistent across calibration procedures using percent change rather than difference from target: 26 days for TT3, 12 days for B12 and 31 days for LH. Averaging over multiple calibrations produced smaller bias, consistent with improved accuracy. Time regression slopes in percent change were unaffected by number of calibration measurements but calibrator stability measured from the target value was highly affected by the calibrator value at time zero.

  7. The fossilized birth–death process for coherent calibration of divergence-time estimates

    PubMed Central

    Heath, Tracy A.; Huelsenbeck, John P.; Stadler, Tanja

    2014-01-01

    Time-calibrated species phylogenies are critical for addressing a wide range of questions in evolutionary biology, such as those that elucidate historical biogeography or uncover patterns of coevolution and diversification. Because molecular sequence data are not informative on absolute time, external data—most commonly, fossil age estimates—are required to calibrate estimates of species divergence dates. For Bayesian divergence time methods, the common practice for calibration using fossil information involves placing arbitrarily chosen parametric distributions on internal nodes, often disregarding most of the information in the fossil record. We introduce the “fossilized birth–death” (FBD) process—a model for calibrating divergence time estimates in a Bayesian framework, explicitly acknowledging that extant species and fossils are part of the same macroevolutionary process. Under this model, absolute node age estimates are calibrated by a single diversification model and arbitrary calibration densities are not necessary. Moreover, the FBD model allows for inclusion of all available fossils. We performed analyses of simulated data and show that node age estimation under the FBD model results in robust and accurate estimates of species divergence times with realistic measures of statistical uncertainty, overcoming major limitations of standard divergence time estimation methods. We used this model to estimate the speciation times for a dataset composed of all living bears, indicating that the genus Ursus diversified in the Late Miocene to Middle Pliocene. PMID:25009181

  8. Fast, externally triggered, digital phase controller for an optical lattice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sadgrove, Mark; Nakagawa, Ken'ichi

    2011-11-01

    We present a method to control the phase of an optical lattice according to an external trigger signal. The method has a latency of less than 30 μs. Two phase locked digital synthesizers provide the driving signal for two acousto-optic modulators which control the frequency and phase of the counter-propagating beams which form a standing wave (optical lattice). A micro-controller with an external interrupt function is connected to the desired external signal, and updates the phase register of one of the synthesizers when the external signal changes. The standing wave (period λ/2 = 390 nm) can be moved by units of 49 nm with a mean jitter of 28 nm. The phase change is well known due to the digital nature of the synthesizer, and does not need calibration. The uses of the scheme include coherent control of atomic matter-wave dynamics.

  9. Behaviour of mudflows realized in a laboratory apparatus and relative numerical calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brezzi, Lorenzo; Gabrieli, Fabio; Kaitna, Roland; Cola, Simonetta

    2016-04-01

    Nowadays, numerical simulations are indispensable allies for the researchers to reproduce phenomena such as earth-flows, debris-flows and mudflows. One of the most difficult and problematic phases is about the choice and the calibration of the parameters to be included in the model at the real scale. Surely, it can be useful to start from laboratory experiment that simplify as much as possible the case study with the aim of reducing uncertainties related to the trigger and the propagation of a real flow. In this way, geometry of the problem, identification of the triggering mass, are well known and constrained in the experimental tests as in the numerical simulations and the focus of the study may be moved to the material parameters. This article wants to analyze the behavior of different mixtures of water and kaolin, which flow in a laboratory channel. A 10 dm3 prismatic container that discharges the material into a channel 2m long and 0.16 m wide composes the simple experimental apparatus. The chute base was roughened by glued sand and inclined with a 21° angle. Initially, we evaluated the lengths of run-out, the spread and shape of the deposit for five different mixtures. A huge quantity of information were obtained by 3 laser sensors attached to the channel and by photogrammetry, that gives out a 3D model of the deposit shape at the end of the flow. Subsequently, we reproduced these physical phenomena by using the numerical model Geoflow-SPH (Pastor et al., 2008; 2014) , governed by a Bingham rheological law (O'Brien & Julien, 1988), and we calibrated the different tests by back-analysis to assess optimum parameters. The final goal was the comprehension of the relationship that characterizes the parameters with the variation of the kaolin content in the mixtures.

  10. Search for Scalar Top Quark Pair-Production in Scenario with Violated R-parity in pp¯ Collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV

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

    Ogawa, Takashi

    A search for the pair production of supersymmetric partner of the top quark in scenario with R-parity violation is presented. The quantum number called R-parity distinguishes particles in standard model from supersymmetric particles. A scalar top quark (stop) is assumed to decay only via R p-violating supersymmetric coupling into tau lepton and b-quark. To collect events with multiple taus, a new special tau trigger (the lepton plus track trigger) is installed in Run II experiment of the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). The goal of the lepton plus track trigger is to collect generic dilepton (ll, lτ, ττ) events withmore » lower p T threshold (8 GeV/c) and without prescale even at high luminosity. The Z → ττ event, where one τ-lepton decays leptonically and the other hadronically, is a good benchmark to calibrate the lepton plus track trigger and τ identification. The data sample of 72 pb -1, collected using the electron plus track trigger, contains clear a τ signal from Z → ττ events. The data used in stop search correspond to 200 pb -1. The lower stop mass bound of 134 GeV/c 2 at a 95% confidence level is obtained. This limit is also directly applicable to the case of the third generation scalar leptoquark (LQ 3) assuming a 100% branching for the LQ 3 → τb decay mode.« less

  11. SUPPLEMENT: “THE RATE OF BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS INFERRED FROM ADVANCED LIGO OBSERVATIONS SURROUNDING GW150914” (2016, ApJL, 833, L1)

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

    Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abernathy, M. R.

    This article provides supplemental information for a Letter reporting the rate of (BBH) coalescences inferred from 16 days of coincident Advanced LIGO observations surrounding the transient (GW) signal GW150914. In that work we reported various rate estimates whose 90% confidence intervals fell in the range 2–600 Gpc{sup −3} yr{sup −1}. Here we give details on our method and computations, including information about our search pipelines, a derivation of our likelihood function for the analysis, a description of the astrophysical search trigger distribution expected from merging BBHs, details on our computational methods, a description of the effects and our model for calibration uncertainty,more » and an analytic method for estimating our detector sensitivity, which is calibrated to our measurements.« less

  12. Improving transferability strategies for debris flow susceptibility assessment: Application to the Saponara and Itala catchments (Messina, Italy)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cama, M.; Lombardo, L.; Conoscenti, C.; Rotigliano, E.

    2017-07-01

    Debris flows can be described as rapid gravity-induced mass movements controlled by topography that are usually triggered as a consequence of storm rainfalls. One of the problems when dealing with debris flow recognition is that the eroded surface is usually very shallow and it can be masked by vegetation or fast weathering as early as one-two years after a landslide has occurred. For this reason, even areas that are highly susceptible to debris flow might suffer of a lack of reliable landslide inventories. However, these inventories are necessary for susceptibility assessment. Model transferability, which is based on calibrating a susceptibility model in a training area in order to predict the distribution of debris flows in a target area, might provide an efficient solution to dealing with this limit. However, when applying a transferability procedure, a key point is the optimal selection of the predictors to be included for calibrating the model in the source area. In this paper, the issue of optimal factor selection is analysed by comparing the predictive performances obtained following three different factor selection criteria. The study includes: i) a test of the similarity between the source and the target areas; ii) the calibration of the susceptibility model in the (training) source area, using different criteria for the selection of the predictors; iii) the validation of the models, both at the source (self-validation, through random partition) and at the target (transferring, through spatial partition) areas. The debris flow susceptibility is evaluated here using binary logistic regression through a R-scripted based procedure. Two separate study areas were selected in the Messina province (southern Italy) in its Ionian (Itala catchment) and Tyrrhenian sides (Saponara catchment), each hit by a severe debris flow event (in 2009 and 2011, respectively). The investigation attested that the best fitting model in the calibration areas resulted poorly performing in predicting the landslides of the test target area. At the same time, the susceptibility models calibrated with an optimal set of covariates in the source area allowed us to produce a robust and accurate prediction image for the debris flows activated in the Saponara catchment in 2011, exploiting only the data known after the Itala-2009 event.

  13. Calibrating the stress-time curve of a combined finite-discrete element method to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar experiment

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

    Osthus, Dave; Godinez, Humberto C.; Rougier, Esteban

    We presenmore » t a generic method for automatically calibrating a computer code to an experiment, with uncertainty, for a given “training” set of computer code runs. The calibration technique is general and probabilistic, meaning the calibration uncertainty is represented in the form of a probability distribution. We demonstrate the calibration method by calibrating a combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM) to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) experiment with a granite sample. The probabilistic calibration method combines runs of a FDEM computer simulation for a range of “training” settings and experimental uncertainty to develop a statistical emulator. The process allows for calibration of input parameters and produces output quantities with uncertainty estimates for settings where simulation results are desired. Input calibration and FDEM fitted results are presented. We find that the maximum shear strength σ t max and to a lesser extent maximum tensile strength σ n max govern the behavior of the stress-time curve before and around the peak, while the specific energy in Mode II (shear) E t largely governs the post-peak behavior of the stress-time curve. Good agreement is found between the calibrated FDEM and the SHPB experiment. Interestingly, we find the SHPB experiment to be rather uninformative for calibrating the softening-curve shape parameters (a, b, and c). This work stands as a successful demonstration of how a general probabilistic calibration framework can automatically calibrate FDEM parameters to an experiment.« less

  14. Calibrating the stress-time curve of a combined finite-discrete element method to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar experiment

    DOE PAGES

    Osthus, Dave; Godinez, Humberto C.; Rougier, Esteban; ...

    2018-05-01

    We presenmore » t a generic method for automatically calibrating a computer code to an experiment, with uncertainty, for a given “training” set of computer code runs. The calibration technique is general and probabilistic, meaning the calibration uncertainty is represented in the form of a probability distribution. We demonstrate the calibration method by calibrating a combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM) to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) experiment with a granite sample. The probabilistic calibration method combines runs of a FDEM computer simulation for a range of “training” settings and experimental uncertainty to develop a statistical emulator. The process allows for calibration of input parameters and produces output quantities with uncertainty estimates for settings where simulation results are desired. Input calibration and FDEM fitted results are presented. We find that the maximum shear strength σ t max and to a lesser extent maximum tensile strength σ n max govern the behavior of the stress-time curve before and around the peak, while the specific energy in Mode II (shear) E t largely governs the post-peak behavior of the stress-time curve. Good agreement is found between the calibrated FDEM and the SHPB experiment. Interestingly, we find the SHPB experiment to be rather uninformative for calibrating the softening-curve shape parameters (a, b, and c). This work stands as a successful demonstration of how a general probabilistic calibration framework can automatically calibrate FDEM parameters to an experiment.« less

  15. Where do we stand after twenty years of dynamic triggering studies? (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prejean, S. G.; Hill, D. P.

    2013-12-01

    In the past two decades, remote dynamic triggering of earthquakes by other earthquakes has been explored in a variety of physical environments with a wide array of observation and modeling techniques. These studies have significantly refined our understanding of the state of the crust and the physical conditions controlling earthquake nucleation. Despite an ever growing database of dynamic triggering observations, significant uncertainties remain and vigorous debate in almost all aspects of the science continues. For example, although dynamic earthquake triggering can occur with peak dynamic stresses as small as 1 kPa, triggering thresholds and their dependence on local stress state, hydrological environment, and frictional properties of faults are not well understood. Some studies find a simple threshold based on the peak amplitude of shaking while others find dependencies on frequency, recharge time, and other parameters. Considerable debate remains over the range of physical processes responsible for dynamic triggering, and the wide variation in dynamic triggering responses and time scales suggests triggering by multiple physical processes. Although Coulomb shear failure with various friction laws can often explain dynamic triggering, particularly instantaneous triggering, delayed dynamic triggering may be dependent on fluid transport and other slowly evolving aseismic processes. Although our understanding of the global distribution of dynamic triggering has improved, it is far from complete due to spatially uneven monitoring. A major challenge involves establishing statistical significance of potentially triggered earthquakes, particularly if they are isolated events or time-delayed with respect to triggering stresses. Here we highlight these challenges and opportunities with existing data. We focus on environmental dependence of dynamic triggering by large remote earthquakes particularly in volcanic and geothermal systems, as these systems often have high rates of background seismicity. In many volcanic and geothermal systems, such as the Geysers in Northern California, dynamic triggering of micro-earthquakes is frequent and predictable. In contrast, most active and even erupting volcanoes in Alaska (with the exception of the Katmai Volcanic Cluster) do not experience dynamic triggering. We explore why.

  16. Development and use of an L3CCD high-cadence imaging system for Optical Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sheehan, Brendan J.; Butler, Raymond F.

    2008-02-01

    A high cadence imaging system, based on a Low Light Level CCD (L3CCD) camera, has been developed for photometric and polarimetric applications. The camera system is an iXon DV-887 from Andor Technology, which uses a CCD97 L3CCD detector from E2V technologies. This is a back illuminated device, giving it an extended blue response, and has an active area of 512×512 pixels. The camera system allows frame-rates ranging from 30 fps (full frame) to 425 fps (windowed & binned frame). We outline the system design, concentrating on the calibration and control of the L3CCD camera. The L3CCD detector can be either triggered directly by a GPS timeserver/frequency generator or be internally triggered. A central PC remotely controls the camera computer system and timeserver. The data is saved as standard `FITS' files. The large data loads associated with high frame rates, leads to issues with gathering and storing the data effectively. To overcome such problems, a specific data management approach is used, and a Python/PYRAF data reduction pipeline was written for the Linux environment. This uses calibration data collected either on-site, or from lab based measurements, and enables a fast and reliable method for reducing images. To date, the system has been used twice on the 1.5 m Cassini Telescope in Loiano (Italy) we present the reduction methods and observations made.

  17. Simplified method for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve for the low dose range from Gafchromic EBT3 film.

    PubMed

    Gotanda, Tatsuhiro; Katsuda, Toshizo; Gotanda, Rumi; Kuwano, Tadao; Akagawa, Takuya; Tanki, Nobuyoshi; Tabuchi, Akihiko; Shimono, Tetsunori; Kawaji, Yasuyuki

    2016-01-01

    Radiochromic film dosimeters have a disadvantage in comparison with an ionization chamber in that the dosimetry process is time-consuming for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve. The purpose of this study was the development of a simplified method of creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve from radiochromic film within a short time. This simplified method was performed using Gafchromic EBT3 film with a low energy dependence and step-shaped Al filter. The simplified method was compared with the standard method. The density-absorbed dose calibration curves created using the simplified and standard methods exhibited approximately similar straight lines, and the gradients of the density-absorbed dose calibration curves were -32.336 and -33.746, respectively. The simplified method can obtain calibration curves within a much shorter time compared to the standard method. It is considered that the simplified method for EBT3 film offers a more time-efficient means of determining the density-absorbed dose calibration curve within a low absorbed dose range such as the diagnostic range.

  18. Simplified method for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve for the low dose range from Gafchromic EBT3 film

    PubMed Central

    Gotanda, Tatsuhiro; Katsuda, Toshizo; Gotanda, Rumi; Kuwano, Tadao; Akagawa, Takuya; Tanki, Nobuyoshi; Tabuchi, Akihiko; Shimono, Tetsunori; Kawaji, Yasuyuki

    2016-01-01

    Radiochromic film dosimeters have a disadvantage in comparison with an ionization chamber in that the dosimetry process is time-consuming for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve. The purpose of this study was the development of a simplified method of creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve from radiochromic film within a short time. This simplified method was performed using Gafchromic EBT3 film with a low energy dependence and step-shaped Al filter. The simplified method was compared with the standard method. The density-absorbed dose calibration curves created using the simplified and standard methods exhibited approximately similar straight lines, and the gradients of the density-absorbed dose calibration curves were −32.336 and −33.746, respectively. The simplified method can obtain calibration curves within a much shorter time compared to the standard method. It is considered that the simplified method for EBT3 film offers a more time-efficient means of determining the density-absorbed dose calibration curve within a low absorbed dose range such as the diagnostic range. PMID:28144120

  19. Establishing a standard calibration methodology for MOSFET detectors in computed tomography dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Brady, S L; Kaufman, R A

    2012-06-01

    The use of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) detectors for patient dosimetry has increased by ~25% since 2005. Despite this increase, no standard calibration methodology has been identified nor calibration uncertainty quantified for the use of MOSFET dosimetry in CT. This work compares three MOSFET calibration methodologies proposed in the literature, and additionally investigates questions relating to optimal time for signal equilibration and exposure levels for maximum calibration precision. The calibration methodologies tested were (1) free in-air (FIA) with radiographic x-ray tube, (2) FIA with stationary CT x-ray tube, and (3) within scatter phantom with rotational CT x-ray tube. Each calibration was performed at absorbed dose levels of 10, 23, and 35 mGy. Times of 0 min or 5 min were investigated for signal equilibration before or after signal read out. Calibration precision was measured to be better than 5%-7%, 3%-5%, and 2%-4% for the 10, 23, and 35 mGy respective dose levels, and independent of calibration methodology. No correlation was demonstrated for precision and signal equilibration time when allowing 5 min before or after signal read out. Differences in average calibration coefficients were demonstrated between the FIA with CT calibration methodology 26.7 ± 1.1 mV cGy(-1) versus the CT scatter phantom 29.2 ± 1.0 mV cGy(-1) and FIA with x-ray 29.9 ± 1.1 mV cGy(-1) methodologies. A decrease in MOSFET sensitivity was seen at an average change in read out voltage of ~3000 mV. The best measured calibration precision was obtained by exposing the MOSFET detectors to 23 mGy. No signal equilibration time is necessary to improve calibration precision. A significant difference between calibration outcomes was demonstrated for FIA with CT compared to the other two methodologies. If the FIA with a CT calibration methodology was used to create calibration coefficients for the eventual use for phantom dosimetry, a measurement error ~12% will be reflected in the dosimetry results. The calibration process must emulate the eventual CT dosimetry process by matching or excluding scatter when calibrating the MOSFETs. Finally, the authors recommend that the MOSFETs are energy calibrated approximately every 2500-3000 mV. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  20. Support for Online Calibration in the ALICE HLT Framework

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krzewicki, Mikolaj; Rohr, David; Zampolli, Chiara; Wiechula, Jens; Gorbunov, Sergey; Chauvin, Alex; Vorobyev, Ivan; Weber, Steffen; Schweda, Kai; Shahoyan, Ruben; Lindenstruth, Volker; ALICE Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    The ALICE detector employs sub detectors sensitive to environmental conditions such as pressure and temperature, e.g. the time projection chamber (TPC). A precise reconstruction of particle trajectories requires precise calibration of these detectors. Performing the calibration in real time in the HLT improves the online reconstruction and potentially renders certain offline calibration steps obsolete, speeding up offline physics analysis. For LHC Run 3, starting in 2020 when data reduction will rely on reconstructed data, online calibration becomes a necessity. In order to run the calibration online, the HLT now supports the processing of tasks that typically run offline. These tasks run massively in parallel on all HLT compute nodes and their output is gathered and merged periodically. The calibration results are both stored offline for later use and fed back into the HLT chain via a feedback loop in order to apply calibration information to the online track reconstruction. Online calibration and feedback loop are subject to certain time constraints in order to provide up-to-date calibration information and they must not interfere with ALICE data taking. Our approach to run these tasks in asynchronous processes enables us to separate them from normal data taking in a way that makes it failure resilient. We performed a first test of online TPC drift time calibration under real conditions during the heavy-ion run in December 2015. We present an analysis and conclusions of this first test, new improvements and developments based on this, as well as our current scheme to commission this for production use.

  1. Machine tools error characterization and compensation by on-line measurement of artifact

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wahid Khan, Abdul; Chen, Wuyi; Wu, Lili

    2009-11-01

    Most manufacturing machine tools are utilized for mass production or batch production with high accuracy at a deterministic manufacturing principle. Volumetric accuracy of machine tools depends on the positional accuracy of the cutting tool, probe or end effector related to the workpiece in the workspace volume. In this research paper, a methodology is presented for volumetric calibration of machine tools by on-line measurement of an artifact or an object of a similar type. The machine tool geometric error characterization was carried out through a standard or an artifact, having similar geometry to the mass production or batch production product. The artifact was measured at an arbitrary position in the volumetric workspace with a calibrated Renishaw touch trigger probe system. Positional errors were stored into a computer for compensation purpose, to further run the manufacturing batch through compensated codes. This methodology was found quite effective to manufacture high precision components with more dimensional accuracy and reliability. Calibration by on-line measurement gives the advantage to improve the manufacturing process by use of deterministic manufacturing principle and found efficient and economical but limited to the workspace or envelop surface of the measured artifact's geometry or the profile.

  2. Absolute efficiency calibration of 6LiF-based solid state thermal neutron detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Finocchiaro, Paolo; Cosentino, Luigi; Lo Meo, Sergio; Nolte, Ralf; Radeck, Desiree

    2018-03-01

    The demand for new thermal neutron detectors as an alternative to 3He tubes in research, industrial, safety and homeland security applications, is growing. These needs have triggered research and development activities about new generations of thermal neutron detectors, characterized by reasonable efficiency and gamma rejection comparable to 3He tubes. In this paper we show the state of the art of a promising low-cost technique, based on commercial solid state silicon detectors coupled with thin neutron converter layers of 6LiF deposited onto carbon fiber substrates. A few configurations were studied with the GEANT4 simulation code, and the intrinsic efficiency of the corresponding detectors was calibrated at the PTB Thermal Neutron Calibration Facility. The results show that the measured intrinsic detection efficiency is well reproduced by the simulations, therefore validating the simulation tool in view of new designs. These neutron detectors have also been tested at neutron beam facilities like ISIS (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK) and n_TOF (CERN) where a few samples are already in operation for beam flux and 2D profile measurements. Forthcoming applications are foreseen for the online monitoring of spent nuclear fuel casks in interim storage sites.

  3. The experimental set-up of the RIB in-flight facility EXOTIC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pierroutsakou, D.; Boiano, A.; Boiano, C.; Di Meo, P.; La Commara, M.; Manea, C.; Mazzocco, M.; Nicoletto, M.; Parascandolo, C.; Signorini, C.; Soramel, F.; Strano, E.; Toniolo, N.; Torresi, D.; Tortone, G.; Anastasio, A.; Bettini, M.; Cassese, C.; Castellani, L.; Corti, D.; Costa, L.; De Fazio, B.; Galet, G.; Glodariu, T.; Grebosz, J.; Guglielmetti, A.; Molini, P.; Pontoriere, G.; Rocco, R.; Romoli, M.; Roscilli, L.; Sandoli, M.; Stroe, L.; Tessaro, M.; Zatti, P. G.

    2016-10-01

    We describe the experimental set-up of the Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) in-flight facility EXOTIC consisting of: (a) two position-sensitive Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPACs), dedicated to the event-by-event tracking of the produced RIBs and to time of flight measurements and (b) the new high-granularity compact telescope array EXPADES (EXotic PArticle DEtection System), designed for nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics experiments employing low-energy light RIBs. EXPADES consists of eight ΔE -Eres telescopes arranged in a cylindrical configuration around the target. Each telescope is made up of two Double Sided Silicon Strip Detectors (DSSSDs) with a thickness of 40/60 μm and 300 μm for the ΔE and Eres layer, respectively. Additionally, eight ionization chambers were constructed to be used as an alternative ΔE stage or, in conjunction with the entire DSSSD array, to build up more complex triple telescopes. New low-noise multi-channel charge-sensitive preamplifiers and spectroscopy amplifiers, associated with constant fraction discriminators, peak-and-hold and Time to Amplitude Converter circuits were developed for the electronic readout of the ΔE stage. Application Specific Integrated Circuit-based electronics was employed for the treatment of the Eres signals. An 8-channel, 12-bit multi-sampling 50 MHz Analog to Digital Converter, a Trigger Supervisor Board for handling the trigger signals of the whole experimental set-up and an ad hoc data acquisition system were also developed. The performance of the PPACs, EXPADES and of the associated electronics was obtained offline with standard α calibration sources and in-beam by measuring the scattering process for the systems 17O+58Ni and 17O+208Pb at incident energies around their respective Coulomb barriers and, successively, during the first experimental runs with the RIBs of the EXOTIC facility.

  4. Methods for automatic trigger threshold adjustment

    DOEpatents

    Welch, Benjamin J; Partridge, Michael E

    2014-03-18

    Methods are presented for adjusting trigger threshold values to compensate for drift in the quiescent level of a signal monitored for initiating a data recording event, thereby avoiding false triggering conditions. Initial threshold values are periodically adjusted by re-measuring the quiescent signal level, and adjusting the threshold values by an offset computation based upon the measured quiescent signal level drift. Re-computation of the trigger threshold values can be implemented on time based or counter based criteria. Additionally, a qualification width counter can be utilized to implement a requirement that a trigger threshold criterion be met a given number of times prior to initiating a data recording event, further reducing the possibility of a false triggering situation.

  5. Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and uncertainty in the ocean color calibration methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turpie, Kevin R.; Eplee, Robert E.; Meister, Gerhard

    2015-09-01

    During the first few years of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) mission, the NASA Ocean Color calibration team continued to improve on their approach to the on-orbit calibration of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). As the calibration was adjusted for changes in ocean band responsitivity, the team also estimated a theoretic residual error in the calibration trends well within a few tenths of a percent, which could be translated into trend uncertainties in regional time series of surface reflectance and derived products, where biases as low as a few tenths of a percent in certain bands can lead to significant effects. This study looks at effects from spurious trends inherent to the calibration and biases that arise between reprocessing efforts because of extrapolation of the timedependent calibration table. With the addition of new models for instrument and calibration system trend artifacts, new calibration trends led to improved estimates of ocean time series uncertainty. Table extrapolation biases are presented for the first time. The results further the understanding of uncertainty in measuring regional and global biospheric trends in the ocean using VIIRS, which better define the roles of such records in climate research.

  6. Linear and nonlinear trending and prediction for AVHRR time series data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smid, J.; Volf, P.; Slama, M.; Palus, M.

    1995-01-01

    The variability of AVHRR calibration coefficient in time was analyzed using algorithms of linear and non-linear time series analysis. Specifically we have used the spline trend modeling, autoregressive process analysis, incremental neural network learning algorithm and redundancy functional testing. The analysis performed on available AVHRR data sets revealed that (1) the calibration data have nonlinear dependencies, (2) the calibration data depend strongly on the target temperature, (3) both calibration coefficients and the temperature time series can be modeled, in the first approximation, as autonomous dynamical systems, (4) the high frequency residuals of the analyzed data sets can be best modeled as an autoregressive process of the 10th degree. We have dealt with a nonlinear identification problem and the problem of noise filtering (data smoothing). The system identification and filtering are significant problems for AVHRR data sets. The algorithms outlined in this study can be used for the future EOS missions. Prediction and smoothing algorithms for time series of calibration data provide a functional characterization of the data. Those algorithms can be particularly useful when calibration data are incomplete or sparse.

  7. Tremor evidence for dynamically triggered creep events on the deep San Andreas Fault

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Z.; Shelly, D. R.; Hill, D. P.; Aiken, C.

    2010-12-01

    Deep tectonic tremor has been observed along major subduction zones and the San Andreas fault (SAF) in central and southern California. It appears to reflect deep fault slip, and it is often seen to be triggered by small stresses, including passing seismic waves from large regional and teleseismic earthquakes. Here we examine tremor activity along the Parkfield-Cholame section of the SAF from mid-2001 to early 2010, scrutinizing its relationship with regional and teleseismic earthquakes. Based on similarities in the shape and timing of seismic waveforms, we conclude that triggered and ambient tremor share common sources and a common physical mechanism. Utilizing this similarity in waveforms, we detect tremor triggered by numerous large events, including previously unreported triggering from the recent 2009 Mw7.3 Honduras, 2009 Mw8.1 Samoa, and 2010 Mw8.8 Chile earthquakes at teleseismic distances, and the relatively small 2007 Mw5.4 Alum Rock and 2008 Mw5.4 Chino Hills earthquakes at regional distances. We also find multiple examples of systematic migration in triggered tremor, similar to ambient tremor migration episodes observed at other times. Because these episodes propagate much more slowly than the triggering waves, the migration likely reflects a small, triggered creep event. As with ambient tremor bursts, triggered tremor at times persists for multiple days, probably indicating a somewhat larger creep event. This activity provides a clear example of delayed dynamic triggering, with a mechanism perhaps also relevant for triggering of regular earthquakes.

  8. Calibration method for spectroscopic systems

    DOEpatents

    Sandison, David R.

    1998-01-01

    Calibration spots of optically-characterized material placed in the field of view of a spectroscopic system allow calibration of the spectroscopic system. Response from the calibration spots is measured and used to calibrate for varying spectroscopic system operating parameters. The accurate calibration achieved allows quantitative spectroscopic analysis of responses taken at different times, different excitation conditions, and of different targets.

  9. Calibration method for spectroscopic systems

    DOEpatents

    Sandison, D.R.

    1998-11-17

    Calibration spots of optically-characterized material placed in the field of view of a spectroscopic system allow calibration of the spectroscopic system. Response from the calibration spots is measured and used to calibrate for varying spectroscopic system operating parameters. The accurate calibration achieved allows quantitative spectroscopic analysis of responses taken at different times, different excitation conditions, and of different targets. 3 figs.

  10. GASAKe: forecasting landslide activations by a genetic-algorithms-based hydrological model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Terranova, O. G.; Gariano, S. L.; Iaquinta, P.; Iovine, G. G. R.

    2015-07-01

    GASAKe is a new hydrological model aimed at forecasting the triggering of landslides. The model is based on genetic algorithms and allows one to obtain thresholds for the prediction of slope failures using dates of landslide activations and rainfall series. It can be applied to either single landslides or a set of similar slope movements in a homogeneous environment. Calibration of the model provides families of optimal, discretized solutions (kernels) that maximize the fitness function. Starting from the kernels, the corresponding mobility functions (i.e., the predictive tools) can be obtained through convolution with the rain series. The base time of the kernel is related to the magnitude of the considered slope movement, as well as to the hydro-geological complexity of the site. Generally, shorter base times are expected for shallow slope instabilities compared to larger-scale phenomena. Once validated, the model can be applied to estimate the timing of future landslide activations in the same study area, by employing measured or forecasted rainfall series. Examples of application of GASAKe to a medium-size slope movement (the Uncino landslide at San Fili, in Calabria, southern Italy) and to a set of shallow landslides (in the Sorrento Peninsula, Campania, southern Italy) are discussed. In both cases, a successful calibration of the model has been achieved, despite unavoidable uncertainties concerning the dates of occurrence of the slope movements. In particular, for the Sorrento Peninsula case, a fitness of 0.81 has been obtained by calibrating the model against 10 dates of landslide activation; in the Uncino case, a fitness of 1 (i.e., neither missing nor false alarms) has been achieved using five activations. As for temporal validation, the experiments performed by considering further dates of activation have also proved satisfactory. In view of early-warning applications for civil protection, the capability of the model to simulate the occurrences of the Uncino landslide has been tested by means of a progressive, self-adaptive procedure. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed by taking into account the main parameters of the model. The obtained results are quite promising, given the high performance of the model against different types of slope instabilities characterized by several historical activations. Nevertheless, further refinements are still needed for application to landslide risk mitigation within early-warning and decision-support systems.

  11. A real-time camera calibration system based on OpenCV

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hui; Wang, Hua; Guo, Huinan; Ren, Long; Zhou, Zuofeng

    2015-07-01

    Camera calibration is one of the essential steps in the computer vision research. This paper describes a real-time OpenCV based camera calibration system, and developed and implemented in the VS2008 environment. Experimental results prove that the system to achieve a simple and fast camera calibration, compared with MATLAB, higher precision and does not need manual intervention, and can be widely used in various computer vision system.

  12. EO-1 Hyperion reflectance time series at calibration and validation sites: stability and sensitivity to seasonal dynamics

    Treesearch

    Petya K. Entcheva Campbell; Elizabeth M. Middleton; Kurt J. Thome; Raymond F. Kokaly; Karl Fred Huemmrich; David Lagomasino; Kimberly A. Novick; Nathaniel A. Brunsell

    2013-01-01

    This study evaluated Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) Hyperion reflectance time series at established calibration sites to assess the instrument stability and suitability for monitoring vegetation functional parameters. Our analysis using three pseudo-invariant calibration sites in North America indicated that the reflectance time series are devoid of apparent spectral trends...

  13. Calibration of a subcutaneous amperometric glucose sensor implanted for 7 days in diabetic patients. Part 2. Superiority of the one-point calibration method.

    PubMed

    Choleau, C; Klein, J C; Reach, G; Aussedat, B; Demaria-Pesce, V; Wilson, G S; Gifford, R; Ward, W K

    2002-08-01

    Calibration, i.e. the transformation in real time of the signal I(t) generated by the glucose sensor at time t into an estimation of glucose concentration G(t), represents a key issue for the development of a continuous glucose monitoring system. To compare two calibration procedures. In the one-point calibration, which assumes that I(o) is negligible, S is simply determined as the ratio I/G, and G(t) = I(t)/S. The two-point calibration consists in the determination of a sensor sensitivity S and of a background current I(o) by plotting two values of the sensor signal versus the concomitant blood glucose concentrations. The subsequent estimation of G(t) is given by G(t) = (I(t)-I(o))/S. A glucose sensor was implanted in the abdominal subcutaneous tissue of nine type 1 diabetic patients during 3 (n = 2) and 7 days (n = 7). The one-point calibration was performed a posteriori either once per day before breakfast, or twice per day before breakfast and dinner, or three times per day before each meal. The two-point calibration was performed each morning during breakfast. The percentages of points present in zones A and B of the Clarke Error Grid were significantly higher when the system was calibrated using the one-point calibration. Use of two one-point calibrations per day before meals was virtually as accurate as three one-point calibrations. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a simple method for calibrating a continuous glucose monitoring system.

  14. Updated radiometric calibration for the Landsat-5 thematic mapper reflective bands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Helder, D.L.; Markham, B.L.; Thome, K.J.; Barsi, J.A.; Chander, G.; Malla, R.

    2008-01-01

    The Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) has been the workhorse of the Landsat system. Launched in 1984, it continues collecting data through the time frame of this paper. Thus, it provides an invaluable link to the past history of the land features of the Earth's surface, and it becomes imperative to provide an accurate radiometric calibration of the reflective bands to the user community. Previous calibration has been based on information obtained from prelaunch, the onboard calibrator, vicarious calibration attempts, and cross-calibration with Landsat-7. Currently, additional data sources are available to improve this calibration. Specifically, improvements in vicarious calibration methods and development of the use of pseudoinvariant sites for trending provide two additional independent calibration sources. The use of these additional estimates has resulted in a consistent calibration approach that ties together all of the available calibration data sources. Results from this analysis indicate a simple exponential, or a constant model may be used for all bands throughout the lifetime of Landsat-5 TM. Where previously time constants for the exponential models were approximately one year, the updated model has significantly longer time constants in bands 1-3. In contrast, bands 4, 5, and 7 are shown to be best modeled by a constant. The models proposed in this paper indicate calibration knowledge of 5% or better early in life, decreasing to nearly 2% later in life. These models have been implemented at the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) and are the default calibration used for all Landsat TM data now distributed through EROS. ?? 2008 IEEE.

  15. A new time calibration method for switched-capacitor-array-based waveform samplers

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

    Kim, H.; Chen, C. -T.; Eclov, N.

    2014-08-24

    Here we have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibrationmore » is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. Ultimately, the new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.« less

  16. Automatic calibration system for analog instruments based on DSP and CCD sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lan, Jinhui; Wei, Xiangqin; Bai, Zhenlong

    2008-12-01

    Currently, the calibration work of analog measurement instruments is mainly completed by manual and there are many problems waiting for being solved. In this paper, an automatic calibration system (ACS) based on Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) sensor is developed and a real-time calibration algorithm is presented. In the ACS, TI DM643 DSP processes the data received by CCD sensor and the outcome is displayed on Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen. For the algorithm, pointer region is firstly extracted for improving calibration speed. And then a math model of the pointer is built to thin the pointer and determine the instrument's reading. Through numbers of experiments, the time of once reading is no more than 20 milliseconds while it needs several seconds if it is done manually. At the same time, the error of the instrument's reading satisfies the request of the instruments. It is proven that the automatic calibration system can effectively accomplish the calibration work of the analog measurement instruments.

  17. Implementation of a level 1 trigger system using high speed serial (VXS) techniques for the 12GeV high luminosity experimental programs at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

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

    C. Cuevas, B. Raydo, H. Dong, A. Gupta, F.J. Barbosa, J. Wilson, W.M. Taylor, E. Jastrzembski, D. Abbott

    We will demonstrate a hardware and firmware solution for a complete fully pipelined multi-crate trigger system that takes advantage of the elegant high speed VXS serial extensions for VME. This trigger system includes three sections starting with the front end crate trigger processor (CTP), a global Sub-System Processor (SSP) and a Trigger Supervisor that manages the timing, synchronization and front end event readout. Within a front end crate, trigger information is gathered from each 16 Channel, 12 bit Flash ADC module at 4 nS intervals via the VXS backplane, to a Crate Trigger Processor (CTP). Each Crate Trigger Processor receivesmore » these 500 MB/S VXS links from the 16 FADC-250 modules, aligns skewed data inherent of Aurora protocol, and performs real time crate level trigger algorithms. The algorithm results are encoded using a Reed-Solomon technique and transmission of this Level 1 trigger data is sent to the SSP using a multi-fiber link. The multi-fiber link achieves an aggregate trigger data transfer rate to the global trigger at 8 Gb/s. The SSP receives and decodes Reed-Solomon error correcting transmission from each crate, aligns the data, and performs the global level trigger algorithms. The entire trigger system is synchronous and operates at 250 MHz with the Trigger Supervisor managing not only the front end event readout, but also the distribution of the critical timing clocks, synchronization signals, and the global trigger signals to each front end readout crate. These signals are distributed to the front end crates on a separate fiber link and each crate is synchronized using a unique encoding scheme to guarantee that each front end crate is synchronous with a fixed latency, independent of the distance between each crate. The overall trigger signal latency is <3 uS, and the proposed 12GeV experiments at Jefferson Lab require up to 200KHz Level 1 trigger rate.« less

  18. Parallel computing for automated model calibration

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

    Burke, John S.; Danielson, Gary R.; Schulz, Douglas A.

    2002-07-29

    Natural resources model calibration is a significant burden on computing and staff resources in modeling efforts. Most assessments must consider multiple calibration objectives (for example magnitude and timing of stream flow peak). An automated calibration process that allows real time updating of data/models, allowing scientists to focus effort on improving models is needed. We are in the process of building a fully featured multi objective calibration tool capable of processing multiple models cheaply and efficiently using null cycle computing. Our parallel processing and calibration software routines have been generically, but our focus has been on natural resources model calibration. Somore » far, the natural resources models have been friendly to parallel calibration efforts in that they require no inter-process communication, only need a small amount of input data and only output a small amount of statistical information for each calibration run. A typical auto calibration run might involve running a model 10,000 times with a variety of input parameters and summary statistical output. In the past model calibration has been done against individual models for each data set. The individual model runs are relatively fast, ranging from seconds to minutes. The process was run on a single computer using a simple iterative process. We have completed two Auto Calibration prototypes and are currently designing a more feature rich tool. Our prototypes have focused on running the calibration in a distributed computing cross platform environment. They allow incorporation of?smart? calibration parameter generation (using artificial intelligence processing techniques). Null cycle computing similar to SETI@Home has also been a focus of our efforts. This paper details the design of the latest prototype and discusses our plans for the next revision of the software.« less

  19. Calibration of TWSTFT Links Through the Triangle Closure Condition

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    40th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting 467 CALIBRATION OF TWSTFT LINKS THROUGH THE TRIANGLE CLOSURE CONDITION Z... TWSTFT (Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer, TW for short) is, together with GPS time transfer, the primary technique used for UTC generation...valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 01 DEC 2008 2. REPORT TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Calibration Of Twstft Links

  20. Comparison of three-way and four-way calibration for the real-time quantitative analysis of drug hydrolysis in complex dynamic samples by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence.

    PubMed

    Yin, Xiao-Li; Gu, Hui-Wen; Liu, Xiao-Lu; Zhang, Shan-Hui; Wu, Hai-Long

    2018-03-05

    Multiway calibration in combination with spectroscopic technique is an attractive tool for online or real-time monitoring of target analyte(s) in complex samples. However, how to choose a suitable multiway calibration method for the resolution of spectroscopic-kinetic data is a troubling problem in practical application. In this work, for the first time, three-way and four-way fluorescence-kinetic data arrays were generated during the real-time monitoring of the hydrolysis of irinotecan (CPT-11) in human plasma by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence. Alternating normalization-weighted error (ANWE) and alternating penalty trilinear decomposition (APTLD) were used as three-way calibration for the decomposition of the three-way kinetic data array, whereas alternating weighted residual constraint quadrilinear decomposition (AWRCQLD) and alternating penalty quadrilinear decomposition (APQLD) were applied as four-way calibration to the four-way kinetic data array. The quantitative results of the two kinds of calibration models were fully compared from the perspective of predicted real-time concentrations, spiked recoveries of initial concentration, and analytical figures of merit. The comparison study demonstrated that both three-way and four-way calibration models could achieve real-time quantitative analysis of the hydrolysis of CPT-11 in human plasma under certain conditions. However, it was also found that both of them possess some critical advantages and shortcomings during the process of dynamic analysis. The conclusions obtained in this paper can provide some helpful guidance for the reasonable selection of multiway calibration models to achieve the real-time quantitative analysis of target analyte(s) in complex dynamic systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Next-Day Earthquake Forecasts for California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werner, M. J.; Jackson, D. D.; Kagan, Y. Y.

    2008-12-01

    We implemented a daily forecast of m > 4 earthquakes for California in the format suitable for testing in community-based earthquake predictability experiments: Regional Earthquake Likelihood Models (RELM) and the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP). The forecast is based on near-real time earthquake reports from the ANSS catalog above magnitude 2 and will be available online. The model used to generate the forecasts is based on the Epidemic-Type Earthquake Sequence (ETES) model, a stochastic model of clustered and triggered seismicity. Our particular implementation is based on the earlier work of Helmstetter et al. (2006, 2007), but we extended the forecast to all of Cali-fornia, use more data to calibrate the model and its parameters, and made some modifications. Our forecasts will compete against the Short-Term Earthquake Probabilities (STEP) forecasts of Gersten-berger et al. (2005) and other models in the next-day testing class of the CSEP experiment in California. We illustrate our forecasts with examples and discuss preliminary results.

  2. A New Instrument for Measurement of the Solar Aureole Radiance Distribution from Unstable Platforms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ritter, Joseph M.; Voss, Kenneth J.

    1999-01-01

    A novel imaging solar aureole radiometer, which can obtain absolute radiometric measurements of the solar aureole when operated on an unstable platform is described. A CCD array is used to image the aureole, while a neutral density occulter on a long pole blocks the direct solar radiation. This ensures accurate direction registration as the sun appears in acquired images, and the total circumsolar region is measured simultaneously. The imaging nature of this instrument along with a special triggering device permit acquisition of the circumsolar sky radiance within 7.5 degrees of the center of the solar disk, and within 1 degree of the edge of the solar disk. This innovation makes possible for the first time, reliable and accurate radiometric measurements of the solar aureole from unstable mobile platforms such as ships. This allows determination small angle atmospheric scattering. The instrument has been used in field studies of atmospheric aerosols and will be used in satellite validation and calibration campaigns.

  3. Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moyle, Robert G.; Oliveros, Carl H.; Andersen, Michael J.; Hosner, Peter A.; Benz, Brett W.; Manthey, Joseph D.; Travers, Scott L.; Brown, Rafe M.; Faircloth, Brant C.

    2016-08-01

    Songbirds (oscine passerines) are the most species-rich and cosmopolitan bird group, comprising almost half of global avian diversity. Songbirds originated in Australia, but the evolutionary trajectory from a single species in an isolated continent to worldwide proliferation is poorly understood. Here, we combine the first comprehensive genome-scale DNA sequence data set for songbirds, fossil-based time calibrations, and geologically informed biogeographic reconstructions to provide a well-supported evolutionary hypothesis for the group. We show that songbird diversification began in the Oligocene, but accelerated in the early Miocene, at approximately half the age of most previous estimates. This burst of diversification occurred coincident with extensive island formation in Wallacea, which provided the first dispersal corridor out of Australia, and resulted in independent waves of songbird expansion through Asia to the rest of the globe. Our results reconcile songbird evolution with Earth history and link a major radiation of terrestrial biodiversity to early diversification within an isolated Australian continent.

  4. Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation.

    PubMed

    Moyle, Robert G; Oliveros, Carl H; Andersen, Michael J; Hosner, Peter A; Benz, Brett W; Manthey, Joseph D; Travers, Scott L; Brown, Rafe M; Faircloth, Brant C

    2016-08-30

    Songbirds (oscine passerines) are the most species-rich and cosmopolitan bird group, comprising almost half of global avian diversity. Songbirds originated in Australia, but the evolutionary trajectory from a single species in an isolated continent to worldwide proliferation is poorly understood. Here, we combine the first comprehensive genome-scale DNA sequence data set for songbirds, fossil-based time calibrations, and geologically informed biogeographic reconstructions to provide a well-supported evolutionary hypothesis for the group. We show that songbird diversification began in the Oligocene, but accelerated in the early Miocene, at approximately half the age of most previous estimates. This burst of diversification occurred coincident with extensive island formation in Wallacea, which provided the first dispersal corridor out of Australia, and resulted in independent waves of songbird expansion through Asia to the rest of the globe. Our results reconcile songbird evolution with Earth history and link a major radiation of terrestrial biodiversity to early diversification within an isolated Australian continent.

  5. Gas-diffusion-based passive sampler for ammonia monitoring in marine waters.

    PubMed

    O'Connor Šraj, Lenka; Almeida, M Inês G S; Bassett, Chelsea; McKelvie, Ian D; Kolev, Spas D

    2018-05-01

    A novel passive sampler based on gas-diffusion across a hydrophobic membrane is described for the determination of the time-weighted average concentration of dissolved molecular ammonia in high ionic strength aquatic environments, such as sea, coastal and estuarine waters, for a period of 3 days. The passive sampler developed is cheap, easy-to-use, reusable, and has a dynamic concentration range of 2.0-12µM, which covers the water quality guideline trigger value of 11.4µM (160µgL -1 NH 3 -N) for high conservation value waters, making this a powerful new tool for water quality managers involved in long-term ammonia monitoring. The gas-diffusion-based passive sampler was calibrated under laboratory conditions and deployed in a tank of seawater in the laboratory and at an estuarine site for proof of concept, and a good agreement between passive and spot sampling was achieved in both cases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. A new method for automated dynamic calibration of tipping-bucket rain gauges

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Humphrey, M.D.; Istok, J.D.; Lee, J.Y.; Hevesi, J.A.; Flint, A.L.

    1997-01-01

    Existing methods for dynamic calibration of tipping-bucket rain gauges (TBRs) can be time consuming and labor intensive. A new automated dynamic calibration system has been developed to calibrate TBRs with minimal effort. The system consists of a programmable pump, datalogger, digital balance, and computer. Calibration is performed in two steps: 1) pump calibration and 2) rain gauge calibration. Pump calibration ensures precise control of water flow rates delivered to the rain gauge funnel; rain gauge calibration ensures precise conversion of bucket tip times to actual rainfall rates. Calibration of the pump and one rain gauge for 10 selected pump rates typically requires about 8 h. Data files generated during rain gauge calibration are used to compute rainfall intensities and amounts from a record of bucket tip times collected in the field. The system was tested using 5 types of commercial TBRs (15.2-, 20.3-, and 30.5-cm diameters; 0.1-, 0.2-, and 1.0-mm resolutions) and using 14 TBRs of a single type (20.3-cm diameter; 0.1-mm resolution). Ten pump rates ranging from 3 to 154 mL min-1 were used to calibrate the TBRs and represented rainfall rates between 6 and 254 mm h-1 depending on the rain gauge diameter. All pump calibration results were very linear with R2 values greater than 0.99. All rain gauges exhibited large nonlinear underestimation errors (between 5% and 29%) that decreased with increasing rain gauge resolution and increased with increasing rainfall rate, especially for rates greater than 50 mm h-1. Calibration curves of bucket tip time against the reciprocal of the true pump rate for all rain gauges also were linear with R2 values of 0.99. Calibration data for the 14 rain gauges of the same type were very similar, as indicated by slope values that were within 14% of each other and ranged from about 367 to 417 s mm h-1. The developed system can calibrate TBRs efficiently, accurately, and virtually unattended and could be modified for use with other rain gauge designs. The system is now in routine use to calibrate TBRs in a large rainfall collection network at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

  7. Are triggering rates of labquakes universal? Inferring triggering rates from incomplete information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baró, Jordi; Davidsen, Jörn

    2017-12-01

    The acoustic emission activity associated with recent rock fracture experiments under different conditions has indicated that some features of event-event triggering are independent of the details of the experiment and the materials used and are often even indistinguishable from tectonic earthquakes. While the event-event triggering rates or aftershock rates behave pretty much identical for all rock fracture experiments at short times, this is not the case for later times. Here, we discuss how these differences can be a consequence of the aftershock identification method used and show that the true aftershock rates might have two distinct regimes. Specifically, tests on a modified Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence model show that the model rates cannot be correctly inferred at late times based on temporal information only if the activity rates or the branching ratio are high. We also discuss both the effect of the two distinct regimes in the aftershock rates and the effect of the background rate on the inter-event time distribution. Our findings should be applicable for inferring event-event triggering rates for many other types of triggering and branching processes as well.

  8. Operation and performance of the LHCb calorimeters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chefdeville, M.

    2018-03-01

    The LHCb calorimeters play a key role in the hardware trigger of the experiment. They also serve the measurement of radiative heavy flavor decays and the identification of electrons. Located at twelve meters from the interaction region, they are composed of a plane of scintillating tiles, a preshower detector, an electromagnetic and a hadronic sampling calorimeters using scintillators as active elements. In these proceedings, technical and operational aspects of these detectors are described. Emphasis is then put on calorimeter reconstruction and calibration. Finally, performance for benchmark physics modes are briefly reported.

  9. The Effect of Inappropriate Calibration: Three Case Studies in Molecular Ecology

    PubMed Central

    Ho, Simon Y. W.; Saarma, Urmas; Barnett, Ross; Haile, James; Shapiro, Beth

    2008-01-01

    Time-scales estimated from sequence data play an important role in molecular ecology. They can be used to draw correlations between evolutionary and palaeoclimatic events, to measure the tempo of speciation, and to study the demographic history of an endangered species. In all of these studies, it is paramount to have accurate estimates of time-scales and substitution rates. Molecular ecological studies typically focus on intraspecific data that have evolved on genealogical scales, but often these studies inappropriately employ deep fossil calibrations or canonical substitution rates (e.g., 1% per million years for birds and mammals) for calibrating estimates of divergence times. These approaches can yield misleading estimates of molecular time-scales, with significant impacts on subsequent evolutionary and ecological inferences. We illustrate this calibration problem using three case studies: avian speciation in the late Pleistocene, the demographic history of bowhead whales, and the Pleistocene biogeography of brown bears. For each data set, we compare the date estimates that are obtained using internal and external calibration points. In all three cases, the conclusions are significantly altered by the application of revised, internally-calibrated substitution rates. Collectively, the results emphasise the importance of judicious selection of calibrations for analyses of recent evolutionary events. PMID:18286172

  10. The effect of inappropriate calibration: three case studies in molecular ecology.

    PubMed

    Ho, Simon Y W; Saarma, Urmas; Barnett, Ross; Haile, James; Shapiro, Beth

    2008-02-20

    Time-scales estimated from sequence data play an important role in molecular ecology. They can be used to draw correlations between evolutionary and palaeoclimatic events, to measure the tempo of speciation, and to study the demographic history of an endangered species. In all of these studies, it is paramount to have accurate estimates of time-scales and substitution rates. Molecular ecological studies typically focus on intraspecific data that have evolved on genealogical scales, but often these studies inappropriately employ deep fossil calibrations or canonical substitution rates (e.g., 1% per million years for birds and mammals) for calibrating estimates of divergence times. These approaches can yield misleading estimates of molecular time-scales, with significant impacts on subsequent evolutionary and ecological inferences. We illustrate this calibration problem using three case studies: avian speciation in the late Pleistocene, the demographic history of bowhead whales, and the Pleistocene biogeography of brown bears. For each data set, we compare the date estimates that are obtained using internal and external calibration points. In all three cases, the conclusions are significantly altered by the application of revised, internally-calibrated substitution rates. Collectively, the results emphasise the importance of judicious selection of calibrations for analyses of recent evolutionary events.

  11. Reconstructing the calibrated strain signal in the Advanced LIGO detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viets, A. D.; Wade, M.; Urban, A. L.; Kandhasamy, S.; Betzwieser, J.; Brown, Duncan A.; Burguet-Castell, J.; Cahillane, C.; Goetz, E.; Izumi, K.; Karki, S.; Kissel, J. S.; Mendell, G.; Savage, R. L.; Siemens, X.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Weinstein, A. J.

    2018-05-01

    Advanced LIGO’s raw detector output needs to be calibrated to compute dimensionless strain h(t) . Calibrated strain data is produced in the time domain using both a low-latency, online procedure and a high-latency, offline procedure. The low-latency h(t) data stream is produced in two stages, the first of which is performed on the same computers that operate the detector’s feedback control system. This stage, referred to as the front-end calibration, uses infinite impulse response (IIR) filtering and performs all operations at a 16 384 Hz digital sampling rate. Due to several limitations, this procedure currently introduces certain systematic errors in the calibrated strain data, motivating the second stage of the low-latency procedure, known as the low-latency gstlal calibration pipeline. The gstlal calibration pipeline uses finite impulse response (FIR) filtering to apply corrections to the output of the front-end calibration. It applies time-dependent correction factors to the sensing and actuation components of the calibrated strain to reduce systematic errors. The gstlal calibration pipeline is also used in high latency to recalibrate the data, which is necessary due mainly to online dropouts in the calibrated data and identified improvements to the calibration models or filters.

  12. Diet and lifestyle as trigger factors for the onset of heartburn.

    PubMed

    Oliver, Katie; Davies, Gloria; Dettmar, Peter

    To examine prospectively the role of reported trigger factors on symptom onset in patients with heartburn and highlight the role of these factors in the management of heartburn in the primary care setting. METHOD Twenty-two patients with heartburn and 50 controls were recruited in Bedfordshire, UK. A seven-day symptom and trigger diary was completed by patients and controls. Patients reported a collection of heartburn symptoms varying in severity and time of day. Aspects of diet and lifestyle perceived as trigger factors included large meals, time of eating and posture. Multiple trigger factors were reported for heartburn. Although symptom onset varies between individuals, consideration should be given to trigger factors in the management of heartburn symptoms.

  13. ON THE CALIBRATION OF DK-02 AND KID DOSIMETERS (in Estonian)

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

    Ehvaert, H.

    1963-01-01

    For the periodic calibration of the DK-02 and WD dosimeters, the rotating stand method which is more advantageous than the usual method is recommended. The calibration can be accomplished in a strong gamma field, reducing considerably the time necessary for calibration. Using a point source, the dose becomes a simple function of time and geometrical parameters. The experimental values are in good agreement with theoretical values. (tr-auth)

  14. A beat-to-beat calculator for the diastolic pressure time index and the tension time index.

    PubMed

    Nose, Y; Tajimi, T; Watanabe, Y; Yokota, M; Akazawa, K; Nakamura, M

    1987-01-01

    We have developed a beat-to-beat calculator which can calculate in real-time the ratio of the diastolic pressure time index (DPTI), and the tension time index (TTI) as an index of the myocardial oxygen supply/demand balance. Physicians set up presumed value for the left ventricular endodiastolic pressure, a search area for the dicrotic notch, a threshold for the onset of the up-slope and the corresponding value of the calibration signal on the digital switches of the calculator. Next, the arterial pressure analog signal is input into the calculator. The calculator searches automatically for both the onset of the up-slope and the dicrotic notch. The arterial pressure curve is displayed beat-to-beat with the recognized onset and the dicrotic notch on the CRT to be confirmed by physicians. When physicians do not agree with the automatic recognition they can fit the automatic recognition to the observation. If the recognition of the onset is inadequate, the threshold can be re-adjusted to trigger the onset. If recognition of the dicrotic notch is inadequate, the physician can adjust the search-area. Therefore, physicians who operate the calculator can rely on the calculated DPTI/TTI. This calculator can continuously monitor the myocardial oxygen supply/demand balance in patients with acute myocardial infarction or just after open-heart surgery.

  15. Uncertainty evaluation of a regional real-time system for rain-induced landslides

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirschbaum, Dalia; Stanley, Thomas; Yatheendradas, Soni

    2015-04-01

    A new prototype regional model and evaluation framework has been developed over Central America and the Caribbean region using satellite-based information including precipitation estimates, modeled soil moisture, topography, soils, as well as regionally available datasets such as road networks and distance to fault zones. The algorithm framework incorporates three static variables: a susceptibility map; a 24-hr rainfall triggering threshold; and an antecedent soil moisture variable threshold, which have been calibrated using historic landslide events. The thresholds are regionally heterogeneous and are based on the percentile distribution of the rainfall or antecedent moisture time series. A simple decision tree algorithm framework integrates all three variables with the rainfall and soil moisture time series and generates a landslide nowcast in real-time based on the previous 24 hours over this region. This system has been evaluated using several available landslide inventories over the Central America and Caribbean region. Spatiotemporal uncertainty and evaluation metrics of the model are presented here based on available landslides reports. This work also presents a probabilistic representation of potential landslide activity over the region which can be used to further refine and improve the real-time landslide hazard assessment system as well as better identify and characterize the uncertainties inherent in this type of regional approach. The landslide algorithm provides a flexible framework to improve hazard estimation and reduce uncertainty at any spatial and temporal scale.

  16. Rainfall-triggered shallow landslides at catchment scale: Threshold mechanics-based modeling for abruptness and localization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    von Ruette, J.; Lehmann, P.; Or, D.

    2013-10-01

    Rainfall-induced shallow landslides may occur abruptly without distinct precursors and could span a wide range of soil mass released during a triggering event. We present a rainfall-induced landslide-triggering model for steep catchments with surfaces represented as an assembly of hydrologically and mechanically interconnected soil columns. The abruptness of failure was captured by defining local strength thresholds for mechanical bonds linking soil and bedrock and adjacent columns, whereby a failure of a single bond may initiate a chain reaction of subsequent failures, culminating in local mass release (a landslide). The catchment-scale hydromechanical landslide-triggering model (CHLT) was applied to results from two event-based landslide inventories triggered by two rainfall events in 2002 and 2005 in two nearby catchments located in the Prealps in Switzerland. Rainfall radar data, surface elevation and vegetation maps, and a soil production model for soil depth distribution were used for hydromechanical modeling of failure patterns for the two rainfall events at spatial and temporal resolutions of 2.5 m and 0.02 h, respectively. The CHLT model enabled systematic evaluation of the effects of soil type, mechanical reinforcement (soil cohesion and lateral root strength), and initial soil water content on landslide characteristics. We compared various landslide metrics and spatial distribution of simulated landslides in subcatchments with observed inventory data. Model parameters were optimized for the short but intense rainfall event in 2002, and the calibrated model was then applied for the 2005 rainfall, yielding reasonable predictions of landslide events and volumes and statistically reproducing localized landslide patterns similar to inventory data. The model provides a means for identifying local hot spots and offers insights into the dynamics of locally resolved landslide hazards in mountainous regions.

  17. Timing Calibration of the NEMO Optical Sensors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Circella, M.; de Marzo, C.; Megna, R.; Ruppi, M.

    2006-04-01

    This paper describes the timing calibration system for the NEMO underwater neutrino telescope. The NEMO Project aims at the construction of a km3 detector, equipped with a large number of photomultipliers, in the Mediterranean Sea. We foresee a redundant system to perform the time calibration of our apparatus: 1) A two-step procedure for measuring the offsets in the time measurements of the NEMO optical sensors, so as to measure separately the time delay for the synchronization signals to reach the offshore electronics and the response time of the photomultipliers to calibration signals delivered from optical pulsers through an optical fibre distribution system; 2) an all-optical procedure for measuring the differences in the time offsets of the different optical modules illuminated by calibration pulses. Such a system can be extended to work for a very large apparatus, even for complex arrangements of widely spaced sensors. The NEMO prototyping activities ongoing at a test site off the coast of Sicily will allow the system described in this work to be operated and tested in situ next year.

  18. OH density measured by PLIF in a nanosecond atmospheric pressure diffuse discharge in humid air under steep high voltage pulses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ouaras, K.; Magne, L.; Pasquiers, S.; Tardiveau, P.; Jeanney, P.; Bournonville, B.

    2018-04-01

    The spatiotemporal distributions of the OH radical density are measured using planar laser induced fluorescence in the afterglow of a nanosecond diffuse discharge at atmospheric pressure in humid air. The diffuse discharge is generated between a pin and a grounded plate electrodes within a gap of 18 mm. The high voltage pulse applied to the pin ranges from 65 to 85 kV with a rise time of 2 ns. The specific electrical energy transferred to the gas ranges from 5 to 40 J l‑1. The influence of H2O concentration is studied from 0.5% to 1.5%. An absolute calibration of OH density is performed using a six-level transient rate equation model to simulate the dynamics of OH excitation by the laser, taking into account collisional processes during the optical pumping and the fluorescence. Rayleigh scattering measurements are used to achieve the geometrical part of the calibration. A local maximum of OH density is found in the pin area whatever the operating conditions. For 85 kV and 1% of H2O, this peak reaches a value of 2.0 × 1016 cm‑3 corresponding to 8% of H2O dissociation. The temporal decay of the spatially averaged OH density is found to be similar as in the afterglow of a homogeneous photo-triggered discharge for which a self-consistent modeling is done. These tools are then used to bring discussion elements on OH kinetics.

  19. Cycle time reduction by Html report in mask checking flow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Jian-Cheng; Lu, Min-Ying; Fang, Xiang; Shen, Ming-Feng; Ma, Shou-Yuan; Yang, Chuen-Huei; Tsai, Joe; Lee, Rachel; Deng, Erwin; Lin, Ling-Chieh; Liao, Hung-Yueh; Tsai, Jenny; Bowhill, Amanda; Vu, Hien; Russell, Gordon

    2017-07-01

    The Mask Data Correctness Check (MDCC) is a reticle-level, multi-layer DRC-like check evolved from mask rule check (MRC). The MDCC uses extended job deck (EJB) to achieve mask composition and to perform a detailed check for positioning and integrity of each component of the reticle. Different design patterns on the mask will be mapped to different layers. Therefore, users may be able to review the whole reticle and check the interactions between different designs before the final mask pattern file is available. However, many types of MDCC check results, such as errors from overlapping patterns usually have very large and complex-shaped highlighted areas covering the boundary of the design. Users have to load the result OASIS file and overlap it to the original database that was assembled in MDCC process on a layout viewer, then search for the details of the check results. We introduce a quick result-reviewing method based on an html format report generated by Calibre® RVE. In the report generation process, we analyze and extract the essential part of result OASIS file to a result database (RDB) file by standard verification rule format (SVRF) commands. Calibre® RVE automatically loads the assembled reticle pattern and generates screen shots of these check results. All the processes are automatically triggered just after the MDCC process finishes. Users just have to open the html report to get the information they need: for example, check summary, captured images of results and their coordinates.

  20. A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors.

    PubMed

    Waugh, C J; Rosenberg, M J; Zylstra, A B; Frenje, J A; Séguin, F H; Petrasso, R D; Glebov, V Yu; Sangster, T C; Stoeckl, C

    2015-05-01

    Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition, comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.

  1. A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

    DOE PAGES

    Waugh, C. J.; Rosenberg, M. J.; Zylstra, A. B.; ...

    2015-05-27

    Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

  2. A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

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

    Waugh, C. J.; Rosenberg, M. J.; Zylstra, A. B.

    Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

  3. A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

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

    Waugh, C. J., E-mail: cjwaugh@mit.edu; Zylstra, A. B.; Frenje, J. A.

    2015-05-15

    Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

  4. Experimental verification of a real-time power curve for downregulated offshore wind power plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giebel, Gregor; Göcmen Bozkurt, Tuhfe; Sørensen, Poul; Rajczyk Skjelmose, Mads; Runge Kristoffersen, Jesper

    2015-04-01

    Wind farm scale experiments with wakes under downregulation have been initiated in Horns Rev wind farm in the frame of the PossPOW project (see posspow.dtu.dk). The experiments will be compared with the results of the calibrated GCLarsen wake model for real-time which is used not only to obtain real-time power curve but also to estimate the available power in wind farm level. Available (or Possible) Power is the power that a down-regulated (or curtailed) turbine or a wind power plant would produce if it were to operate in normal operational conditions and it is becoming more of particular interest due to increasing number of curtailment periods. Currently, the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) have no real way to determine exactly the available power of a down-regulated wind farm and the PossPOW project is addressing that need. What makes available power calculation interesting at the wind farm level is the change in the wake characteristics for different operational states. Even though the single turbine level available power is easily estimated, the sum of those signals from all turbines in a wind farm overestimates the power since the wake losses significantly decrease during curtailment. In order to calculate that effect, the turbine wind speed is estimated real-time from the produced power, the pitch angle and the rotor speed using a proximate Cp curve. A real-time wake estimation of normal operation is then performed and advected to the next downstream turbine, and so on until the entire wind farm is calculated. The estimation of the rotor effective wind speed, the parameterization of the GCLarsen wake model for real-time use (i.e., 1-sec data from Horns Rev and Thanet) and the details of the advection are the topic can be found in Göcmen et al. [1] Here we plan to describe the experiments using the Horns Rev wind farm and hopefully present the first validation results. Assuming similarity of the wind speeds between neighbouring rows of turbines, the power produced by the second turbines in the line can be compared when some of the front row turbines are down-regulated. To get a good signal, a trigger mechanism is employed which assures that the experiment is only started if the wind is blowing directly down the line of turbines, and in a strength which is below rated power. The design of the experiments is finalized and the triggers have been introduced to the controller - they will run during the first quarter of 2015. A verified algorithm could be employed by manufacturers and operators world-wide, both for the determination of compensation payments during mandated down-regulation as well as for the exact determination of reserve power for use in ancillary services markets. [1] T. Göcmen Bozkurt, G. Giebel, P. Rethore, M. Mirzaei, N. Poulsen, Effective wind speed estimation and real-time wake model re-calibration for down-regulated turbines, in: Wind Integration Workshop 2014.

  5. Actuator-Assisted Calibration of Freehand 3D Ultrasound System.

    PubMed

    Koo, Terry K; Silvia, Nathaniel

    2018-01-01

    Freehand three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound has been used independently of other technologies to analyze complex geometries or registered with other imaging modalities to aid surgical and radiotherapy planning. A fundamental requirement for all freehand 3D ultrasound systems is probe calibration. The purpose of this study was to develop an actuator-assisted approach to facilitate freehand 3D ultrasound calibration using point-based phantoms. We modified the mathematical formulation of the calibration problem to eliminate the need of imaging the point targets at different viewing angles and developed an actuator-assisted approach/setup to facilitate quick and consistent collection of point targets spanning the entire image field of view. The actuator-assisted approach was applied to a commonly used cross wire phantom as well as two custom-made point-based phantoms (original and modified), each containing 7 collinear point targets, and compared the results with the traditional freehand cross wire phantom calibration in terms of calibration reproducibility, point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time. Results demonstrated that the actuator-assisted single cross wire phantom calibration significantly improved the calibration reproducibility and offered similar point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time with respect to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration. On the other hand, the actuator-assisted modified "collinear point target" phantom calibration offered similar precision and accuracy when compared to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration, but it reduced the data acquisition time by 57%. It appears that both actuator-assisted cross wire phantom and modified collinear point target phantom calibration approaches are viable options for freehand 3D ultrasound calibration.

  6. Actuator-Assisted Calibration of Freehand 3D Ultrasound System

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    Freehand three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound has been used independently of other technologies to analyze complex geometries or registered with other imaging modalities to aid surgical and radiotherapy planning. A fundamental requirement for all freehand 3D ultrasound systems is probe calibration. The purpose of this study was to develop an actuator-assisted approach to facilitate freehand 3D ultrasound calibration using point-based phantoms. We modified the mathematical formulation of the calibration problem to eliminate the need of imaging the point targets at different viewing angles and developed an actuator-assisted approach/setup to facilitate quick and consistent collection of point targets spanning the entire image field of view. The actuator-assisted approach was applied to a commonly used cross wire phantom as well as two custom-made point-based phantoms (original and modified), each containing 7 collinear point targets, and compared the results with the traditional freehand cross wire phantom calibration in terms of calibration reproducibility, point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time. Results demonstrated that the actuator-assisted single cross wire phantom calibration significantly improved the calibration reproducibility and offered similar point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time with respect to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration. On the other hand, the actuator-assisted modified “collinear point target” phantom calibration offered similar precision and accuracy when compared to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration, but it reduced the data acquisition time by 57%. It appears that both actuator-assisted cross wire phantom and modified collinear point target phantom calibration approaches are viable options for freehand 3D ultrasound calibration. PMID:29854371

  7. Uncertainty Analysis of Inertial Model Attitude Sensor Calibration and Application with a Recommended New Calibration Method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tripp, John S.; Tcheng, Ping

    1999-01-01

    Statistical tools, previously developed for nonlinear least-squares estimation of multivariate sensor calibration parameters and the associated calibration uncertainty analysis, have been applied to single- and multiple-axis inertial model attitude sensors used in wind tunnel testing to measure angle of attack and roll angle. The analysis provides confidence and prediction intervals of calibrated sensor measurement uncertainty as functions of applied input pitch and roll angles. A comparative performance study of various experimental designs for inertial sensor calibration is presented along with corroborating experimental data. The importance of replicated calibrations over extended time periods has been emphasized; replication provides independent estimates of calibration precision and bias uncertainties, statistical tests for calibration or modeling bias uncertainty, and statistical tests for sensor parameter drift over time. A set of recommendations for a new standardized model attitude sensor calibration method and usage procedures is included. The statistical information provided by these procedures is necessary for the uncertainty analysis of aerospace test results now required by users of industrial wind tunnel test facilities.

  8. Experimental calibration procedures for rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters

    DOE PAGES

    Hvasta, M. G.; Slighton, N. T.; Kolemen, E.; ...

    2017-07-14

    Rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters are a novel and useful technology with a range of applications in a variety of different industries. However, calibrating these flowmeters can be challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. In this paper, simple calibration procedures for rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters are presented. These procedures eliminate the need for expensive equipment, numerical modeling, redundant flowmeters, and system down-time. Finally, the calibration processes are explained in a step-by-step manner and compared to experimental results.

  9. Experimental calibration procedures for rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters

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

    Hvasta, M. G.; Slighton, N. T.; Kolemen, E.

    Rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters are a novel and useful technology with a range of applications in a variety of different industries. However, calibrating these flowmeters can be challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. In this paper, simple calibration procedures for rotating Lorentz-force flowmeters are presented. These procedures eliminate the need for expensive equipment, numerical modeling, redundant flowmeters, and system down-time. Finally, the calibration processes are explained in a step-by-step manner and compared to experimental results.

  10. Timing Calibration in PET Using a Time Alignment Probe

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

    Moses, William W.; Thompson, Christopher J.

    2006-05-05

    We evaluate the Scanwell Time Alignment Probe for performing the timing calibration for the LBNL Prostate-Specific PET Camera. We calibrate the time delay correction factors for each detector module in the camera using two methods--using the Time Alignment Probe (which measures the time difference between the probe and each detector module) and using the conventional method (which measures the timing difference between all module-module combinations in the camera). These correction factors, which are quantized in 2 ns steps, are compared on a module-by-module basis. The values are in excellent agreement--of the 80 correction factors, 62 agree exactly, 17 differ bymore » 1 step, and 1 differs by 2 steps. We also measure on-time and off-time counting rates when the two sets of calibration factors are loaded into the camera and find that they agree within statistical error. We conclude that the performance using the Time Alignment Probe and conventional methods are equivalent.« less

  11. The ATLAS Level-1 Topological Trigger performance in Run 2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riu, Imma; ATLAS Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    The Level-1 trigger is the first event rate reducing step in the ATLAS detector trigger system, with an output rate of up to 100 kHz and decision latency smaller than 2.5 μs. During the LHC shutdown after Run 1, the Level-1 trigger system was upgraded at hardware, firmware and software levels. In particular, a new electronics sub-system was introduced in the real-time data processing path: the Level-1 Topological trigger system. It consists of a single electronics shelf equipped with two Level-1 Topological processor blades. They receive real-time information from the Level-1 calorimeter and muon triggers, which is processed to measure angles between trigger objects, invariant masses or other kinematic variables. Complementary to other requirements, these measurements are taken into account in the final Level-1 trigger decision. The system was installed and commissioning started in 2015 and continued during 2016. As part of the commissioning, the decisions from individual algorithms were simulated and compared with the hardware response. An overview of the Level-1 Topological trigger system design, commissioning process and impact on several event selections are illustrated.

  12. The Feynman-Y Statistic in Relation to Shift-Register Neutron Coincidence Counting: Precision and Dead Time

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

    Croft, Stephen; Santi, Peter A.; Henzlova, Daniela

    The Feynman-Y statistic is a type of autocorrelation analysis. It is defined as the excess variance-to-mean ratio, Y = VMR - 1, of the number count distribution formed by sampling a pulse train using a series of non-overlapping gates. It is a measure of the degree of correlation present on the pulse train with Y = 0 for Poisson data. In the context of neutron coincidence counting we show that the same information can be obtained from the accidentals histogram acquired using the multiplicity shift-register method, which is currently the common autocorrelation technique applied in nuclear safeguards. In the casemore » of multiplicity shift register analysis however, overlapping gates, either triggered by the incoming pulse stream or by a periodic clock, are used. The overlap introduces additional covariance but does not alter the expectation values. In this paper we discuss, for a particular data set, the relative merit of the Feynman and shift-register methods in terms of both precision and dead time correction. Traditionally the Feynman approach is applied with a relatively long gate width compared to the dieaway time. The main reason for this is so that the gate utilization factor can be taken as unity rather than being treated as a system parameter to be determined at characterization/calibration. But because the random trigger interval gate utilization factor is slow to saturate this procedure requires a gate width many times the effective 1/e dieaway time. In the traditional approach this limits the number of gates that can be fitted into a given assay duration. We empirically show that much shorter gates, similar in width to those used in traditional shift register analysis can be used. Because the way in which the correlated information present on the pulse train is extracted is different for the moments based method of Feynman and the various shift register based approaches, the dead time losses are manifested differently for these two approaches. The resulting estimates for the dead time corrected first and second order reduced factorial moments should be independent of the method however and this allows the respective dead time formalism to be checked. We discuss how to make dead time corrections in both the shift register and the Feynman approaches.« less

  13. Calibration of an electronic counter and pulse height analyzer for plotting erythrocyte volume spectra.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1963-03-01

    A simple technique is presented for calibrating an electronic system used in the plotting of erythrocyte volume spectra. The calibration factors, once obtained, apparently remain applicable for some time. Precise estimates of calibration factors appe...

  14. Comparison of the uncertainties of several European low-dose calibration facilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dombrowski, H.; Cornejo Díaz, N. A.; Toni, M. P.; Mihelic, M.; Röttger, A.

    2018-04-01

    The typical uncertainty of a low-dose rate calibration of a detector, which is calibrated in a dedicated secondary national calibration laboratory, is investigated, including measurements in the photon field of metrology institutes. Calibrations at low ambient dose equivalent rates (at the level of the natural ambient radiation) are needed when environmental radiation monitors are to be characterised. The uncertainties of calibration measurements in conventional irradiation facilities above ground are compared with those obtained in a low-dose rate irradiation facility located deep underground. Four laboratories quantitatively evaluated the uncertainties of their calibration facilities, in particular for calibrations at low dose rates (250 nSv/h and 1 μSv/h). For the first time, typical uncertainties of European calibration facilities are documented in a comparison and the main sources of uncertainty are revealed. All sources of uncertainties are analysed, including the irradiation geometry, scattering, deviations of real spectra from standardised spectra, etc. As a fundamental metrological consequence, no instrument calibrated in such a facility can have a lower total uncertainty in subsequent measurements. For the first time, the need to perform calibrations at very low dose rates (< 100 nSv/h) deep underground is underpinned on the basis of quantitative data.

  15. Absolute dose calibration of an X-ray system and dead time investigations of photon-counting techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carpentieri, C.; Schwarz, C.; Ludwig, J.; Ashfaq, A.; Fiederle, M.

    2002-07-01

    High precision concerning the dose calibration of X-ray sources is required when counting and integrating methods are compared. The dose calibration for a dental X-ray tube was executed with special dose calibration equipment (dosimeter) as function of exposure time and rate. Results were compared with a benchmark spectrum and agree within ±1.5%. Dead time investigations with the Medipix1 photon-counting chip (PCC) have been performed by rate variations. Two different types of dead time, paralysable and non-paralysable will be discussed. The dead time depends on settings of the front-end electronics and is a function of signal height, which might lead to systematic defects of systems. Dead time losses in excess of 30% have been found for the PCC at 200 kHz absorbed photons per pixel.

  16. Temporal-resolved characterization of laser-induced plasma for spectrochemical analysis of gas shales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Tao; Zhang, Yong; Zhang, Ming; He, Yi; Yu, Qiaoling; Duan, Yixiang

    2016-07-01

    Optical emission of laser ablation plasma on a shale target surface provides sensitive laser-induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) detection of major, minor or trace elements. An exploratory study for the characterization of the plasma induced on shale materials was carried out with the aim to trigger a crucial step towards the quantitative LIBS measurement. In this work, the experimental strategies that optimize the plasma generation on a pressed shale pellet surface are presented. The temporal evolution properties of the plasma induced by ns Nd:YAG laser pulse at the fundamental wavelength in air were investigated using time-resolved space-integrated optical emission spectroscopy. The electron density as well as the temperatures of the plasma were diagnosed as functions of the decay time for the bulk plasma analysis. In particular, the values of time-resolved atomic and ionic temperatures of shale elements, such as Fe, Mg, Ca, and Ti, were extracted from the well-known Boltzmann or Saha-Boltzmann plot method. Further comparison of these temperatures validated the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) within specific interval of the delay time. In addition, the temporal behaviors of the signal-to-noise ratio of shale elements, including Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Ba, Li, Ti, K, Na, Sr, V, Cr, and Ni, revealed the coincidence of their maximum values with LIBS LTE condition in the time frame, providing practical implications for an optimized LIBS detection of shale elements. Analytical performance of LIBS was further evaluated with the linear calibration procedure for the most concerned trace elements of Sr, V, Cr, and Ni present in different shales. Their limits of detection obtained are elementally dependent and can be lower than tens of parts per million with the present LIBS experimental configurations. However, the occurrence of saturation effect for the calibration curve is still observable with the increasing trace element content, indicating that, due to the complex composition of shale materials, the omnipresent "matrix effect" is still a great challenging for the performance of quantitative LIBS measurement even in the framework of the LTE approach.

  17. Simultaneous auto-calibration and gradient delays estimation (SAGE) in non-Cartesian parallel MRI using low-rank constraints.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Wenwen; Larson, Peder E Z; Lustig, Michael

    2018-03-09

    To correct gradient timing delays in non-Cartesian MRI while simultaneously recovering corruption-free auto-calibration data for parallel imaging, without additional calibration scans. The calibration matrix constructed from multi-channel k-space data should be inherently low-rank. This property is used to construct reconstruction kernels or sensitivity maps. Delays between the gradient hardware across different axes and RF receive chain, which are relatively benign in Cartesian MRI (excluding EPI), lead to trajectory deviations and hence data inconsistencies for non-Cartesian trajectories. These in turn lead to higher rank and corrupted calibration information which hampers the reconstruction. Here, a method named Simultaneous Auto-calibration and Gradient delays Estimation (SAGE) is proposed that estimates the actual k-space trajectory while simultaneously recovering the uncorrupted auto-calibration data. This is done by estimating the gradient delays that result in the lowest rank of the calibration matrix. The Gauss-Newton method is used to solve the non-linear problem. The method is validated in simulations using center-out radial, projection reconstruction and spiral trajectories. Feasibility is demonstrated on phantom and in vivo scans with center-out radial and projection reconstruction trajectories. SAGE is able to estimate gradient timing delays with high accuracy at a signal to noise ratio level as low as 5. The method is able to effectively remove artifacts resulting from gradient timing delays and restore image quality in center-out radial, projection reconstruction, and spiral trajectories. The low-rank based method introduced simultaneously estimates gradient timing delays and provides accurate auto-calibration data for improved image quality, without any additional calibration scans. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  18. Summary and Outlook

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wuest, Martin; Robinson, David W.; Decoste, Dennis

    Calibration is defined as a set of operations that establish, under specified conditions, the relationship between the values of quantities indicated by a measuring instrument or measuring system and the corresponding values realized by standards. Calibration of an instrument means determining by how much the instrument reading is in error by checking it against a measurement standard of known error.Space physics particle instrumentation needs to be calibrated on the ground and inflight to insure that the data can be properly interpreted.On the ground, calibration is performed by exposing the instrument to a well characterized incident particle beam. Not only the nominal range of parameters the instrument is designed to measure should be calibrated but the instrument should also be exposed to out-of-band exposure such as higher energies, angles outside of the nominal field-of-view and susceptibility to ultraviolet radiation.There are several challenges to laboratory calibration on the ground. The beam must be well characterized in energy, angle, mass and position. The particle flux must be uniform over the whole aperture area of the instrument to be calibrated. The beam must be very stable in time and space. One of the difficulties arises that in order to measure the incident particle flux the beam monitor is placed upstream in front of the instrument thereby blocking the incident beam and interrupting the beam detection by the device under test. A beam monitor placed outside of the field-of-view of the instrument to be calibrated is often in a region at the fringes of the beam where the beam is not very stable. This basically prevents the measuring of the same beam with a trusted reference detector and the instrument under test at the same time. Further, highly sensitive instruments are calibrated at flux levels too low to be detected with stable Faraday cup detectors. Present day windowless electron multiplier detectors are able to measure the low flux levels but are sensitive to degradation as a function of contamination and the amount of extracted charge. Windowless electron multipliers are therefore not very stable reference detectors. This makes it difficult to obtain a reliable absolute calibration traceable to a national measurement institute. Calibration is still a time consuming process. It involves testing the instrument at component, subsystem and integrated level. It is important that the instrument is not only operated using a special calibration configuration to save time, but also in its full flight configuration exercising the full path of the data through data compression and telemetry. Very seldom there is enough time available to calibrate all the desired points in parameter space. Usually only a subset can be calibrated for schedule and economic reasons. The number of calibration points is often further reduced since the available calibration time is cut due to development schedule slip and a fixed launch date. This increases the uncertainties as more parameters have to be interpolated or extrapolated. Calibration data should be evaluated preferably in near-real time to prevent losing valuable calibration time if something in the instrument or facility is not working properly. Computer simulation models should be used to obtain a thorough understanding of the actual flight instrument. In flight the instrument performance degrades due to contamination (outgassing), environmental effects (atomic oxygen, radiation) or aging. One of the most sensitive parts in today's instrument are their detectors. Microchannel plate detectors degrade as function of the extracted charge. Solid-state detectors experience radiation damage which increases their noise and the lower energy detection threshold. The goal of the in-flight calibration is to determine this instrument degradation. Calibration is then performed by comparing measurements taken with different bias voltage or discriminator threshold settings. If possible, the instrument data is compared with other sensors covering the same or at least a part of the same measurand on the same or on a different spacecraft. In-flight calibration is not easy, as no absolute calibration standard for particles exist in space and measuring the same physical quantity with two different spacecraft at the same environmental conditions is very challenging.

  19. Testing the E(sub peak)-E(sub iso) Relation for GRBs Detected by Swift and Suzaku-WAM

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krimm, H. A.; Yamaoka, K.; Sugita, S.; Ohno, M.; Sakamoto, T.; Barthelmy, S. D.; Gehrels, N.; Hara, R.; Onda, K.; Sato, G.; hide

    2009-01-01

    One of the most prominent, yet controversial associations derived from the ensemble of prompt-phase observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is the apparent correlation in the source frame between the peak energy (E(sub peak)) of the nuF(nu) spectrum and the isotropic radiated energy, E(sub iso). Since most gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have E(sub peak) above the energy range (15-150 keV) of the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on Swift, determining accurate E(sub peak) values for large numbers of Swift bursts has been difficult. However, by combining data from Swift/BAT and the Suzaku Wide-band All-Sky Monitor (WAM), which covers the energy range from 50-5000 keV, for bursts which are simultaneously detected ; one can accurately fit E(sub peak) and E(sub iso) and test the relationship between them for the Swift sample. Between the launch of Suzaku in July 2005 and the end of March 2009, there were 45 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which triggered both Swift/BAT and WAM and an additional 47 bursts which triggered Swift and were detected by WAM, but did not trigger. A BAT-WAM team has cross-calibrated the two instruments using GRBs, and we are now able to perform joint fits on these bursts to determine spectral parameters. For those bursts with spectroscopic redshifts.. we can also calculate the isotropic energy. Here we present the results of joint Swift/BAT-Suzaku/WAM spectral fits for 86 of the bursts detected by the two instruments. We show that the distribution of spectral fit parameters is consistent with distributions from earlier missions and confirm that Swift, bursts are consistent with earlier reported relationships between Epeak and isotropic energy. We show through time-resolved spectroscopy that individual burst pulses are also consistent with this relationship.

  20. The First Swift BAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sakamoto, T.; Barthelmy, S. D.; Barbier, L.; Cummings, J. R.; Fenimore, E. E.; Gehrels, N.; Hullinger, D.; Krimm, H. A.; Markwardt, C. B.; Palmer, D. M.; hide

    2007-01-01

    We present the first Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) catalog of gamma ray bursts (GRBs), which contains bursts detected by the BAT between 2004 December 19 and 2007 June 16. This catalog (hereafter BAT1 catalog) contains burst trigger time, location, 90% error radius, duration, fluence, peak flux, and time averaged spectral parameters for each of 237 GRBs, as measured by the BAT. The BAT-determined position reported here is within 1.75' of the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT)-determined position for 90% of these GRBs. The BAT T(sub 90) and T(sub 50) durations peak at 80 and 20 seconds, respectively. From the fluence-fluence correlation, we conclude that about 60% of the observed peak energies, E(sup obs)(sub peak) of BAT GRBs could be less than 100 keV. We confirm that GRB fluence to hardness and GRB peak flux to hardness are correlated for BAT bursts in analogous ways to previous missions' results. The correlation between the photon index in a simple power-law model and E(sup obs)(sub peak) is also confirmed. We also report the current status for the on-orbit BAT calibrations based on observations of the Crab Nebula.

  1. Rapid Settlement of Majuro Atoll, Central Pacific, Following its Emergence 2000 Years Ago

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kayanne, H.; Yamaguchi, T.; Yamano, H.; Yoneda, M.

    2010-12-01

    Atoll islands are areas of low, flat land, and the sustainability of habitable land in such environments is sensitive to even slight changes in sea level. The rise in sea level projected to occur during this century may lead to the submergence of atoll islands and the widespread loss of habitable land. However, the actual time sequence of past sea level change, island emergence events, and human settlement of newly emerged islands remain poorly constrained. Our excavation survey, combined with calibrated radiocarbon age dates, at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, central Pacific, reveals that emergence of the island, triggered by a fall in sea level, was quickly followed by human settlement. The elevation of the central body of the island exceeded high water level at 2000 years ago, and the complete formation of the island occurred within an interval of 100 years. The island was colonized by people shortly after emergence, at 2000 years ago, prior to the establishment of dense vegetation, and has been continuously settled since that time. Habitable land was created by a fall in sea level, and any future rise in sea level will have a reverse effect, resulting in a loss of habitable land on atoll islands.

  2. Long-Term Stability Assessment of Sonoran Desert for Vicarious Calibration of GOES-R

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, W.; Liang, S.; Cao, C.

    2012-12-01

    Vicarious calibration refers to calibration techniques that do not depend on onboard calibration devices. Although sensors and onboard calibration devices undergo rigorous validation processes before launch, performance of sensors often degrades after the launch due to exposure to the harsh space environment and the aging of devices. Such in-flight changes of devices can be identified and adjusted through vicarious calibration activities where the sensor degradation is measured in reference to exterior calibration sources such as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth surface. Sonoran desert is one of the best calibration sites located in the North America that are available for vicarious calibration of GOES-R satellite. To accurately calibrate sensors onboard GOES-R satellite (e.g. advanced baseline imager (ABI)), the temporal stability of Sonoran desert needs to be assessed precisely. However, short-/mid-term variations in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance caused by meteorological variables such as water vapor amount and aerosol loading are often difficult to retrieve, making the use of TOA reflectance time series for the stability assessment of the site. In this paper, we address this issue of normalization of TOA reflectance time series using a time series analysis algorithm - seasonal trend decomposition procedure based on LOESS (STL) (Cleveland et al, 1990). The algorithm is basically a collection of smoothing filters which leads to decomposition of a time series into three additive components; seasonal, trend, and remainder. Since this non-linear technique is capable of extracting seasonal patterns in the presence of trend changes, the seasonal variation can be effectively identified in the time series of remote sensing data subject to various environmental changes. The experiment results performed with Landsat 5 TM data show that the decomposition results acquired for the Sonoran Desert area produce normalized series that have much less uncertainty than those of traditional BRDF models, which leads to more accurate stability assessment.

  3. The anticoincidence system of the PAMELA satellite experiment: Design of the data acquisition system and performance studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lunquist, Johan

    PAMELA is a satellite-borne cosmic ray experiment. Its primary scientific objective is to study the antiproton and positron components of the cosmic radiation. This will be done with unprecedented statistics over a wide energy range (~10MeV to ~100GeV). The PAMELA experiment consists of a permanent magnetic spectrometer, an electromagnetic calorimeter, a Time-of-Fight system, a neutron detector and a shower tail catcher. An anticoincidence (AC) system surrounds the spectrometer to detect particles which do not pass cleanly through the acceptance of the spectrometer. PAMELA will be mounted on a Russian Earth-observation satellite, and the launch is scheduled for 2006. The anticoincidence system for PAMELA has been developed by KTH, and consists of plastic scintillator detectors with photomultiplier tube read-out. Extensive testing has been performed during the development phase. Results are presented for environmental tests, tests with cosmic-rays and particle beams. The design of the digital part of the AC electronics has been realised on an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). It records signals from the 16 AC photomultipliers and from various sensors for over-current and temperature. It also provides functionality for setting the photomultiplier discrimination thresholds, system testing, issuing alarms and communication with the PAMELA main data acquisition system. The design philosophy and functionality needs to be reliable and suitable for use in a space environment. To evaluate the performance of the AC detectors, a test utilizing cosmic-rays has been performed. The primary aim of the test was to calibrate the individual channels to gain knowledge of suitable discriminator levels for flight. A secondary aim was to estimate the AC detector efficiency. A lower limit of (99.89±0.04)% was obtained. An in-orbit simulation study was performed using protons to estimate trigger rates and investigate the AC system performance in a second level trigger. The average orbital trigger rate was estimated to be (8.4±0.6)Hz, consisting of (2.0±0.2)Hz good triggers and (6.4±0.5)Hz background. Inclusion of the AC system in the trigger condition to reduce background (for the purpose of data handling capacity) leads to losses of good triggers due to backscattering from the calorimeter (90% loss for 300GeV electrons and 25% for 100GeV protons). A method, using the calorimeter, for identifying backscattering events was investigated and found to reduce the loss of good events to below 1% (300GeV electrons) and 5% (100GeV protons), while maintaining a background reduction of 70%.

  4. Impact of the timing of a SAR image acquisition on the calibration of a flood inundation model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gobeyn, Sacha; Van Wesemael, Alexandra; Neal, Jeffrey; Lievens, Hans; Eerdenbrugh, Katrien Van; De Vleeschouwer, Niels; Vernieuwe, Hilde; Schumann, Guy J.-P.; Di Baldassarre, Giuliano; Baets, Bernard De; Bates, Paul D.; Verhoest, Niko E. C.

    2017-02-01

    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data have proven to be a very useful source of information for the calibration of flood inundation models. Previous studies have focused on assigning uncertainties to SAR images in order to improve flood forecast systems (e.g. Giustarini et al. (2015) and Stephens et al. (2012)). This paper investigates whether the timing of a SAR acquisition of a flood has an important impact on the calibration of a flood inundation model. As no suitable time series of SAR data exists, we generate a sequence of consistent SAR images through the use of a synthetic framework. This framework uses two available ERS-2 SAR images of the study area, one taken during the flood event of interest, the second taken during a dry reference period. The obtained synthetic observations at different points in time during the flood event are used to calibrate the flood inundation model. The results of this study indicate that the uncertainty of the roughness parameters is lower when the model is calibrated with an image taken before rather than during or after the flood peak. The results also show that the error on the modelled extent is much lower when the model is calibrated with a pre-flood peak image than when calibrated with a near-flood peak or a post-flood peak image. It is concluded that the timing of the SAR image acquisition of the flood has a clear impact on the model calibration and consequently on the precision of the predicted flood extent.

  5. Impact of the Timing of a SAR Image Acquisition on the Calibration of a Flood Inundation Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gobeyn, Sacha; Van Wesemael, Alexandra; Neal, Jeffrey; Lievens, Hans; Van Eerdenbrugh, Katrien; De Vleeschouwer, Niels; Vernieuwe, Hilde; Schumann, Guy J.-P.; Di Baldassarre, Giuliano; De Baets, Bernard; hide

    2016-01-01

    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data have proven to be a very useful source of information for the calibration of flood inundation models. Previous studies have focused on assigning uncertainties to SAR images in order to improve flood forecast systems (e.g. Giustarini et al. (2015) and Stephens et al. (2012)). This paper investigates whether the timing of a SAR acquisition of a flood has an important impact on the calibration of a flood inundation model. As no suitable time series of SAR data exists, we generate a sequence of consistent SAR images through the use of a synthetic framework. This framework uses two available ERS-2 SAR images of the study area, one taken during the flood event of interest, the second taken during a dry reference period. The obtained synthetic observations at different points in time during the flood event are used to calibrate the flood inundation model. The results of this study indicate that the uncertainty of the roughness parameters is lower when the model is calibrated with an image taken before rather than during or after the flood peak. The results also show that the error on the modeled extent is much lower when the model is calibrated with a pre-flood peak image than when calibrated with a near-flood peak or a post-flood peak image. It is concluded that the timing of the SAR image acquisition of the flood has a clear impact on the model calibration and consequently on the precision of the predicted flood extent.

  6. Calibration of time of flight detectors using laser-driven neutron source

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

    Mirfayzi, S. R.; Kar, S., E-mail: s.kar@qub.ac.uk; Ahmed, H.

    2015-07-15

    Calibration of three scintillators (EJ232Q, BC422Q, and EJ410) in a time-of-flight arrangement using a laser drive-neutron source is presented. The three plastic scintillator detectors were calibrated with gamma insensitive bubble detector spectrometers, which were absolutely calibrated over a wide range of neutron energies ranging from sub-MeV to 20 MeV. A typical set of data obtained simultaneously by the detectors is shown, measuring the neutron spectrum emitted from a petawatt laser irradiated thin foil.

  7. Calibration of time of flight detectors using laser-driven neutron source.

    PubMed

    Mirfayzi, S R; Kar, S; Ahmed, H; Krygier, A G; Green, A; Alejo, A; Clarke, R; Freeman, R R; Fuchs, J; Jung, D; Kleinschmidt, A; Morrison, J T; Najmudin, Z; Nakamura, H; Norreys, P; Oliver, M; Roth, M; Vassura, L; Zepf, M; Borghesi, M

    2015-07-01

    Calibration of three scintillators (EJ232Q, BC422Q, and EJ410) in a time-of-flight arrangement using a laser drive-neutron source is presented. The three plastic scintillator detectors were calibrated with gamma insensitive bubble detector spectrometers, which were absolutely calibrated over a wide range of neutron energies ranging from sub-MeV to 20 MeV. A typical set of data obtained simultaneously by the detectors is shown, measuring the neutron spectrum emitted from a petawatt laser irradiated thin foil.

  8. Calibration of time of flight detectors using laser-driven neutron source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mirfayzi, S. R.; Kar, S.; Ahmed, H.; Krygier, A. G.; Green, A.; Alejo, A.; Clarke, R.; Freeman, R. R.; Fuchs, J.; Jung, D.; Kleinschmidt, A.; Morrison, J. T.; Najmudin, Z.; Nakamura, H.; Norreys, P.; Oliver, M.; Roth, M.; Vassura, L.; Zepf, M.; Borghesi, M.

    2015-07-01

    Calibration of three scintillators (EJ232Q, BC422Q, and EJ410) in a time-of-flight arrangement using a laser drive-neutron source is presented. The three plastic scintillator detectors were calibrated with gamma insensitive bubble detector spectrometers, which were absolutely calibrated over a wide range of neutron energies ranging from sub-MeV to 20 MeV. A typical set of data obtained simultaneously by the detectors is shown, measuring the neutron spectrum emitted from a petawatt laser irradiated thin foil.

  9. Method and apparatus for signal processing in a sensor system for use in spectroscopy

    DOEpatents

    O'Connor, Paul [Bellport, NY; DeGeronimo, Gianluigi [Nesconset, NY; Grosholz, Joseph [Natrona Heights, PA

    2008-05-27

    A method for processing pulses arriving randomly in time on at least one channel using multiple peak detectors includes asynchronously selecting a non-busy peak detector (PD) in response to a pulse-generated trigger signal, connecting the channel to the selected PD in response to the trigger signal, and detecting a pulse peak amplitude. Amplitude and time of arrival data are output in first-in first-out (FIFO) sequence. An apparatus includes trigger comparators to generate the trigger signal for the pulse-receiving channel, PDs, a switch for connecting the channel to the selected PD, and logic circuitry which maintains the write pointer. Also included, time-to-amplitude converters (TACs) convert time of arrival to analog voltage and an analog multiplexer provides FIFO output. A multi-element sensor system for spectroscopy includes detector elements, channels, trigger comparators, PDs, a switch, and a logic circuit with asynchronous write pointer. The system includes TACs, a multiplexer and analog-to-digital converter.

  10. Design and Optimization of an EEG-Based Brain Machine Interface (BMI) to an Upper-Limb Exoskeleton for Stroke Survivors

    PubMed Central

    Bhagat, Nikunj A.; Venkatakrishnan, Anusha; Abibullaev, Berdakh; Artz, Edward J.; Yozbatiran, Nuray; Blank, Amy A.; French, James; Karmonik, Christof; Grossman, Robert G.; O'Malley, Marcia K.; Francisco, Gerard E.; Contreras-Vidal, Jose L.

    2016-01-01

    This study demonstrates the feasibility of detecting motor intent from brain activity of chronic stroke patients using an asynchronous electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain machine interface (BMI). Intent was inferred from movement related cortical potentials (MRCPs) measured over an optimized set of EEG electrodes. Successful intent detection triggered the motion of an upper-limb exoskeleton (MAHI Exo-II), to guide movement and to encourage active user participation by providing instantaneous sensory feedback. Several BMI design features were optimized to increase system performance in the presence of single-trial variability of MRCPs in the injured brain: (1) an adaptive time window was used for extracting features during BMI calibration; (2) training data from two consecutive days were pooled for BMI calibration to increase robustness to handle the day-to-day variations typical of EEG, and (3) BMI predictions were gated by residual electromyography (EMG) activity from the impaired arm, to reduce the number of false positives. This patient-specific BMI calibration approach can accommodate a broad spectrum of stroke patients with diverse motor capabilities. Following BMI optimization on day 3, testing of the closed-loop BMI-MAHI exoskeleton, on 4th and 5th days of the study, showed consistent BMI performance with overall mean true positive rate (TPR) = 62.7 ± 21.4% on day 4 and 67.1 ± 14.6% on day 5. The overall false positive rate (FPR) across subjects was 27.74 ± 37.46% on day 4 and 27.5 ± 35.64% on day 5; however for two subjects who had residual motor function and could benefit from the EMG-gated BMI, the mean FPR was quite low (< 10%). On average, motor intent was detected −367 ± 328 ms before movement onset during closed-loop operation. These findings provide evidence that closed-loop EEG-based BMI for stroke patients can be designed and optimized to perform well across multiple days without system recalibration. PMID:27065787

  11. METAS Time & Frequency Metrology Report

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-11-01

    TWSTFT link is used to connect UTC (CH) to UTC and TAI. In addition, two calibrated GPS links are operated as backups for the TWSTFT link. TIME... TWSTFT AND GPS LINKS METAS has been equipped with a Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ) terminal since 2007. After the first...calibration of the METAS-PTB link, the TWSTFT link became the official TAI link in July 2007. The most recent link calibration was performed in

  12. VIIRS On-Orbit Calibration for Ocean Color Data Processing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eplee, Robert E., Jr.; Turpie, Kevin R.; Fireman, Gwyn F.; Meister, Gerhard; Stone, Thomas C.; Patt, Frederick S.; Franz, Bryan; Bailey, Sean W.; Robinson, Wayne D.; McClain, Charles R.

    2012-01-01

    The NASA VIIRS Ocean Science Team (VOST) has the task of evaluating Suomi NPP VIIRS ocean color data for the continuity of the NASA ocean color climate data records. The generation of science quality ocean color data products requires an instrument calibration that is stable over time. Since the VIIRS NIR Degradation Anomaly directly impacts the bands used for atmospheric correction of the ocean color data (Bands M6 and M7), the VOST has adapted the VIIRS on-orbit calibration approach to meet the ocean science requirements. The solar diffuser calibration time series and the solar diffuser stability monitor time series have been used to derive changes in the instrument response and diffuser reflectance over time for bands M1-M11.

  13. True logarithmic amplification of frequency clock in SS-OCT for calibration

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Bin; Azimi, Ehsan; Brezinski, Mark E.

    2011-01-01

    With swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), imprecise signal calibration prevents optimal imaging of biological tissues such as coronary artery. This work demonstrates an approach using a true logarithmic amplifier to precondition the clock signal, with the effort to minimize the noises and phase errors for optimal calibration. This method was validated and tested with a high-speed SS-OCT. The experimental results manifest its superior ability on optimization of the calibration and improvement of the imaging performance. Particularly, this hardware-based approach is suitable for real-time calibration in a high-speed system where computation time is constrained. PMID:21698036

  14. Simulation of the High Performance Time to Digital Converter for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer trigger upgrade

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, X. T.; Levin, D. S.; Chapman, J. W.; Zhou, B.

    2016-09-01

    The ATLAS Muon Spectrometer endcap thin-Resistive Plate Chamber trigger project compliments the New Small Wheel endcap Phase-1 upgrade for higher luminosity LHC operation. These new trigger chambers, located in a high rate region of ATLAS, will improve overall trigger acceptance and reduce the fake muon trigger incidence. These chambers must generate a low level muon trigger to be delivered to a remote high level processor within a stringent latency requirement of 43 bunch crossings (1075 ns). To help meet this requirement the High Performance Time to Digital Converter (HPTDC), a multi-channel ASIC designed by CERN Microelectronics group, has been proposed for the digitization of the fast front end detector signals. This paper investigates the HPTDC performance in the context of the overall muon trigger latency, employing detailed behavioral Verilog simulations in which the latency in triggerless mode is measured for a range of configurations and under realistic hit rate conditions. The simulation results show that various HPTDC operational configurations, including leading edge and pair measurement modes can provide high efficiency (>98%) to capture and digitize hits within a time interval satisfying the Phase-1 latency tolerance.

  15. Studies on fast triggering and high precision tracking with Resistive Plate Chambers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aielli, G.; Ball, R.; Bilki, B.; Chapman, J. W.; Cardarelli, R.; Dai, T.; Diehl, E.; Dubbert, J.; Ferretti, C.; Feng, H.; Francis, K.; Guan, L.; Han, L.; Hou, S.; Levin, D.; Li, B.; Liu, L.; Paolozzi, L.; Repond, J.; Roloff, J.; Santonico, R.; Song, H. Y.; Wang, X. L.; Wu, Y.; Xia, L.; Xu, L.; Zhao, T.; Zhao, Z.; Zhou, B.; Zhu, J.

    2013-06-01

    We report on studies of fast triggering and high precision tracking using Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs). Two beam tests were carried out with the 180 GeV/c muon beam at CERN using glass RPCs with gas gaps of 1.15 mm and equipped with readout strips with 1.27 mm pitch. This is the first beam test of RPCs with fine-pitch readout strips that explores precision tracking and triggering capabilities. RPC signals were acquired with precision timing and charge integrating readout electronics at both ends of the strips. The time resolution was measured to be better than 600 ps and the average spatial resolution was found to be 220 μm using charge information and 287 μm only using signal arrival time information. The dual-ended readout allows the determination of the average and the difference of the signal arrival times. The average time was found to be independent of the incident particle position along the strip and is useful for triggering purposes. The time difference yielded a determination of the hit position with a precision of 7.5 mm along the strip. These results demonstrate the feasibility using RPCs for fast and high-resolution triggering and tracking.

  16. Minimizing calibration time using inter-subject information of single-trial recognition of error potentials in brain-computer interfaces.

    PubMed

    Iturrate, Iñaki; Montesano, Luis; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; del R Millán, Jose; Minguez, Javier

    2011-01-01

    One of the main problems of both synchronous and asynchronous EEG-based BCIs is the need of an initial calibration phase before the system can be used. This phase is necessary due to the high non-stationarity of the EEG, since it changes between sessions and users. The calibration process limits the BCI systems to scenarios where the outputs are very controlled, and makes these systems non-friendly and exhausting for the users. Although it has been studied how to reduce calibration time for asynchronous signals, it is still an open issue for event-related potentials. Here, we propose the minimization of the calibration time on single-trial error potentials by using classifiers based on inter-subject information. The results show that it is possible to have a classifier with a high performance from the beginning of the experiment, and which is able to adapt itself making the calibration phase shorter and transparent to the user.

  17. Cavitation instability as a trigger of aneurysm rupture.

    PubMed

    Volokh, K Y

    2015-10-01

    Aneurysm formation and growth is accompanied by microstructural alterations in the arterial wall. Particularly, the loss of elastin may lead to tissue disintegration and appearance of voids or cavities at the micron scale. Unstable growth and coalescence of voids may be a predecessor and trigger for the onset of macroscopic cracks. In the present work, we analyze the instability of membrane (2D) and bulk (3D) voids under hydrostatic tension by using two experimentally calibrated constitutive models of abdominal aortic aneurysm enhanced with energy limiters. The limiters provide the saturation value for the strain energy, which indicates the maximum energy that can be stored and dissipated by an infinitesimal material volume. We find that the unstable growth of voids can start when the critical stress is considerably less than the aneurysm strength. Moreover, this critical stress may even approach the arterial wall stress in the physiological range. This finding suggests that cavitation instability can be a rational indicator of the aneurysm rupture.

  18. Aspects of the optical system relevant for the KM3NeT timing calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kieft, Gerard

    2016-04-01

    KM3NeT is a future research infrastructure in the Mediterranean Sea housing the large Cherenkov telescope arrays of optical modules for neutrino detection. The detector control and data transmission system is based on fibre optical technology. For timing calibration of the detector signals the optical system is used to send and fan-out an onshore clock signal, derived from a GPS receiver, to all optical modules in the deep sea. The optical modules use this clock signal to time stamp the light pulses detected by the photomultipliers inside the modules. The delay time between the GPS clock on shore and the clock in each optical module is measured with sub-nanosecond precision using a White Rabbit based timing calibration system. The aspects of the optical system relevant for the timing calibration and the quantification of their effect will be presented.

  19. Event-Triggered Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Continuous-Time Systems With Control Constraints.

    PubMed

    Dong, Lu; Zhong, Xiangnan; Sun, Changyin; He, Haibo

    2016-08-31

    In this paper, an event-triggered near optimal control structure is developed for nonlinear continuous-time systems with control constraints. Due to the saturating actuators, a nonquadratic cost function is introduced and the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation for constrained nonlinear continuous-time systems is formulated. In order to solve the HJB equation, an actor-critic framework is presented. The critic network is used to approximate the cost function and the action network is used to estimate the optimal control law. In addition, in the proposed method, the control signal is transmitted in an aperiodic manner to reduce the computational and the transmission cost. Both the networks are only updated at the trigger instants decided by the event-triggered condition. Detailed Lyapunov analysis is provided to guarantee that the closed-loop event-triggered system is ultimately bounded. Three case studies are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  20. Signal acquisition and scale calibration for beam power density distribution of electron beam welding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Yong; Li, Hongqiang; Shen, Chunlong; Guo, Shun; Zhou, Qi; Wang, Kehong

    2017-06-01

    The power density distribution of electron beam welding (EBW) is a key factor to reflect the beam quality. The beam quality test system was designed for the actual beam power density distribution of high-voltage EBW. After the analysis of characteristics and phase relationship between the deflection control signal and the acquisition signal, the Post-Trigger mode was proposed for the signal acquisition meanwhile the same external clock source was shared by the control signal and the sampling clock. The power density distribution of beam cross-section was reconstructed using one-dimensional signal that was processed by median filtering, twice signal segmentation and spatial scale calibration. The diameter of beam cross-section was defined by amplitude method and integral method respectively. The measured diameter of integral definition is bigger than that of amplitude definition, but for the ideal distribution the former is smaller than the latter. The measured distribution without symmetrical shape is not concentrated compared to Gaussian distribution.

  1. Calibration of Herschel SPIRE FTS observations at different spectral resolutions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marchili, N.; Hopwood, R.; Fulton, T.; Polehampton, E. T.; Valtchanov, I.; Zaretski, J.; Naylor, D. A.; Griffin, M. J.; Imhof, P.; Lim, T.; Lu, N.; Makiwa, G.; Pearson, C.; Spencer, L.

    2017-01-01

    The SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer on-board the Herschel Space Observatory had two standard spectral resolution modes for science observations: high resolution (HR) and low resolution (LR), which could also be performed in sequence (H+LR). A comparison of the HR and LR resolution spectra taken in this sequential mode revealed a systematic discrepancy in the continuum level. Analysing the data at different stages during standard pipeline processing demonstrates that the telescope and instrument emission affect HR and H+LR observations in a systematically different way. The origin of this difference is found to lie in the variation of both the telescope and instrument response functions, while it is triggered by fast variation of the instrument temperatures. As it is not possible to trace the evolution of the response functions using housekeeping data from the instrument subsystems, the calibration cannot be corrected analytically. Therefore, an empirical correction for LR spectra has been developed, which removes the systematic noise introduced by the variation of the response functions.

  2. A Nonlinearity Minimization-Oriented Resource-Saving Time-to-Digital Converter Implemented in a 28 nm Xilinx FPGA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Yonggang; Liu, Chong

    2015-10-01

    Because large nonlinearity errors exist in the current tapped-delay line (TDL) style field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based time-to-digital converters (TDC), bin-by-bin calibration techniques have to be resorted for gaining a high measurement resolution. If the TDL in selected FPGAs is significantly affected by changes in ambient temperature, the bin-by-bin calibration table has to be updated as frequently as possible. The on-line calibration and calibration table updating increase the TDC design complexity and limit the system performance to some extent. This paper proposes a method to minimize the nonlinearity errors of TDC bins, so that the bin-by-bin calibration may not be needed while maintaining a reasonably high time resolution. The method is a two pass approach: By a bin realignment, the large number of wasted zero-width bins in the original TDL is reused and the granularity of the bins is improved; by a bin decimation, the bin size and its uniformity is traded-off, and the time interpolation by the delay line turns more precise so that the bin-by-bin calibration is not necessary. Using Xilinx 28 nm FPGAs, in which the TDL property is not very sensitive to ambient temperature, the proposed TDC achieves approximately 15 ps root-mean-square (RMS) time resolution by dual-channel measurements of time-intervals over the range of operating temperature. Because of removing the calibration and less logic resources required for the data post-processing, the method has bigger multi-channel capability.

  3. A novel method for determining calibration and behavior of PVDF ultrasonic hydrophone probes in the frequency range up to 100 MHz.

    PubMed

    Bleeker, H J; Lewin, P A

    2000-01-01

    A new calibration technique for PVDF ultrasonic hydrophone probes is described. Current implementation of the technique allows determination of hydrophone frequency response between 2 and 100 MHz and is based on the comparison of theoretically predicted and experimentally determined pressure-time waveforms produced by a focused, circular source. The simulation model was derived from the time domain algorithm that solves the non linear KZK (Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov) equation describing acoustic wave propagation. The calibration technique data were experimentally verified using independent calibration procedures in the frequency range from 2 to 40 MHz using a combined time delay spectrometry and reciprocity approach or calibration data provided by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK. The results of verification indicated good agreement between the results obtained using KZK and the above-mentioned independent calibration techniques from 2 to 40 MHz, with the maximum discrepancy of 18% at 30 MHz. The frequency responses obtained using different hydrophone designs, including several membrane and needle probes, are presented, and it is shown that the technique developed provides a desirable tool for independent verification of primary calibration techniques such as those based on optical interferometry. Fundamental limitations of the presented calibration method are also examined.

  4. Calibration of Safecast dose rate measurements.

    PubMed

    Cervone, Guido; Hultquist, Carolynne

    2018-10-01

    A methodology is presented to calibrate contributed Safecast dose rate measurements acquired between 2011 and 2016 in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan. The Safecast data are calibrated using observations acquired by the U.S. Department of Energy at the time of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi power plant nuclear accident. The methodology performs a series of interpolations between the U.S. government and contributed datasets at specific temporal windows and at corresponding spatial locations. The coefficients found for all the different temporal windows are aggregated and interpolated using quadratic regressions to generate a time dependent calibration function. Normal background radiation, decay rates, and missing values are taken into account during the analysis. Results show that the standard Safecast static transformation function overestimates the official measurements because it fails to capture the presence of two different Cesium isotopes and their changing magnitudes with time. A model is created to predict the ratio of the isotopes from the time of the accident through 2020. The proposed time dependent calibration takes into account this Cesium isotopes ratio, and it is shown to reduce the error between U.S. government and contributed data. The proposed calibration is needed through 2020, after which date the errors introduced by ignoring the presence of different isotopes will become negligible. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. A Biomechanical Assessment of Hand/Arm Force with Pneumatic Nail Gun Actuation Systems.

    PubMed

    Lowe, Brian D; Albers, James; Hudock, Stephen D

    2014-09-01

    A biomechanical model is presented, and combined with measurements of tip press force, to estimate total user hand force associated with two pneumatic nail gun trigger systems. The contact actuation trigger (CAT) can fire a nail when the user holds the trigger depressed first and then "bumps" the nail gun tip against the workpiece. With a full sequential actuation trigger (SAT) the user must press the tip against the workpiece prior to activating the trigger. The SAT is demonstrably safer in reducing traumatic injury risk, but increases the duration (and magnitude) of tip force exertion. Time integrated (cumulative) hand force was calculated for a single user from measurements of the tip contact force with the workpiece and transfer time between nails as inputs to a static model of the nail gun and workpiece in two nailing task orientations. The model shows the hand force dependence upon the orientation of the workpiece in addition to the trigger system. Based on standard time allowances from work measurement systems (i.e. Methods-Time Measurement - 1) it is proposed that efficient application of hand force with the SAT in maintaining tip contact can reduce force exertion attributable to the sequential actuation trigger to 2-8% (horizontal nailing) and 9-20% (vertical nailing) of the total hand/arm force. The present model is useful for considering differences in cumulative hand/arm force exposure between the SAT and CAT systems and may explain the appeal of the CAT trigger in reducing the user's perception of muscular effort.

  6. A Biomechanical Assessment of Hand/Arm Force with Pneumatic Nail Gun Actuation Systems

    PubMed Central

    Lowe, Brian D.; Albers, James; Hudock, Stephen D.

    2015-01-01

    A biomechanical model is presented, and combined with measurements of tip press force, to estimate total user hand force associated with two pneumatic nail gun trigger systems. The contact actuation trigger (CAT) can fire a nail when the user holds the trigger depressed first and then “bumps” the nail gun tip against the workpiece. With a full sequential actuation trigger (SAT) the user must press the tip against the workpiece prior to activating the trigger. The SAT is demonstrably safer in reducing traumatic injury risk, but increases the duration (and magnitude) of tip force exertion. Time integrated (cumulative) hand force was calculated for a single user from measurements of the tip contact force with the workpiece and transfer time between nails as inputs to a static model of the nail gun and workpiece in two nailing task orientations. The model shows the hand force dependence upon the orientation of the workpiece in addition to the trigger system. Based on standard time allowances from work measurement systems (i.e. Methods-Time Measurement - 1) it is proposed that efficient application of hand force with the SAT in maintaining tip contact can reduce force exertion attributable to the sequential actuation trigger to 2–8% (horizontal nailing) and 9–20% (vertical nailing) of the total hand/arm force. The present model is useful for considering differences in cumulative hand/arm force exposure between the SAT and CAT systems and may explain the appeal of the CAT trigger in reducing the user’s perception of muscular effort. PMID:26321780

  7. Clock and trigger distribution for CBM-TOF quality evaluation of RPC super module detector assemblies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, C.; Huang, X.; Cao, P.; Wang, J.; An, Q.

    2018-03-01

    RPC Super module (SM) detector assemblies are used for charged hadron identification in the Time-of-Flight (TOF) spectrometer at the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment. Each SM contains several multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs) and provides up to 320 electronic channels in total for high-precision time measurements. Time resolution of the Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) is required to be better than 20 ps. During mass production, the quality of each SM needs to be evaluated. In order to meet the requirements, the system clock signal as well as the trigger signal should be distributed precisely and synchronously to all electronics modules within the evaluation readout system. In this paper, a hierarchical clock and trigger distribution method is proposed for the quality evaluation of CBM-TOF SM detectors. In a first stage, the master clock and trigger module (CTM) allocated in a 6U PXI chassis distributes the clock and trigger signals to the slave CTM in the same chassis. In a second stage, the slave CTM transmits the clock and trigger signals to the TDC readout module (TRM) through one optical link. In a third stage, the TRM distributes the clock and trigger signals synchronously to 10 individual TDC boards. Laboratory test results show that the clock jitter at the third stage is less than 4 ps (RMS) and the trigger transmission latency from the master CTM to the TDC is about 272 ns with 11 ps (RMS) jitter. The overall performance complies well with the required specifications.

  8. The Use of Color Sensors for Spectrographic Calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, Neil B.

    2018-04-01

    The wavelength calibration of spectrographs is an essential but challenging task in many disciplines. Calibration is traditionally accomplished by imaging the spectrum of a light source containing features that are known to appear at certain wavelengths and mapping them to their location on the sensor. This is typically required in conjunction with each scientific observation to account for mechanical and optical variations of the instrument over time, which may span years for certain projects. The method presented here investigates the usage of color itself instead of spectral features to calibrate a spectrograph. The primary advantage of such a calibration is that any broad-spectrum light source such as the sky or an incandescent bulb is suitable. This method allows for calibration using the full optical pathway of the instrument instead of incorporating separate calibration equipment that may introduce errors. This paper focuses on the potential for color calibration in the field of radial velocity astronomy, in which instruments must be finely calibrated for long periods of time to detect tiny Doppler wavelength shifts. This method is not restricted to radial velocity, however, and may find application in any field requiring calibrated spectrometers such as sea water analysis, cellular biology, chemistry, atmospheric studies, and so on. This paper demonstrates that color sensors have the potential to provide calibration with greatly reduced complexity.

  9. A standardized method for the calibration of thermodynamic data for the prediction of gas chromatographic retention times.

    PubMed

    McGinitie, Teague M; Ebrahimi-Najafabadi, Heshmatollah; Harynuk, James J

    2014-02-21

    A new method for calibrating thermodynamic data to be used in the prediction of analyte retention times is presented. The method allows thermodynamic data collected on one column to be used in making predictions across columns of the same stationary phase but with varying geometries. This calibration is essential as slight variances in the column inner diameter and stationary phase film thickness between columns or as a column ages will adversely affect the accuracy of predictions. The calibration technique uses a Grob standard mixture along with a Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm and a previously developed model of GC retention times based on a three-parameter thermodynamic model to estimate both inner diameter and stationary phase film thickness. The calibration method is highly successful with the predicted retention times for a set of alkanes, ketones and alcohols having an average error of 1.6s across three columns. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Simulacrum or Corporeal Manifestations in Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liubarsky, Igor Romanovic

    To date, Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) collaboration has successfully deployed 382 optical modules at various depths in the South Polar ice sheet. The last 216 optical modules were put in place during the 1996-7 austral summer. This deployment completed a 10-stringed detector at depth between 1500-2000m (AMANDA-B). The detector has been operating successfully and taking data at a rate of 92Hz. However, due to the remoteness of location and the limited bandwidth for satellite transmission, only 5% of the latest data can be transmitted from the South Pole to the collaboration. Before the end of the 1996-7 antarctic season 6GBytes of data were carried to the rest of the world by hand. Since this data was taken while detector calibration was still being performed, it is far from ideal. Yet this sample, to date, represents the largest amount of the data taken by the 10 string detector available for analysis. A total of 11.8 hours of raw data was analysed, comprising 3,380,739 events. Of that number 2,951,118 were AMANDA-B triggers. After calibration and noise cleaning, the number of confirmed AMANDA-B triggers was further reduced to 2,880,391. From this data set a fraction of events were reconstructed without any filtering on the reconstructed direction of the final track. This resulted in 103,168 reconstructed tracks from all zenith angles. However, the full set of 2,880,391 triggers was used to reconstruct tracks, selecting only those that yielded an up-going muon. The procedure produced 25,122 tracks. Various quality criteria was then utilised to discriminate real up-going tracks from fake events mimicked by down-going muons. No real up-going events were found. My personal contribution to the AMANDA experiment has been in three main areas: hardware; I have built 40 of the first AMANDA-A modules; software; I have written subroutines for the University of Wisconsin-Madison AMANDA group's Monte Carlo; data analysis; I have analysed the early 10 string AMANDA-B data.

  11. Readout Electronics for BGO Calorimeter of DAMPE: Status during the First Half-year after Launching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Siyuan; Feng, Changqing; Zhang, Deliang; Wang, Qi

    2016-07-01

    The DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explorer) is a scientic satellite which was successfully launched into a 500 Km sun-synchronous orbit, on December 17th, 2015, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China. The major scientific objective of DAMPE mission is indirect searching for dark matter by observing high energy primary cosmic rays, especially positrons/electrons and gamma rays with an energy range from 5 GeV to 10 TeV. The BGO (Bismuth Germanate Oxide) calorimeter, which is a critical sub-detector of DAMPE payload, was developed for measuring the energy of cosmic particles, distinguishing positrons/electrons and gamma rays from hadron background, and providing trigger information. It is composed of 308 BGO crystal logs, with the size of 2.5cm*2.5cm*60cm for each log to form a total absorption electromagnetic calorimeter. All the BGO logs are stacked in 14 layers, with each layer consisting of 22 BGO crystal logs and each log is viewed by two Hamamatsu R5610A PMTs (photomultiplier tubes), from both sides respectively. Each PMT incorporates a three dynode pick off to achieve a large dynamic range, which results in 616 PMTs and 1848 signal channels. The main function of readout electronics system, which consists of 16 FEE(Front End Electronics) modules, is to precisely measure the charge of PMT signals and providing "hit" signals. The hit signals are sent to the trigger module of PDPU (Payload Data Process Unit) to generate triggers for the payload. The calibration of the BGO calorimeter is composed of pedestal testing and electronic linear scale, which are executed frequently in the space after launching. The data of the testing is transmitted to ground station in the form of scientific data. The monitor status consists of temperature, current and status words of the FEE, which are measured and recorded every 16 seconds and packed in the engineering data, then transmitted to ground station. The status of the BGO calorimeter can be evaluated by the calibration and monitor status. The preliminary results of the status in the first six month after launching are introduced in this paper.

  12. 10 CFR Appendix E to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Water Heaters

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... following: a. A thermopile b. Calibrated resistance thermometers c. Precision thermometers d. Calibrated... is used, it shall be made from calibrated thermocouple wire taken from a single spool. Extension wires to the recording device shall also be made from that same spool. 3.2.6 Time Constant. The time...

  13. Summary of the COS Cycle 20 Calibration Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roman-Duval, Julia; Aloisi, Alessandra; Bostroem, K. Azalee; Ely, Justin; Holland, Stephen; Lockwood, Sean; Oliveira, Cristina; Penton, Steven; Proffitt, Charles; Sahnow, David; Sonnentrucker, Paule; Welty, Alan D.; Wheeler, Thomas

    2015-06-01

    We summarize the Cycle 20 calibration program for the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, covering the time period from November 2012 through October 2013. We give an overview of the Calibration plan and status summaries for each of the individual proposals comprising the C20 Calibration program.

  14. Summary of the COS Cycle 21 Calibration Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sana, Hugues; Fox, Andrew; Roman-Duval, Julia; Ely, Justin; Bostroem, K. Azalee; Lockwood, Sean; Oliveira, Cristina; Penton, Steve; Proffitt, Charles; Sahnow, David; Sonnentrucker, Paule; Welty, Alan D.; Wheeler, Thomas

    2015-09-01

    We summarize the Cycle 21 calibration program for the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, covering the time period from November 2013 through October 2014. We give an overview of the Calibration plan and status summaries for each of the individual proposals comprising the C21 Calibration program.

  15. Consequences of Secondary Calibrations on Divergence Time Estimates.

    PubMed

    Schenk, John J

    2016-01-01

    Secondary calibrations (calibrations based on the results of previous molecular dating studies) are commonly applied in divergence time analyses in groups that lack fossil data; however, the consequences of applying secondary calibrations in a relaxed-clock approach are not fully understood. I tested whether applying the posterior estimate from a primary study as a prior distribution in a secondary study results in consistent age and uncertainty estimates. I compared age estimates from simulations with 100 randomly replicated secondary trees. On average, the 95% credible intervals of node ages for secondary estimates were significantly younger and narrower than primary estimates. The primary and secondary age estimates were significantly different in 97% of the replicates after Bonferroni corrections. Greater error in magnitude was associated with deeper than shallower nodes, but the opposite was found when standardized by median node age, and a significant positive relationship was determined between the number of tips/age of secondary trees and the total amount of error. When two secondary calibrated nodes were analyzed, estimates remained significantly different, and although the minimum and median estimates were associated with less error, maximum age estimates and credible interval widths had greater error. The shape of the prior also influenced error, in which applying a normal, rather than uniform, prior distribution resulted in greater error. Secondary calibrations, in summary, lead to a false impression of precision and the distribution of age estimates shift away from those that would be inferred by the primary analysis. These results suggest that secondary calibrations should not be applied as the only source of calibration in divergence time analyses that test time-dependent hypotheses until the additional error associated with secondary calibrations is more properly modeled to take into account increased uncertainty in age estimates.

  16. Biases in Multicenter Longitudinal PET Standardized Uptake Value Measurements1

    PubMed Central

    Doot, Robert K; Pierce, Larry A; Byrd, Darrin; Elston, Brian; Allberg, Keith C; Kinahan, Paul E

    2014-01-01

    This study investigates measurement biases in longitudinal positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) studies that are due to instrumentation variability including human error. Improved estimation of variability between patient scans is of particular importance for assessing response to therapy and multicenter trials. We used National Institute of Standards and Technology-traceable calibration methodology for solid germanium-68/gallium-68 (68Ge/68Ga) sources used as surrogates for fluorine-18 (18F) in radionuclide activity calibrators. One cross-calibration kit was constructed for both dose calibrators and PET scanners using the same 9-month half-life batch of 68Ge/68Ga in epoxy. Repeat measurements occurred in a local network of PET imaging sites to assess standardized uptake value (SUV) errors over time for six dose calibrators from two major manufacturers and for six PET/CT scanners from three major manufacturers. Bias in activity measures by dose calibrators ranged from -50% to 9% and was relatively stable over time except at one site that modified settings between measurements. Bias in activity concentration measures by PET scanners ranged from -27% to 13% with a median of 174 days between the six repeat scans (range, 29 to 226 days). Corresponding errors in SUV measurements ranged from -20% to 47%. SUV biases were not stable over time with longitudinal differences for individual scanners ranging from -11% to 59%. Bias in SUV measurements varied over time and between scanner sites. These results suggest that attention should be paid to PET scanner calibration for longitudinal studies and use of dose calibrator and scanner cross-calibration kits could be helpful for quality assurance and control. PMID:24772207

  17. Accelerated dynamic cardiac MRI exploiting sparse-Kalman-smoother self-calibration and reconstruction (k  -  t SPARKS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Suhyung; Park, Jaeseok

    2015-05-01

    Accelerated dynamic MRI, which exploits spatiotemporal redundancies in k  -  t space and coil dimension, has been widely used to reduce the number of signal encoding and thus increase imaging efficiency with minimal loss of image quality. Nonetheless, particularly in cardiac MRI it still suffers from artifacts and amplified noise in the presence of time-drifting coil sensitivity due to relative motion between coil and subject (e.g. free breathing). Furthermore, a substantial number of additional calibrating signals is to be acquired to warrant accurate calibration of coil sensitivity. In this work, we propose a novel, accelerated dynamic cardiac MRI with sparse-Kalman-smoother self-calibration and reconstruction (k  -  t SPARKS), which is robust to time-varying coil sensitivity even with a small number of calibrating signals. The proposed k  -  t SPARKS incorporates Kalman-smoother self-calibration in k  -  t space and sparse signal recovery in x  -   f space into a single optimization problem, leading to iterative, joint estimation of time-varying convolution kernels and missing signals in k  -  t space. In the Kalman-smoother calibration, motion-induced uncertainties over the entire time frames were included in modeling state transition while a coil-dependent noise statistic in describing measurement process. The sparse signal recovery iteratively alternates with the self-calibration to tackle the ill-conditioning problem potentially resulting from insufficient calibrating signals. Simulations and experiments were performed using both the proposed and conventional methods for comparison, revealing that the proposed k  -  t SPARKS yields higher signal-to-error ratio and superior temporal fidelity in both breath-hold and free-breathing cardiac applications over all reduction factors.

  18. Accelerated dynamic cardiac MRI exploiting sparse-Kalman-smoother self-calibration and reconstruction (k  -  t SPARKS).

    PubMed

    Park, Suhyung; Park, Jaeseok

    2015-05-07

    Accelerated dynamic MRI, which exploits spatiotemporal redundancies in k  -  t space and coil dimension, has been widely used to reduce the number of signal encoding and thus increase imaging efficiency with minimal loss of image quality. Nonetheless, particularly in cardiac MRI it still suffers from artifacts and amplified noise in the presence of time-drifting coil sensitivity due to relative motion between coil and subject (e.g. free breathing). Furthermore, a substantial number of additional calibrating signals is to be acquired to warrant accurate calibration of coil sensitivity. In this work, we propose a novel, accelerated dynamic cardiac MRI with sparse-Kalman-smoother self-calibration and reconstruction (k  -  t SPARKS), which is robust to time-varying coil sensitivity even with a small number of calibrating signals. The proposed k  -  t SPARKS incorporates Kalman-smoother self-calibration in k  -  t space and sparse signal recovery in x  -   f space into a single optimization problem, leading to iterative, joint estimation of time-varying convolution kernels and missing signals in k  -  t space. In the Kalman-smoother calibration, motion-induced uncertainties over the entire time frames were included in modeling state transition while a coil-dependent noise statistic in describing measurement process. The sparse signal recovery iteratively alternates with the self-calibration to tackle the ill-conditioning problem potentially resulting from insufficient calibrating signals. Simulations and experiments were performed using both the proposed and conventional methods for comparison, revealing that the proposed k  -  t SPARKS yields higher signal-to-error ratio and superior temporal fidelity in both breath-hold and free-breathing cardiac applications over all reduction factors.

  19. Planck 2013 results. VIII. HFI photometric calibration and mapmaking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Armitage-Caplan, C.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bertincourt, B.; Bielewicz, P.; Bobin, J.; Bock, J. J.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bridges, M.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Cardoso, J.-F.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chary, R.-R.; Chen, X.; Chiang, H. C.; Chiang, L.-Y.; Christensen, P. R.; Church, S.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Combet, C.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.-M.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J. M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Enßlin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Filliard, C.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F. K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jaffe, T. R.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Knox, L.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R. J.; Lawrence, C. R.; Le Jeune, M.; Lellouch, E.; Leonardi, R.; Leroy, C.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P. B.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D. J.; Martin, P. G.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Massardi, M.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Maurin, L.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Meinhold, P. R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Moreno, R.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J. A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Oxborrow, C. A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Paoletti, D.; Partridge, B.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Pearson, T. J.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Poutanen, T.; Pratt, G. W.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J. P.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Roudier, G.; Rusholme, B.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Shellard, E. P. S.; Spencer, L. D.; Starck, J.-L.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sureau, F.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Techene, S.; Terenzi, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

    2014-11-01

    This paper describes the methods used to produce photometrically calibrated maps from the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) cleaned, time-ordered information. HFI observes the sky over a broad range of frequencies, from 100 to 857 GHz. To obtain the best calibration accuracy over such a large range, two different photometric calibration schemes have to be used. The 545 and 857 GHz data are calibrated by comparing flux-density measurements of Uranus and Neptune with models of their atmospheric emission. The lower frequencies (below 353 GHz) are calibrated using the solar dipole. A component of this anisotropy is time-variable, owing to the orbital motion of the satellite in the solar system. Photometric calibration is thus tightly linked to mapmaking, which also addresses low-frequency noise removal. By comparing observations taken more than one year apart in the same configuration, we have identified apparent gain variations with time. These variations are induced by non-linearities in the read-out electronics chain. We have developed an effective correction to limit their effect on calibration. We present several methods to estimate the precision of the photometric calibration. We distinguish relative uncertainties (between detectors, or between frequencies) and absolute uncertainties. Absolute uncertainties lie in the range from 0.54% to 10% from 100 to 857 GHz. We describe the pipeline used to produce the maps from the HFI timelines, based on the photometric calibration parameters, and the scheme used to set the zero level of the maps a posteriori. We also discuss the cross-calibration between HFI and the SPIRE instrument on board Herschel. Finally we summarize the basic characteristics of the set of HFI maps included in the 2013 Planck data release.

  20. A novel low-jitter plasma-jet triggered gas switch operated at a low working coefficient.

    PubMed

    Tie, Weihao; Liu, Shanhong; Liu, Xuandong; Zhang, Qiaogen; Pang, Lei; Liu, Longchen

    2014-02-01

    In this paper, we described the fabrication and testing of a novel plasma-jet triggered gas switch (PJTGS) operated at extremely low working coefficients with excellent triggered jitters. While the structure of the PJTGS is similar to that of a traditional three-electrode field-distortion gas switch, to improve its triggered performance we used a conical micro-plasma-gun with a needle-to-plate spark gap embedded in the trigger electrode. Applying a nanosecond pulse to the trigger electrode caused a spark discharge in the micro-plasma-gun. The electric field drove the discharge plasma to spray into the spark gap of the gas switch, causing fast breakdown. We tested the PJTGS with charging voltages of ±25 kV and a trigger voltage of +80 kV (5 ns rise time and 80 ns full width at half maximum) in two working modes. The PJTGS operated in Mode II had a lower triggered jitter and could be operated over a wider range of working coefficients than in Mode I under the same conditions. At working coefficients higher than 70%, we obtained sub-ns triggered jitters (<0.89 ns) from the PJTGS, at working coefficients lower than 50%, we obtained triggered jitters of 1.6-3.5 ns without no-fires or pre-fires. Even at a working coefficient of 27.4%, the PJTGS could still be triggered reliably with a delay time of 96.1 ns and a triggered jitter of 3.5 ns, respectively.

  1. Lessons from (triggered) tremor

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gomberg, Joan

    2010-01-01

    I test a “clock-advance” model that implies triggered tremor is ambient tremor that occurs at a sped-up rate as a result of loading from passing seismic waves. This proposed model predicts that triggering probability is proportional to the product of the ambient tremor rate and a function describing the efficacy of the triggering wave to initiate a tremor event. Using data mostly from Cascadia, I have compared qualitatively a suite of teleseismic waves that did and did not trigger tremor with ambient tremor rates. Many of the observations are consistent with the model if the efficacy of the triggering wave depends on wave amplitude. One triggered tremor observation clearly violates the clock-advance model. The model prediction that larger triggering waves result in larger triggered tremor signals also appears inconsistent with the measurements. I conclude that the tremor source process is a more complex system than that described by the clock-advance model predictions tested. Results of this and previous studies also demonstrate that (1) conditions suitable for tremor generation exist in many tectonic environments, but, within each, only occur at particular spots whose locations change with time; (2) any fluid flow must be restricted to less than a meter; (3) the degree to which delayed failure and secondary triggering occurs is likely insignificant; and 4) both shear and dilatational deformations may trigger tremor. Triggered and ambient tremor rates correlate more strongly with stress than stressing rate, suggesting tremor sources result from time-dependent weakening processes rather than simple Coulomb failure.

  2. Cloned plasmid DNA fragments as calibrators for controlling GMOs: different real-time duplex quantitative PCR methods.

    PubMed

    Taverniers, Isabel; Van Bockstaele, Erik; De Loose, Marc

    2004-03-01

    Analytical real-time PCR technology is a powerful tool for implementation of the GMO labeling regulations enforced in the EU. The quality of analytical measurement data obtained by quantitative real-time PCR depends on the correct use of calibrator and reference materials (RMs). For GMO methods of analysis, the choice of appropriate RMs is currently under debate. So far, genomic DNA solutions from certified reference materials (CRMs) are most often used as calibrators for GMO quantification by means of real-time PCR. However, due to some intrinsic features of these CRMs, errors may be expected in the estimations of DNA sequence quantities. In this paper, two new real-time PCR methods are presented for Roundup Ready soybean, in which two types of plasmid DNA fragments are used as calibrators. Single-target plasmids (STPs) diluted in a background of genomic DNA were used in the first method. Multiple-target plasmids (MTPs) containing both sequences in one molecule were used as calibrators for the second method. Both methods simultaneously detect a promoter 35S sequence as GMO-specific target and a lectin gene sequence as endogenous reference target in a duplex PCR. For the estimation of relative GMO percentages both "delta C(T)" and "standard curve" approaches are tested. Delta C(T) methods are based on direct comparison of measured C(T) values of both the GMO-specific target and the endogenous target. Standard curve methods measure absolute amounts of target copies or haploid genome equivalents. A duplex delta C(T) method with STP calibrators performed at least as well as a similar method with genomic DNA calibrators from commercial CRMs. Besides this, high quality results were obtained with a standard curve method using MTP calibrators. This paper demonstrates that plasmid DNA molecules containing either one or multiple target sequences form perfect alternative calibrators for GMO quantification and are especially suitable for duplex PCR reactions.

  3. A Hierarchical Bayesian Model for Calibrating Estimates of Species Divergence Times

    PubMed Central

    Heath, Tracy A.

    2012-01-01

    In Bayesian divergence time estimation methods, incorporating calibrating information from the fossil record is commonly done by assigning prior densities to ancestral nodes in the tree. Calibration prior densities are typically parametric distributions offset by minimum age estimates provided by the fossil record. Specification of the parameters of calibration densities requires the user to quantify his or her prior knowledge of the age of the ancestral node relative to the age of its calibrating fossil. The values of these parameters can, potentially, result in biased estimates of node ages if they lead to overly informative prior distributions. Accordingly, determining parameter values that lead to adequate prior densities is not straightforward. In this study, I present a hierarchical Bayesian model for calibrating divergence time analyses with multiple fossil age constraints. This approach applies a Dirichlet process prior as a hyperprior on the parameters of calibration prior densities. Specifically, this model assumes that the rate parameters of exponential prior distributions on calibrated nodes are distributed according to a Dirichlet process, whereby the rate parameters are clustered into distinct parameter categories. Both simulated and biological data are analyzed to evaluate the performance of the Dirichlet process hyperprior. Compared with fixed exponential prior densities, the hierarchical Bayesian approach results in more accurate and precise estimates of internal node ages. When this hyperprior is applied using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, the ages of calibrated nodes are sampled from mixtures of exponential distributions and uncertainty in the values of calibration density parameters is taken into account. PMID:22334343

  4. Direct Reading Particle Counters: Calibration Verification and Multiple Instrument Agreement via Bump Testing

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

    Jankovic, John; Zontek, Tracy L.; Ogle, Burton R.

    We examined the calibration records of two direct reading instruments designated as condensation particle counters in order to determine the number of times they were found to be out of tolerance at annual manufacturer's recalibration. For both instruments were found to be out of tolerance more times than within tolerance. And, it was concluded that annual calibration alone was insufficient to provide operational confidence in an instrument's response. Thus, a method based on subsequent agreement with data gathered from a newly calibrated instrument was developed to confirm operational readiness between annual calibrations, hereafter referred to as bump testing. The methodmore » consists of measuring source particles produced by a gas grille spark igniter in a gallon-size jar. Sampling from this chamber with a newly calibrated instrument to determine the calibrated response over the particle concentration range of interest serves as a reference. Agreement between this reference response and subsequent responses at later dates implies that the instrument is performing as it was at the time of calibration. Side-by-side sampling allows the level of agreement between two or more instruments to be determined. This is useful when simultaneously collected data are compared for differences, i.e., background with process aerosol concentrations. A reference set of data was obtained using the spark igniter. The generation system was found to be reproducible and suitable to form the basis of calibration verification. Finally, the bump test is simple enough to be performed periodically throughout the calibration year or prior to field monitoring.« less

  5. Direct Reading Particle Counters: Calibration Verification and Multiple Instrument Agreement via Bump Testing

    DOE PAGES

    Jankovic, John; Zontek, Tracy L.; Ogle, Burton R.; ...

    2015-01-27

    We examined the calibration records of two direct reading instruments designated as condensation particle counters in order to determine the number of times they were found to be out of tolerance at annual manufacturer's recalibration. For both instruments were found to be out of tolerance more times than within tolerance. And, it was concluded that annual calibration alone was insufficient to provide operational confidence in an instrument's response. Thus, a method based on subsequent agreement with data gathered from a newly calibrated instrument was developed to confirm operational readiness between annual calibrations, hereafter referred to as bump testing. The methodmore » consists of measuring source particles produced by a gas grille spark igniter in a gallon-size jar. Sampling from this chamber with a newly calibrated instrument to determine the calibrated response over the particle concentration range of interest serves as a reference. Agreement between this reference response and subsequent responses at later dates implies that the instrument is performing as it was at the time of calibration. Side-by-side sampling allows the level of agreement between two or more instruments to be determined. This is useful when simultaneously collected data are compared for differences, i.e., background with process aerosol concentrations. A reference set of data was obtained using the spark igniter. The generation system was found to be reproducible and suitable to form the basis of calibration verification. Finally, the bump test is simple enough to be performed periodically throughout the calibration year or prior to field monitoring.« less

  6. PUSHing core-collapse simulations to explosion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fröhlich, C.; Perego, A.; Hempe, M.; Ebinger, K.; Eichler, M.; Casanova, J.; Liebendörfer, M.; Thielemann, F.-K.

    2018-01-01

    We report on the PUSH method for artificially triggering core-collapse supernova explosions of massive stars in spherical symmetry. The PUSH method increases the energy deposition in the gain region proportionally to the heavy flavor neutrino fluxes.We summarize the parameter dependence of the method and calibrate PUSH to reproduce SN 1987A observables. We identify a best-fit progenitor and set of parameters that fit the explosion properties of SN 1987A, assuming 0.1 M⊙ of fallback. For the explored progenitor range of 18-21 M⊙, we find correlations between explosion properties and the compactness of the progenitor model.

  7. Report on the lunar ranging at McDonald Observatory. [spark gap configuration and photomultiplier system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Silverberg, E. C.

    1977-01-01

    Range measurements to an accuracy of 5 cm were achieved following improvements in the laser oscillator configuration and the photomultiplier system. Modifications to the laser include a redesigned pockel cell mount to eliminate stressing of the cell crystal; an improved electrically triggered spark gap for sharpening the electrical pulse; the use of a brewster plate in the cavity to eliminate pre-pulsing; improved alignment for the oscillator system; and increased cavity lifetime through thin film polarizer technology. Laser calibration data are presented along with the lunar laser operations log for June to October 1977.

  8. Stress/strain changes and triggered seismicity at The Geysers, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gomberg, J.; Davis, S.

    1996-01-01

    The principal results of this study of remotely triggered seismicity in The Geysers geothermal field are the demonstration that triggering (initiation of earthquake failure) depends on a critical strain threshold and that the threshold level increases with decreasing frequency or equivalently, depends on strain rate. This threshold function derives from (1) analyses of dynamic strains associated with surface waves of the triggering earthquakes, (2) statistically measured aftershock zone dimensions, and (3) analytic functional representations of strains associated with power production and tides. The threshold is also consistent with triggering by static strain changes and implies that both static and dynamic strains may cause aftershocks. The observation that triggered seismicity probably occurs in addition to background activity also provides an important constraint on the triggering process. Assuming the physical processes underlying earthquake nucleation to be the same, Gomberg [this issue] discusses seismicity triggered by the MW 7.3 Landers earthquake, its constraints on the variability of triggering thresholds with site, and the implications of time delays between triggering and triggered earthquakes. Our results enable us to reject the hypothesis that dynamic strains simply nudge prestressed faults over a Coulomb failure threshold sooner than they would have otherwise. We interpret the rate-dependent triggering threshold as evidence of several competing processes with different time constants, the faster one(s) facilitating failure and the other(s) inhibiting it. Such competition is a common feature of theories of slip instability. All these results, not surprisingly, imply that to understand earthquake triggering one must consider not only simple failure criteria requiring exceedence of some constant threshold but also the requirements for generating instabilities.

  9. Stress/strain changes and triggered seismicity at The Geysers, California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gomberg, Joan; Davis, Scott

    1996-01-01

    The principal results of this study of remotely triggered seismicity in The Geysers geothermal field are the demonstration that triggering (initiation of earthquake failure) depends on a critical strain threshold and that the threshold level increases with decreasing frequency, or, equivalently, depends on strain rate. This threshold function derives from (1) analyses of dynamic strains associated with surface waves of the triggering earthquakes, (2) statistically measured aftershock zone dimensions, and (3) analytic functional representations of strains associated with power production and tides. The threshold is also consistent with triggering by static strain changes and implies that both static and dynamic strains may cause aftershocks. The observation that triggered seismicity probably occurs in addition to background activity also provides an important constraint on the triggering process. Assuming the physical processes underlying earthquake nucleation to be the same, Gomberg [this issue] discusses seismicity triggered by the MW 7.3 Landers earthquake, its constraints on the variability of triggering thresholds with site, and the implications of time delays between triggering and triggered earthquakes. Our results enable us to reject the hypothesis that dynamic strains simply nudge prestressed faults over a Coulomb failure threshold sooner than they would have otherwise. We interpret the rate-dependent triggering threshold as evidence of several competing processes with different time constants, the faster one(s) facilitating failure and the other(s) inhibiting it. Such competition is a common feature of theories of slip instability. All these results, not surprisingly, imply that to understand earthquake triggering one must consider not only simple failure criteria requiring exceedence of some constant threshold but also the requirements for generating instabilities.

  10. Development of composite calibration standard for quantitative NDE by ultrasound and thermography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dayal, Vinay; Benedict, Zach G.; Bhatnagar, Nishtha; Harper, Adam G.

    2018-04-01

    Inspection of aircraft components for damage utilizing ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is a time intensive endeavor. Additional time spent during aircraft inspections translates to added cost to the company performing them, and as such, reducing this expenditure is of great importance. There is also great variance in the calibration samples from one entity to another due to a lack of a common calibration set. By characterizing damage types, we can condense the required calibration sets and reduce the time required to perform calibration while also providing procedures for the fabrication of these standard sets. We present here our effort to fabricate composite samples with known defects and quantify the size and location of defects, such as delaminations, and impact damage. Ultrasonic and Thermographic images are digitally enhanced to accurately measure the damage size. Ultrasonic NDE is compared with thermography.

  11. Which Triggers Produce the Most Erosive, Frequent, and Longest Runout Turbidity Currents on Deltas?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hizzett, J. L.; Hughes Clarke, J. E.; Sumner, E. J.; Cartigny, M. J. B.; Talling, P. J.; Clare, M. A.

    2018-01-01

    Subaerial rivers and turbidity currents are the two most voluminous sediment transport processes on our planet, and it is important to understand how they are linked offshore from river mouths. Previously, it was thought that slope failures or direct plunging of river floodwater (hyperpycnal flow) dominated the triggering of turbidity currents on delta fronts. Here we reanalyze the most detailed time-lapse monitoring yet of a submerged delta; comprising 93 surveys of the Squamish Delta in British Columbia, Canada. We show that most turbidity currents are triggered by settling of sediment from dilute surface river plumes, rather than landslides or hyperpycnal flows. Turbidity currents triggered by settling plumes occur frequently, run out as far as landslide-triggered events, and cause the greatest changes to delta and lobe morphology. For the first time, we show that settling from surface plumes can dominate the triggering of hazardous submarine flows and offshore sediment fluxes.

  12. Experimental Investigations of Non-Stationary Properties In Radiometer Receivers Using Measurements of Multiple Calibration References

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Racette, Paul; Lang, Roger; Zhang, Zhao-Nan; Zacharias, David; Krebs, Carolyn A. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Radiometers must be periodically calibrated because the receiver response fluctuates. Many techniques exist to correct for the time varying response of a radiometer receiver. An analytical technique has been developed that uses generalized least squares regression (LSR) to predict the performance of a wide variety of calibration algorithms. The total measurement uncertainty including the uncertainty of the calibration can be computed using LSR. The uncertainties of the calibration samples used in the regression are based upon treating the receiver fluctuations as non-stationary processes. Signals originating from the different sources of emission are treated as simultaneously existing random processes. Thus, the radiometer output is a series of samples obtained from these random processes. The samples are treated as random variables but because the underlying processes are non-stationary the statistics of the samples are treated as non-stationary. The statistics of the calibration samples depend upon the time for which the samples are to be applied. The statistics of the random variables are equated to the mean statistics of the non-stationary processes over the interval defined by the time of calibration sample and when it is applied. This analysis opens the opportunity for experimental investigation into the underlying properties of receiver non stationarity through the use of multiple calibration references. In this presentation we will discuss the application of LSR to the analysis of various calibration algorithms, requirements for experimental verification of the theory, and preliminary results from analyzing experiment measurements.

  13. The trigger system of the JEM-EUSO Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bertaina, M.; Ebisuzaki, T.; Hamada, T.; Ikeda, H.; Kawasai, Y.; Sawabe, T.; Takahashi, Y.; JEM-EUSO Collaboration

    The trigger system of JEM-EUSO should face different major challenging points: a) cope with the limited down-link transmission rate from the ISS to Earth, by operating a severe on-board and on-time data reduction; b) use very fast, low power consuming and radiation hard electronics; c) have a high signal-over-noise performance and flexibility in order to lower as much as possible the energy threshold of the detector, adjust the system to a variable nightglow background, and trigger on different categories of events (images insisting on the same pixels or crossing huge portions of the entire focal surface). Based on the above stringent requirements, the main ingredients for the trigger logic are: the Gate Time Unit (GTU); the minimum number Nthresh of photo-electrons piling up in a GTU in a pixel to be fired; the persistency level Npers, in which fired pixels are over threshold; the localization and correlation in space and time of the fired pixels, that distinguish a real EAS from an accidental background enhancement. The core of the trigger logic is the Track Trigger Algorithm that has been specifically developed for this purpose. Its characteristics, preliminary performance and its possible implementation on FPGA or DSP will be discussed together with a general overview of the architecture of the triggering system of JEM-EUSO.

  14. MyShake - A smartphone app to detect earthquake

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kong, Q.; Allen, R. M.; Schreier, L.; Kwon, Y. W.

    2015-12-01

    We designed an android app that harnesses the accelerometers in personal smartphones to record earthquake-shaking data for research, hazard information and warnings. The app has the function to distinguish earthquake shakings from daily human activities based on the different patterns behind the movements. It also can be triggered by the traditional earthquake early warning (EEW) system to record for a certain amount of time to collect earthquake data. When the app is triggered by the earthquake-like movements, it sends the trigger information back to our server which contains time and location of the trigger, at the same time, it stores the waveform data on local phone first, and upload to our server later. Trigger information from multiple phones will be processed in real time on the server to find the coherent signal to confirm the earthquakes. Therefore, the app provides the basis to form a smartphone seismic network that can detect earthquake and even provide warnings. A planned public roll-out of MyShake could collect millions of seismic recordings for large earthquakes in many regions around the world.

  15. EMIC triggered chorus emissions in Cluster data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grison, B.; SantolíK, O.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.; Masson, A.; Engebretson, M. J.; Pickett, J. S.; Omura, Y.; Robert, P.; Nomura, R.

    2013-03-01

    Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) triggered chorus emissions have recently been a subject of several experimental, theoretical and simulation case studies, noting their similarities with whistler-mode chorus. We perform a survey of 8 years of Cluster data in order to increase the database of EMIC triggered emissions. The results of this is that EMIC triggered emissions have been unambiguously observed for only three different days. These three events are studied in detail. All cases have been observed at the plasmapause between 22 and 24 magnetic local time (MLT) and between - 15° and 15° magnetic latitude (λm). Triggered emissions are also observed for the first time below the local He+ gyrofrequency (fHe+). The number of events is too low to produce statistical results, nevertheless we point out a variety of common properties of those waves. The rising tones have a high level of coherence and the waves propagate away from the equatorial region. The propagation angle and degree of polarization are related to the distance from the equator, whereas the slope and the frequency extent vary from one event to the other. From the various spacecraft separations, we determine that the triggering process is a localized phenomenon in space and time. However, we are unable to determine the occurrence rates of these waves. Small frequency extent rising tones are more common than large ones. The newly reported EMIC triggered events are generally observed during periods of large AE index values and in time periods close to solar maximum.

  16. A multimethod Global Sensitivity Analysis to aid the calibration of geomechanical models via time-lapse seismic data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Price, D. C.; Angus, D. A.; Garcia, A.; Fisher, Q. J.; Parsons, S.; Kato, J.

    2018-03-01

    Time-lapse seismic attributes are used extensively in the history matching of production simulator models. However, although proven to contain information regarding production induced stress change, it is typically only loosely (i.e. qualitatively) used to calibrate geomechanical models. In this study we conduct a multimethod Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) to assess the feasibility and aid the quantitative calibration of geomechanical models via near-offset time-lapse seismic data. Specifically, the calibration of mechanical properties of the overburden. Via the GSA, we analyse the near-offset overburden seismic traveltimes from over 4000 perturbations of a Finite Element (FE) geomechanical model of a typical High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) reservoir in the North Sea. We find that, out of an initially large set of material properties, the near-offset overburden traveltimes are primarily affected by Young's modulus and the effective stress (i.e. Biot) coefficient. The unexpected significance of the Biot coefficient highlights the importance of modelling fluid flow and pore pressure outside of the reservoir. The FE model is complex and highly nonlinear. Multiple combinations of model parameters can yield equally possible model realizations. Consequently, numerical calibration via a large number of random model perturbations is unfeasible. However, the significant differences in traveltime results suggest that more sophisticated calibration methods could potentially be feasible for finding numerous suitable solutions. The results of the time-varying GSA demonstrate how acquiring multiple vintages of time-lapse seismic data can be advantageous. However, they also suggest that significant overburden near-offset seismic time-shifts, useful for model calibration, may take up to 3 yrs after the start of production to manifest. Due to the nonlinearity of the model behaviour, similar uncertainty in the reservoir mechanical properties appears to influence overburden traveltime to a much greater extent. Therefore, reservoir properties must be known to a suitable degree of accuracy before the calibration of the overburden can be considered.

  17. Radiometrie recalibration procedure for landsat-5 thematic mapper data

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Chander, G.; Micijevic, E.; Hayes, R.W.; Barsi, J.A.

    2008-01-01

    The Landsat-5 (L5) satellite was launched on March 01, 1984, with a design life of three years. Incredibly, the L5 Thematic Mapper (TM) has collected data for 23 years. Over this time, the detectors have aged, and its radiometric characteristics have changed since launch. The calibration procedures and parameters have also changed with time. Revised radiometric calibrations have improved the radiometric accuracy of recently processed data; however, users with data that were processed prior to the calibration update do not benefit from the revisions. A procedure has been developed to give users the ability to recalibrate their existing Level 1 (L1) products without having to purchase reprocessed data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The accuracy of the recalibration is dependent on the knowledge of the prior calibration applied to the data. The ""Work Order" file, included with standard National Land Archive Production System (NLAFS) data products, gives parameters that define the applied calibration. These are the Internal Calibrator (IC) calibration parameters or the default prelaunch calibration, if there were problems with the IC calibration. This paper details the recalibration procedure for data processed using IC, in which users have the Work Order file. ?? 2001 IEEE.

  18. Analyzing the Possibility of Dynamic Earthquake Triggering in Socorro, New Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morton, E.; Bilek, S. L.

    2011-12-01

    The release of energy during an earthquake changes the stress state and seismicity both locally and remotely. Far-field stress changes can lead to triggered earthquakes coinciding with the arrival of the surface waves. This dynamic triggering is found to occur in a variety of tectonic settings, but in particular magmatic regions. Here we test whether the Socorro Magma Body region in central New Mexico hosts triggered seismicity. Preliminary inspection of continuous network data in central New Mexico suggested a local triggered event with the passage of surface waves from an MW 6.9 event in 2009. For a more comprehensive view, we examine data from 379 earthquakes MW ≥ 6.0 between January 15, 2008 to March 13, 2010 recorded on the EarthScope USArray Transportable Network stations located within New Mexico and providing more dense coverage for better detectability. Waveforms from twenty EarthScope stations were windowed around the time of the large event, high-pass filtered at 5 Hz to remove low frequency signals and analyzed to detect high frequency triggered local earthquakes. For each possible trigger detected, waveforms from nine short-period stations in the Socorro Seismic Network were added to aid in locating the events. In the time period analyzed, twelve triggered events were detected. Only one of these events, on August 30, 2009, corresponded to the arrival of surface waves, occurring about a minute after their arrival. The majority of the triggered events occur well after the arrival of the surface waves, indicating that they are either independent of the main shock or the result of delayed dynamic triggering. Delayed dynamic triggering can occur hours or days after the passage of surface waves, and are marked by an increase in seismicity relative to background. Only one of the events, on September 18, 2009, occurred within the Socorro Magma Body area. The rest of these events occur spread throughout New Mexico. The widely spread distribution of possibly triggered events and the low ratio of triggers to main shocks indicates that the rifted magmatic region above the Socorro Magma Body is not particularly susceptible to dynamic triggering from remote main shocks. The lack of direct correspondence to a seismic phase can mean that the detected events may be independent (not triggered events), or the result of delayed dynamic triggering. A comparison to randomly chosen waveforms within the time period as background will reveal if the possible events are a result of delayed dynamic triggering or part of the background.

  19. Probabilistic assessment of the impact of coal seam gas development on groundwater: Surat Basin, Australia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cui, Tao; Moore, Catherine; Raiber, Matthias

    2018-05-01

    Modelling cumulative impacts of basin-scale coal seam gas (CSG) extraction is challenging due to the long time frames and spatial extent over which impacts occur combined with the need to consider local-scale processes. The computational burden of such models limits the ability to undertake calibration and sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. A framework is presented that integrates recently developed methods and tools to address the computational burdens of an assessment of drawdown impacts associated with rapid CSG development in the Surat Basin, Australia. The null space Monte Carlo method combined with singular value decomposition (SVD)-assisted regularisation was used to analyse the uncertainty of simulated drawdown impacts. The study also describes how the computational burden of assessing local-scale impacts was mitigated by adopting a novel combination of a nested modelling framework which incorporated a model emulator of drawdown in dual-phase flow conditions, and a methodology for representing local faulting. This combination provides a mechanism to support more reliable estimates of regional CSG-related drawdown predictions. The study indicates that uncertainties associated with boundary conditions are reduced significantly when expressing differences between scenarios. The results are analysed and distilled to enable the easy identification of areas where the simulated maximum drawdown impacts could exceed trigger points associated with legislative `make good' requirements; trigger points require that either an adjustment in the development scheme or other measures are implemented to remediate the impact. This report contributes to the currently small body of work that describes modelling and uncertainty analyses of CSG extraction impacts on groundwater.

  20. FPGA based data processing in the ALICE High Level Trigger in LHC Run 2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Engel, Heiko; Alt, Torsten; Kebschull, Udo; ALICE Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    The ALICE High Level Trigger (HLT) is a computing cluster dedicated to the online compression, reconstruction and calibration of experimental data. The HLT receives detector data via serial optical links into FPGA based readout boards that process the data on a per-link level already inside the FPGA and provide it to the host machines connected with a data transport framework. FPGA based data pre-processing is enabled for the biggest detector of ALICE, the Time Projection Chamber (TPC), with a hardware cluster finding algorithm. This algorithm was ported to the Common Read-Out Receiver Card (C-RORC) as used in the HLT for RUN 2. It was improved to handle double the input bandwidth and adjusted to the upgraded TPC Readout Control Unit (RCU2). A flexible firmware implementation in the HLT handles both the old and the new TPC data format and link rates transparently. Extended protocol and data error detection, error handling and the enhanced RCU2 data ordering scheme provide an improved physics performance of the cluster finder. The performance of the cluster finder was verified against large sets of reference data both in terms of throughput and algorithmic correctness. Comparisons with a software reference implementation confirm significant savings on CPU processing power using the hardware implementation. The C-RORC hardware with the cluster finder for RCU1 data is in use in the HLT since the start of RUN 2. The extended hardware cluster finder implementation for the RCU2 with doubled throughput is active since the upgrade of the TPC readout electronics in early 2016.

  1. Simultaneous Calibration: A Joint Optimization Approach for Multiple Kinect and External Cameras.

    PubMed

    Liao, Yajie; Sun, Ying; Li, Gongfa; Kong, Jianyi; Jiang, Guozhang; Jiang, Du; Cai, Haibin; Ju, Zhaojie; Yu, Hui; Liu, Honghai

    2017-06-24

    Camera calibration is a crucial problem in many applications, such as 3D reconstruction, structure from motion, object tracking and face alignment. Numerous methods have been proposed to solve the above problem with good performance in the last few decades. However, few methods are targeted at joint calibration of multi-sensors (more than four devices), which normally is a practical issue in the real-time systems. In this paper, we propose a novel method and a corresponding workflow framework to simultaneously calibrate relative poses of a Kinect and three external cameras. By optimizing the final cost function and adding corresponding weights to the external cameras in different locations, an effective joint calibration of multiple devices is constructed. Furthermore, the method is tested in a practical platform, and experiment results show that the proposed joint calibration method can achieve a satisfactory performance in a project real-time system and its accuracy is higher than the manufacturer's calibration.

  2. Simultaneous Calibration: A Joint Optimization Approach for Multiple Kinect and External Cameras

    PubMed Central

    Liao, Yajie; Sun, Ying; Li, Gongfa; Kong, Jianyi; Jiang, Guozhang; Jiang, Du; Cai, Haibin; Ju, Zhaojie; Yu, Hui; Liu, Honghai

    2017-01-01

    Camera calibration is a crucial problem in many applications, such as 3D reconstruction, structure from motion, object tracking and face alignment. Numerous methods have been proposed to solve the above problem with good performance in the last few decades. However, few methods are targeted at joint calibration of multi-sensors (more than four devices), which normally is a practical issue in the real-time systems. In this paper, we propose a novel method and a corresponding workflow framework to simultaneously calibrate relative poses of a Kinect and three external cameras. By optimizing the final cost function and adding corresponding weights to the external cameras in different locations, an effective joint calibration of multiple devices is constructed. Furthermore, the method is tested in a practical platform, and experiment results show that the proposed joint calibration method can achieve a satisfactory performance in a project real-time system and its accuracy is higher than the manufacturer’s calibration. PMID:28672823

  3. e-Calibrations: using the Internet to deliver calibration services in real time at lower cost

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Desrosiers, Marc; Nagy, Vitaly; Puhl, James; Glenn, Robert; Densock, Robert; Stieren, David; Lang, Brian; Kamlowski, Andreas; Maier, Diether; Heiss, Arthur

    2002-03-01

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is expanding into a new frontier in the delivery of measurement services. The Internet will be employed to provide industry with electronic traceability to national standards. This is a radical departure from the traditional modes of traceability and presents many new challenges. The traditional mail-based calibration service relies on sending artifacts to the user, who then mails them back to NIST for evaluation. The new service will deliver calibration results to the industry customer on-demand, in real-time, at a lower cost. The calibration results can be incorporated rapidly into the production process to ensure the highest quality manufacturing. The service would provide the US radiation processing industry with a direct link to the NIST calibration facilities and its expertise, and provide an interactive feedback process between industrial processing and the national measurement standard. Moreover, an Internet calibration system should contribute to the removal of measurement-related trade barriers.

  4. Accurate calibration of a molecular beam time-of-flight mass spectrometer for on-line analysis of high molecular weight species.

    PubMed

    Apicella, B; Wang, X; Passaro, M; Ciajolo, A; Russo, C

    2016-10-15

    Time-of-Flight (TOF) Mass Spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique, provided that an accurate calibration by standard molecules in the same m/z range of the analytes is performed. Calibration in a very large m/z range is a difficult task, particularly in studies focusing on the detection of high molecular weight clusters of different molecules or high molecular weight species. External calibration is the most common procedure used for TOF mass spectrometric analysis in the gas phase and, generally, the only available standards are made up of mixtures of noble gases, covering a small mass range for calibration, up to m/z 136 (higher mass isotope of xenon). In this work, an accurate calibration of a Molecular Beam Time-of Flight Mass Spectrometer (MB-TOFMS) is presented, based on the use of water clusters up to m/z 3000. The advantages of calibrating a MB-TOFMS with water clusters for the detection of analytes with masses above those of the traditional calibrants such as noble gases were quantitatively shown by statistical calculations. A comparison of the water cluster and noble gases calibration procedures in attributing the masses to a test mixture extending up to m/z 800 is also reported. In the case of the analysis of combustion products, another important feature of water cluster calibration was shown, that is the possibility of using them as "internal standard" directly formed from the combustion water, under suitable experimental conditions. The water clusters calibration of a MB-TOFMS gives rise to a ten-fold reduction in error compared to the traditional calibration with noble gases. The consequent improvement in mass accuracy in the calibration of a MB-TOFMS has important implications in various fields where detection of high molecular mass species is required. In combustion products analysis, it is also possible to obtain a new calibration spectrum before the acquisition of each spectrum, only modifying some operative conditions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Transient triggering of near and distant earthquakes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gomberg, J.; Blanpied, M.L.; Beeler, N.M.

    1997-01-01

    We demonstrate qualitatively that frictional instability theory provides a context for understanding how earthquakes may be triggered by transient loads associated with seismic waves from near and distance earthquakes. We assume that earthquake triggering is a stick-slip process and test two hypotheses about the effect of transients on the timing of instabilities using a simple spring-slider model and a rate- and state-dependent friction constitutive law. A critical triggering threshold is implicit in such a model formulation. Our first hypothesis is that transient loads lead to clock advances; i.e., transients hasten the time of earthquakes that would have happened eventually due to constant background loading alone. Modeling results demonstrate that transient loads do lead to clock advances and that the triggered instabilities may occur after the transient has ceased (i.e., triggering may be delayed). These simple "clock-advance" models predict complex relationships between the triggering delay, the clock advance, and the transient characteristics. The triggering delay and the degree of clock advance both depend nonlinearly on when in the earthquake cycle the transient load is applied. This implies that the stress required to bring about failure does not depend linearly on loading time, even when the fault is loaded at a constant rate. The timing of instability also depends nonlinearly on the transient loading rate, faster rates more rapidly hastening instability. This implies that higher-frequency and/or longer-duration seismic waves should increase the amount of clock advance. These modeling results and simple calculations suggest that near (tens of kilometers) small/moderate earthquakes and remote (thousands of kilometers) earthquakes with magnitudes 2 to 3 units larger may be equally effective at triggering seismicity. Our second hypothesis is that some triggered seismicity represents earthquakes that would not have happened without the transient load (i.e., accumulated strain energy would have been relieved via other mechanisms). We test this using two "new-seismicity" models that (1) are inherently unstable but slide at steady-state conditions under the background load and (2) are conditionally stable such that instability occurs only for sufficiently large perturbations. For the new-seismicity models, very small-amplitude transients trigger instability relative to the clock-advance models. The unstable steady-state models predict that the triggering delay depends inversely and nonlinearly on the transient amplitude (as in the clock-advance models). We were unable to generate delayed triggering with conditionally stable models. For both new-seismicity models, the potential for triggering is independent of when the transient load is applied or, equivalently, of the prestress (unlike in the clock-advance models). In these models, a critical triggering threshold appears to be inversely proportional to frequency. Further advancement of our understanding will require more sophisticated, quantitative models and observations that distinguish between our qualitative, yet distinctly different, model predictions.

  6. A Refreshable, On-line Cache for HST Data Retrieval

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fraquelli, Dorothy A.; Ellis, Tracy A.; Ridgaway, Michael; DPAS Team

    2016-01-01

    We discuss upgrades to the HST Data Processing System, with an emphasis on the changes Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Archive users will experience. In particular, data are now held on-line (in a cache) removing the need to reprocess the data every time they are requested from the Archive. OTFR (on the fly reprocessing) has been replaced by a reprocessing system, which runs in the background. Data in the cache are automatically placed in the reprocessing queue when updated calibration reference files are received or when an improved calibration algorithm is installed. Data in the on-line cache are expected to be the most up to date version. These changes were phased in throughout 2015 for all active instruments.The on-line cache was populated instrument by instrument over the course of 2015. As data were placed in the cache, the flag that triggers OTFR was reset so that OTFR no longer runs on these data. "Hybrid" requests to the Archive are handled transparently, with data not yet in the cache provided via OTFR and the remaining data provided from the cache. Users do not need to make separate requests.Users of the MAST Portal will be able to download data from the cache immediately. For data not in the cache, the Portal will send the user to the standard "Retrieval Options Page," allowing the user to direct the Archive to process and deliver the data.The classic MAST Search and Retrieval interface has the same look and feel as previously. Minor changes, unrelated to the cache, have been made to the format of the Retrieval Options Page.

  7. Remote Dynamic Earthquake Triggering in Shale Gas Basins in Canada and Implications for Triggering Mechanisms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrington, Rebecca M.; Liu, Yajing; Wang, Bei; Kao, Honn; Yu, Hongyu

    2017-04-01

    Here we investigate the occurrence of remote dynamic triggering in three sedimentary basins in Canada where recent fluid injection activity is correlated with increasing numbers of earthquakes. In efforts to count as many small, local earthquakes as possible for the statistical test of triggering, we apply a multi-station matched-filter detection method to continuous waveforms to detect uncataloged local earthquakes in 10-day time windows surrounding triggering mainshocks occurring between 2013-2015 with an estimated local peak ground velocity exceeding 0.01 cm/s. We count the number of earthquakes in 24-hour bins and use a statistical p-value test to determine if the changes in seismicity levels after the mainshock waves have passed are statistically significant. The p-value tests show occurrences of triggering following transient stress perturbations of < 10 kPa at all three sites that suggest local faults may remain critically stressed over periods similar to the time frame of our study ( 2 years) or longer, potentially due to maintained high pore pressures in tight shale formations following injection. The time window over which seismicity rates change varies at each site, with more delayed triggering occurring at sites where production history is longer. The observations combined with new modeling results suggest that the poroelastic response of the medium may be the dominant factor influencing instantaneous triggering, particularly in low-permeability tight shales. At sites where production history is longer and permeabilities have been increased, both pore pressure diffusion and the poroelastic response of the medium may work together to promote both instantaneous and delayed triggering. Not only does the interplay of the poroelastic response of the medium and pore pressure diffusion have implications for triggering induced earthquakes near injection sites, but it may be a plausible explanation for observations of instantaneous and delayed earthquake triggering in general.

  8. A Radiation-Triggered Surveillance System for UF6 Cylinder Monitoring

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

    Curtis, Michael M.; Myjak, Mitchell J.

    This report provides background information and representative scenarios for testing a prototype radiation-triggered surveillance system at an operating facility that handles uranium hexafluoride (UF 6) cylinders. The safeguards objective is to trigger cameras using radiation, or radiation and motion, rather than motion alone, to reduce significantly the number of image files generated by a motion-triggered system. The authors recommend the use of radiation-triggered surveillance at all facilities where cylinder paths are heavily traversed by personnel. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun using surveillance cameras in the feed and withdrawal areas of gas centrifuge enrichment plants (GCEPs). The camerasmore » generate imagery using elapsed time or motion, but this creates problems in areas occupied 24/7 by personnel. Either motion-or-interval-based triggering generates thousands of review files over the course of a month. Since inspectors must review the files to verify operator material-flow-declarations, a plethora of files significantly extends the review process. The primary advantage of radiation-triggered surveillance is the opportunity to obtain full-time cylinder throughput verification versus what presently amounts to part-time verification. Cost savings should be substantial, as the IAEA presently uses frequent unannounced inspections to verify cylinder-throughput declarations. The use of radiation-triggered surveillance allows the IAEA to implement less frequent unannounced inspections for the purpose of flow verification, but its principal advantage is significantly shorter and more effective inspector video reviews.« less

  9. Slip triggered on southern California faults by the 1992 Joshua Tree, Landers, and big bear earthquakes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bodin, Paul; Bilham, Roger; Behr, Jeff; Gomberg, Joan; Hudnut, Kenneth W.

    1994-01-01

    Five out of six functioning creepmeters on southern California faults recorded slip triggered at the time of some or all of the three largest events of the 1992 Landers earthquake sequence. Digital creep data indicate that dextral slip was triggered within 1 min of each mainshock and that maximum slip velocities occurred 2 to 3 min later. The duration of triggered slip events ranged from a few hours to several weeks. We note that triggered slip occurs commonly on faults that exhibit fault creep. To account for the observation that slip can be triggered repeatedly on a fault, we propose that the amplitude of triggered slip may be proportional to the depth of slip in the creep event and to the available near-surface tectonic strain that would otherwise eventually be released as fault creep. We advance the notion that seismic surface waves, perhaps amplified by sediments, generate transient local conditions that favor the release of tectonic strain to varying depths. Synthetic strain seismograms are presented that suggest increased pore pressure during periods of fault-normal contraction may be responsible for triggered slip, since maximum dextral shear strain transients correspond to times of maximum fault-normal contraction.

  10. Aperiodic Robust Model Predictive Control for Constrained Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems: An Event-Triggered Approach.

    PubMed

    Liu, Changxin; Gao, Jian; Li, Huiping; Xu, Demin

    2018-05-01

    The event-triggered control is a promising solution to cyber-physical systems, such as networked control systems, multiagent systems, and large-scale intelligent systems. In this paper, we propose an event-triggered model predictive control (MPC) scheme for constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems with bounded disturbances. First, a time-varying tightened state constraint is computed to achieve robust constraint satisfaction, and an event-triggered scheduling strategy is designed in the framework of dual-mode MPC. Second, the sufficient conditions for ensuring feasibility and closed-loop robust stability are developed, respectively. We show that robust stability can be ensured and communication load can be reduced with the proposed MPC algorithm. Finally, numerical simulations and comparison studies are performed to verify the theoretical results.

  11. Trigger probe for determining the orientation of the power distribution of an electron beam

    DOEpatents

    Elmer, John W [Danville, CA; Palmer, Todd A [Livermore, CA; Teruya, Alan T [Livermore, CA

    2007-07-17

    The present invention relates to a probe for determining the orientation of electron beams being profiled. To accurately time the location of an electron beam, the probe is designed to accept electrons from only a narrowly defined area. The signal produced from the probe is then used as a timing or triggering fiducial for an operably coupled data acquisition system. Such an arrangement eliminates changes in slit geometry, an additional signal feedthrough in the wall of a welding chamber and a second timing or triggering channel on a data acquisition system. As a result, the present invention improves the accuracy of the resulting data by minimizing the adverse effects of current slit triggering methods so as to accurately reconstruct electron or ion beams.

  12. High-efficiency non-uniformity correction for wide dynamic linear infrared radiometry system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Zhou; Yu, Yi; Tian, Qi-Jie; Chang, Song-Tao; He, Feng-Yun; Yin, Yan-He; Qiao, Yan-Feng

    2017-09-01

    Several different integration times are always set for a wide dynamic linear and continuous variable integration time infrared radiometry system, therefore, traditional calibration-based non-uniformity correction (NUC) are usually conducted one by one, and furthermore, several calibration sources required, consequently makes calibration and process of NUC time-consuming. In this paper, the difference of NUC coefficients between different integration times have been discussed, and then a novel NUC method called high-efficiency NUC, which combines the traditional calibration-based non-uniformity correction, has been proposed. It obtains the correction coefficients of all integration times in whole linear dynamic rangesonly by recording three different images of a standard blackbody. Firstly, mathematical procedure of the proposed non-uniformity correction method is validated and then its performance is demonstrated by a 400 mm diameter ground-based infrared radiometry system. Experimental results show that the mean value of Normalized Root Mean Square (NRMS) is reduced from 3.78% to 0.24% by the proposed method. In addition, the results at 4 ms and 70 °C prove that this method has a higher accuracy compared with traditional calibration-based NUC. In the meantime, at other integration time and temperature there is still a good correction effect. Moreover, it greatly reduces the number of correction time and temperature sampling point, and is characterized by good real-time performance and suitable for field measurement.

  13. Imaging workflow and calibration for CT-guided time-domain fluorescence tomography

    PubMed Central

    Tichauer, Kenneth M.; Holt, Robert W.; El-Ghussein, Fadi; Zhu, Qun; Dehghani, Hamid; Leblond, Frederic; Pogue, Brian W.

    2011-01-01

    In this study, several key optimization steps are outlined for a non-contact, time-correlated single photon counting small animal optical tomography system, using simultaneous collection of both fluorescence and transmittance data. The system is presented for time-domain image reconstruction in vivo, illustrating the sensitivity from single photon counting and the calibration steps needed to accurately process the data. In particular, laser time- and amplitude-referencing, detector and filter calibrations, and collection of a suitable instrument response function are all presented in the context of time-domain fluorescence tomography and a fully automated workflow is described. Preliminary phantom time-domain reconstructed images demonstrate the fidelity of the workflow for fluorescence tomography based on signal from multiple time gates. PMID:22076264

  14. Quantification of meat proportions by measuring DNA contents in raw and boiled sausages using matrix-adapted calibrators and multiplex real-time PCR.

    PubMed

    Köppel, René; Eugster, Albert; Ruf, Jürg; Rentsch, Jürg

    2012-01-01

    The quantification of meat proportions in raw and boiled sausage according to the recipe was evaluated using three different calibrators. To measure the DNA contents from beef, pork, sheep (mutton), and horse, a tetraplex real-time PCR method was applied. Nineteen laboratories analyzed four meat products each made of different proportions of beef, pork, sheep, and horse meat. Three kinds of calibrators were used: raw and boiled sausages of known proportions ranging from 1 to 55% of meat, and a dilution series of DNA from muscle tissue. In general, results generated using calibration sausages were more accurate than those resulting from the use of DNA from muscle tissue, and exhibited smaller measurement uncertainties. Although differences between uses of raw and boiled calibration sausages were small, the most precise and accurate results were obtained by calibration with fine-textured boiled reference sausages.

  15. Intra-annual NDVI validation of the Landsat 5 TM radiometric calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Chander, G.; Groeneveld, D.P.

    2009-01-01

    Multispectral data from the Landsat 5 (L5) Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor provide the backbone of the extensive archive of moderate‐resolution Earth imagery. Even after more than 24 years of service, the L5 TM is still operational. Given the longevity of the satellite, the detectors have aged and the sensor's radiometric characteristics have changed since launch. The calibration procedures and parameters in the National Land Archive Production System (NLAPS) have also changed with time. Revised radiometric calibrations in 2003 and 2007 have improved the radiometric accuracy of recently processed data. This letter uses the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a metric to evaluate the radiometric calibration. The calibration change has improved absolute calibration accuracy, consistency over time, and consistency with Landsat 7 (L7) Enhanced Thematic radiometry and will provide the basis for continued long‐term studies of the Earth's land surfaces.

  16. Activities at the State Time and Frequency Standard of Russia

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-11-01

    measurements within a new calibration campaign arranged by the BIPM. Two TWSTFT stationary stations and a transportable one were tested in VNIIFTRI...receiver last year. Just now, we have completed new measurements within a new calibration campaign arranged by the BIPM. Two TWSTFT stationary stations and...TTS4 time transfer systems differentially calibrated relative to the VNIIFTRI reference receiver. The equipment for the TWSTFT system has been

  17. Phase Calibration for the Block 1 VLBI System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roth, M. G.; Runge, T. F.

    1983-01-01

    Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) in the DSN provides support for spacecraft navigation, Earth orientation measurements, and synchronization of network time and frequency standards. An improved method for calibrating instrumental phase shifts has recently been implemented as a computer program in the Block 1 system. The new calibration program, called PRECAL, performs calibrations over intervals as small as 0.4 seconds and greatly reduces the amount of computer processing required to perform phase calibration.

  18. GASAKe: forecasting landslide activations by a genetic-algorithms based hydrological model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Terranova, O. G.; Gariano, S. L.; Iaquinta, P.; Iovine, G. G. R.

    2015-02-01

    GASAKe is a new hydrological model aimed at forecasting the triggering of landslides. The model is based on genetic-algorithms and allows to obtaining thresholds of landslide activation from the set of historical occurrences and from the rainfall series. GASAKe can be applied to either single landslides or set of similar slope movements in a homogeneous environment. Calibration of the model is based on genetic-algorithms, and provides for families of optimal, discretized solutions (kernels) that maximize the fitness function. Starting from these latter, the corresponding mobility functions (i.e. the predictive tools) can be obtained through convolution with the rain series. The base time of the kernel is related to the magnitude of the considered slope movement, as well as to hydro-geological complexity of the site. Generally, smaller values are expected for shallow slope instabilities with respect to large-scale phenomena. Once validated, the model can be applied to estimate the timing of future landslide activations in the same study area, by employing recorded or forecasted rainfall series. Example of application of GASAKe to a medium-scale slope movement (the Uncino landslide at San Fili, in Calabria, Southern Italy) and to a set of shallow landslides (in the Sorrento Peninsula, Campania, Southern Italy) are discussed. In both cases, a successful calibration of the model has been achieved, despite unavoidable uncertainties concerning the dates of landslide occurrence. In particular, for the Sorrento Peninsula case, a fitness of 0.81 has been obtained by calibrating the model against 10 dates of landslide activation; in the Uncino case, a fitness of 1 (i.e. neither missing nor false alarms) has been achieved against 5 activations. As for temporal validation, the experiments performed by considering the extra dates of landslide activation have also proved satisfactory. In view of early-warning applications for civil protection purposes, the capability of the model to simulate the occurrences of the Uncino landslide has been tested by means of a progressive, self-adaptive procedure. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed by taking into account the main parameters of the model. The obtained results are quite promising, given the high performance of the model obtained against different types of slope instabilities, characterized by several historical activations. Nevertheless, further refinements are still needed for applications to landslide risk mitigation within early-warning and decision-support systems.

  19. Near Optimal Event-Triggered Control of Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems Using Neurodynamic Programming.

    PubMed

    Sahoo, Avimanyu; Xu, Hao; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

    2016-09-01

    This paper presents an event-triggered near optimal control of uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems. Event-driven neurodynamic programming (NDP) is utilized to design the control policy. A neural network (NN)-based identifier, with event-based state and input vectors, is utilized to learn the system dynamics. An actor-critic framework is used to learn the cost function and the optimal control input. The NN weights of the identifier, the critic, and the actor NNs are tuned aperiodically once every triggered instant. An adaptive event-trigger condition to decide the trigger instants is derived. Thus, a suitable number of events are generated to ensure a desired accuracy of approximation. A near optimal performance is achieved without using value and/or policy iterations. A detailed analysis of nontrivial inter-event times with an explicit formula to show the reduction in computation is also derived. The Lyapunov technique is used in conjunction with the event-trigger condition to guarantee the ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system. The simulation results are included to verify the performance of the controller. The net result is the development of event-driven NDP.

  20. SU-E-T-749: Thorough Calibration of MOSFET Dosimeters

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

    Plenkovich, D; Thomas, J

    Purpose: To improve the accuracy of the MOSFET calibration procedure by performing the measurement several times and calculating the average value of the calibration factor for various photon and electron energies. Methods: The output of three photon and six electron beams of Varian Trilogy linear accelerator SN 5878 was calibrated. Five reinforced standard sensitivity MOSFET dosimeters were placed in the calibration jig and connected to the Reader Module. As the backscatter material was used 7 cm of Virtual Water. The MOSFET dosimeters were covered with 1.5 cm thick bolus for the regular and SRS 6 MV beams, 3 cm bolusmore » for 15 MV beam, 1.5 cm bolus for 6 MeV electron beam, and 2 cm bolus for the electron energies of 9, 12, 15, 18, and 22 MeV. The dosimeters were exposed to 100 MU, and the calibration factor was determined using the mobileMOSFET software. To improve the accuracy of calibration, this procedure was repeated ten times and the calibration factors were averaged. Results: As the number of calibrations was increasing the variability of calibration factors of different dosimeters was decreasing. After ten calibrations, the calibration factors for all five dosimeters were within 1% of one another for all energies, except 6 MV SRS photons and 6 MeV electrons, for which the variability was 2%. Conclusions: The described process results in calibration factors which are almost independent of modality or energy. Once calibrated, the dosimeters may be used for in-vivo dosimetry or for daily verification of the beam output. Measurement of the radiation dose under bolus and scatter to the eye are examples of frequent use of calibrated MOSFET dosimeters. The calibration factor determined for full build-up is used under these circumstances. To the best of our knowledge, such thorough procedure for calibrating MOSFET dosimeters has not been reported previously. Best Medical Canada provided MOSFET dosimeters for this project.« less

  1. GPS Disciplined Oscillators for Traceability to the Italian Time Standard

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cordara, Franco; Pettiti, Valerio

    1996-01-01

    The Istituo Elettrotecnico Nazionale (IEN) is one of the Italian primary institutes which is responsible for the accreditation of secondary laboratories belong to the national calibration system (SNT) established by law in 1991. The Times and Frequency Department that has accredited in this frame 14 calibration centers for frequency, performs also the remote calibration of their reference oscillators by means of different synchronization systems. The problem of establishing the traceability of the national time standard of the Global Positioning System (GPS) disciplined oscillators has been investigated and the results obtained are reported.

  2. Autonomous On-Board Calibration of Attitude Sensors and Gyros

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pittelkau, Mark E.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the state of the art and future prospects for autonomous real-time on-orbit calibration of gyros and attitude sensors. The current practice in ground-based calibration is presented briefly to contrast it with on-orbit calibration. The technical and economic benefits of on-orbit calibration are discussed. Various algorithms for on-orbit calibration are evaluated, including some that are already operating on board spacecraft. Because Redundant Inertial Measurement Units (RIMUs, which are IMUs that have more than three sense axes) are almost ubiquitous on spacecraft, special attention will be given to calibration of RIMUs. In addition, we discuss autonomous on board calibration and how it may be implemented.

  3. The Chandra Source Catalog 2.0: Calibrations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graessle, Dale E.; Evans, Ian N.; Rots, Arnold H.; Allen, Christopher E.; Anderson, Craig S.; Budynkiewicz, Jamie A.; Burke, Douglas; Chen, Judy C.; Civano, Francesca Maria; D'Abrusco, Raffaele; Doe, Stephen M.; Evans, Janet D.; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; Gibbs, Danny G., II; Glotfelty, Kenny J.; Grier, John D.; Hain, Roger; Hall, Diane M.; Harbo, Peter N.; Houck, John C.; Lauer, Jennifer L.; Laurino, Omar; Lee, Nicholas P.; Martínez-Galarza, Juan Rafael; McCollough, Michael L.; McDowell, Jonathan C.; Miller, Joseph; McLaughlin, Warren; Morgan, Douglas L.; Mossman, Amy E.; Nguyen, Dan T.; Nichols, Joy S.; Nowak, Michael A.; Paxson, Charles; Plummer, David A.; Primini, Francis Anthony; Siemiginowska, Aneta; Sundheim, Beth A.; Tibbetts, Michael; Van Stone, David W.; Zografou, Panagoula

    2018-01-01

    Among the many enhancements implemented for the release of Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) 2.0 are improvements in the processing calibration database (CalDB). We have included a thorough overhaul of the CalDB software used in the processing. The software system upgrade, called "CalDB version 4," allows for a more rational and consistent specification of flight configurations and calibration boundary conditions. Numerous improvements in the specific calibrations applied have also been added. Chandra's radiometric and detector response calibrations vary considerably with time, detector operating temperature, and position on the detector. The CalDB has been enhanced to provide the best calibrations possible to each observation over the fifteen-year period included in CSC 2.0. Calibration updates include an improved ACIS contamination model, as well as updated time-varying gain (i.e., photon energy) and quantum efficiency maps for ACIS and HRC-I. Additionally, improved corrections for the ACIS quantum efficiency losses due to CCD charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) have been added for each of the ten ACIS detectors. These CTI corrections are now time and temperature-dependent, allowing ACIS to maintain a 0.3% energy calibration accuracy over the 0.5-7.0 keV range for any ACIS source in the catalog. Radiometric calibration (effective area) accuracy is estimated at ~4% over that range. We include a few examples where improvements in the Chandra CalDB allow for improved data reduction and modeling for the new CSC.This work has been supported by NASA under contract NAS 8-03060 to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for operation of the Chandra X-ray Center.

  4. Method for Ground-to-Satellite Laser Calibration System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lukashin, Constantine (Inventor); Wielicki, Bruce A. (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    The present invention comprises an approach for calibrating the sensitivity to polarization, optics degradation, spectral and stray light response functions of instruments on orbit. The concept is based on using an accurate ground-based laser system, Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration (GSLC), transmitting laser light to instrument on orbit during nighttime substantially clear-sky conditions. To minimize atmospheric contribution to the calibration uncertainty the calibration cycles should be performed in short time intervals, and all required measurements are designed to be relative. The calibration cycles involve ground operations with laser beam polarization and wavelength changes.

  5. Method for Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lukashin, Constantine (Inventor); Wielicki, Bruce A. (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    The present invention comprises an approach for calibrating the sensitivity to polarization, optics degradation, spectral and stray light response functions of instruments on orbit. The concept is based on using an accurate ground-based laser system, Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration (GSLC), transmitting laser light to instrument on orbit during nighttime substantially clear-sky conditions. To minimize atmospheric contribution to the calibration uncertainty the calibration cycles should be performed in short time intervals, and all required measurements are designed to be relative. The calibration cycles involve ground operations with laser beam polarization and wavelength changes.

  6. A comparison of temporal and location-based sampling strategies for global positioning system-triggered electronic diaries.

    PubMed

    Törnros, Tobias; Dorn, Helen; Reichert, Markus; Ebner-Priemer, Ulrich; Salize, Hans-Joachim; Tost, Heike; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Zipf, Alexander

    2016-11-21

    Self-reporting is a well-established approach within the medical and psychological sciences. In order to avoid recall bias, i.e. past events being remembered inaccurately, the reports can be filled out on a smartphone in real-time and in the natural environment. This is often referred to as ambulatory assessment and the reports are usually triggered at regular time intervals. With this sampling scheme, however, rare events (e.g. a visit to a park or recreation area) are likely to be missed. When addressing the correlation between mood and the environment, it may therefore be beneficial to include participant locations within the ambulatory assessment sampling scheme. Based on the geographical coordinates, the database query system then decides if a self-report should be triggered or not. We simulated four different ambulatory assessment sampling schemes based on movement data (coordinates by minute) from 143 voluntary participants tracked for seven consecutive days. Two location-based sampling schemes incorporating the environmental characteristics (land use and population density) at each participant's location were introduced and compared to a time-based sampling scheme triggering a report on the hour as well as to a sampling scheme incorporating physical activity. We show that location-based sampling schemes trigger a report less often, but we obtain more unique trigger positions and a greater spatial spread in comparison to sampling strategies based on time and distance. Additionally, the location-based methods trigger significantly more often at rarely visited types of land use and less often outside the study region where no underlying environmental data are available.

  7. Self-actuated shutdown system for a commercial size LMFBR. Final report

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

    Dupen, C.F.G.

    1978-08-01

    A Self-Actuated Shutdown System (SASS) is defined as a reactor shutdown system in which sensors, release mechanisms and neutron absorbers are contained entirely within the reactor core structure, where they respond inherently to abnormal local process conditions, by shutting down the reactor, independently of the plant protection system (PPS). It is argued that a SASS, having a response time similar to that of the PPS, would so reduce the already very low probability of a failure-to-scram event that costly design features, derived from core disruptive accident analysis, could be eliminated. However, the thrust of the report is the feasibility andmore » reliability of the in-core SASS hardware to achieve sufficiently rapid shutdown. A number of transient overpower and transient undercooling-responsive systems were investigated leading to the selection of a primary candidate and a backup concept. During a transient undercooling event, the recommended device is triggered by the associated rate of change of pressure, whereas the alternate concept responds to the reduction in core pressure drop and requires calibration and adjustment by the operators to accommodate changes in reactor power.« less

  8. Paleoproterozoic snowball earth: extreme climatic and geochemical global change and its biological consequences

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kirschvink, J. L.; Gaidos, E. J.; Bertani, L. E.; Beukes, N. J.; Gutzmer, J.; Maepa, L. N.; Steinberger, R. E.

    2000-01-01

    Geological, geophysical, and geochemical data support a theory that Earth experienced several intervals of intense, global glaciation ("snowball Earth" conditions) during Precambrian time. This snowball model predicts that postglacial, greenhouse-induced warming would lead to the deposition of banded iron formations and cap carbonates. Although global glaciation would have drastically curtailed biological productivity, melting of the oceanic ice would also have induced a cyanobacterial bloom, leading to an oxygen spike in the euphotic zone and to the oxidative precipitation of iron and manganese. A Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth at 2.4 Giga-annum before present (Ga) immediately precedes the Kalahari Manganese Field in southern Africa, suggesting that this rapid and massive change in global climate was responsible for its deposition. As large quantities of O(2) are needed to precipitate this Mn, photosystem II and oxygen radical protection mechanisms must have evolved before 2.4 Ga. This geochemical event may have triggered a compensatory evolutionary branching in the Fe/Mn superoxide dismutase enzyme, providing a Paleoproterozoic calibration point for studies of molecular evolution.

  9. Skier triggering of backcountry avalanches with skilled route selection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sinickas, Alexandra; Haegeli, Pascal; Jamieson, Bruce

    2015-04-01

    Jamieson (2009) provided numerical estimates for the baseline probabilities of triggering an avalanche by a backcountry skier making fresh tracks without skilled route selection as a function of the North American avalanche danger scale (i.e., hazard levels Low, Moderate, Considerable, High and Extreme). Using the results of an expert survey, he showed that triggering probabilities while skiing directly up, down or across a trigger zone without skilled route selection increase roughly by a factor of 10 with each step of the North American avalanche danger scale (i.e. hazard level). The objective of the present study is to examine the effect of skilled route selection on the relationship between triggering probability and hazard level. To assess the effect of skilled route selection on triggering probability by hazard level, we analysed avalanche hazard assessments as well as reports of skiing activity and triggering of avalanches from 11 Canadian helicopter and snowcat operations during two winters (2012-13 and 2013-14). These reports were submitted to the daily information exchange among Canadian avalanche safety operations, and reflect professional decision-making and route selection practices of guides leading groups of skiers. We selected all skier-controlled or accidentally triggered avalanches with a destructive size greater than size 1 according to the Canadian avalanche size classification, triggered by any member of a guided group (guide or guest). These operations forecast the avalanche hazard daily for each of three elevation bands: alpine, treeline and below treeline. In contrast to the 2009 study, an exposure was defined as a group skiing within any one of the three elevation bands, and consequently within a hazard rating, for the day (~4,300 ratings over two winters). For example, a group that skied below treeline (rated Moderate) and treeline (rated Considerable) in one day, would receive one count for exposure to Moderate hazard, and one count for exposure to Considerable hazard. While the absolute values for triggering probability cannot be compared to the 2009 study because of different definitions of exposure, our preliminary results suggest that with skilled route selection the triggering probability is similar all hazard levels, except for extreme for which there are few exposures. This means that the guiding teams of backcountry skiing operations effectively control the hazard from triggering avalanches with skilled route selection. Groups were exposed relatively evenly to Low hazard (1275 times or 29% of total exposure), Moderate hazard (1450 times or 33 %) and Considerable hazard (1215 times or 28 %). At higher levels, the exposure reduced to roughly 380 times (9 % of total exposure) to High hazard, and only 13 times (0.3 %) to Extreme hazard. We assess the sensitivity of the results to some of our key assumptions.

  10. The Calibration of AVHRR Visible Dual Gain using Meteosat-8 for NOAA-16 to 18

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Doelling, David R.; Garber, Donald P.; Avey, L. A.; Nguyen, Louis; Minnis, Patrick

    2007-01-01

    The NOAA AVHRR program has given the remote sensing community over 25 years of imager radiances to retrieve global cloud, vegetation, and aerosol properties. This dataset can be used for long-term climate research, if the AVHRR instrument is well calibrated. Unfortunately, the AVHRR instrument does not have onboard visible calibration and does degrade over time. Vicarious post-launch calibration is necessary to obtain cloud properties that are not biased over time. The recent AVHRR-3 instrument has a dual gain in the visible channels in order to achieve greater radiance resolution in the clear-sky. This has made vicarious calibration of the AVHRR-3 more difficult to unravel. Reference satellite radiances from well-calibrated instruments, usually equipped with solar diffusers, such as MODIS, have been used to successfully vicariously calibrate other visible instruments. Transfer of calibration from one satellite to another using co-angled, collocated, coincident radiances has been well validated. Terra or Aqua MODIS and AVHRR comparisons can only be performed over the poles during summer. However, geostationary satellites offer a transfer medium that captures both parts of the dual gain. This AVHRR-3 calibration strategy uses, calibrated with MODIS, Meteosat-8 radiances simultaneously to determine the dual gains using 50km regions. The dual gain coefficients will be compared with the nominal coefficients. Results will be shown for all visible channels for NOAA-17.

  11. Earthquakes drive focused denudation along a tectonically active mountain front

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Gen; West, A. Joshua; Densmore, Alexander L.; Jin, Zhangdong; Zhang, Fei; Wang, Jin; Clark, Marin; Hilton, Robert G.

    2017-08-01

    Earthquakes cause widespread landslides that can increase erosional fluxes observed over years to decades. However, the impact of earthquakes on denudation over the longer timescales relevant to orogenic evolution remains elusive. Here we assess erosion associated with earthquake-triggered landslides in the Longmen Shan range at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. We use the Mw 7.9 2008 Wenchuan and Mw 6.6 2013 Lushan earthquakes to evaluate how seismicity contributes to the erosional budget from short timescales (annual to decadal, as recorded by sediment fluxes) to long timescales (kyr to Myr, from cosmogenic nuclides and low temperature thermochronology). Over this wide range of timescales, the highest rates of denudation in the Longmen Shan coincide spatially with the region of most intense landsliding during the Wenchuan earthquake. Across sixteen gauged river catchments, sediment flux-derived denudation rates following the Wenchuan earthquake are closely correlated with seismic ground motion and the associated volume of Wenchuan-triggered landslides (r2 > 0.6), and to a lesser extent with the frequency of high intensity runoff events (r2 = 0.36). To assess whether earthquake-induced landsliding can contribute importantly to denudation over longer timescales, we model the total volume of landslides triggered by earthquakes of various magnitudes over multiple earthquake cycles. We combine models that predict the volumes of landslides triggered by earthquakes, calibrated against the Wenchuan and Lushan events, with an earthquake magnitude-frequency distribution. The long-term, landslide-sustained "seismic erosion rate" is similar in magnitude to regional long-term denudation rates (∼0.5-1 mm yr-1). The similar magnitude and spatial coincidence suggest that earthquake-triggered landslides are a primary mechanism of long-term denudation in the frontal Longmen Shan. We propose that the location and intensity of seismogenic faulting can contribute to focused denudation along a high-relief plateau margin.

  12. Influence of time point of calibration on accuracy of continuous glucose monitoring in individuals with type 1 diabetes.

    PubMed

    Zueger, Thomas; Diem, Peter; Mougiakakou, Stavroula; Stettler, Christoph

    2012-07-01

    Data on the influence of calibration on accuracy of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) are scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the time point of calibration has an influence on sensor accuracy and whether this effect differs according to glycemic level. Two CGM sensors were inserted simultaneously in the abdomen on either side of 20 individuals with type 1 diabetes. One sensor was calibrated predominantly using preprandial glucose (calibration(PRE)). The other sensor was calibrated predominantly using postprandial glucose (calibration(POST)). At minimum three additional glucose values per day were obtained for analysis of accuracy. Sensor readings were divided into four categories according to the glycemic range of the reference values (low, ≤4 mmol/L; euglycemic, 4.1-7 mmol/L; hyperglycemic I, 7.1-14 mmol/L; and hyperglycemic II, >14 mmol/L). The overall mean±SEM absolute relative difference (MARD) between capillary reference values and sensor readings was 18.3±0.8% for calibration(PRE) and 21.9±1.2% for calibration(POST) (P<0.001). MARD according to glycemic range was 47.4±6.5% (low), 17.4±1.3% (euglycemic), 15.0±0.8% (hyperglycemic I), and 17.7±1.9% (hyperglycemic II) for calibration(PRE) and 67.5±9.5% (low), 24.2±1.8% (euglycemic), 15.5±0.9% (hyperglycemic I), and 15.3±1.9% (hyperglycemic II) for calibration(POST). In the low and euglycemic ranges MARD was significantly lower in calibration(PRE) compared with calibration(POST) (P=0.007 and P<0.001, respectively). Sensor calibration predominantly based on preprandial glucose resulted in a significantly higher overall sensor accuracy compared with a predominantly postprandial calibration. The difference was most pronounced in the hypo- and euglycemic reference range, whereas both calibration patterns were comparable in the hyperglycemic range.

  13. (abstract) A VLBI Test of Tropospheric Delay Calibration with WVRs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Linfield, R. P.; Teitelbaum, L. P.; Keihm, S. J.; Resch, G. M.; Mahoney, M. J.; Treuhaft, R. N.

    1994-01-01

    Dual frequency (S/X band) very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations were used to test troposphere calibration by water vapor radiometers (WVRs). Comparison of the VLBI and WVR measurements show a statistical agreement (specifically, their structure functions agree) on time scales less than 700 seconds. On longer time scales, VLBI instrumental errors become important. The improvement in VLBI residual delays from WVR calibration was consistent with the measured level of tropospheric fluctuations.

  14. Time Transfer Between USNO and PTB: Operation and Calibration Results

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-09-01

    transfer ( TWSTFT ) is routinely executed between USNO and PTB via two links, using a connection at Ku-band and X-band. The Ku-band measurements are...desirable. Up to now, three calibration experiments were carried out with a transportable TWSTFT station provided by USNO: in June 2002, January 2003...and July 2003. Because only a few TWSTFT calibrations of civil time laboratories were performed up to now, this first “semiannual” schedule

  15. Graphical processors for HEP trigger systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ammendola, R.; Biagioni, A.; Chiozzi, S.; Cotta Ramusino, A.; Di Lorenzo, S.; Fantechi, R.; Fiorini, M.; Frezza, O.; Lamanna, G.; Lo Cicero, F.; Lonardo, A.; Martinelli, M.; Neri, I.; Paolucci, P. S.; Pastorelli, E.; Piandani, R.; Pontisso, L.; Rossetti, D.; Simula, F.; Sozzi, M.; Vicini, P.

    2017-02-01

    General-purpose computing on GPUs is emerging as a new paradigm in several fields of science, although so far applications have been tailored to employ GPUs as accelerators in offline computations. With the steady decrease of GPU latencies and the increase in link and memory throughputs, time is ripe for real-time applications using GPUs in high-energy physics data acquisition and trigger systems. We will discuss the use of online parallel computing on GPUs for synchronous low level trigger systems, focusing on tests performed on the trigger of the CERN NA62 experiment. Latencies of all components need analysing, networking being the most critical. To keep it under control, we envisioned NaNet, an FPGA-based PCIe Network Interface Card (NIC) enabling GPUDirect connection. Moreover, we discuss how specific trigger algorithms can be parallelised and thus benefit from a GPU implementation, in terms of increased execution speed. Such improvements are particularly relevant for the foreseen LHC luminosity upgrade where highly selective algorithms will be crucial to maintain sustainable trigger rates with very high pileup.

  16. The Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System (AGIS): Real Time Stereoscopic Array Trigger

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Byrum, K.; Anderson, J.; Buckley, J.; Cundiff, T.; Dawson, J.; Drake, G.; Duke, C.; Haberichter, B.; Krawzcynski, H.; Krennrich, F.; Madhavan, A.; Schroedter, M.; Smith, A.

    2009-05-01

    Future large arrays of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) such as AGIS and CTA are conceived to comprise of 50 - 100 individual telescopes each having a camera with 10**3 to 10**4 pixels. To maximize the capabilities of such IACT arrays with a low energy threshold, a wide field of view and a low background rate, a sophisticated array trigger is required. We describe the design of a stereoscopic array trigger that calculates image parameters and then correlates them across a subset of telescopes. Fast Field Programmable Gate Array technology allows to use lookup tables at the array trigger level to form a real-time pattern recognition trigger tht capitalizes on the multiple view points of the shower at different shower core distances. A proof of principle system is currently under construction. It is based on 400 MHz FPGAs and the goal is for camera trigger rates of up to 10 MHz and a tunable cosmic-ray background suppression at the array level.

  17. Solar-diffuser panel and ratioing radiometer approach to satellite sensor on-board calibration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, Philip N.; Palmer, James M.

    1991-01-01

    The use of a solar-diffuser panel is a desirable approach to the on-board absolute radiometric calibration of satellite multispectral sensors used for earth observation in the solar reflective spectral range. It provides a full aperture, full field, end-to-end calibration near the top of the sensor's dynamic range and across its entire spectral response range. A serious drawback is that the panel's reflectance, and the response of any simple detector used to monitor its reflectance may change with time. This paper briefly reviews some preflight and on-board methods for absolute calibration and introduces the ratioing-radiometer concept in which the radiance of the panel is ratioed with respect to the solar irradiance at the time the multispectral sensor is viewing the panel in its calibration mode.

  18. Radiometric calibration stability and inter-calibration of solar-band instruments in orbit using the moon

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.

    2008-01-01

    With the increased emphasis on monitoring the Earth's climate from space, more stringent calibration requirements are being placed on the data products from remote sensing satellite instruments. Among these are stability over decade-length time scales and consistency across sensors and platforms. For radiometer instruments in the solar reflectance wavelength range (visible to shortwave infrared), maintaining calibration on orbit is difficult due to the lack of absolute radiometric standards suitable for flight use. The Moon presents a luminous source that can be viewed by all instruments in Earth orbit. Considered as a solar diffuser, the lunar surface is exceedingly stable. The chief difficulty with using the Moon is the strong variations in the Moon's brightness with illumination and viewing geometry. This mandates the use of a photometric model to compare lunar observations, either over time by the same instrument or between instruments. The U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona, under NASA sponsorship, has developed a model for the lunar spectral irradiance that explicitly accounts for the effects of phase, the lunar librations, and the lunar surface reflectance properties. The model predicts variations in the Moon's brightness with precision ???1% over a continuous phase range from eclipse to the quarter lunar phases. Given a time series of Moon observations taken by an instrument, the geometric prediction capability of the lunar irradiance model enables sensor calibration stability with sub-percent per year precision. Cross-calibration of instruments with similar passbands can be achieved with precision comparable to the model precision. Although the Moon observations used for intercomparison can be widely separated in phase angle and/or time, SeaWiFS and MODIS have acquired lunar views closely spaced in time. These data provide an example to assess inter-calibration biases between these two instruments.

  19. Stepwise Regression Analysis of MDOE Balance Calibration Data Acquired at DNW

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    DeLoach, RIchard; Philipsen, Iwan

    2007-01-01

    This paper reports a comparison of two experiment design methods applied in the calibration of a strain-gage balance. One features a 734-point test matrix in which loads are varied systematically according to a method commonly applied in aerospace research and known in the literature of experiment design as One Factor At a Time (OFAT) testing. Two variations of an alternative experiment design were also executed on the same balance, each with different features of an MDOE experiment design. The Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE) is an integrated process of experiment design, execution, and analysis applied at NASA's Langley Research Center to achieve significant reductions in cycle time, direct operating cost, and experimental uncertainty in aerospace research generally and in balance calibration experiments specifically. Personnel in the Instrumentation and Controls Department of the German Dutch Wind Tunnels (DNW) have applied MDOE methods to evaluate them in the calibration of a balance using an automated calibration machine. The data have been sent to Langley Research Center for analysis and comparison. This paper reports key findings from this analysis. The chief result is that a 100-point calibration exploiting MDOE principles delivered quality comparable to a 700+ point OFAT calibration with significantly reduced cycle time and attendant savings in direct and indirect costs. While the DNW test matrices implemented key MDOE principles and produced excellent results, additional MDOE concepts implemented in balance calibrations at Langley Research Center are also identified and described.

  20. Self-calibration of Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keating, Brian G.; Shimon, Meir; Yadav, Amit P. S.

    2013-01-01

    Precision measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, especially experiments seeking to detect the odd-parity "B-modes," have far-reaching implications for cosmology. To detect the B-modes generated during inflation, the flux response and polarization angle of these experiments must be calibrated to exquisite precision. While suitable flux calibration sources abound, polarization angle calibrators are deficient in many respects. Man-made polarized sources are often not located in the antenna's far-field, have spectral properties that are radically different from the CMB's, are cumbersome to implement, and may be inherently unstable over the (long) duration these searches require to detect the faint signature of the inflationary epoch. Astrophysical sources suffer from time, frequency, and spatial variability, are not visible from all CMB observatories, and none are understood with sufficient accuracy to calibrate future CMB polarimeters seeking to probe inflationary energy scales of 1015 GeV. Both man-made and astrophysical sources require dedicated observations which detract from the amount of integration time usable for detection of the inflationary B-modes. CMB TB and EB modes, expected to identically vanish in the standard cosmological model, can be used to calibrate CMB polarimeters. By enforcing the observed EB and TB power spectra to be consistent with zero, CMB polarimeters can be calibrated to levels not possible with man-made or astrophysical sources. All of this can be accomplished for any polarimeter without any loss of observing time using a calibration source which is spectrally identical to the CMB B-modes.

  1. Using Multiple Calibration Indices in Order to Capture the Complex Picture of What Affects Students' Accuracy of Feeling of Confidence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boekaerts, Monique; Rozendaal, Jeroen S.

    2010-01-01

    The present study used multiple calibration indices to capture the complex picture of fifth graders' calibration of feeling of confidence in mathematics. Specifically, the effects of gender, type of mathematical problem, instruction method, and time of measurement (before and after problem solving) on calibration skills were investigated. Fourteen…

  2. Automated Attitude Sensor Calibration: Progress and Plans

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sedlak, Joseph; Hashmall, Joseph

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes ongoing work a NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center to improve the quality of spacecraft attitude sensor calibration and reduce costs by automating parts of the calibration process. The new calibration software can autonomously preview data quality over a given time span, select a subset of the data for processing, perform the requested calibration, and output a report. This level of automation is currently being implemented for two specific applications: inertial reference unit (IRU) calibration and sensor alignment calibration. The IRU calibration utility makes use of a sequential version of the Davenport algorithm. This utility has been successfully tested with simulated and actual flight data. The alignment calibration is still in the early testing stage. Both utilities will be incorporated into the institutional attitude ground support system.

  3. Streamflow characteristics from modelled runoff time series: Importance of calibration criteria selection

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Poole, Sandra; Vis, Marc; Knight, Rodney; Seibert, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics (SFCs) of ungauged catchments are often estimated from simulated runoff of hydrologic models that were originally calibrated on gauged catchments. However, SFC estimates of the gauged donor catchments and subsequently the ungauged catchments can be substantially uncertain when models are calibrated using traditional approaches based on optimization of statistical performance metrics (e.g., Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency). An improved calibration strategy for gauged catchments is therefore crucial to help reduce the uncertainties of estimated SFCs for ungauged catchments. The aim of this study was to improve SFC estimates from modeled runoff time series in gauged catchments by explicitly including one or several SFCs in the calibration process. Different types of objective functions were defined consisting of the Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency, single SFCs, or combinations thereof. We calibrated a bucket-type runoff model (HBV – Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenavdelning – model) for 25 catchments in the Tennessee River basin and evaluated the proposed calibration approach on 13 ecologically relevant SFCs representing major flow regime components and different flow conditions. While the model generally tended to underestimate the tested SFCs related to mean and high-flow conditions, SFCs related to low flow were generally overestimated. The highest estimation accuracies were achieved by a SFC-specific model calibration. Estimates of SFCs not included in the calibration process were of similar quality when comparing a multi-SFC calibration approach to a traditional model efficiency calibration. For practical applications, this implies that SFCs should preferably be estimated from targeted runoff model calibration, and modeled estimates need to be carefully interpreted.

  4. TIME CALIBRATED OSCILLOSCOPE SWEEP

    DOEpatents

    Owren, H.M.; Johnson, B.M.; Smith, V.L.

    1958-04-22

    The time calibrator of an electric signal displayed on an oscilloscope is described. In contrast to the conventional technique of using time-calibrated divisions on the face of the oscilloscope, this invention provides means for directly superimposing equal time spaced markers upon a signal displayed upon an oscilloscope. More explicitly, the present invention includes generally a generator for developing a linear saw-tooth voltage and a circuit for combining a high-frequency sinusoidal voltage of a suitable amplitude and frequency with the saw-tooth voltage to produce a resultant sweep deflection voltage having a wave shape which is substantially linear with respect to time between equal time spaced incremental plateau regions occurring once each cycle of the sinusoidal voltage. The foregoing sweep voltage when applied to the horizontal deflection plates in combination with a signal to be observed applied to the vertical deflection plates of a cathode ray oscilloscope produces an image on the viewing screen which is essentially a display of the signal to be observed with respect to time. Intensified spots, or certain other conspicuous indications corresponding to the equal time spaced plateau regions of said sweep voltage, appear superimposed upon said displayed signal, which indications are therefore suitable for direct time calibration purposes.

  5. More Than a Text Message: Dismantling Digital Triggers to Curate Behavior Change in Patient-Centered Health Interventions.

    PubMed

    Muench, Frederick; Baumel, Amit

    2017-05-26

    Digital triggers such as text messages, emails, and push alerts are designed to focus an individual on a desired goal by prompting an internal or external reaction at the appropriate time. Triggers therefore have an essential role in engaging individuals with digital interventions delivered outside of traditional health care settings, where other events in daily lives and fluctuating motivation to engage in effortful behavior exist. There is an emerging body of literature examining the use of digital triggers for short-term action and longer-term behavior change. However, little attention has been given to understanding the components of digital triggers. Using tailoring as an overarching framework, we separated digital triggers into 5 primary components: (1) who (sender), (2) how (stimulus type, delivery medium, heterogeneity), (3) when (delivered), (4) how much (frequency, intensity), and (5) what (trigger's target, trigger's structure, trigger's narrative). We highlighted key considerations when tailoring each component and the pitfalls of ignoring common mistakes, such as alert fatigue and habituation. As evidenced throughout the paper, there is a broad literature base from which to draw when tailoring triggers to curate behavior change in health interventions. More research is needed, however, to examine differences in efficacy based on component tailoring, to best use triggers to facilitate behavior change over time, and to keep individuals engaged in physical and mental health behavior change efforts. Dismantling digital triggers into their component parts and reassembling them according to the gestalt of one's change goals is the first step in this development work. ©Frederick Muench, Amit Baumel. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 26.05.2017.

  6. Spatially Resolved MR-Compatible Doppler Ultrasound: Proof of Concept for Triggering of Diagnostic Quality Cardiovascular MRI for Function and Flow Quantification at 3T.

    PubMed

    Crowe, Lindsey Alexandra; Manasseh, Gibran; Chmielewski, Aneta; Hachulla, Anne-Lise; Speicher, Daniel; Greiser, Andreas; Muller, Hajo; de Perrot, Thomas; Vallee, Jean-Paul; Salomir, Rares

    2018-02-01

    We demonstrate the use of a magnetic-resonance (MR)-compatible ultrasound (US) imaging probe using spatially resolved Doppler for diagnostic quality cardiovascular MR imaging (MRI) as an initial step toward hybrid US/MR fetal imaging. A newly developed technology for a dedicated MR-compatible phased array ultrasound-imaging probe acquired pulsed color Doppler carotid images, which were converted in near-real time to a trigger signal for cardiac cine and flow quantification MRI. Ultrasound and MR data acquired simultaneously were interference free. Conventional electrocardiogram (ECG) and the proposed spatially resolved Doppler triggering were compared in 10 healthy volunteers. A synthetic "false-triggered" image was retrospectively processed using metric optimized gating (MOG). Images were scored by expert readers, and sharpness, cardiac function and aortic flow were quantified. Four-dimensional (4-D) flow (two volunteers) showed feasibility of Doppler triggering over a long acquisition time. Imaging modalities were compatible. US probe positioning was stable and comfortable. Image quality scores and quantified sharpness were statistically equal for Doppler- and ECG-triggering (p ). ECG-, Doppler-triggered, and MOG ejection fractions were equivalent (p ), with false-triggered values significantly lower (p < 0.0005). Aortic flow showed no difference between ECG- and Doppler-triggered and MOG (p > 0.05). 4-D flow quantification gave consistent results between ECG and Doppler triggering. We report interference-free pulsed color Doppler ultrasound during MR data acquisition. Cardiovascular MRI of diagnostic quality was successfully obtained with pulsed color Doppler triggering. The hardware platform could further enable advanced free-breathing cardiac imaging. Doppler ultrasound triggering is applicable where ECG is compromised due to pathology or interference at higher magnetic fields, and where direct ECG is impossible, i.e., fetal imaging.

  7. Calibration of the KA Band Tracking of the Bepi-Colombo Spacecraft (more Experiment)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barriot, J.; Serafini, J.; Sichoix, L.

    2013-12-01

    The radiosciences Bepi-Colombo MORE experiment will use X/X, X/Ka and Ka/Ka band radio links to make accurate measurements of the spacecraft range and range rate. Tropospheric zenith wet delays range from 1.5 cm to 10 cm, with high variability (less than 1000 s) and will impair these accurate measurements. Conditions vary from summer (worse) to winter (better), from day (worse) to night (better). These wet delays cannot be estimated from ground weather measurements and alternative calibration methods should be used in order to cope with the MORE requirements (no more than 3 mm at 1000 s). Due to the Mercury orbit, MORE measurements will be performed by daylight and more frequently in summer than in winter (from Northern hemisphere). Two systems have been considered to calibrate this wet delay: Water Vapor Radiometers (WVRs) and GPS receivers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a new class of WVRs reaching a 5 percent accuracy for the wet delay calibration (0.75 mm to 5 mm), but these WVRs are expensive to build and operate. GPS receivers are also routinely used for the calibration of data from NASA Deep Space probes, but several studies have shown that GPS receivers can give good calibration (through wet delay mapping functions) for long time variations, but are not accurate enough for short time variations (100 to 1000 s), and that WVRs must be used to efficiently calibrate the wet troposphere delays over such time spans. We think that such a calibration could be done by assimilating data from all the GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and IRNSS) that will be available at the time of the Bepi-Colombo arrival at Mercury (2021), provided that the underlying physics of the turbulent atmosphere and evapotranspiration processes are properly taken into account at such time scales. This implies to do a tomographic image of the troposphere overlying each Deep Space tracking station at time scales of less than 1000 s. For this purpose, we have developed a full representation of the wet refractivity of the atmosphere over the ground station along a basis of 3D Zernike functions with time-variable coefficients. We detail the algorithm that is used to constraint the inverse imaging of the wet troposphere at the target time scales, and give examples of such imaging from GPS data only.

  8. More accurate, calibrated bootstrap confidence intervals for correlating two autocorrelated climate time series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olafsdottir, Kristin B.; Mudelsee, Manfred

    2013-04-01

    Estimation of the Pearson's correlation coefficient between two time series to evaluate the influences of one time depended variable on another is one of the most often used statistical method in climate sciences. Various methods are used to estimate confidence interval to support the correlation point estimate. Many of them make strong mathematical assumptions regarding distributional shape and serial correlation, which are rarely met. More robust statistical methods are needed to increase the accuracy of the confidence intervals. Bootstrap confidence intervals are estimated in the Fortran 90 program PearsonT (Mudelsee, 2003), where the main intention was to get an accurate confidence interval for correlation coefficient between two time series by taking the serial dependence of the process that generated the data into account. However, Monte Carlo experiments show that the coverage accuracy for smaller data sizes can be improved. Here we adapt the PearsonT program into a new version called PearsonT3, by calibrating the confidence interval to increase the coverage accuracy. Calibration is a bootstrap resampling technique, which basically performs a second bootstrap loop or resamples from the bootstrap resamples. It offers, like the non-calibrated bootstrap confidence intervals, robustness against the data distribution. Pairwise moving block bootstrap is used to preserve the serial correlation of both time series. The calibration is applied to standard error based bootstrap Student's t confidence intervals. The performances of the calibrated confidence intervals are examined with Monte Carlo simulations, and compared with the performances of confidence intervals without calibration, that is, PearsonT. The coverage accuracy is evidently better for the calibrated confidence intervals where the coverage error is acceptably small (i.e., within a few percentage points) already for data sizes as small as 20. One form of climate time series is output from numerical models which simulate the climate system. The method is applied to model data from the high resolution ocean model, INALT01 where the relationship between the Agulhas Leakage and the North Brazil Current is evaluated. Preliminary results show significant correlation between the two variables when there is 10 year lag between them, which is more or less the time that takes the Agulhas Leakage water to reach the North Brazil Current. Mudelsee, M., 2003. Estimating Pearson's correlation coefficient with bootstrap confidence interval from serially dependent time series. Mathematical Geology 35, 651-665.

  9. Error Recovery in the Time-Triggered Paradigm with FTT-CAN.

    PubMed

    Marques, Luis; Vasconcelos, Verónica; Pedreiras, Paulo; Almeida, Luís

    2018-01-11

    Data networks are naturally prone to interferences that can corrupt messages, leading to performance degradation or even to critical failure of the corresponding distributed system. To improve resilience of critical systems, time-triggered networks are frequently used, based on communication schedules defined at design-time. These networks offer prompt error detection, but slow error recovery that can only be compensated with bandwidth overprovisioning. On the contrary, the Flexible Time-Triggered (FTT) paradigm uses online traffic scheduling, which enables a compromise between error detection and recovery that can achieve timely recovery with a fraction of the needed bandwidth. This article presents a new method to recover transmission errors in a time-triggered Controller Area Network (CAN) network, based on the Flexible Time-Triggered paradigm, namely FTT-CAN. The method is based on using a server (traffic shaper) to regulate the retransmission of corrupted or omitted messages. We show how to design the server to simultaneously: (1) meet a predefined reliability goal, when considering worst case error recovery scenarios bounded probabilistically by a Poisson process that models the fault arrival rate; and, (2) limit the direct and indirect interference in the message set, preserving overall system schedulability. Extensive simulations with multiple scenarios, based on practical and randomly generated systems, show a reduction of two orders of magnitude in the average bandwidth taken by the proposed error recovery mechanism, when compared with traditional approaches available in the literature based on adding extra pre-defined transmission slots.

  10. Error Recovery in the Time-Triggered Paradigm with FTT-CAN

    PubMed Central

    Pedreiras, Paulo; Almeida, Luís

    2018-01-01

    Data networks are naturally prone to interferences that can corrupt messages, leading to performance degradation or even to critical failure of the corresponding distributed system. To improve resilience of critical systems, time-triggered networks are frequently used, based on communication schedules defined at design-time. These networks offer prompt error detection, but slow error recovery that can only be compensated with bandwidth overprovisioning. On the contrary, the Flexible Time-Triggered (FTT) paradigm uses online traffic scheduling, which enables a compromise between error detection and recovery that can achieve timely recovery with a fraction of the needed bandwidth. This article presents a new method to recover transmission errors in a time-triggered Controller Area Network (CAN) network, based on the Flexible Time-Triggered paradigm, namely FTT-CAN. The method is based on using a server (traffic shaper) to regulate the retransmission of corrupted or omitted messages. We show how to design the server to simultaneously: (1) meet a predefined reliability goal, when considering worst case error recovery scenarios bounded probabilistically by a Poisson process that models the fault arrival rate; and, (2) limit the direct and indirect interference in the message set, preserving overall system schedulability. Extensive simulations with multiple scenarios, based on practical and randomly generated systems, show a reduction of two orders of magnitude in the average bandwidth taken by the proposed error recovery mechanism, when compared with traditional approaches available in the literature based on adding extra pre-defined transmission slots. PMID:29324723

  11. Self-similar dynamic converging shocks - I. An isothermal gas sphere with self-gravity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lou, Yu-Qing; Shi, Chun-Hui

    2014-07-01

    We explore novel self-similar dynamic evolution of converging spherical shocks in a self-gravitating isothermal gas under conceivable astrophysical situations. The construction of such converging shocks involves a time-reversal operation on feasible flow profiles in self-similar expansion with a proper care for the increasing direction of the specific entropy. Pioneered by Guderley since 1942 but without self-gravity so far, self-similar converging shocks are important for implosion processes in aerodynamics, combustion, and inertial fusion. Self-gravity necessarily plays a key role for grossly spherical structures in very broad contexts of astrophysics and cosmology, such as planets, stars, molecular clouds (cores), compact objects, planetary nebulae, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, globular clusters, galactic bulges, elliptical galaxies, clusters of galaxies as well as relatively hollow cavity or bubble structures on diverse spatial and temporal scales. Large-scale dynamic flows associated with such quasi-spherical systems (including collapses, accretions, fall-backs, winds and outflows, explosions, etc.) in their initiation, formation, and evolution are likely encounter converging spherical shocks at times. Our formalism lays an important theoretical basis for pertinent astrophysical and cosmological applications of various converging shock solutions and for developing and calibrating numerical codes. As examples, we describe converging shock triggered star formation, supernova explosions, and void collapses.

  12. Green and ultraviolet pulse generation with a compact, fiber laser, chirped-pulse amplification system for aerosol fluorescence measurements.

    PubMed

    Lou, Janet W; Currie, Marc; Sivaprakasam, Vasanthi; Eversole, Jay D

    2010-10-01

    We use a compact chirped-pulse amplified system to harmonically generate ultrashort pulses for aerosol fluorescence measurements. The seed laser is a compact, all-normal dispersion, mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser with a 1050 nm center wavelength operating at 41 MHz. Average powers of more than 1.2 W at 525 nm and 350 mW at 262 nm are generated with <500 fs pulse durations. The pulses are time-stretched with high-dispersion fiber, amplified by a high-power, large-mode-area fiber amplifier, and recompressed using a chirped volume holographic Bragg grating. The resulting high-peak-power pulses allow for highly efficient harmonic generation. We also demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, the use of a mode-locked ultraviolet source to excite individual biological particles and other calibration particles in an inlet air flow as they pass through an optical chamber. The repetition rate is ideal for biofluorescence measurements as it allows faster sampling rates as well as the higher peak powers as compared to previously demonstrated Q-switched systems while maintaining a pulse period that is longer than the typical fluorescence lifetimes. Thus, the fluorescence excitation can be considered to be quasicontinuous and requires no external synchronization and triggering.

  13. Possibility of the real-time dynamic strain field monitoring deduced from GNSS data: case study of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ohta, Y.; Ohzono, M.; Takahashi, H.; Kawamoto, S.; Hino, R.

    2017-12-01

    A large and destructive earthquake (Mjma 7.3) occurred on April 15, 2016 in Kumamoto region, southwestern Japan. This earthquake was accompanied approximately 32 s later by an M 6 earthquake in central Oita region, which hypocenter located 80 km northeast from the hypocenter of the mainshock of the Kumamoto earthquake. This triggered earthquake also had the many aftershocks in and around the Oita region. It is important to understand how to occur such chain-reacted earthquake sequences. We used the 1Hz dual-frequency phase and range data from GEONET in Kyushu island. The data were processed using GIPSY-OASIS (version 6.4). We adopoted kinematic PPP strategy for the coordinate estimation. The reference GPS satellite orbit and 5 s clock information were obtained using the CODE product. We also applied simple sidereal filter technique for the estimated time series. Based on the obtained 1Hz GNSS time series, we estimated the areal strain and principle strain field using the method of the Shen et al. (1996). For the assessment of the dynamic strain, firstly we calculated the averaged absolute value of areal strain field between 60-85s after the origin time of the mainshock of the Kumamoto earthquake which was used as the "reference" static strain field. Secondly, we estimated the absolute value of areal strain in each time step. Finally, we calculated the strain ratio in each time step relative to the "reference". Based on this procedure, we can extract the spatial and temporal characteristic of the dynamic strain in each time step. Extracted strain ratio clearly shows the spatial and temporal dynamic strain characteristic. When an attention is paid to a region of triggered Oita earthquake, the timing of maximum dynamic strain ratio in the epicenter just corresponds to the origin time of the triggered event. It strongly suggested that the large dynamic strain may trigger the Oita event. The epicenter of the triggered earthquake located within the geothermal region. In the geothermal region, the crustal materials are more sensitive to stress perturbations, and the earthquakes are more easily triggered compared with other typical regions. Our result also suggested that the real-time strain field monitoring may be useful information for the understanding of the possibility of the remotely triggered earthquake in the future.

  14. From Amorphous to Defined: Balancing the Risks of Spiral Development

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-04-30

    630 675 720 765 810 855 900 Time (Week) Work started and active PhIt [Requirements,Iter1] : JavelinCalibration work packages1 1 1 Work started and...active PhIt [Technology,Iter1] : JavelinCalibration work packages2 2 2 Work started and active PhIt [Design,Iter1] : JavelinCalibration work packages3 3 3 3...Work started and active PhIt [Manufacturing,Iter1] : JavelinCalibration work packages4 4 Work started and active PhIt [Use,Iter1] : JavelinCalibration

  15. Development of instrumentation with application to sounding rocket electric and magnetic field measurements above thunderstorms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baker, Steven D.

    1999-06-01

    The thunderstorm campaigns led by Cornell University in 1981 and 1988 both measured large-amplitude (10 to 40 mV/m), long duration (1 ms) electric-field pulses parallel to the earth's magnetic field. To investigate the mechanism responsible for these pulses, the instrumentation bandwidth was increased from the VLF range to MF frequencies. The design for a Helmholtz coil developed to calibrate magnetometers from DC to 10 MHz is given in Chapter 3. This coil generates a spatially uniform field with for frequencies up to at least 10 MHz with amplitudes of up to 1.1 mA/m. Coincident with the need for higher bandwidth sensors, a burst-memory data acquisition system was developed to intelligently select the 1.25% of the available data to send to the telemetry encoder. This system uses the optical flash of the lightning as a trigger and has a back-up mode to ensure data is transmitted in the event no triggers occur. The higher-frequency instruments allowed the first rocket-borne measurement of nose- whistlers caused by the plasma frequency resonance (as opposed to the more common electron cyclotron frequency resonance), and what may have been the first observation of a TIPP at MF frequencies. Triggered emission from the second campaign, Thunderstorm-II, are identified as lower hybrid emissions. These emissions enhanced the whistler by several decibels in the lower hybrid frequency band and in bands above the emission. No emissions seen above the lower hybrid frequency. The Thunderstorm-III payloads also measured triggered emissions and long-duration pulses. The former were found in several altitude-independent frequency bands for which the source could not be identified. The long duration pulses, while of interest, have not been studied in sufficient depth for inclusion in this work.

  16. Office-Based Elastographic Technique for Quantifying Mechanical Properties of Skeletal Muscle

    PubMed Central

    Ballyns, Jeffrey J.; Turo, Diego; Otto, Paul; Shah, Jay P.; Hammond, Jennifer; Gebreab, Tadesse; Gerber, Lynn H.; Sikdar, Siddhartha

    2012-01-01

    Objectives Our objectives were to develop a new, efficient, and easy-to-administer approach to ultrasound elastography and assess its ability to provide quantitative characterization of viscoelastic properties of skeletal muscle in an outpatient clinical environment. We sought to show its validity and clinical utility in assessing myofascial trigger points, which are associated with myofascial pain syndrome. Methods Ultrasound imaging was performed while the muscle was externally vibrated at frequencies in the range of 60 to 200 Hz using a handheld vibrator. The spatial gradient of the vibration phase yielded the shear wave speed, which is related to the viscoelastic properties of tissue. The method was validated using a calibrated experimental phantom, the biceps brachii muscle in healthy volunteers (n = 6), and the upper trapezius muscle in symptomatic patients with axial neck pain (n = 13) and asymptomatic (pain-free) control participants (n = 9). Results Using the experimental phantom, our method was able to quantitatively measure the shear moduli with error rates of less than 20%. The mean shear modulus ± SD in the normal biceps brachii measured 12.5 ± 3.4 kPa, within the range of published values using more sophisticated methods. Shear wave speeds in active myofascial trigger points and the surrounding muscle tissue were significantly higher than those in normal tissue at high frequency excitations (>100 Hz; P < .05). Conclusions Off-the-shelf office-based equipment can be used to quantitatively characterize skeletal muscle viscoelastic properties with estimates comparable to those using more sophisticated methods. Our preliminary results using this method indicate that patients with spontaneous neck pain and symptomatic myofascial trigger points have increased tissue heterogeneity at the trigger point site and the surrounding muscle tissue. PMID:22837285

  17. Office-based elastographic technique for quantifying mechanical properties of skeletal muscle.

    PubMed

    Ballyns, Jeffrey J; Turo, Diego; Otto, Paul; Shah, Jay P; Hammond, Jennifer; Gebreab, Tadesse; Gerber, Lynn H; Sikdar, Siddhartha

    2012-08-01

    Our objectives were to develop a new, efficient, and easy-to-administer approach to ultrasound elastography and assess its ability to provide quantitative characterization of viscoelastic properties of skeletal muscle in an outpatient clinical environment. We sought to show its validity and clinical utility in assessing myofascial trigger points, which are associated with myofascial pain syndrome. Ultrasound imaging was performed while the muscle was externally vibrated at frequencies in the range of 60 to 200 Hz using a handheld vibrator. The spatial gradient of the vibration phase yielded the shear wave speed, which is related to the viscoelastic properties of tissue. The method was validated using a calibrated experimental phantom, the biceps brachii muscle in healthy volunteers (n = 6), and the upper trapezius muscle in symptomatic patients with axial neck pain (n = 13) and asymptomatic (pain-free) control participants (n = 9). Using the experimental phantom, our method was able to quantitatively measure the shear moduli with error rates of less than 20%. The mean shear modulus ± SD in the normal biceps brachii measured 12.5 ± 3.4 kPa, within the range of published values using more sophisticated methods. Shear wave speeds in active myofascial trigger points and the surrounding muscle tissue were significantly higher than those in normal tissue at high frequency excitations (>100 Hz; P < .05). Off-the-shelf office-based equipment can be used to quantitatively characterize skeletal muscle viscoelastic properties with estimates comparable to those using more sophisticated methods. Our preliminary results using this method indicate that patients with spontaneous neck pain and symptomatic myofascial trigger points have increased tissue heterogeneity at the trigger point site and the surrounding muscle tissue.

  18. On the Long-Term Stability of Microwave Radiometers Using Noise Diodes for Calibration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brown, Shannon T.; Desai, Shailen; Lu, Wenwen; Tanner, Alan B.

    2007-01-01

    Results are presented from the long-term monitoring and calibration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jason Microwave Radiometer (JMR) on the Jason-1 ocean altimetry satellite and the ground-based Advanced Water Vapor Radiometers (AWVRs) developed for the Cassini Gravity Wave Experiment. Both radiometers retrieve the wet tropospheric path delay (PD) of the atmosphere and use internal noise diodes (NDs) for gain calibration. The JMR is the first radiometer to be flown in space that uses NDs for calibration. External calibration techniques are used to derive a time series of ND brightness for both instruments that is greater than four years. For the JMR, an optimal estimator is used to find the set of calibration coefficients that minimize the root-mean-square difference between the JMR brightness temperatures and the on-Earth hot and cold references. For the AWVR, continuous tip curves are used to derive the ND brightness. For the JMR and AWVR, both of which contain three redundant NDs per channel, it was observed that some NDs were very stable, whereas others experienced jumps and drifts in their effective brightness. Over the four-year time period, the ND stability ranged from 0.2% to 3% among the diodes for both instruments. The presented recalibration methodology demonstrates that long-term calibration stability can be achieved with frequent recalibration of the diodes using external calibration techniques. The JMR PD drift compared to ground truth over the four years since the launch was reduced from 3.9 to - 0.01 mm/year with the recalibrated ND time series. The JMR brightness temperature calibration stability is estimated to be 0.25 K over ten days.

  19. SeaWiFS on-orbit gain and detector calibrations: effect on ocean products

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

    Eplee, Robert E. Jr.; Patt, Frederick S.; Franz, Bryan A.

    The NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group's Calibration and Validation Team has analyzed the mission-long Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor(SeaWiFS) on-orbit gain and detector calibration time series to verify that lunar calibrations, obtained at nonstandard gains and radiance ranges, are valid for Earth data collected at standard gains and typical ocean, cloud,and land radiances. For gain calibrations, a constant voltage injected into the postdetector electronics allows gain ratios to be computed for all four detectors in each band. The on-orbit lunar gain ratio time series show small drifts for the near infrared bands. These drifts are propagated into the ocean color datamore » through the atmospheric correction parameter ?, which uses the765/865 nm band ratio. An anomaly analysis of global mean normalized water-leaving radiances at510 nm shows a small decrease over the mission,while an analysis of ? shows a corresponding increase. The drifts in the lunar time series for the 765 and865 nm bands were corrected. An analysis of the revised water-leaving radiances at510 nm shows the drift has been eliminated,while an analysis of ? shows a reduced drift. For detector calibrations, solar diffuser observations made by the individual detectors in each band allows the response of the detectors to be monitored separately. The mission-long time series of detector calibration data show that the variations in the response of the individual detectors are less than 0.5% over the mission for all bands except the865 nm band, where the variations are less than 1%.« less

  20. Evaluation of dual energy quantitative CT for determining the spatial distributions of red marrow and bone for dosimetry in internal emitter radiation therapy

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

    Goodsitt, Mitchell M., E-mail: goodsitt@umich.edu; Shenoy, Apeksha; Howard, David

    2014-05-15

    Purpose: To evaluate a three-equation three-unknown dual-energy quantitative CT (DEQCT) technique for determining region specific variations in bone spongiosa composition for improved red marrow dose estimation in radionuclide therapy. Methods: The DEQCT method was applied to 80/140 kVp images of patient-simulating lumbar sectional body phantoms of three sizes (small, medium, and large). External calibration rods of bone, red marrow, and fat-simulating materials were placed beneath the body phantoms. Similar internal calibration inserts were placed at vertebral locations within the body phantoms. Six test inserts of known volume fractions of bone, fat, and red marrow were also scanned. External-to-internal calibration correctionmore » factors were derived. The effects of body phantom size, radiation dose, spongiosa region segmentation granularity [single (∼17 × 17 mm) region of interest (ROI), 2 × 2, and 3 × 3 segmentation of that single ROI], and calibration method on the accuracy of the calculated volume fractions of red marrow (cellularity) and trabecular bone were evaluated. Results: For standard low dose DEQCT x-ray technique factors and the internal calibration method, the RMS errors of the estimated volume fractions of red marrow of the test inserts were 1.2–1.3 times greater in the medium body than in the small body phantom and 1.3–1.5 times greater in the large body than in the small body phantom. RMS errors of the calculated volume fractions of red marrow within 2 × 2 segmented subregions of the ROIs were 1.6–1.9 times greater than for no segmentation, and RMS errors for 3 × 3 segmented subregions were 2.3–2.7 times greater than those for no segmentation. Increasing the dose by a factor of 2 reduced the RMS errors of all constituent volume fractions by an average factor of 1.40 ± 0.29 for all segmentation schemes and body phantom sizes; increasing the dose by a factor of 4 reduced those RMS errors by an average factor of 1.71 ± 0.25. Results for external calibrations exhibited much larger RMS errors than size matched internal calibration. Use of an average body size external-to-internal calibration correction factor reduced the errors to closer to those for internal calibration. RMS errors of less than 30% or about 0.01 for the bone and 0.1 for the red marrow volume fractions would likely be satisfactory for human studies. Such accuracies were achieved for 3 × 3 segmentation of 5 mm slice images for: (a) internal calibration with 4 times dose for all size body phantoms, (b) internal calibration with 2 times dose for the small and medium size body phantoms, and (c) corrected external calibration with 4 times dose and all size body phantoms. Conclusions: Phantom studies are promising and demonstrate the potential to use dual energy quantitative CT to estimate the spatial distributions of red marrow and bone within the vertebral spongiosa.« less

  1. Evaluation of dual energy quantitative CT for determining the spatial distributions of red marrow and bone for dosimetry in internal emitter radiation therapy

    PubMed Central

    Goodsitt, Mitchell M.; Shenoy, Apeksha; Shen, Jincheng; Howard, David; Schipper, Matthew J.; Wilderman, Scott; Christodoulou, Emmanuel; Chun, Se Young; Dewaraja, Yuni K.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate a three-equation three-unknown dual-energy quantitative CT (DEQCT) technique for determining region specific variations in bone spongiosa composition for improved red marrow dose estimation in radionuclide therapy. Methods: The DEQCT method was applied to 80/140 kVp images of patient-simulating lumbar sectional body phantoms of three sizes (small, medium, and large). External calibration rods of bone, red marrow, and fat-simulating materials were placed beneath the body phantoms. Similar internal calibration inserts were placed at vertebral locations within the body phantoms. Six test inserts of known volume fractions of bone, fat, and red marrow were also scanned. External-to-internal calibration correction factors were derived. The effects of body phantom size, radiation dose, spongiosa region segmentation granularity [single (∼17 × 17 mm) region of interest (ROI), 2 × 2, and 3 × 3 segmentation of that single ROI], and calibration method on the accuracy of the calculated volume fractions of red marrow (cellularity) and trabecular bone were evaluated. Results: For standard low dose DEQCT x-ray technique factors and the internal calibration method, the RMS errors of the estimated volume fractions of red marrow of the test inserts were 1.2–1.3 times greater in the medium body than in the small body phantom and 1.3–1.5 times greater in the large body than in the small body phantom. RMS errors of the calculated volume fractions of red marrow within 2 × 2 segmented subregions of the ROIs were 1.6–1.9 times greater than for no segmentation, and RMS errors for 3 × 3 segmented subregions were 2.3–2.7 times greater than those for no segmentation. Increasing the dose by a factor of 2 reduced the RMS errors of all constituent volume fractions by an average factor of 1.40 ± 0.29 for all segmentation schemes and body phantom sizes; increasing the dose by a factor of 4 reduced those RMS errors by an average factor of 1.71 ± 0.25. Results for external calibrations exhibited much larger RMS errors than size matched internal calibration. Use of an average body size external-to-internal calibration correction factor reduced the errors to closer to those for internal calibration. RMS errors of less than 30% or about 0.01 for the bone and 0.1 for the red marrow volume fractions would likely be satisfactory for human studies. Such accuracies were achieved for 3 × 3 segmentation of 5 mm slice images for: (a) internal calibration with 4 times dose for all size body phantoms, (b) internal calibration with 2 times dose for the small and medium size body phantoms, and (c) corrected external calibration with 4 times dose and all size body phantoms. Conclusions: Phantom studies are promising and demonstrate the potential to use dual energy quantitative CT to estimate the spatial distributions of red marrow and bone within the vertebral spongiosa. PMID:24784380

  2. Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Redoubt Volcano and Mt. Spurr, Alaska: October 12, 1989 - December 31, 1990

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Power, John A.; March, Gail D.; Lahr, John C.; Jolly, Arthur D.; Cruse, Gina R.

    1993-01-01

    Following a 23 year period of quiescence, Redoubt Volcano erupted between December 14,1989 and April 21,1990. The eruption was accompanied by thousands of earthquakes (Alaska Volcano Observatory Staff, 1990). Throughout the eruption sequence, data from the PC/AT system provided the primary means of determining earthquake hypocenters. This report catalogs the earthquake hypocenters and magnitudes calculated from data collected between October 12, 1989 and December 31, 1990 on the PC/AT acquisition system, provides station locations, statistics, and calibrations, and outlines which stations were recorded and used in triggering the PC/AT system.

  3. Internal Water Vapor Photoacoustic Calibration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.

    2009-01-01

    Water vapor absorption is ubiquitous in the infrared wavelength range where photoacoustic trace gas detectors operate. This technique allows for discontinuous wavelength tuning by temperature-jumping a laser diode from one range to another within a time span suitable for photoacoustic calibration. The use of an internal calibration eliminates the need for external calibrated reference gases. Commercial applications include an improvement of photoacoustic spectrometers in all fields of use.

  4. Development of an in situ calibration technique for combustible gas detectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shumar, J. W.; Wynveen, R. A.; Lance, N., Jr.; Lantz, J. B.

    1977-01-01

    This paper describes the development of an in situ calibration procedure for combustible gas detectors (CGD). The CGD will be a necessary device for future space vehicles as many subsystems in the Environmental Control/Life Support System utilize or produce hydrogen (H2) gas. Existing calibration techniques are time-consuming and require support equipment such as an environmental chamber and calibration gas supply. The in situ calibration procedure involves utilization of a water vapor electrolysis cell for the automatic in situ generation of a H2/air calibration mixture within the flame arrestor of the CGD. The development effort concluded with the successful demonstration of in situ span calibrations of a CGD.

  5. Automation is an Effective Way to Improve Quality of Verification (Calibration) of Measuring Instruments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Golobokov, M.; Danilevich, S.

    2018-04-01

    In order to assess calibration reliability and automate such assessment, procedures for data collection and simulation study of thermal imager calibration procedure have been elaborated. The existing calibration techniques do not always provide high reliability. A new method for analyzing the existing calibration techniques and developing new efficient ones has been suggested and tested. A type of software has been studied that allows generating instrument calibration reports automatically, monitoring their proper configuration, processing measurement results and assessing instrument validity. The use of such software allows reducing man-hours spent on finalization of calibration data 2 to 5 times and eliminating a whole set of typical operator errors.

  6. Plate break-up geometry in SE-Afar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geoffroy, Laurent; Le Gall, Bernard; Daoud, Mohamed

    2014-05-01

    New structural data acquired in Djibouti strongly support the view of a magma-rich to magma-poor pair of conjugate margins developed in SE Afar since at least 9 Ma. Our model is illustrated by a crustal-scale transect that emphasizes the role of a two-stage extensional detachment fault system, with opposing senses of motion through time. The geometry and kinematics of this detachment fault pattern are mainly documented from lavas and fault dip data extracted from remote sensing imagery (Landsat ETM+, and corresponding DEM), further calibrated by field observations. Although expressed by opposite fault geometries, the two successive extensional events evidenced here are part of a two-stage continental extensional tear-system associated with the ongoing propagation of the Aden-Tadjoura oceanic axis to the NW. A flip-flop evolution of detachment faults accommodating lithosphere divergence has recently been proposed for the development of the Indian Ocean and continental margins (Sauter et al., 2013). However, the SE Afar evolution further suggests a radical and sudden change in lithosphere behavior during extension, from a long-term and widespread magmatic stage to a syn-sedimentary break-up stage where mantle melting concentrates along the future oceanic axis. Of special interest is the fact that a late and rapid stage of non-magmatic extension led to break-up, whose geometry triggered the location of the break-up axis and earliest oceanic accretion. New structural data acquired in Djibouti strongly support the view of a magma-rich to magma-poor pair of conjugate margins developed in SE Afar since at least 9 Ma. Our model is illustrated by a crustal-scale transect that emphasizes the role of a two-stage extensional detachment fault system, with opposing senses of motion through time. The geometry and kinematics of this detachment fault pattern are mainly documented from lavas and fault dip data extracted from remote sensing imagery (Landsat ETM+, and corresponding DEM), further calibrated by field observations. Although expressed by opposite fault geometries, the two successive extensional events evidenced here are part of a two-stage continental extensional tear-system associated with the ongoing propagation of the Aden-Tadjoura oceanic axis to the NW. A flip-flop evolution of detachment faults accommodating lithosphere divergence has recently been proposed for the development of the Indian Ocean and continental margins (Sauter et al., 2013). However, the SE Afar evolution further suggests a radical and sudden change in lithosphere behavior during extension, from a long-term and widespread magmatic stage to a syn-sedimentary break-up stage where mantle melting concentrates along the future oceanic axis. Of special interest is the fact that a late and rapid stage of non-magmatic extension led to break-up, whose geometry triggered the location of the break-up axis and earliest oceanic accretion.

  7. On the use of water phantom images to calibrate and correct eddy current induced artefacts in MR diffusion tensor imaging.

    PubMed

    Bastin, M E; Armitage, P A

    2000-07-01

    The accurate determination of absolute measures of diffusion anisotropy in vivo using single-shot, echo-planar imaging techniques requires the acquisition of a set of high signal-to-noise ratio, diffusion-weighted images that are free from eddy current induced image distortions. Such geometric distortions can be characterized and corrected in brain imaging data using magnification (M), translation (T), and shear (S) distortion parameters derived from separate water phantom calibration experiments. Here we examine the practicalities of using separate phantom calibration data to correct high b-value diffusion tensor imaging data by investigating the stability of these distortion parameters, and hence the eddy currents, with time. It is found that M, T, and S vary only slowly with time (i.e., on the order of weeks), so that calibration scans need not be performed after every patient examination. This not only minimises the scan time required to collect the calibration data, but also the computational time needed to characterize these eddy current induced distortions. Examples of how measurements of diffusion anisotropy are improved using this post-processing scheme are also presented.

  8. Data Adjustments for TRACE-P, INTEX-A and INTEX-B

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-08-06

    ... that time, we have done repeated calibrations with two other methods: measuring the production of ozone from oxygen photolysis and the ... this notification.   All of our four calibration methods indicate that the PMT calibration is incorrect, but they differ in the ...

  9. A new method to calibrate Lagrangian model with ASAR images for oil slick trajectory.

    PubMed

    Tian, Siyu; Huang, Xiaoxia; Li, Hongga

    2017-03-15

    Since Lagrangian model coefficients vary with different conditions, it is necessary to calibrate the model to obtain optimal coefficient combination for special oil spill accident. This paper focuses on proposing a new method to calibrate Lagrangian model with time series of Envisat ASAR images. Oil slicks extracted from time series images form a detected trajectory of special oil slick. Lagrangian model is calibrated by minimizing the difference between simulated trajectory and detected trajectory. mean center position distance difference (MCPD) and rotation difference (RD) of Oil slicks' or particles' standard deviational ellipses (SDEs) are calculated as two evaluations. The two parameters are taken to evaluate the performance of Lagrangian transport model with different coefficient combinations. This method is applied to Penglai 19-3 oil spill accident. The simulation result with calibrated model agrees well with related satellite observations. It is suggested the new method is effective to calibrate Lagrangian model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Neutron detection devices with 6LiF converter layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Finocchiaro, Paolo; Cosentino, Luigi; Meo, Sergio Lo; Nolte, Ralf; Radeck, Desiree

    2018-01-01

    The demand for new thermal neutron detectors as an alternative to 3He tubes in research, industrial, safety and homeland security applications, is growing. These needs have triggered research and development activities about new generations of thermal neutron detectors, characterized by reasonable efficiency and gamma rejection comparable to 3He tubes. In this paper we show the state of art of a promising lowcost technique, based on commercial solid state silicon detectors coupled with thin neutron converter layers of 6LiF deposited onto carbon fiber substrates. Several configurations were studied with the GEANT4 simulation code, and then calibrated at the PTB Thermal Neutron Calibration Facility. The results show that the measured detection efficiency is well reproduced by the simulations, therefore validating the simulation tool in view of new designs. These neutron detectors have also been tested at neutron beam facilities like ISIS (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK) and n_TOF (CERN) where a few samples are already in operation for beam flux and 2D profile measurements. Forthcoming applications are foreseen for the online monitoring of spent nuclear fuel casks in interim storage sites.

  11. A high precision pulse generation and stabilization system for bolometric experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alfonso, K.; Carniti, P.; Cassina, L.; Giachero, A.; Gotti, C.; Pessina, G.

    2018-02-01

    Bolometric experiments searching for rare events usually require an extremely low radioactive background to prevent spurious signals from mimicking those of interest, spoiling the sensitivity of the apparatus. In such contexts, radioactive sources cannot be used to produce a known signal to calibrate the measured energy spectrum during data taking. In this paper we present an instrument designed to generate ultra-stable and very precise calibrating pulses, which can be used to stabilize the response of bolometers during data taking. The instrument is characterized by the presence of multi-outputs, a completely programmable pulse width and amplitude and a dedicated daisy-chained optical trigger line. It can be fully controlled and monitored remotely via CAN bus protocol. An energy resolution of the order of 20 eV FWHM at 1 MeV (2 eV FWHM at 10 keV) and a thermal stability of the order of 0.1 ppm/oC have been achieved. The device can also provide an adjustable power to compensate the low frequency thermal fluctuations that typically occur in cryogenic experiments.

  12. Performance of b-jet identification in the ATLAS experiment

    DOE PAGES

    Aad, G; Abbott, B; Abdallah, J; ...

    2016-04-04

    The identification of jets containing b hadrons is important for the physics programme of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Several algorithms to identify jets containing b hadrons are described, ranging from those based on the reconstruction of an inclusive secondary vertex or the presence of tracks with large impact parameters to combined tagging algorithms making use of multi-variate discriminants. An independent b-tagging algorithm based on the reconstruction of muons inside jets as well as the b-tagging algorithm used in the online trigger are also presented. The b-jet tagging efficiency, the c-jet tagging efficiency and the mistag ratemore » for light flavour jets in data have been measured with a number of complementary methods. The calibration results are presented as scale factors defined as the ratio of the efficiency (or mistag rate) in data to that in simulation. In the case of b jets, where more than one calibration method exists, the results from the various analyses have been combined taking into account the statistical correlation as well as the correlation of the sources of systematic uncertainty.« less

  13. Onboard calibration circuit for the DAMPE BGO calorimeter front-end electronics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, De-Liang; Feng, Chang-Qing; Zhang, Jun-Bin; Wang, Qi; Ma, Si-Yuan; Shen, Zhong-Tao; Jiang, Di; Gao, Shan-Shan; Zhang, Yun-Long; Guo, Jian-Hua; Liu, Shu-Bin; An, Qi

    2016-05-01

    DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explorer) is a scientific satellite which is mainly aimed at indirectly searching for dark matter in space. One critical sub-detector of the DAMPE payload is the BGO (bismuth germanium oxide) calorimeter, which contains 1848 PMT (photomultiplier tube) dynodes and 16 FEE (Front-End Electronics) boards. VA160 and VATA160, two 32-channel low power ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), are adopted as the key components on the FEEs to perform charge measurement for the PMT signals. In order to monitor the parameter drift which may be caused by temperature variation, aging, or other environmental factors, an onboard calibration circuit is designed for the VA160 and VATA160 ASICs. It is mainly composed of a 12-bit DAC (Digital to Analog Converter), an operational amplifier and an analog switch. Test results showed that a dynamic range of 0-30 pC with a precision of 5 fC (Root Meam Square, RMS) was achieved, which covers the VA160’s input range. It can be used to compensate for the temperature drift and test the trigger function of the FEEs. The calibration circuit has been implemented for the front-end electronics of the BGO Calorimeter and verified by all the environmental tests for both Qualification Model and Flight Model of DAMPE. The DAMPE satellite was launched at the end of 2015 and the calibration circuit will operate periodically in space. Supported by Strategic Priority Research Program on Space Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA04040202-4), and National Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China (2010CB833002) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (11273070)

  14. Fast Plasma Investigation for MMS: Simulation of the Burst Triggering System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barrie, A. C.; Dorelli, J. C.; Winkert, G. E.; Lobell, J. V.; Holland, M. P.; Adrian, M. L.; Pollock, C. J.

    2011-01-01

    The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will study small-scale reconnection structures and their rapid motions from closely spaced platforms using instruments capable of high angular, energy, and time resolution measurements. To meet these requirements, the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) consists of eight (8) identical half top-hat electron sensors and eight (8) identical ion sensors and an Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU). The sensors (electron or ion) are grouped into pairs whose 6 degree x 180 degree fields-of-view (FOV) are set 90 degrees apart. Each sensor is equipped with electrostatic aperture steering to allow the sensor to scan a 45 degree x 180 degree fan about the its nominal viewing (0 deflection) direction. Each pair of sensors, known as the Dual Electron Spectrometer (DES) and the Dual Ion Spectrometer (DIS), occupies a quadrant on the MMS spacecraft and the combination of the eight electron/ion sensors, employing aperture steering, image the full-sky every 30-ms (electrons) and 150-ms (ions), respectively. To probe the diffusion regions of reconnection, the highest temporal/spatial resolution mode of FPI results in the DES complement of a given spacecraft generating 6.5-Mb (raised dot) per second of electron data while the DIS generates 1.1-Mb (raised dot) per second of ion data yielding an FPI total data rate of 6.6-Mb (raised dot) per second. The FPI electron/ion data is collected by the IDPU then transmitted to the Central Data Instrument Processor (CIDP) on the spacecraft for science interest ranking. Only data sequences that contain the greatest amount of temporal/spatial structure will be intelligently down-linked by the spacecraft. This requires a data ranking process known as the burst trigger system. The burst trigger system uses pseudo physical quantities to approximate the local plasma environments. As each pseudo quantity will have a different value, a set of two scaling factors is employed for each pseudo term. These pseudo quantities are then combined at the instrument, spacecraft, and observatory level leading to a final ranking of data based on expected scientific interest. Here, we present simulations of the fixed point burst trigger system for the FPI. A variety of data sets based on previous mission data as well as analytical formulations are tested. Comparisons of floating point calculations versus the fixed point hardware simulation are shown. Analysis of the potential sources of error from overflows, quantization, etc. are examined and mitigation methods are presented. Finally a series of calibration curves are presented, showing the expected error in pseudo quantities based solely on the scale parameters chosen and the expected data range. We conclude with a presentation of the current base-lined FPI burst trigger approach.

  15. Multi-Threaded Algorithms for GPGPU in the ATLAS High Level Trigger

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conde Muíño, P.; ATLAS Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    General purpose Graphics Processor Units (GPGPU) are being evaluated for possible future inclusion in an upgraded ATLAS High Level Trigger farm. We have developed a demonstrator including GPGPU implementations of Inner Detector and Muon tracking and Calorimeter clustering within the ATLAS software framework. ATLAS is a general purpose particle physics experiment located on the LHC collider at CERN. The ATLAS Trigger system consists of two levels, with Level-1 implemented in hardware and the High Level Trigger implemented in software running on a farm of commodity CPU. The High Level Trigger reduces the trigger rate from the 100 kHz Level-1 acceptance rate to 1.5 kHz for recording, requiring an average per-event processing time of ∼ 250 ms for this task. The selection in the high level trigger is based on reconstructing tracks in the Inner Detector and Muon Spectrometer and clusters of energy deposited in the Calorimeter. Performing this reconstruction within the available farm resources presents a significant challenge that will increase significantly with future LHC upgrades. During the LHC data taking period starting in 2021, luminosity will reach up to three times the original design value. Luminosity will increase further to 7.5 times the design value in 2026 following LHC and ATLAS upgrades. Corresponding improvements in the speed of the reconstruction code will be needed to provide the required trigger selection power within affordable computing resources. Key factors determining the potential benefit of including GPGPU as part of the HLT processor farm are: the relative speed of the CPU and GPGPU algorithm implementations; the relative execution times of the GPGPU algorithms and serial code remaining on the CPU; the number of GPGPU required, and the relative financial cost of the selected GPGPU. We give a brief overview of the algorithms implemented and present new measurements that compare the performance of various configurations exploiting GPGPU cards.

  16. Acoustic emission intrusion detector

    DOEpatents

    Carver, Donald W.; Whittaker, Jerry W.

    1980-01-01

    An intrusion detector is provided for detecting a forcible entry into a secured structure while minimizing false alarms. The detector uses a piezoelectric crystal transducer to sense acoustic emissions. The transducer output is amplified by a selectable gain amplifier to control the sensitivity. The rectified output of the amplifier is applied to a Schmitt trigger circuit having a preselected threshold level to provide amplitude discrimination. Timing circuitry is provided which is activated by successive pulses from the Schmitt trigger which lie within a selected time frame for frequency discrimination. Detected signals having proper amplitude and frequency trigger an alarm within the first complete cycle time of a detected acoustical disturbance signal.

  17. A T0/Trigger detector for the External Target Experiment at CSR

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, D.; Shao, M.; Sun, Y.; Li, C.; Chen, H.; Tang, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Zhou, J.; Zeng, H.; Zhao, X.; You, W.; Song, G.; Deng, P.; Lu, J.; Zhao, L.

    2017-06-01

    A new T0/Trigger detector based on multi-gap resistive plate chamber (MRPC) technology has been constructed and tested for the external target experiment (ETE) at HIRFL-CSR. It measures the multiplicity and timing information of particles produced in heavy-ion collisions at the target region, providing necessary event collision time (T0) and collision centrality with high precision. Monte-Carlo simulation shows a time resolution of several tens of picosecond can be achieved at central collisions. The experimental tests have been performed for this prototype detector at the CSR-ETE. The preliminary results are shown to demonstrate the performance of the T0/Trigger detector.

  18. Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT) Calibration Constancy From Closure Sums

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    40th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting 587 TWO-WAY SATELLITE TIME AND FREQUENCY TRANSFER ( TWSTFT ) CALIBRATION...Paris, France Abstract Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ) is considered to be the most accurate means of long-distance...explanations for small, but non-zero, biases observed in the closure sums of uncalibrated data are presented. I. INTRODUCTION TWSTFT [1] has

  19. Investigation of high-voltage pulse trigger generator based on photo-conductive semiconductor switch

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chu, Xu; Liu, Jin-Liang; Wang, Lang-Ning; Qiu, Yong-Feng

    2018-06-01

    The trigger to generate high-voltage pulse is one of the most important parts in a pulsed-power system, especially for the conduction characteristics of the main switch. However, traditional triggers usually have the drawbacks of large structure and worse long-term working stability, which goes against the demands of pulsed-power system miniaturization and stability. In the paper, a pulse trigger using photo-conductive semiconductor switch was developed, which is of small size, stable performance and steep leading edge of the output pulse rise. It is found that the output trigger pulse rise time is 14 ns, and the jitter of 20 shots is 330 ps. Applying the designed pulsed trigger in a field distortion switch and a triggered vacuum switch, experiments show that the switches could be triggered stably with reduced jitter.

  20. Global observation of Omori-law decay in the rate of triggered earthquakes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parsons, T.

    2001-12-01

    Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the 1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 events in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with M greater than 7.0 from the Harvard CMT catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occurred near the main shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ~39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, triggered earthquakes obey an Omori-law rate decay that lasts between ~7-11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main-shock centroid. Earthquakes triggered by smaller quakes (foreshocks) also obey Omori's law, which is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. These observations indicate that earthquake probability calculations which include interactions from previous shocks should incorporate a transient Omori-law decay with time. In addition, a very simple model using the observed global rate change with time and spatial distribution of triggered earthquakes can be applied to immediately assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following large events, and can be in place until more sophisticated analyses are conducted.

  1. The calibration methods for Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer: a review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Maosi; Davis, John; Tang, Hongzhao; Ownby, Carolyn; Gao, Wei

    2013-09-01

    The continuous, over two-decade data record from the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) is ideal for climate research which requires timely and accurate information of important atmospheric components such as gases, aerosols, and clouds. Except for parameters derived from MFRSR measurement ratios, which are not impacted by calibration error, most applications require accurate calibration factor(s), angular correction, and spectral response function(s) from calibration. Although a laboratory lamp (or reference) calibration can provide all the information needed to convert the instrument readings to actual radiation, in situ calibration methods are implemented routinely (daily) to fill the gaps between lamp calibrations. In this paper, the basic structure and the data collection and pretreatment of the MFRSR are described. The laboratory lamp calibration and its limitations are summarized. The cloud screening algorithms for MFRSR data are presented. The in situ calibration methods, the standard Langley method and its variants, the ratio-Langley method, the general method, Alexandrov's comprehensive method, and Chen's multi-channel method, are outlined. The reason that all these methods do not fit for all situations is that they assume some properties, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), total optical depth (TOD), precipitable water vapor (PWV), effective size of aerosol particles, or angstrom coefficient, are invariant over time. These properties are not universal and some of them rarely happen. In practice, daily calibration factors derived from these methods should be smoothed to restrain error.

  2. On the Long-Term Calibration of the TOMS Total Ozone Record

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stolarski, Richard S.; McPeters, Richard; Labow, Gordon J.; Hollandsworth, Stacey; Flynn, Larry; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Comparison of Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data to the network of ground-based Dobson/Brewer measurements reveals difference in the time dependence of the calibration of the two systems. We have been searching for a method to determine the time dependence of the TOMS calibrations that is independent of the Dobson/Brewer network. In a separate paper by DeLand et al., calibrations of the Solar Backscatter UV Spectrometer (SBUV) instruments have been rederived using the D-pair (306/313 nm wavelengths) data at the equator. These calibrations have been applied to the data from the Nimbus 7 SBUV and the NOAA 9 and 11 SBUV/2 data to derive a new version 7 data set for each instrument. We have used these data to do a detailed comparison to the Nimbus 7 and Earth Probe TOMS data. Assuming that the D-pair establishes the correct calibration, these comparisons reveal some small calibration drifts (approximately 1%) in the TOMS data. They also reveal an offset in the D-pair calibration with respect to the Dobson network of approximately 8 Dobson units with the Dobson being lower than the D-pair. The D-pair calibration offsets have been used to create a merged ozone data set from TOMS with a calibration that has been determined independent of the Dobson/Brewer network. Trend analyses of these data will be presented and compared to trend analyses using the ground-based data.

  3. A Note on Inconsistent Axioms in Rushby's Systematic Formal Verification for Fault-Tolerant Time-Triggered Algorithms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pike, Lee

    2005-01-01

    I describe some inconsistencies in John Rushby s axiomatization of time-triggered algorithms that he presents in these transactions and that he formally specifies and verifies in a mechanical theorem-prover. I also present corrections for these inconsistencies.

  4. Research on orbit prediction for solar-based calibration proper satellite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Xuan; Qi, Wenwen; Xu, Peng

    2018-03-01

    Utilizing the mathematical model of the orbit mechanics, the orbit prediction is to forecast the space target's orbit information of a certain time based on the orbit of the initial moment. The proper satellite radiometric calibration and calibration orbit prediction process are introduced briefly. On the basis of the research of the calibration space position design method and the radiative transfer model, an orbit prediction method for proper satellite radiometric calibration is proposed to select the appropriate calibration arc for the remote sensor and to predict the orbit information of the proper satellite and the remote sensor. By analyzing the orbit constraint of the proper satellite calibration, the GF-1solar synchronous orbit is chose as the proper satellite orbit in order to simulate the calibration visible durance for different satellites to be calibrated. The results of simulation and analysis provide the basis for the improvement of the radiometric calibration accuracy of the satellite remote sensor, which lays the foundation for the high precision and high frequency radiometric calibration.

  5. Calibration Plans for the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruegge, C. J.; Duval, V. G.; Chrien, N. L.; Diner, D. J.

    1993-01-01

    The EOS Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) will study the ecology and climate of the Earth through acquisition of global multi-angle imagery. The MISR employs nine discrete cameras, each a push-broom imager. Of these, four point forward, four point aft and one views the nadir. Absolute radiometric calibration will be obtained pre-flight using high quantum efficiency (HQE) detectors and an integrating sphere source. After launch, instrument calibration will be provided using HQE detectors in conjunction with deployable diffuse calibration panels. The panels will be deployed at time intervals of one month and used to direct sunlight into the cameras, filling their fields-of-view and providing through-the-optics calibration. Additional techniques will be utilized to reduce systematic errors, and provide continuity as the methodology changes with time. For example, radiation-resistant photodiodes will also be used to monitor panel radiant exitance. These data will be acquired throughout the five-year mission, to maintain calibration in the latter years when it is expected that the HQE diodes will have degraded. During the mission, it is planned that the MISR will conduct semi-annual ground calibration campaigns, utilizing field measurements and higher resolution sensors (aboard aircraft or in-orbit platforms) to provide a check of the on-board hardware. These ground calibration campaigns are limited in number, but are believed to be the key to the long-term maintenance of MISR radiometric calibration.

  6. Comparison of TLD calibration methods for  192Ir dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Butler, Duncan J.; Wilfert, Lisa; Ebert, Martin A.; Todd, Stephen P.; Hayton, Anna J.M.; Kron, Tomas

    2013-01-01

    For the purpose of dose measurement using a high‐dose rate  192Ir source, four methods of thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) calibration were investigated. Three of the four calibration methods used the  192Ir source. Dwell times were calculated to deliver 1 Gy to the TLDs irradiated either in air or water. Dwell time calculations were confirmed by direct measurement using an ionization chamber. The fourth method of calibration used 6 MV photons from a medical linear accelerator, and an energy correction factor was applied to account for the difference in sensitivity of the TLDs in  192Ir and 6 M V. The results of the four TLD calibration methods are presented in terms of the results of a brachytherapy audit where seven Australian centers irradiated three sets of TLDs in a water phantom. The results were in agreement within estimated uncertainties when the TLDs were calibrated with the  192Ir source. Calibrating TLDs in a phantom similar to that used for the audit proved to be the most practical method and provided the greatest confidence in measured dose. When calibrated using 6 MV photons, the TLD results were consistently higher than the  192Ir−calibrated TLDs, suggesting this method does not fully correct for the response of the TLDs when irradiated in the audit phantom. PACS number: 87 PMID:23318392

  7. Self-Calibration of CMB Polarimeters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keating, Brian

    2013-01-01

    Precision measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, especially experiments seeking to detect the odd-parity "B-modes", have far-reaching implications for cosmology. To detect the B-modes generated during inflation the flux response and polarization angle of these experiments must be calibrated to exquisite precision. While suitable flux calibration sources abound, polarization angle calibrators are deficient in many respects. Man-made polarized sources are often not located in the antenna's far-field, have spectral properties that are radically different from the CMB's, are cumbersome to implement and may be inherently unstable over the (long) duration these searches require to detect the faint signature of the inflationary epoch. Astrophysical sources suffer from time, frequency and spatial variability, are not visible from all CMB observatories, and none are understood with sufficient accuracy to calibrate future CMB polarimeters seeking to probe inflationary energy scales of ~1000 TeV. CMB TB and EB modes, expected to identically vanish in the standard cosmological model, can be used to calibrate CMB polarimeters. By enforcing the observed EB and TB power spectra to be consistent with zero, CMB polarimeters can be calibrated to levels not possible with man-made or astrophysical sources. All of this can be accomplished without any loss of observing time using a calibration source which is spectrally identical to the CMB B-modes. The calibration procedure outlined here can be used for any CMB polarimeter.

  8. SELF-CALIBRATION OF COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND POLARIZATION EXPERIMENTS

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

    Keating, Brian G.; Yadav, Amit P. S.; Shimon, Meir

    2013-01-10

    Precision measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, especially experiments seeking to detect the odd-parity 'B-modes', have far-reaching implications for cosmology. To detect the B-modes generated during inflation, the flux response and polarization angle of these experiments must be calibrated to exquisite precision. While suitable flux calibration sources abound, polarization angle calibrators are deficient in many respects. Man-made polarized sources are often not located in the antenna's far-field, have spectral properties that are radically different from the CMB's, are cumbersome to implement, and may be inherently unstable over the (long) duration these searches require to detectmore » the faint signature of the inflationary epoch. Astrophysical sources suffer from time, frequency, and spatial variability, are not visible from all CMB observatories, and none are understood with sufficient accuracy to calibrate future CMB polarimeters seeking to probe inflationary energy scales of 10{sup 15} GeV. Both man-made and astrophysical sources require dedicated observations which detract from the amount of integration time usable for detection of the inflationary B-modes. CMB TB and EB modes, expected to identically vanish in the standard cosmological model, can be used to calibrate CMB polarimeters. By enforcing the observed EB and TB power spectra to be consistent with zero, CMB polarimeters can be calibrated to levels not possible with man-made or astrophysical sources. All of this can be accomplished for any polarimeter without any loss of observing time using a calibration source which is spectrally identical to the CMB B-modes.« less

  9. Calibration of hydrological models using flow-duration curves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Westerberg, I. K.; Guerrero, J.-L.; Younger, P. M.; Beven, K. J.; Seibert, J.; Halldin, S.; Freer, J. E.; Xu, C.-Y.

    2011-07-01

    The degree of belief we have in predictions from hydrologic models will normally depend on how well they can reproduce observations. Calibrations with traditional performance measures, such as the Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency, are challenged by problems including: (1) uncertain discharge data, (2) variable sensitivity of different performance measures to different flow magnitudes, (3) influence of unknown input/output errors and (4) inability to evaluate model performance when observation time periods for discharge and model input data do not overlap. This paper explores a calibration method using flow-duration curves (FDCs) to address these problems. The method focuses on reproducing the observed discharge frequency distribution rather than the exact hydrograph. It consists of applying limits of acceptability for selected evaluation points (EPs) on the observed uncertain FDC in the extended GLUE approach. Two ways of selecting the EPs were tested - based on equal intervals of discharge and of volume of water. The method was tested and compared to a calibration using the traditional model efficiency for the daily four-parameter WASMOD model in the Paso La Ceiba catchment in Honduras and for Dynamic TOPMODEL evaluated at an hourly time scale for the Brue catchment in Great Britain. The volume method of selecting EPs gave the best results in both catchments with better calibrated slow flow, recession and evaporation than the other criteria. Observed and simulated time series of uncertain discharges agreed better for this method both in calibration and prediction in both catchments. An advantage with the method is that the rejection criterion is based on an estimation of the uncertainty in discharge data and that the EPs of the FDC can be chosen to reflect the aims of the modelling application, e.g. using more/less EPs at high/low flows. While the method appears less sensitive to epistemic input/output errors than previous use of limits of acceptability applied directly to the time series of discharge, it still requires a reasonable representation of the distribution of inputs. Additional constraints might therefore be required in catchments subject to snow and where peak-flow timing at sub-daily time scales is of high importance. The results suggest that the calibration method can be useful when observation time periods for discharge and model input data do not overlap. The method could also be suitable for calibration to regional FDCs while taking uncertainties in the hydrological model and data into account.

  10. Potential for calibration of geostationary meteorological satellite imagers using the Moon

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.; Kieffer, H.H.; Grant, I.F.; ,

    2005-01-01

    Solar-band imagery from geostationary meteorological satellites has been utilized in a number of important applications in Earth Science that require radiometric calibration. Because these satellite systems typically lack on-board calibrators, various techniques have been employed to establish "ground truth", including observations of stable ground sites and oceans, and cross-calibrating with coincident observations made by instruments with on-board calibration systems. The Moon appears regularly in the margins and corners of full-disk operational images of the Earth acquired by meteorological instruments with a rectangular field of regard, typically several times each month, which provides an excellent opportunity for radiometric calibration. The USGS RObotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) project has developed the capability for on-orbit calibration using the Moon via a model for lunar spectral irradiance that accommodates the geometries of illumination and viewing by a spacecraft. The ROLO model has been used to determine on-orbit response characteristics for several NASA EOS instruments in low Earth orbit. Relative response trending with precision approaching 0.1% per year has been achieved for SeaWiFS as a result of the long time-series of lunar observations collected by that instrument. The method has a demonstrated capability for cross-calibration of different instruments that have viewed the Moon. The Moon appears skewed in high-resolution meteorological images, primarily due to satellite orbital motion during acquisition; however, the geometric correction for this is straightforward. By integrating the lunar disk image to an equivalent irradiance, and using knowledge of the sensor's spectral response, a calibration can be developed through comparison against the ROLO lunar model. The inherent stability of the lunar surface means that lunar calibration can be applied to observations made at any time, including retroactively. Archived geostationary imager data that contains the Moon can be used to develop response histories for these instruments, regardless of their current operational status.

  11. PTB’S Time and Frequency Activities in 2006: New DCF77 Electronics, New NTP Servers, and Calibration Activities

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-01

    PTTI) Meeting ( TWSTFT ) is being routinely performed with several European and US stations. On the initiative of NICT, a TWSTFT link was...During the last 2 years, PTB has upgraded its TWSTFT and GPS capabilities in order to achieve better reliability and robustness against system failures...NTP-server, and, briefly, the calibration of the international time links, i.e. the result of the latest calibration of the TWSTFT links to the USNO

  12. Calibration of Galileo signals for time metrology.

    PubMed

    Defraigne, Pascale; Aerts, Wim; Cerretto, Giancarlo; Cantoni, Elena; Sleewaegen, Jean-Marie

    2014-12-01

    Using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals for accurate timing and time transfer requires the knowledge of all electric delays of the signals inside the receiving system. GNSS stations dedicated to timing or time transfer are classically calibrated only for Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. This paper proposes a procedure to determine the hardware delays of a GNSS receiving station for Galileo signals, once the delays of the GPS signals are known. This approach makes use of the broadcast satellite inter-signal biases, and is based on the ionospheric delay measured from dual-frequency combinations of GPS and Galileo signals. The uncertainty on the so-determined hardware delays is estimated to 3.7 ns for each isolated code in the L5 frequency band, and 4.2 ns for the ionosphere-free combination of E1 with a code of the L5 frequency band. For the calibration of a time transfer link between two stations, another approach can be used, based on the difference between the common-view time transfer results obtained with calibrated GPS data and with uncalibrated Galileo data. It is shown that the results obtained with this approach or with the ionospheric method are equivalent.

  13. Self-calibrating multiplexer circuit

    DOEpatents

    Wahl, Chris P.

    1997-01-01

    A time domain multiplexer system with automatic determination of acceptable multiplexer output limits, error determination, or correction is comprised of a time domain multiplexer, a computer, a constant current source capable of at least three distinct current levels, and two series resistances employed for calibration and testing. A two point linear calibration curve defining acceptable multiplexer voltage limits may be defined by the computer by determining the voltage output of the multiplexer to very accurately known input signals developed from predetermined current levels across the series resistances. Drift in the multiplexer may be detected by the computer when the output voltage limits, expected during normal operation, are exceeded, or the relationship defined by the calibration curve is invalidated.

  14. The Accuracy of Two-Way Satellite Time Transfer Calibrations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-01-01

    20392, USA Abstract Results from successive calibrations of Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ) operational equipment at...USNO and five remote stations using portable TWSTFT equipment are analyzed for internal and external errors, finding an average random error of ±0.35...most accurate means of operational long-distance time transfer are Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ) and carrier-phase GPS

  15. Inspection of feasible calibration conditions for UV radiometer detectors with the KI/KIO3 actinometer.

    PubMed

    Qiang, Zhimin; Li, Wentao; Li, Mengkai; Bolton, James R; Qu, Jiuhui

    2015-01-01

    UV radiometers are widely employed for irradiance measurements, but their periodical calibrations not only induce an extra cost but also are time-consuming. In this study, the KI/KIO3 actinometer was applied to calibrate UV radiometer detectors at 254 nm with a quasi-collimated beam apparatus equipped with a low-pressure UV lamp, and feasible calibration conditions were identified. Results indicate that a washer constraining the UV light was indispensable, while the size (10 or 50 mL) of a beaker containing the actinometer solution had little influence when a proper washer was used. The absorption or reflection of UV light by the internal beaker wall led to an underestimation or overestimation of the irradiance determined by the KI/KIO3 actinometer, respectively. The proper range of the washer internal diameter could be obtained via mathematical analysis. A radiometer with a longer service time showed a greater calibration factor. To minimize the interference from the inner wall reflection of the collimating tube, calibrations should be conducted at positions far enough away from the tube bottom. This study demonstrates that after the feasible calibration conditions are identified, the KI/KIO3 actinometer can be applied readily to calibrate UV radiometer detectors at 254 nm. © 2014 The American Society of Photobiology.

  16. Experimental Results of Site Calibration and Sensitivity Measurements in OTR for UWB Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viswanadham, Chandana; Rao, P. Mallikrajuna

    2017-06-01

    System calibration and parameter accuracy measurement of electronic support measures (ESM) systems is a major activity, carried out by electronic warfare (EW) engineers. These activities are very critical and needs good understanding in the field of microwaves, antennas, wave propagation, digital and communication domains. EW systems are broad band, built with state-of-the art electronic hardware, installed on different varieties of military platforms to guard country's security from time to time. EW systems operate in wide frequency ranges, typically in the order of thousands of MHz, hence these are ultra wide band (UWB) systems. Few calibration activities are carried within the system and in the test sites, to meet the accuracies of final specifications. After calibration, parameters are measured for their accuracies either in feed mode by injecting the RF signals into the front end or in radiation mode by transmitting the RF signals on to system antenna. To carry out these activities in radiation mode, a calibrated open test range (OTR) is necessary in the frequency band of interest. Thus site calibration of OTR is necessary to be carried out before taking up system calibration and parameter measurements. This paper presents the experimental results of OTR site calibration and sensitivity measurements of UWB systems in radiation mode.

  17. Wired and Wireless Camera Triggering with Arduino

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kauhanen, H.; Rönnholm, P.

    2017-10-01

    Synchronous triggering is an important task that allows simultaneous data capture from multiple cameras. Accurate synchronization enables 3D measurements of moving objects or from a moving platform. In this paper, we describe one wired and four wireless variations of Arduino-based low-cost remote trigger systems designed to provide a synchronous trigger signal for industrial cameras. Our wireless systems utilize 315 MHz or 434 MHz frequencies with noise filtering capacitors. In order to validate the synchronization accuracy, we developed a prototype of a rotating trigger detection system (named RoTriDeS). This system is suitable to detect the triggering accuracy of global shutter cameras. As a result, the wired system indicated an 8.91 μs mean triggering time difference between two cameras. Corresponding mean values for the four wireless triggering systems varied between 7.92 and 9.42 μs. Presented values include both camera-based and trigger-based desynchronization. Arduino-based triggering systems appeared to be feasible, and they have the potential to be extended to more complicated triggering systems.

  18. Implementation of a custom time-domain firmware trigger for RADAR-based cosmic ray detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prohira, S.; Besson, D.; Kunwar, S.; Ratzlaff, K.; Young, R.

    2018-05-01

    Interest in Radio-based detection schemes for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) has surged in recent years, owing to the potentially very low cost/detection ratio. The method of radio-frequency (RF) scatter has been proposed as potentially the most economical detection technology. Though the first dedicated experiment to employ this method, the Telescope Array RADAR experiment (TARA) reported no signal, efforts to develop more robust and sensitive trigger techniques continue. This paper details the development of a time-domain firmware trigger that exploits characteristics of the expected scattered signal from an UHECR extensive-air shower (EAS). The improved sensitivity of this trigger is discussed, as well as implementation in two separate field deployments from 2016 to 2017.

  19. Wide-Field Gamma-Spectrometer BDRG: GRB Monitor On-Board the Lomonosov Mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Svertilov, S. I.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Bogomolov, V. V.; Amelushkin, A. M.; Barinova, V. O.; Galkin, V. I.; Iyudin, A. F.; Kuznetsova, E. A.; Prokhorov, A. V.; Petrov, V. L.; Rozhkov, G. V.; Yashin, I. V.; Gorbovskoy, E. S.; Lipunov, V. M.; Park, I. H.; Jeong, S.; Kim, M. B.

    2018-02-01

    The study of GRB prompt emissions (PE) is one of the main goals of the Lomonosov space mission. The payloads of the GRB monitor (BDRG) with the wide-field optical cameras (SHOK) and the ultra-fast flash observatory (UFFO) onboard the Lomonosov satellite are intended for the observation of GRBs, and in particular, their prompt emissions. The BDRG gamma-ray spectrometer is designed to obtain the temporal and spectral information of GRBs in the energy range of 10-3000 keV as well as to provide GRB triggers on several time scales (10 ms, 1 s and 20 s) for ground and space telescopes, including the UFFO and SHOK. The BDRG instrument consists of three identical detector boxes with axes shifted by 90° from each other. This configuration allows us to localize a GRB source in the sky with an accuracy of ˜ 2°. Each BDRG box contains a phoswich NaI(Tl)/CsI(Tl) scintillator detector. A thick CsI(Tl) crystal in size of \\varnothing 130 × 17 mm is placed underneath the NaI(Tl) as an active shield in the soft energy range and as the main detector in the hard energy range. The ratio of the CsI(Tl) to NaI(Tl) event rates at varying energies can be employed as an independent metric to distinguish legitimate GRB signals from false positives originating from electrons in near-Earth vicinities. The data from three detectors are collected in a BA BDRG information unit, which generates a GRB trigger and a set of data frames in output format. The scientific data output is ˜ 500 Mb per day, including ˜ 180 Mb of continuous data for events with durations in excess of 100 ms for 16 channels in each detector, detailed energy spectra, and sets of frames with ˜ 5 Mb of detailed information for each burst-like event. A number of pre-flight tests including those for the trigger algorithm and calibration were carried out to confirm the reliability of the BDRG for operation in space.

  20. Regional Assessment of Storm-triggered Shall Landslide Risks using the SLIDE (SLope-Infiltration-Distributed Equilibrium) Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Y.; Kirschbaum, D. B.; Fukuoka, H.

    2011-12-01

    The key to advancing the predictability of rainfall-triggered landslides is to use physically based slope-stability models that simulate the dynamical response of the subsurface moisture to spatiotemporal variability of rainfall in complex terrains. An early warning system applying such physical models has been developed to predict rainfall-induced shallow landslides over Java Island in Indonesia and Honduras. The prototyped early warning system integrates three major components: (1) a susceptibility mapping or hotspot identification component based on a land surface geospatial database (topographical information, maps of soil properties, and local landslide inventory etc.); (2) a satellite-based precipitation monitoring system (http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov) and a precipitation forecasting model (i.e. Weather Research Forecast); and (3) a physically-based, rainfall-induced landslide prediction model SLIDE (SLope-Infiltration-Distributed Equilibrium). The system utilizes the modified physical model to calculate a Factor of Safety (FS) that accounts for the contribution of rainfall infiltration and partial saturation to the shear strength of the soil in topographically complex terrains. The system's prediction performance has been evaluated using a local landslide inventory. In Java Island, Indonesia, evaluation of SLIDE modeling results by local news reports shows that the system successfully predicted landslides in correspondence to the time of occurrence of the real landslide events. Further study of SLIDE is implemented in Honduras where Hurricane Mitch triggered widespread landslides in 1998. Results shows within the approximately 1,200 square kilometers study areas, the values of hit rates reached as high as 78% and 75%, while the error indices were 35% and 49%. Despite positive model performance, the SLIDE model is limited in the early warning system by several assumptions including, using general parameter calibration rather than in situ tests and neglecting geologic information. Advantages and limitations of this model will be discussed with respect to future applications of landslide assessment and prediction over large scales. In conclusion, integration of spatially distributed remote sensing precipitation products and in-situ datasets and physical models in this prototype system enable us to further develop a regional early warning tool in the future for forecasting storm-induced landslides.

  1. nanopipe: Calibration and data reduction pipeline for pulsar timing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Demorest, Paul B.

    2018-03-01

    nanopipe is a data reduction pipeline for calibration, RFI removal, and pulse time-of-arrival measurement from radio pulsar data. It was developed primarily for use by the NANOGrav project. nanopipe is written in Python, and depends on the PSRCHIVE (ascl:1105.014) library.

  2. The production of calibration specimens for impact testing of subsize Charpy specimens

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

    Alexander, D.J.; Corwin, W.R.; Owings, T.D.

    1994-09-01

    Calibration specimens have been manufactured for checking the performance of a pendulum impact testing machine that has been configured for testing subsize specimens, both half-size (5.0 {times} 5.0 {times} 25.4 mm) and third-size (3.33 {times} 3.33 {times} 25.4 mm). Specimens were fabricated from quenched-and-tempered 4340 steel heat treated to produce different microstructures that would result in either high or low absorbed energy levels on testing. A large group of both half- and third-size specimens were tested at {minus}40{degrees}C. The results of the tests were analyzed for average value and standard deviation, and these values were used to establish calibration limitsmore » for the Charpy impact machine when testing subsize specimens. These average values plus or minus two standard deviations were set as the acceptable limits for the average of five tests for calibration of the impact testing machine.« less

  3. 77 FR 65718 - Announcement Regarding States Triggering “On” and “Off” in the Emergency Unemployment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-30

    ... Triggering ``On'' and ``Off'' in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC08) Program AGENCY... Triggering ``on'' and ``off'' in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC08) Program. The U.S... of the maximum regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) entitlement or 14 times the regular UC weekly...

  4. Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus radiometric calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Markham, B.L.; Boncyk, Wayne C.; Helder, D.L.; Barker, J.L.

    1997-01-01

    Landsat-7 is currently being built and tested for launch in 1998. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor for Landsat-7, a derivative of the highly successful Thematic Mapper (TM) sensors on Landsats 4 and 5, and the Landsat-7 ground system are being built to provide enhanced radiometric calibration performance. In addition, regular vicarious calibration campaigns are being planned to provide additional information for calibration of the ETM+ instrument. The primary upgrades to the instrument include the addition of two solar calibrators: the full aperture solar calibrator, a deployable diffuser, and the partial aperture solar calibrator, a passive device that allows the ETM+ to image the sun. The ground processing incorporates for the first time an off-line facility, the Image Assessment System (IAS), to perform calibration, evaluation and analysis. Within the IAS, processing capabilities include radiometric artifact characterization and correction, radiometric calibration from the multiple calibrator sources, inclusion of results from vicarious calibration and statistical trending of calibration data to improve calibration estimation. The Landsat Product Generation System, the portion of the ground system responsible for producing calibrated products, will incorporate the radiometric artifact correction algorithms and will use the calibration information generated by the IAS. This calibration information will also be supplied to ground processing systems throughout the world.

  5. A Non-Triggered Burst Supplement to the BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Catalogs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kommers, J.; Lewin, W. H.; Kouveliotou, C.; vanParadijs, J.; Pendleton, G. N.; Meegan, C. A.; Fishman, G. J.

    1998-01-01

    The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory detects gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a real-time burst detection (or "trigger") system running onboard the spacecraft. Under some circumstances, however, a GRB may not activate the onboard burst trigger. For example, the burst may be too faint to exceed the onboard detection threshold, or it may occur while the onboard burst trigger is disabled for technical reasons. This paper is a catalog of such "non-triggered" GRBs that were detected in a search of the archival continuous data from BATSE. It lists 873 non-triggered bursts that were recorded between 1991 December 9.0 and 1997 December 17.0. For each burst, the catalog gives an estimated source direction, duration, peak flux, and fluence. Similar data are presented for 50 additional bursts of unknown origin that were detected in the 25-50 keV range; these events may represent the low-energy "tail" of the GRB spectral distribution. This catalog increases the number of GRBs detected with BATSE by 48% during the time period covered by the search.

  6. Seismic link at plate boundary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramdani, Faical; Kettani, Omar; Tadili, Benaissa

    2015-06-01

    Seismic triggering at plate boundaries has a very complex nature that includes seismic events at varying distances. The spatial orientation of triggering cannot be reduced to sequences from the main shocks. Seismic waves propagate at all times in all directions, particularly in highly active zones. No direct evidence can be obtained regarding which earthquakes trigger the shocks. The first approach is to determine the potential linked zones where triggering may occur. The second step is to determine the causality between the events and their triggered shocks. The spatial orientation of the links between events is established from pre-ordered networks and the adapted dependence of the spatio-temporal occurrence of earthquakes. Based on a coefficient of synchronous seismic activity to grid couples, we derive a network link by each threshold. The links of high thresholds are tested using the coherence of time series to determine the causality and related orientation. The resulting link orientations at the plate boundary conditions indicate that causal triggering seems to be localized along a major fault, as a stress transfer between two major faults, and parallel to the geothermal area extension.

  7. Calibration Software for Use with Jurassicprok

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapin, Elaine; Hensley, Scott; Siqueira, Paul

    2004-01-01

    The Jurassicprok Interferometric Calibration Software (also called "Calibration Processor" or simply "CP") estimates the calibration parameters of an airborne synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) system, the raw measurement data of which are processed by the Jurassicprok software described in the preceding article. Calibration parameters estimated by CP include time delays, baseline offsets, phase screens, and radiometric offsets. CP examines raw radar-pulse data, single-look complex image data, and digital elevation map data. For each type of data, CP compares the actual values with values expected on the basis of ground-truth data. CP then converts the differences between the actual and expected values into updates for the calibration parameters in an interferometric calibration file (ICF) and a radiometric calibration file (RCF) for the particular SAR system. The updated ICF and RCF are used as inputs to both Jurassicprok and to the companion Motion Measurement Processor software (described in the following article) for use in generating calibrated digital elevation maps.

  8. EUV Cross-Calibration Strategies for the GOES-R SUVI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Darnel, Jonathan; Seaton, Daniel

    2016-10-01

    The challenges of maintaining calibration for solar EUV instrumentation is well-known. The lack of standard calibration sources and the fact that most solar EUV telescopes are incapable of utilizing bright astronomical EUV sources for calibration make knowledge of instrument performance quite difficult. In the recent past, calibration rocket underflights have helped establish a calibration baseline. The EVE instrument on SDO for a time provided well-calibrated, high spectral resolution solar spectra for a broad range of the EUV, but has suffered a loss of coverage at the shorter wavelengths. NOAA's Solar UltraViolet Imager (SUVI), a solar EUV imager with similarities to SDO/AIA, will provide solar imagery over nearly an entire solar cycle. In order to maintain the scientific value of the SUVI's dataset, novel approaches to calibration are necessary. Here we demonstrate a suite of methods to cross-calibrate SUVI against other solar EUV instruments through the use of proxy solar spectra.

  9. Advances in Digital Calibration Techniques Enabling Real-Time Beamforming SweepSAR Architectures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hoffman, James P.; Perkovic, Dragana; Ghaemi, Hirad; Horst, Stephen; Shaffer, Scott; Veilleux, Louise

    2013-01-01

    Real-time digital beamforming, combined with lightweight, large aperture reflectors, enable SweepSAR architectures, which promise significant increases in instrument capability for solid earth and biomass remote sensing. These new instrument concepts require new methods for calibrating the multiple channels, which are combined on-board, in real-time. The benefit of this effort is that it enables a new class of lightweight radar architecture, Digital Beamforming with SweepSAR, providing significantly larger swath coverage than conventional SAR architectures for reduced mass and cost. This paper will review the on-going development of the digital calibration architecture for digital beamforming radar instrument, such as the proposed Earth Radar Mission's DESDynI (Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics of Ice) instrument. This proposed instrument's baseline design employs SweepSAR digital beamforming and requires digital calibration. We will review the overall concepts and status of the system architecture, algorithm development, and the digital calibration testbed currently being developed. We will present results from a preliminary hardware demonstration. We will also discuss the challenges and opportunities specific to this novel architecture.

  10. Kinect based real-time position calibration for nasal endoscopic surgical navigation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fan, Jingfan; Yang, Jian; Chu, Yakui; Ma, Shaodong; Wang, Yongtian

    2016-03-01

    Unanticipated, reactive motion of the patient during skull based tumor resective surgery is the source of the consequence that the nasal endoscopic tracking system is compelled to be recalibrated. To accommodate the calibration process with patient's movement, this paper developed a Kinect based Real-time positional calibration method for nasal endoscopic surgical navigation system. In this method, a Kinect scanner was employed as the acquisition part of the point cloud volumetric reconstruction of the patient's head during surgery. Then, a convex hull based registration algorithm aligned the real-time image of the patient head with a model built upon the CT scans performed in the preoperative preparation to dynamically calibrate the tracking system if a movement was detected. Experimental results confirmed the robustness of the proposed method, presenting a total tracking error within 1 mm under the circumstance of relatively violent motions. These results point out the tracking accuracy can be retained stably and the potential to expedite the calibration of the tracking system against strong interfering conditions, demonstrating high suitability for a wide range of surgical applications.

  11. Multi-Dimensional Calibration of Impact Dynamic Models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Horta, Lucas G.; Reaves, Mercedes C.; Annett, Martin S.; Jackson, Karen E.

    2011-01-01

    NASA Langley, under the Subsonic Rotary Wing Program, recently completed two helicopter tests in support of an in-house effort to study crashworthiness. As part of this effort, work is on-going to investigate model calibration approaches and calibration metrics for impact dynamics models. Model calibration of impact dynamics problems has traditionally assessed model adequacy by comparing time histories from analytical predictions to test at only a few critical locations. Although this approach provides for a direct measure of the model predictive capability, overall system behavior is only qualitatively assessed using full vehicle animations. In order to understand the spatial and temporal relationships of impact loads as they migrate throughout the structure, a more quantitative approach is needed. In this work impact shapes derived from simulated time history data are used to recommend sensor placement and to assess model adequacy using time based metrics and orthogonality multi-dimensional metrics. An approach for model calibration is presented that includes metric definitions, uncertainty bounds, parameter sensitivity, and numerical optimization to estimate parameters to reconcile test with analysis. The process is illustrated using simulated experiment data.

  12. Delivering "Just-In-Time" Smoking Cessation Support Via Mobile Phones: Current Knowledge and Future Directions.

    PubMed

    Naughton, Felix

    2016-05-28

    Smoking lapses early on during a quit attempt are highly predictive of failing to quit. A large proportion of these lapses are driven by cravings brought about by situational and environmental cues. Use of cognitive-behavioral lapse prevention strategies to combat cue-induced cravings is associated with a reduced risk of lapse, but evidence is lacking in how these strategies can be effectively promoted. Unlike most traditional methods of delivering behavioral support, mobile phones can in principle deliver automated support, including lapse prevention strategy recommendations, Just-In-Time (JIT) for when a smoker is most vulnerable, and prevent early lapse. JIT support can be activated by smokers themselves (user-triggered), by prespecified rules (server-triggered) or through sensors that dynamically monitor a smoker's context and trigger support when a high risk environment is sensed (context-triggered), also known as a Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI). However, research suggests that user-triggered JIT cessation support is seldom used and existing server-triggered JIT support is likely to lack sufficient accuracy to effectively target high-risk situations in real time. Evaluations of mobile phone cessation interventions that include user and/or server-triggered JIT support have yet to adequately assess whether this improves management of high risk situations. While context-triggered systems have the greatest potential to deliver JIT support, there are, as yet, no impact evaluations of such systems. Although it may soon be feasible to learn about and monitor a smoker's context unobtrusively using their smartphone without burdensome data entry, there are several potential advantages to involving the smoker in data collection. This commentary describes the current knowledge on the potential for mobile phones to deliver automated support to help smokers manage or cope with high risk environments or situations for smoking, known as JIT support. The article categorizes JIT support into three main types: user-triggered, server-triggered, and context-triggered. For each type of JIT support, a description of the evidence and their potential to effectively target specific high risk environments or situations is described. The concept of unobtrusive sensing without user data entry to inform the delivery of JIT support is finally discussed in relation to potential advantages and disadvantages for behavior change. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. GPU real-time processing in NA62 trigger system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ammendola, R.; Biagioni, A.; Chiozzi, S.; Cretaro, P.; Di Lorenzo, S.; Fantechi, R.; Fiorini, M.; Frezza, O.; Lamanna, G.; Lo Cicero, F.; Lonardo, A.; Martinelli, M.; Neri, I.; Paolucci, P. S.; Pastorelli, E.; Piandani, R.; Piccini, M.; Pontisso, L.; Rossetti, D.; Simula, F.; Sozzi, M.; Vicini, P.

    2017-01-01

    A commercial Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is used to build a fast Level 0 (L0) trigger system tested parasitically with the TDAQ (Trigger and Data Acquisition systems) of the NA62 experiment at CERN. In particular, the parallel computing power of the GPU is exploited to perform real-time fitting in the Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH) detector. Direct GPU communication using a FPGA-based board has been used to reduce the data transmission latency. The performance of the system for multi-ring reconstrunction obtained during the NA62 physics run will be presented.

  14. Triggering of frequent turbidity currents in Monterey Canyon and the role of antecedent conditioning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clare, M. A.; Rosenberger, K. J.; Talling, P.; Barry, J.; Maier, K. L.; Parsons, D. R.; Simmons, S.; Gales, J. A.; Gwiazda, R.; McGann, M.; Paull, C. K.

    2017-12-01

    Turbidity currents pose a hazard to seafloor infrastructure, deliver organic carbon and nutrients to deep-sea communities, and form economically important deposits. Thus, determining the tempo of turbidity current activity and whether different triggers result in different flow modes is important. Identification of specific triggers is challenging, however, because most studies of turbidity currents are based on their deposits. New direct monitoring of flows and environmental conditions provides the necessary temporal constraints to identify triggering mechanisms. The Coordinated Canyon Experiment (CCE) in Monterey Canyon, offshore California is the most ambitious attempt yet to measure turbidity flows and their triggers. The CCE provides precise constraint on flow timing, initiation, and potential triggers based on measurements at 7 different instrumented moorings and 2 metocean buoys. Fifteen turbidity flows were measured in 18 months; with recorded velocities >8 m/s and run-outs of up to 50 km. Presence of live estuarine foraminifera within moored sediment traps suggests that that flows originated in water depths of <10 m, but it is unclear specifically how these flows were triggered. Turbidity currents are thought to be triggered by processes including earthquakes, river floods and storm waves. Here we analyse seismicity, local river discharge, internal tides, wave height, direction and period data. We identify no clear control of any of these individual variables on flow timing. None of the recorded earthquakes (

  15. Medical-grade Sterilizable Target for Fluid-immersed Fetoscope Optical Distortion Calibration.

    PubMed

    Nikitichev, Daniil I; Shakir, Dzhoshkun I; Chadebecq, François; Tella, Marcel; Deprest, Jan; Stoyanov, Danail; Ourselin, Sébastien; Vercauteren, Tom

    2017-02-23

    We have developed a calibration target for use with fluid-immersed endoscopes within the context of the GIFT-Surg (Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery) project. One of the aims of this project is to engineer novel, real-time image processing methods for intra-operative use in the treatment of congenital birth defects, such as spina bifida and the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. The developed target allows for the sterility-preserving optical distortion calibration of endoscopes within a few minutes. Good optical distortion calibration and compensation are important for mitigating undesirable effects like radial distortions, which not only hamper accurate imaging using existing endoscopic technology during fetal surgery, but also make acquired images less suitable for potentially very useful image computing applications, like real-time mosaicing. In this paper proposes a novel fabrication method to create an affordable, sterilizable calibration target suitable for use in a clinical setup. This method involves etching a calibration pattern by laser cutting a sandblasted stainless steel sheet. This target was validated using the camera calibration module provided by OpenCV, a state-of-the-art software library popular in the computer vision community.

  16. Automatic Calibration of Global Flow Routing Model Parameters in the Amazon Basin Using Virtual SWOT Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mouffe, Melodie; Getirana, Augusto; Ricci, Sophie; Lion, Christine; Biancamaria, Sylvian; Boone, Aaron; Mognard, Nelly; Rogel, Philippe

    2013-09-01

    The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide swath altimetry mission will provide measurements of water surface elevations (WSE) at a global scale. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of these satellite data for the calibration of the hydrological model HyMAP, over the Amazon river basin. Since SWOT has not yet been launched, synthetical observations are used to calibrate the river bed depth and width, the Manning coefficient and the baseflow concentration time. The calibration process stands in the minimization of a cost function using an evolutionnary, global and multi-objective algorithm that describes the difference between the simulated and the observed WSE. We found that the calibration procedure is able to retrieve an optimal set of parameters such that it brings the simulated WSE closer to the observation. Still with a global calibration procedure where a uniform correction is applied, the improvement is limited to a mean correction over the catchment and the simulation period. We conclude that in order to benefit from the high resolution and complete coverage of the SWOT mission, the calibration process should be achieved sequentially in time over sub-domains as observations become available.

  17. Medical-grade Sterilizable Target for Fluid-immersed Fetoscope Optical Distortion Calibration

    PubMed Central

    Chadebecq, François; Tella, Marcel; Deprest, Jan; Stoyanov, Danail; Ourselin, Sébastien; Vercauteren, Tom

    2017-01-01

    We have developed a calibration target for use with fluid-immersed endoscopes within the context of the GIFT-Surg (Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery) project. One of the aims of this project is to engineer novel, real-time image processing methods for intra-operative use in the treatment of congenital birth defects, such as spina bifida and the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. The developed target allows for the sterility-preserving optical distortion calibration of endoscopes within a few minutes. Good optical distortion calibration and compensation are important for mitigating undesirable effects like radial distortions, which not only hamper accurate imaging using existing endoscopic technology during fetal surgery, but also make acquired images less suitable for potentially very useful image computing applications, like real-time mosaicing. In this paper proposes a novel fabrication method to create an affordable, sterilizable calibration target suitable for use in a clinical setup. This method involves etching a calibration pattern by laser cutting a sandblasted stainless steel sheet. This target was validated using the camera calibration module provided by OpenCV, a state-of-the-art software library popular in the computer vision community. PMID:28287588

  18. Gradient-based model calibration with proxy-model assistance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burrows, Wesley; Doherty, John

    2016-02-01

    Use of a proxy model in gradient-based calibration and uncertainty analysis of a complex groundwater model with large run times and problematic numerical behaviour is described. The methodology is general, and can be used with models of all types. The proxy model is based on a series of analytical functions that link all model outputs used in the calibration process to all parameters requiring estimation. In enforcing history-matching constraints during the calibration and post-calibration uncertainty analysis processes, the proxy model is run for the purposes of populating the Jacobian matrix, while the original model is run when testing parameter upgrades; the latter process is readily parallelized. Use of a proxy model in this fashion dramatically reduces the computational burden of complex model calibration and uncertainty analysis. At the same time, the effect of model numerical misbehaviour on calculation of local gradients is mitigated, this allowing access to the benefits of gradient-based analysis where lack of integrity in finite-difference derivatives calculation would otherwise have impeded such access. Construction of a proxy model, and its subsequent use in calibration of a complex model, and in analysing the uncertainties of predictions made by that model, is implemented in the PEST suite.

  19. Prediction of the area affected by earthquake-induced landsliding based on seismological parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marc, Odin; Meunier, Patrick; Hovius, Niels

    2017-07-01

    We present an analytical, seismologically consistent expression for the surface area of the region within which most landslides triggered by an earthquake are located (landslide distribution area). This expression is based on scaling laws relating seismic moment, source depth, and focal mechanism with ground shaking and fault rupture length and assumes a globally constant threshold of acceleration for onset of systematic mass wasting. The seismological assumptions are identical to those recently used to propose a seismologically consistent expression for the total volume and area of landslides triggered by an earthquake. To test the accuracy of the model we gathered geophysical information and estimates of the landslide distribution area for 83 earthquakes. To reduce uncertainties and inconsistencies in the estimation of the landslide distribution area, we propose an objective definition based on the shortest distance from the seismic wave emission line containing 95 % of the total landslide area. Without any empirical calibration the model explains 56 % of the variance in our dataset, and predicts 35 to 49 out of 83 cases within a factor of 2, depending on how we account for uncertainties on the seismic source depth. For most cases with comprehensive landslide inventories we show that our prediction compares well with the smallest region around the fault containing 95 % of the total landslide area. Aspects ignored by the model that could explain the residuals include local variations of the threshold of acceleration and processes modulating the surface ground shaking, such as the distribution of seismic energy release on the fault plane, the dynamic stress drop, and rupture directivity. Nevertheless, its simplicity and first-order accuracy suggest that the model can yield plausible and useful estimates of the landslide distribution area in near-real time, with earthquake parameters issued by standard detection routines.

  20. Assessment of Debris Flow Potential Hazardous Zones Using Numerical Models in the Mountain Foothills of Santiago, Chile

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Celis, C.; Sepulveda, S. A.; Castruccio, A.; Lara, M.

    2017-12-01

    Debris and mudflows are some of the main geological hazards in the mountain foothills of Central Chile. The risk of flows triggered in the basins of ravines that drain the Andean frontal range into the capital city, Santiago, increases with time due to accelerated urban expansion. Susceptibility assessments were made by several authors to detect the main active ravines in the area. Macul and San Ramon ravines have a high to medium debris flow susceptibility, whereas Lo Cañas, Apoquindo and Las Vizcachas ravines have a medium to low debris flow susceptibility. This study emphasizes in delimiting the potential hazardous zones using the numerical simulation program RAMMS-Debris Flows with the Voellmy model approach, and the debris-flow model LAHARZ. This is carried out by back-calculating the frictional parameters in the depositional zone with a known event as the debris and mudflows in Macul and San Ramon ravines, on May 3rd, 1993, for the RAMMS approach. In the same scenario, we calibrate the coefficients to match conditions of the mountain foothills of Santiago for the LAHARZ model. We use the information obtained for every main ravine in the study area, mainly for the similarity in slopes and material transported. Simulations were made for the worst-case scenario, caused by the combination of intense rainfall storms, a high 0°C isotherm level and material availability in the basins where the flows are triggered. The results show that the runout distances are well simulated, therefore a debris-flow hazard map could be developed with these models. Correlation issues concerning the run-up, deposit thickness and transversal areas are reported. Hence, the models do not represent entirely the complexity of the phenomenon, but they are a reliable approximation for preliminary hazard maps.

  1. Precise frequency calibration using television video carriers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burkhardt, Edward E.

    1990-01-01

    The availability of inexpensive and quick precise frequency calibration methods is limited. VLF and GPS do offer precise calibration. However, antenna placement, cost of equipment, and calibration time place many restrictions on the user. The USNO maintained line-10 television Time of Coincidence (TOC) of station WTTG, channel 5, Washington, DC requires a frequency stable video carrier. This video carrier, 77.24 MHz is controlled by the same cesium beam standard controlling the TOC of line-10. Excellent frequency comparisons against this video carrier have been accomplished at 95 miles (153 km). With stable propagation and a three foot wire antenna, a part in 10(exp 9) can be determined in a few minutes. Inexpensive field equipment with a synthesized 1 kHz offset from the video carrier offers parts in 10(exp 11) calibrations in a few minutes using an oscilloscope as a phase comparator.

  2. Precise frequency calibration using television video carriers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burkhardt, Edward E.

    1990-05-01

    The availability of inexpensive and quick precise frequency calibration methods is limited. VLF and GPS do offer precise calibration. However, antenna placement, cost of equipment, and calibration time place many restrictions on the user. The USNO maintained line-10 television Time of Coincidence (TOC) of station WTTG, channel 5, Washington, DC requires a frequency stable video carrier. This video carrier, 77.24 MHz is controlled by the same cesium beam standard controlling the TOC of line-10. Excellent frequency comparisons against this video carrier have been accomplished at 95 miles (153 km). With stable propagation and a three foot wire antenna, a part in 10(exp 9) can be determined in a few minutes. Inexpensive field equipment with a synthesized 1 kHz offset from the video carrier offers parts in 10(exp 11) calibrations in a few minutes using an oscilloscope as a phase comparator.

  3. Note: Design and investigation of a multichannel plasma-jet triggered gas switch.

    PubMed

    Tie, Weihao; Liu, Xuandong; Zhang, Qiaogen; Liu, Shanhong

    2014-07-01

    We described the fabrication and testing of a multichannel plasma-jet triggered gas switch (MPJTGS). A novel six-channel annular micro-plasma-gun was embedded in the trigger electrode to generate multichannel plasma jets as a nanosecond trigger pulse arrived. The gas breakdown in multiple sites of the spark gap was induced and fixed around jet orifices by the plasma jets. We tested the multichannel discharge characteristics of the MPJTGS in two working modes with charge voltage of 50 kV, trigger voltage of +40 kV (25 ns rise time), and trigger energy of 240 J, 32 J, and 2 J, respectively, at different working coefficients. Results show that the average number of discharge channels increased as the trigger energy increased, and decreased as the working coefficient decreased. At a working coefficient of 87.1% and trigger energy of 240 J, the average number of discharge channels in Mode II could reach 4.1.

  4. Calibration of decadal ensemble predictions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pasternack, Alexander; Rust, Henning W.; Bhend, Jonas; Liniger, Mark; Grieger, Jens; Müller, Wolfgang; Ulbrich, Uwe

    2017-04-01

    Decadal climate predictions are of great socio-economic interest due to the corresponding planning horizons of several political and economic decisions. Due to uncertainties of weather and climate, forecasts (e.g. due to initial condition uncertainty), they are issued in a probabilistic way. One issue frequently observed for probabilistic forecasts is that they tend to be not reliable, i.e. the forecasted probabilities are not consistent with the relative frequency of the associated observed events. Thus, these kind of forecasts need to be re-calibrated. While re-calibration methods for seasonal time scales are available and frequently applied, these methods still have to be adapted for decadal time scales and its characteristic problems like climate trend and lead time dependent bias. Regarding this, we propose a method to re-calibrate decadal ensemble predictions that takes the above mentioned characteristics into account. Finally, this method will be applied and validated to decadal forecasts from the MiKlip system (Germany's initiative for decadal prediction).

  5. Dating Tips for Divergence-Time Estimation.

    PubMed

    O'Reilly, Joseph E; Dos Reis, Mario; Donoghue, Philip C J

    2015-11-01

    The molecular clock is the only viable means of establishing an accurate timescale for Life on Earth, but it remains reliant on a capricious fossil record for calibration. 'Tip-dating' promises a conceptual advance, integrating fossil species among their living relatives using molecular/morphological datasets and evolutionary models. Fossil species of known age establish calibration directly, and their phylogenetic uncertainty is accommodated through the co-estimation of time and topology. However, challenges remain, including a dearth of effective models of morphological evolution, rate correlation, the non-random nature of missing characters in fossil data, and, most importantly, accommodating uncertainty in fossil age. We show uncertainty in fossil-dating propagates to divergence-time estimates, yielding estimates that are older and less precise than those based on traditional node calibration. Ultimately, node and tip calibrations are not mutually incompatible and may be integrated to achieve more accurate and precise evolutionary timescales. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. A novel multivariate approach using science-based calibration for direct coating thickness determination in real-time NIR process monitoring.

    PubMed

    Möltgen, C-V; Herdling, T; Reich, G

    2013-11-01

    This study demonstrates an approach, using science-based calibration (SBC), for direct coating thickness determination on heart-shaped tablets in real-time. Near-Infrared (NIR) spectra were collected during four full industrial pan coating operations. The tablets were coated with a thin hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) film up to a film thickness of 28 μm. The application of SBC permits the calibration of the NIR spectral data without using costly determined reference values. This is due to the fact that SBC combines classical methods to estimate the coating signal and statistical methods for the noise estimation. The approach enabled the use of NIR for the measurement of the film thickness increase from around 8 to 28 μm of four independent batches in real-time. The developed model provided a spectroscopic limit of detection for the coating thickness of 0.64 ± 0.03 μm root-mean square (RMS). In the commonly used statistical methods for calibration, such as Partial Least Squares (PLS), sufficiently varying reference values are needed for calibration. For thin non-functional coatings this is a challenge because the quality of the model depends on the accuracy of the selected calibration standards. The obvious and simple approach of SBC eliminates many of the problems associated with the conventional statistical methods and offers an alternative for multivariate calibration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Time Triggered Ethernet System Testing Means and Method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smithgall, William Todd (Inventor); Hall, Brendan (Inventor); Varadarajan, Srivatsan (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    Methods and apparatus are provided for evaluating the performance of a Time Triggered Ethernet (TTE) system employing Time Triggered (TT) communication. A real TTE system under test (SUT) having real input elements communicating using TT messages with output elements via one or more first TTE switches during a first time interval schedule established for the SUT. A simulation system is also provided having input simulators that communicate using TT messages via one or more second TTE switches with the same output elements during a second time interval schedule established for the simulation system. The first and second time interval schedules are off-set slightly so that messages from the input simulators, when present, arrive at the output elements prior to messages from the analogous real inputs, thereby having priority over messages from the real inputs and causing the system to operate based on the simulated inputs when present.

  8. Distribution of tsunami interevent times

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geist, Eric L.; Parsons, Tom

    2008-01-01

    The distribution of tsunami interevent times is analyzed using global and site-specific (Hilo, Hawaii) tsunami catalogs. An empirical probability density distribution is determined by binning the observed interevent times during a period in which the observation rate is approximately constant. The empirical distributions for both catalogs exhibit non-Poissonian behavior in which there is an abundance of short interevent times compared to an exponential distribution. Two types of statistical distributions are used to model this clustering behavior: (1) long-term clustering described by a universal scaling law, and (2) Omori law decay of aftershocks and triggered sources. The empirical and theoretical distributions all imply an increased hazard rate after a tsunami, followed by a gradual decrease with time approaching a constant hazard rate. Examination of tsunami sources suggests that many of the short interevent times are caused by triggered earthquakes, though the triggered events are not necessarily on the same fault.

  9. Species distribution models may misdirect assisted migration: insights from the introduction of Douglas-fir to Europe.

    PubMed

    Boiffin, Juliette; Badeau, Vincent; Bréda, Nathalie

    2017-03-01

    Species distribution models (SDMs), which statistically relate species occurrence to climatic variables, are widely used to identify areas suitable for species growth under future climates and to plan for assisted migration. When SDMs are projected across times or spaces, it is assumed that species climatic requirements remain constant. However, empirical evidence supporting this assumption is rare, and SDM predictions could be biased. Historical human-aided movements of tree species can shed light on the reliability of SDM predictions in planning for assisted migration. We used Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), a North American conifer introduced into Europe during the mid-19th century, as a case-study to test niche conservatism. We combined transcontinental data sets of Douglas-fir occurrence and climatic predictors to compare the realized niches between native and introduced ranges. We calibrated a SDM in the native range and compared areas predicted to be climatically suitable with observed presences. The realized niches in the native and introduced ranges showed very limited overlap. The SDM calibrated in North America had very high predictive power in the native range, but failed to predict climatic suitability in Europe where Douglas-fir grows in climates that have no analogue in the native range. We review the ecological mechanisms and silvicultural practices that can trigger such shifts in realized niches. Retrospective analysis of tree species introduction revealed that the assumption of niche conservatism is erroneous. As a result, distributions predicted by SDM are importantly biased. There is a high risk that assisted migration programs may be misdirected and target inadequate species or introduction zones. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

  10. Fan tomography of the tropospheric water vapor for the calibration of the Ka band tracking of the Bepi-Colombo spacecraft (MORE experiment).

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barriot, Jean-Pierre; Serafini, Jonathan; Sichoix, Lydie

    2012-07-01

    The radiosciences Bepi-Colombo MORE experiment will use X/X, X/Ka and Ka/Ka band radio links to make accurate measurements of the spacecraft range and range rate. Tropospheric zenith wet delays range from 1.5 cm to 10 cm, with high variability (less than 1000 s) and will impair these accurate measurements. Conditions vary from summer (worse) to winter (better), from day (worse) to night (better). These wet delays cannot be estimated from ground weather measurements and alternative calibration methods should be used in order to cope with the MORE requirements (no more than 3 mm at 1000 s). Due to the Mercury orbit, MORE measurements will be performed by daylight and more frequently in summer than in winter (from Northern hemisphere). Two systems have been considered to calibrate this wet delay: Water Vapour Radiometers (WVRs) and GPS receivers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a new class of WVRs reaching a 5 percent accuracy for the wet delay calibration (0.75 mm to 5 mm), but these WVRs are expensive to build and operate. GPS receivers are also routinely used for the calibration of data from NASA Deep Space probes, but several studies have shown that GPS receivers can give good calibration (through wet delay mapping functions) for long time variations, but are not accurate enough for short time variations (100 to 1000 s), and that WVRs must be used to efficiently calibrate the wet troposphere delays over such time spans. We think that such a calibration could be done by assimilating data from all the GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and IRNSS) that will be available at the time of the Bepi-Colombo arrival at Mercury (2021), provided that the underlying physics of the turbulent atmosphere and evapotranspiration processes are properly taken into account at such time scales. This implies to do a tomographic image of the troposphere overlying each Deep Space tracking station at time scales of less than 1000 s. For this purpose, we have developed a full representation of the wet refractivity of the atmosphere over the ground station along a basis of 3D Zernike functions with time-variable coefficients. We detail the algorithm and the covariance functions derived from radiosoundings that are used to constraint the inverse imaging of the wet troposphere at the target time scales, and give examples of such imaging from GPS data only.

  11. A Novel Multi-Camera Calibration Method based on Flat Refractive Geometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, S.; Feng, M. C.; Zheng, T. X.; Li, F.; Wang, J. Q.; Xiao, L. F.

    2018-03-01

    Multi-camera calibration plays an important role in many field. In the paper, we present a novel multi-camera calibration method based on flat refractive geometry. All cameras can acquire calibration images of transparent glass calibration board (TGCB) at the same time. The application of TGCB leads to refractive phenomenon which can generate calibration error. The theory of flat refractive geometry is employed to eliminate the error. The new method can solve the refractive phenomenon of TGCB. Moreover, the bundle adjustment method is used to minimize the reprojection error and obtain optimized calibration results. Finally, the four-cameras calibration results of real data show that the mean value and standard deviation of the reprojection error of our method are 4.3411e-05 and 0.4553 pixel, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed method is accurate and reliable.

  12. Generic System for Remote Testing and Calibration of Measuring Instruments: Security Architecture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jurčević, M.; Hegeduš, H.; Golub, M.

    2010-01-01

    Testing and calibration of laboratory instruments and reference standards is a routine activity and is a resource and time consuming process. Since many of the modern instruments include some communication interfaces, it is possible to create a remote calibration system. This approach addresses a wide range of possible applications and permits to drive a number of different devices. On the other hand, remote calibration process involves a number of security issues due to recommendations specified in standard ISO/IEC 17025, since it is not under total control of the calibration laboratory personnel who will sign the calibration certificate. This approach implies that the traceability and integrity of the calibration process directly depends on the collected measurement data. The reliable and secure remote control and monitoring of instruments is a crucial aspect of internet-enabled calibration procedure.

  13. An Automated Thermocouple Calibration System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bethea, Mark D.; Rosenthal, Bruce N.

    1992-01-01

    An Automated Thermocouple Calibration System (ATCS) was developed for the unattended calibration of type K thermocouples. This system operates from room temperature to 650 C and has been used for calibration of thermocouples in an eight-zone furnace system which may employ as many as 60 thermocouples simultaneously. It is highly efficient, allowing for the calibration of large numbers of thermocouples in significantly less time than required for manual calibrations. The system consists of a personal computer, a data acquisition/control unit, and a laboratory calibration furnace. The calibration furnace is a microprocessor-controlled multipurpose temperature calibrator with an accuracy of +/- 0.7 C. The accuracy of the calibration furnace is traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The computer software is menu-based to give the user flexibility and ease of use. The user needs no programming experience to operate the systems. This system was specifically developed for use in the Microgravity Materials Science Laboratory (MMSL) at the NASA LeRC.

  14. Intraoperative magnetic tracker calibration using a magneto-optic hybrid tracker for 3-D ultrasound-based navigation in laparoscopic surgery.

    PubMed

    Nakamoto, Masahiko; Nakada, Kazuhisa; Sato, Yoshinobu; Konishi, Kozo; Hashizume, Makoto; Tamura, Shinichi

    2008-02-01

    This paper describes a ultrasound (3-D US) system that aims to achieve augmented reality (AR) visualization during laparoscopic surgery, especially for the liver. To acquire 3-D US data of the liver, the tip of a laparoscopic ultrasound probe is tracked inside the abdominal cavity using a magnetic tracker. The accuracy of magnetic trackers, however, is greatly affected by magnetic field distortion that results from the close proximity of metal objects and electronic equipment, which is usually unavoidable in the operating room. In this paper, we describe a calibration method for intraoperative magnetic distortion that can be applied to laparoscopic 3-D US data acquisition; we evaluate the accuracy and feasibility of the method by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Although calibration data can be acquired freehand using a magneto-optic hybrid tracker, there are two problems associated with this method--error caused by the time delay between measurements of the optical and magnetic trackers, and instability of the calibration accuracy that results from the uniformity and density of calibration data. A temporal calibration procedure is developed to estimate the time delay, which is then integrated into the calibration, and a distortion model is formulated by zeroth-degree to fourth-degree polynomial fitting to the calibration data. In the in vivo experiment using a pig, the positional error caused by magnetic distortion was reduced from 44.1 to 2.9 mm. The standard deviation of corrected target positions was less than 1.0 mm. Freehand acquisition of calibration data was performed smoothly using a magneto-optic hybrid sampling tool through a trocar under guidance by realtime 3-D monitoring of the tool trajectory; data acquisition time was less than 2 min. The present study suggests that our proposed method could correct for magnetic field distortion inside the patient's abdomen during a laparoscopic procedure within a clinically permissible period of time, as well as enabling an accurate 3-D US reconstruction to be obtained that can be superimposed onto live endoscopic images.

  15. Calibration Against the Moon. I: A Disk-Resolved Lunar Model for Absolute Reflectance Calibration

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-01-01

    average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and...3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Calibration against the Moon I: A disk- resolved lunar model for absolute reflectance...of the disk- resolved Moon at visible to near infrared wavelengths. It has been developed in order to use the Moon as a calibration reference

  16. Time-calibrated Milankovitch cycles for the late Permian.

    PubMed

    Wu, Huaichun; Zhang, Shihong; Hinnov, Linda A; Jiang, Ganqing; Feng, Qinglai; Li, Haiyan; Yang, Tianshui

    2013-01-01

    An important innovation in the geosciences is the astronomical time scale. The astronomical time scale is based on the Milankovitch-forced stratigraphy that has been calibrated to astronomical models of paleoclimate forcing; it is defined for much of Cenozoic-Mesozoic. For the Palaeozoic era, however, astronomical forcing has not been widely explored because of lack of high-precision geochronology or astronomical modelling. Here we report Milankovitch cycles from late Permian (Lopingian) strata at Meishan and Shangsi, South China, time calibrated by recent high-precision U-Pb dating. The evidence extends empirical knowledge of Earth's astronomical parameters before 250 million years ago. Observed obliquity and precession terms support a 22-h length-of-day. The reconstructed astronomical time scale indicates a 7.793-million year duration for the Lopingian epoch, when strong 405-kyr cycles constrain astronomical modelling. This is the first significant advance in defining the Palaeozoic astronomical time scale, anchored to absolute time, bridging the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic transition.

  17. A Contingency-Oriented Approach to Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder: Situational Triggers and Symptoms

    PubMed Central

    Miskewicz, Kelly; Fleeson, William; Arnold, Elizabeth Mayfield; Law, Mary Kate; Mneimne, Malek; Furr, R. Michael

    2015-01-01

    This article tested a contingency-oriented perspective to examine the dynamic relationships between in-the-moment borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom events and in-the-moment triggers. An experience sampling study with 282 adults, including 77 participants with BPD, obtained reports of situational triggers and BPD symptom events five times daily for two weeks. Triggers included being rejected, betrayed, abandoned, offended, disappointed, having one’s self-concept threatened, being in a boring situation, and being alone. BPD was associated with increased situational triggers. Multilevel models revealed significant within-person associations between situational triggers and BPD symptoms for the average participant in the study, with significant individual variance in the strength and direction of trigger-symptom contingencies. Most trigger-symptom contingencies were stronger for individuals with higher borderline symptomatology, suggesting that triggers are meaningfully related to BPD. These findings highlight possible proximal mechanisms that maintain BPD and help explain the course of a disorder often described as chaotic and unpredictable. PMID:26200848

  18. Adaptively Adjusted Event-Triggering Mechanism on Fault Detection for Networked Control Systems.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yu-Long; Lim, Cheng-Chew; Shi, Peng

    2016-12-08

    This paper studies the problem of adaptively adjusted event-triggering mechanism-based fault detection for a class of discrete-time networked control system (NCS) with applications to aircraft dynamics. By taking into account the fault occurrence detection progress and the fault occurrence probability, and introducing an adaptively adjusted event-triggering parameter, a novel event-triggering mechanism is proposed to achieve the efficient utilization of the communication network bandwidth. Both the sensor-to-control station and the control station-to-actuator network-induced delays are taken into account. The event-triggered sensor and the event-triggered control station are utilized simultaneously to establish new network-based closed-loop models for the NCS subject to faults. Based on the established models, the event-triggered simultaneous design of fault detection filter (FDF) and controller is presented. A new algorithm for handling the adaptively adjusted event-triggering parameter is proposed. Performance analysis verifies the effectiveness of the adaptively adjusted event-triggering mechanism, and the simultaneous design of FDF and controller.

  19. On-ground re-calibration of the GOME-2 satellite spectrometer series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otter, Gerard; Dijkhuizen, Niels; Vosteen, Amir; Brinkers, Sanneke; Gür, Bilgehan; Kenter, Pepijn; Sallusti, Marcello; Tomuta, Dana; Veratti, Rubes; Cappani, Annalisa

    2017-11-01

    The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2[1] (GOME-2) represents one of the European instruments carried on board the MetOp satellite within the ESA's "Living Planet Program". Consisting of three flight models (FM's) it is intended to provide long-term monitoring of atmospheric ozone and other trace gases over a time frame of 15-20 years, thus contributing valuable input towards climate and atmospheric research and providing near real-time data for use in air quality forecasting. The ambition to achieve highly accurate scientific results requires a thorough calibration and characterization of the instrument prior to launch. These calibration campaigns were performed by TNO in Delft in the Netherlands, in the "Thermal Vacuum Calibration Facility" of the institute. Due to refurbishment and / or storage of the instruments over a period of a few years, several re-calibration campaigns were necessary. These re-calibrations provided the unique opportunity to study the effects of long term storage and build up statistics on the instrument as well as the calibration methods used. During the re-calibration of the second flight model a difference was found in the radiometric calibration output, which was not understood initially. In order to understand the anomalies on the radiometry, a deep investigation was performed using numerous variations of the setup and different sources. The major contributor was identified to be a systematic error in the alignment, for which a correction was applied. Apart from this, it was found that the geometry of the sources influenced the results. Based on the calibration results combined with a theoretical geometrical hypothesis inferred that the on-ground calibration should mimic as close as possible the in-orbit geometry.

  20. Conditioning of MVM '73 radio-tracking data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Koch, R. E.; Chao, C. C.; Winn, F. B.; Yip, K. W.

    1974-01-01

    An extensive effort was undertaken to edit Mariner 10 radiometric tracking data. Interactive computer graphics were used for the first time by an interplanetary mission to detect blunder points and spurious signatures in the data. Interactive graphics improved the former process time by a factor of 10 to 20, while increasing reliability. S/X dual Doppler data was used for the first time to calibrate charged particles in the tracking medium. Application of the charged particle calibrations decreased the orbit determination error for a short data arc following the 16 March 1974 maneuver by about 80%. A new model was developed to calibrate the earth's troposphere with seasonal adjustments. The new model has a 2% accuracy and is 5 times better than the old model.

  1. A calibration method for fringe reflection technique based on the analytical phase-slope description

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Yuxiang; Yue, Huimin; Pan, Zhipeng; Liu, Yong

    2018-05-01

    The fringe reflection technique (FRT) has been one of the most popular methods to measure the shape of specular surface these years. The existing system calibration methods of FRT usually contain two parts, which are camera calibration and geometric calibration. In geometric calibration, the liquid crystal display (LCD) screen position calibration is one of the most difficult steps among all the calibration procedures, and its accuracy is affected by the factors such as the imaging aberration, the plane mirror flatness, and LCD screen pixel size accuracy. In this paper, based on the deduction of FRT analytical phase-slope description, we present a novel calibration method with no requirement to calibrate the position of LCD screen. On the other hand, the system can be arbitrarily arranged, and the imaging system can either be telecentric or non-telecentric. In our experiment of measuring the 5000mm radius sphere mirror, the proposed calibration method achieves 2.5 times smaller measurement error than the geometric calibration method. In the wafer surface measuring experiment, the measurement result with the proposed calibration method is closer to the interferometer result than the geometric calibration method.

  2. Testing the molecular clock using mechanistic models of fossil preservation and molecular evolution

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Molecular sequence data provide information about relative times only, and fossil-based age constraints are the ultimate source of information about absolute times in molecular clock dating analyses. Thus, fossil calibrations are critical to molecular clock dating, but competing methods are difficult to evaluate empirically because the true evolutionary time scale is never known. Here, we combine mechanistic models of fossil preservation and sequence evolution in simulations to evaluate different approaches to constructing fossil calibrations and their impact on Bayesian molecular clock dating, and the relative impact of fossil versus molecular sampling. We show that divergence time estimation is impacted by the model of fossil preservation, sampling intensity and tree shape. The addition of sequence data may improve molecular clock estimates, but accuracy and precision is dominated by the quality of the fossil calibrations. Posterior means and medians are poor representatives of true divergence times; posterior intervals provide a much more accurate estimate of divergence times, though they may be wide and often do not have high coverage probability. Our results highlight the importance of increased fossil sampling and improved statistical approaches to generating calibrations, which should incorporate the non-uniform nature of ecological and temporal fossil species distributions. PMID:28637852

  3. ON-LINE MONITORING OF I&C TRANSMITTERS AND SENSORS FOR CALIBRATION VERIFICATION AND RESPONSE TIME TESTING WAS SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED AT ATR

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

    Erickson, Phillip A.; O'Hagan, Ryan; Shumaker, Brent

    The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) has always had a comprehensive procedure to verify the performance of its critical transmitters and sensors, including RTDs, and pressure, level, and flow transmitters. These transmitters and sensors have been periodically tested for response time and calibration verification to ensure accuracy. With implementation of online monitoring techniques at ATR, the calibration verification and response time testing of these transmitters and sensors are verified remotely, automatically, hands off, include more portions of the system, and can be performed at almost any time during process operations. The work was done under a DOE funded SBIR project carriedmore » out by AMS. As a result, ATR is now able to save the manpower that has been spent over the years on manual calibration verification and response time testing of its temperature and pressure sensors and refocus those resources towards more equipment reliability needs. More importantly, implementation of OLM will help enhance the overall availability, safety, and efficiency. Together with equipment reliability programs of ATR, the integration of OLM will also help with I&C aging management goals of the Department of Energy and long-time operation of ATR.« less

  4. Common Readout Unit (CRU) - A new readout architecture for the ALICE experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitra, J.; Khan, S. A.; Mukherjee, S.; Paul, R.

    2016-03-01

    The ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presently going for a major upgrade in order to fully exploit the scientific potential of the upcoming high luminosity run, scheduled to start in the year 2021. The high interaction rate and the large event size will result in an experimental data flow of about 1 TB/s from the detectors, which need to be processed before sending to the online computing system and data storage. This processing is done in a dedicated Common Readout Unit (CRU), proposed for data aggregation, trigger and timing distribution and control moderation. It act as common interface between sub-detector electronic systems, computing system and trigger processors. The interface links include GBT, TTC-PON and PCIe. GBT (Gigabit transceiver) is used for detector data payload transmission and fixed latency path for trigger distribution between CRU and detector readout electronics. TTC-PON (Timing, Trigger and Control via Passive Optical Network) is employed for time multiplex trigger distribution between CRU and Central Trigger Processor (CTP). PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for bulk data transport between CRU boards and processors. In this article, we give an overview of CRU architecture in ALICE, discuss the different interfaces, along with the firmware design and implementation of CRU on the LHCb PCIe40 board.

  5. Rate of Change in Lake Level and its Impact on Reservoir-triggered Seismicity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simpson, D. W.

    2017-12-01

    With recent interest in increased seismicity related to fluid injection, it is useful to review cases of reservoir-triggered earthquakes to explore common characteristics and seek ways to mitigate the influence of anthropogenic impacts. Three reservoirs - Koyna, India; Nurek, Tajikistan; and Aswan, Egypt - are well-documented cases of triggered earthquakes with recorded time series of seismicity and water levels that extend for more than 30 years. The geological setting, regional tectonics and modes of reservoir utilization, along with the characteristics of the reservoir-seismicity interaction, are distinctly different in each of these three cases. Similarities and differences between these three cases point to regional and local geological and hydrological structures and the rate of changes in reservoir water level as important factors controlling the presence and timing of triggered seismicity. In a manner similar to the way in which the rate of fluid injection influences injection-related seismicity, the rate of change in reservoir water level is a significant factor in determining whether or not reservoir-triggered seismicity occurs. The high rate of annual water level rise may be important in sustaining the exceptionally long sequence of earthquakes at Koyna. In addition to the rate of filling being a determining factor in whether or not earthquakes are triggered, changes in the rate of filling may influence the time of occurrence of individual earthquakes.

  6. The impact of fossil calibrations, codon positions and relaxed clocks on the divergence time estimates of the native Australian rodents (Conilurini).

    PubMed

    Nilsson, Maria A; Härlid, Anna; Kullberg, Morgan; Janke, Axel

    2010-05-01

    The native rodents are the most species-rich placental mammal group on the Australian continent. Fossils of native Australian rodents belonging to the group Conilurini are known from Northern Australia at 4.5Ma. These fossil assemblages already display a rich diversity of rodents, but the exact timing of their arrival on the Australian continent is not yet established. The complete mitochondrial genomes of two native Australian rodents, Leggadina lakedownensis (Lakeland Downs mouse) and Pseudomys chapmani (Western Pebble-mound mouse) were sequenced for investigating their evolutionary history. The molecular data were used for studying the phylogenetic position and divergence times of the Australian rodents, using 12 calibration points and various methods. Phylogenetic analyses place the native Australian rodents as the sister-group to the genus Mus. The Mus-Conilurini calibration point (7.3-11.0Ma) is highly critical for estimating rodent divergence times, while the influence of the different algorithms on estimating divergence times is negligible. The influence of the data type was investigated, indicating that amino acid data are more likely to reflect the correct divergence times than nucleotide sequences. The study on the problems related to estimating divergence times in fast-evolving lineages such as rodents, emphasize the choice of data and calibration points as being critical. Furthermore, it is essential to include accurate calibration points for fast-evolving groups, because the divergence times can otherwise be estimated to be significantly older. The divergence times of the Australian rodents are highly congruent and are estimated to 6.5-7.2Ma, a date that is compatible with their fossil record.

  7. Quantifying uncertainties in streamflow predictions through signature based inference of hydrological model parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fenicia, Fabrizio; Reichert, Peter; Kavetski, Dmitri; Albert, Calro

    2016-04-01

    The calibration of hydrological models based on signatures (e.g. Flow Duration Curves - FDCs) is often advocated as an alternative to model calibration based on the full time series of system responses (e.g. hydrographs). Signature based calibration is motivated by various arguments. From a conceptual perspective, calibration on signatures is a way to filter out errors that are difficult to represent when calibrating on the full time series. Such errors may for example occur when observed and simulated hydrographs are shifted, either on the "time" axis (i.e. left or right), or on the "streamflow" axis (i.e. above or below). These shifts may be due to errors in the precipitation input (time or amount), and if not properly accounted in the likelihood function, may cause biased parameter estimates (e.g. estimated model parameters that do not reproduce the recession characteristics of a hydrograph). From a practical perspective, signature based calibration is seen as a possible solution for making predictions in ungauged basins. Where streamflow data are not available, it may in fact be possible to reliably estimate streamflow signatures. Previous research has for example shown how FDCs can be reliably estimated at ungauged locations based on climatic and physiographic influence factors. Typically, the goal of signature based calibration is not the prediction of the signatures themselves, but the prediction of the system responses. Ideally, the prediction of system responses should be accompanied by a reliable quantification of the associated uncertainties. Previous approaches for signature based calibration, however, do not allow reliable estimates of streamflow predictive distributions. Here, we illustrate how the Bayesian approach can be employed to obtain reliable streamflow predictive distributions based on signatures. A case study is presented, where a hydrological model is calibrated on FDCs and additional signatures. We propose an approach where the likelihood function for the signatures is derived from the likelihood for streamflow (rather than using an "ad-hoc" likelihood for the signatures as done in previous approaches). This likelihood is not easily tractable analytically and we therefore cannot apply "simple" MCMC methods. This numerical problem is solved using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). Our result indicate that the proposed approach is suitable for producing reliable streamflow predictive distributions based on calibration to signature data. Moreover, our results provide indications on which signatures are more appropriate to represent the information content of the hydrograph.

  8. The vertical propagation of disturbances triggered by seismic waves of the 11 March 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake over Taiwan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, J. Y.; Chen, C. H.; Sun, Y. Y.; Chen, C. H.; Tsai, H. F.; Yen, H. Y.; Chum, J.; Lastovicka, J.; Yang, Q. S.; Chen, W. S.; Wen, S.

    2016-02-01

    In this paper, concurrent/colocated measurements of seismometers, infrasonic systems, magnetometers, HF-CW (high frequency-continuous wave) Doppler sounding systems, and GPS receivers are employed to detect disturbances triggered by seismic waves of the 11 March 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake. No time delay between colocated infrasonic (i.e., super long acoustic) waves and seismic waves indicates that the triggered acoustic and/or gravity waves in the atmosphere (or seismo-traveling atmospheric disturbances, STADs) near the Earth's surface can be immediately activated by vertical ground motions. The circle method is used to find the origin and compute the observed horizontal traveling speed of the triggered infrasonic waves. The speed of about 3.3 km/s computed from the arrival time versus the epicentral distance suggests that the infrasonic waves (i.e., STADs) are mainly induced by the Rayleigh waves. The agreements in the travel time at various heights between the observation and theoretical calculation suggest that the STADs triggered by the vertical motion of ground surface caused by the Tohoku earthquake traveled vertically from the ground to the ionosphere with speed of the sound in the atmosphere over Taiwan.

  9. Dynamic calibration approach for determining catechins and gallic acid in green tea using LC-ESI/MS.

    PubMed

    Bedner, Mary; Duewer, David L

    2011-08-15

    Catechins and gallic acid are antioxidant constituents of Camellia sinensis, or green tea. Liquid chromatography with both ultraviolet (UV) absorbance and electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI/MS) detection was used to determine catechins and gallic acid in three green tea matrix materials that are commonly used as dietary supplements. The results from both detection modes were evaluated with 14 quantitation models, all of which were based on the analyte response relative to an internal standard. Half of the models were static, where quantitation was achieved with calibration factors that were constant over an analysis set. The other half were dynamic, with calibration factors calculated from interpolated response factor data at each time a sample was injected to correct for potential variations in analyte response over time. For all analytes, the relatively nonselective UV responses were found to be very stable over time and independent of the calibrant concentration; comparable results with low variability were obtained regardless of the quantitation model used. Conversely, the highly selective MS responses were found to vary both with time and as a function of the calibrant concentration. A dynamic quantitation model based on polynomial data-fitting was used to reduce the variability in the quantitative results using the MS data.

  10. Remotely Triggered Earthquakes Recorded by EarthScope's Transportable Array and Regional Seismic Networks: A Case Study Of Four Large Earthquakes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Velasco, A. A.; Cerda, I.; Linville, L.; Kilb, D. L.; Pankow, K. L.

    2013-05-01

    Changes in field stress required to trigger earthquakes have been classified in two basic ways: static and dynamic triggering. Static triggering occurs when an earthquake that releases accumulated strain along a fault stress loads a nearby fault. Dynamic triggering occurs when an earthquake is induced by the passing of seismic waves from a large mainshock located at least two or more fault lengths from the epicenter of the main shock. We investigate details of dynamic triggering using data collected from EarthScope's USArray and regional seismic networks located in the United States. Triggered events are identified using an optimized automated detector based on the ratio of short term to long term average (Antelope software). Following the automated processing, the flagged waveforms are individually analyzed, in both the time and frequency domains, to determine if the increased detection rates correspond to local earthquakes (i.e., potentially remotely triggered aftershocks). Here, we show results using this automated schema applied to data from four large, but characteristically different, earthquakes -- Chile (Mw 8.8 2010), Tokoku-Oki (Mw 9.0 2011), Baja California (Mw 7.2 2010) and Wells Nevada (Mw 6.0 2008). For each of our four mainshocks, the number of detections within the 10 hour time windows span a large range (1 to over 200) and statistically >20% of the waveforms show evidence of anomalous signals following the mainshock. The results will help provide for a better understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in dynamic earthquake triggering and will help identify zones in the continental U.S. that may be more susceptible to dynamic earthquake triggering.

  11. A method to improve data transmission efficiency of non-cabled seismographs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, F.; Lin, J.; Huaizhu, Z.; Yang, H.

    2012-12-01

    The non-cable self-locating seismograph developed by College of Instrumentation and Electrical Engineering, Jilin University integrates in-built battery, storage, WIFI, GPS and precision data acquisition. It is suitable for complex terrains which are typically not well addressed by cabled telemetric seismic instruments, such as mountains, swamps, and rivers. Moreover, it provides strong support for core functions such as long-term observation, wired and wireless data transmission, self-positioning and precision clock synchronization. The non-cable seismograph supports time window and continuous data acquisition. When the sampling time is long and sampling rate is high, a huge amount of original seismic data will be stored in the non-cable seismograph. As a result, it usually takes a long time—sometimes too long to be acceptable—to recover data in quasi real-time using wireless technology in resource exploration, especially in complex terrains. Furthermore, a large part of the recovered data is useless noise and only a small percentage is useful. For example, during the exploration experiment of a Chinese mine on July 12 and 14, 2012, we used 20 non-cable seismographs, each of them has 4 tracts. With a total of 80 tracts, 36GB data is collected over two data collecting sessions. 80 shot points were laid, each point lasting 4 seconds. As such the volume of valid data was about 100MB. That means only 0.3% of the total data was valid. At a wired data recovery rate of 200Mbps, 0.4 hours was needed to transmit all data completely. It takes even longer if one wish to review data on the spot by relying on a wireless data transmission rate of 10Mbps.A storage-type non-cable seismograph can store the collected data into several data files, and if one knows the source trigger time and vibration duration, it would be faster to collect data, thus improving data transmission efficiency. To this end, a triggering station is developed. It is one type of non-cable seismograph having the functions of a regular non-cable seismograph such as collecting, storing and transmitting, and on top of that, the abilities to acquire, record and transmit source triggering time. GPS is built into the non-cable seismograph to ensure accurate clock synchronization for all working non-cable seismographs. The source-triggered station can obtain the source trigger time accurately and store it in a file, send it to the server or portable terminal using wireless technology. The management system in the server checks clock synchronization information of each non-cable seismograph against the trigger time, determines the exact sampling location of the trigger time, extracts the corresponding data according to predetermined triggering length. It then sequences data according to the survey line, and integrate it into the seismic data file in appropriate format, thus completing the extraction of single-shot data. For off-site data recovery, one can extract all trigger time from the triggered station and recover data in the above-mentioned method post-experimental. The method can rapidly extract valid data from recovered data. Many field experiments have shown that the method can effectively improve data transmission efficiency of non-cabled seismographs and save data storage spaces in the servers.

  12. Study of the GPS inter-frequency calibration of timing receivers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Defraigne, P.; Huang, W.; Bertrand, B.; Rovera, D.

    2018-02-01

    When calibrating Global Positioning System (GPS) stations dedicated to timing, the hardware delays of P1 and P2, the P(Y)-codes on frequencies L1 and L2, are determined separately. In the international atomic time (TAI) network the GPS stations of the time laboratories are calibrated relatively against reference stations. This paper aims at determining the consistency between the P1 and P2 hardware delays (called dP1 and dP2) of these reference stations, and to look at the stability of the inter-signal hardware delays dP1-dP2 of all the stations in the network. The method consists of determining the dP1-dP2 directly from the GPS pseudorange measurements corrected for the frequency-dependent antenna phase center and the frequency-dependent ionosphere corrections, and then to compare these computed dP1-dP2 to the calibrated values. Our results show that the differences between the computed and calibrated dP1-dP2 are well inside the expected combined uncertainty of the two quantities. Furthermore, the consistency between the calibrated time transfer solution obtained from either single-frequency P1 or dual-frequency P3 for reference laboratories is shown to be about 1.0 ns, well inside the 2.1 ns uB uncertainty of a time transfer link based on GPS P3 or Precise Point Positioning. This demonstrates the good consistency between the P1 and P2 hardware delays of the reference stations used for calibration in the TAI network. The long-term stability of the inter-signal hardware delays is also analysed from the computed dP1-dP2. It is shown that only variations larger than 2 ns can be detected for a particular station, while variations of 200 ps can be detected when differentiating the results between two stations. Finally, we also show that in the differential calibration process as used in the TAI network, using the same antenna phase center or using different positions for L1 and L2 signals gives maximum differences of 200 ps on the hardware delays of the separate codes P1 and P2; however, the final impact on the P3 combination is less than 10 ps.

  13. A BAYESIAN METHOD FOR CALCULATING REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE PCR CALIBRATION CURVES USING ABSOLUTE PLASMID DNA STANDARDS

    EPA Science Inventory

    In real-time quantitative PCR studies using absolute plasmid DNA standards, a calibration curve is developed to estimate an unknown DNA concentration. However, potential differences in the amplification performance of plasmid DNA compared to genomic DNA standards are often ignore...

  14. Latency study of the High Performance Time to Digital Converter for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer trigger upgrade

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, X. T.; Levin, D. S.; Chapman, J. W.; Li, D. C.; Yao, Z. E.; Zhou, B.

    2017-02-01

    The High Performance Time to Digital Converter (HPTDC), a multi-channel ASIC designed by the CERN Microelectronics group, has been proposed for the digitization of the thin-Resistive Plate Chambers (tRPC) in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Phase-1 upgrade project. These chambers, to be staged for higher luminosity LHC operation, will increase trigger acceptance and reduce or eliminate the fake muon trigger rates in the barrel-endcap transition region, corresponding to pseudo-rapidity range 1<|η|<1.3. Low level trigger candidates must be flagged within a maximum latency of 1075 ns, thus imposing stringent signal processing time performance requirements on the readout system in general, and on the digitization electronics in particular. This paper investigates the HPTDC signal latency performance based on a specially designed evaluation board coupled with an external FPGA evaluation board, when operated in triggerless mode, and under hit rate conditions expected in Phase-I. This hardware based study confirms previous simulations and demonstrates that the HPTDC in triggerless operation satisfies the digitization timing requirements in both leading edge and pair modes.

  15. Autocalibrating motion-corrected wave-encoding for highly accelerated free-breathing abdominal MRI.

    PubMed

    Chen, Feiyu; Zhang, Tao; Cheng, Joseph Y; Shi, Xinwei; Pauly, John M; Vasanawala, Shreyas S

    2017-11-01

    To develop a motion-robust wave-encoding technique for highly accelerated free-breathing abdominal MRI. A comprehensive 3D wave-encoding-based method was developed to enable fast free-breathing abdominal imaging: (a) auto-calibration for wave-encoding was designed to avoid extra scan for coil sensitivity measurement; (b) intrinsic butterfly navigators were used to track respiratory motion; (c) variable-density sampling was included to enable compressed sensing; (d) golden-angle radial-Cartesian hybrid view-ordering was incorporated to improve motion robustness; and (e) localized rigid motion correction was combined with parallel imaging compressed sensing reconstruction to reconstruct the highly accelerated wave-encoded datasets. The proposed method was tested on six subjects and image quality was compared with standard accelerated Cartesian acquisition both with and without respiratory triggering. Inverse gradient entropy and normalized gradient squared metrics were calculated, testing whether image quality was improved using paired t-tests. For respiratory-triggered scans, wave-encoding significantly reduced residual aliasing and blurring compared with standard Cartesian acquisition (metrics suggesting P < 0.05). For non-respiratory-triggered scans, the proposed method yielded significantly better motion correction compared with standard motion-corrected Cartesian acquisition (metrics suggesting P < 0.01). The proposed methods can reduce motion artifacts and improve overall image quality of highly accelerated free-breathing abdominal MRI. Magn Reson Med 78:1757-1766, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  16. Seismic multiplet response triggered by melt at Blood Falls, Taylor Glacier, Antarctica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carmichael, Joshua D.; Pettit, Erin C.; Hoffman, Matt; Fountain, Andrew; Hallet, Bernard

    2012-09-01

    Meltwater input often triggers a seismic response from glaciers and ice sheets. It is difficult, however, to measure melt production on glaciers directly, while subglacial water storage is not directly observable. Therefore, we document temporal changes in seismicity from a dry-based polar glacier (Taylor Glacier, Antarctica) during a melt season using a synthesis of seismic observation and melt modeling. We record icequakes using a dense six-receiver network of three-component geophones and compare this with melt input generated from a calibrated surface energy balance model. In the absence of modeled surface melt, we find that seismicity is well-described by a diurnal signal composed of microseismic events in lake and glacial ice. During melt events, the diurnal signal is suppressed and seismicity is instead characterized by large glacial icequakes. We perform network-based correlation and clustering analyses of seismic record sections and determine that 18% of melt-season icequakes are repetitive (multiplets). The epicentral locations for these multiplets suggest that they are triggered by meltwater produced near a brine seep known as Blood Falls. Our observations of the correspondingp-wave first motions are consistent with volumetric source mechanisms. We suggest that surface melt enables a persistent pathway through this cold ice to an englacial fracture system that is responsible for brine release episodes from the Blood Falls seep. The scalar moments for these events suggest that the volumetric increase at the source region can be explained by melt input.

  17. 40 CFR 63.9921 - What are the installation, operation and maintenance requirements for my monitors?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ...) For the pressure drop CPMS, you must: (i) Locate the pressure sensor(s) in or as close to a position... calibration quarterly and transducer calibration monthly. (v) Conduct calibration checks any time the sensor exceeds the manufacturer's specified maximum operating pressure range, or install a new pressure sensor...

  18. 40 CFR 63.9921 - What are the installation, operation and maintenance requirements for my monitors?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ...) For the pressure drop CPMS, you must: (i) Locate the pressure sensor(s) in or as close to a position... calibration quarterly and transducer calibration monthly. (v) Conduct calibration checks any time the sensor exceeds the manufacturer's specified maximum operating pressure range, or install a new pressure sensor...

  19. 40 CFR 63.9921 - What are the installation, operation and maintenance requirements for my monitors?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ...) For the pressure drop CPMS, you must: (i) Locate the pressure sensor(s) in or as close to a position... calibration quarterly and transducer calibration monthly. (v) Conduct calibration checks any time the sensor exceeds the manufacturer's specified maximum operating pressure range, or install a new pressure sensor...

  20. 40 CFR 63.9921 - What are the installation, operation and maintenance requirements for my monitors?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ...) For the pressure drop CPMS, you must: (i) Locate the pressure sensor(s) in or as close to a position... calibration quarterly and transducer calibration monthly. (v) Conduct calibration checks any time the sensor exceeds the manufacturer's specified maximum operating pressure range, or install a new pressure sensor...

  1. Evaluation of impact of length of calibration time period on the APEX model streamflow simulation

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Due to resource constraints, continuous long-term measured data for model calibration and validation (C/V) are rare. As a result, most hydrologic and water quality models are calibrated and, if possible, validated using limited available measured data. However, little research has been carried out t...

  2. Impact of length of calibration period on the APEX model water quantity and quality simulation performance

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Availability of continuous long-term measured data for model calibration and validation is limited due to time and resources constraints. As a result, hydrologic and water quality models are calibrated and, if possible, validated when measured data is available. Past work reported on the impact of t...

  3. 40 CFR Appendix I to Part 92 - Emission Related Locomotive and Engine Parameters and Specifications

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... injection—non-compression ignition engines. a. Control parameters and calibrations. b. Idle mixture. c. Fuel...(s). i. Injector timing calibration. 4. Fuel injection—compression ignition engines. a. Control... restriction. III. Fuel System. 1. General. a. Engine idle speed. 2. Carburetion. a. Air-fuel flow calibration...

  4. 40 CFR Appendix I to Part 92 - Emission Related Locomotive and Engine Parameters and Specifications

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... injection—non-compression ignition engines. a. Control parameters and calibrations. b. Idle mixture. c. Fuel...(s). i. Injector timing calibration. 4. Fuel injection—compression ignition engines. a. Control... restriction. III. Fuel System. 1. General. a. Engine idle speed. 2. Carburetion. a. Air-fuel flow calibration...

  5. 40 CFR Appendix I to Part 92 - Emission Related Locomotive and Engine Parameters and Specifications

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... injection—non-compression ignition engines. a. Control parameters and calibrations. b. Idle mixture. c. Fuel...(s). i. Injector timing calibration. 4. Fuel injection—compression ignition engines. a. Control... restriction. III. Fuel System. 1. General. a. Engine idle speed. 2. Carburetion. a. Air-fuel flow calibration...

  6. 40 CFR Appendix I to Part 92 - Emission Related Locomotive and Engine Parameters and Specifications

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... injection—non-compression ignition engines. a. Control parameters and calibrations. b. Idle mixture. c. Fuel...(s). i. Injector timing calibration. 4. Fuel injection—compression ignition engines. a. Control... restriction. III. Fuel System. 1. General. a. Engine idle speed. 2. Carburetion. a. Air-fuel flow calibration...

  7. Calibration of solar radiation measuring instruments. Final report

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

    Bahm, R J; Nakos, J C

    A review of solar radiation measurement of instruments and some types of errors is given; and procedures for calibrating solar radiation measuring instruments are detailed. An appendix contains a description of various agencies who perform calibration of solar instruments and a description of the methods they used at the time this report was prepared. (WHK)

  8. Assessment of the Visible Channel Calibrations of the TRMM VIRS and MODIS on Aqua and Terra

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Minnis, Patrick; Doelling, David R.; Nguyen, Louis; Miller, Walter F.; Chakrapani, Venketesan

    2007-01-01

    Several recent research satellites carry self-calibrating multispectral imagers that can be used for calibrating operational imagers lacking complete self-calibrating capabilities. In particular, the visible (VIS, 0.65 m) channels on operational meteorological satellites are generally calibrated before launch, but require vicarious calibration techniques to monitor the gains and offsets once they are in orbit. To ensure that the self-calibrating instruments are performing as expected, this paper examines the consistencies between the VIS channel (channel 1) reflectances of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites and the Version 5a and 6 reflectances of the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission using a variety of techniques. These include comparisons of Terra and Aqua VIS radiances with coincident broadband shortwave radiances from the well-calibrated Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System (CERES), time series of deep convective cloud (DCC) albedos, and ray-matching intercalibrations between each of the three satellites. Time series of matched Terra and VIRS data, Aqua and VIRS data, and DCC reflected fluxes reveal that an older version (Version 5a, ending in early 2004) of the VIRS calibration produced a highly stable record, while the latest version (Version 6) appears to overestimate the sensor gain change by approx.1%/y as the result of a manually induced gain adjustment. Comparisons with the CERES shortwave radiances unearthed a sudden change in the Terra MODIS calibration that caused a 1.17% decrease in the gain on 19 November 2003 that can be easily reversed. After correction for these manual adjustments, the trends in the VIRS and Terra channels are no greater than 0.1%/y. Although the results were more ambiguous, no statistically significant trends were found in the Aqua MODIS channel-1 gain. The Aqua radiances are 1% greater, on average, than their Terra counterparts, and after normalization are 4.6% greater than VIRS radiances, in agreement with theoretical calculations. The discrepancy between the two MODIS instruments should be taken into account to ensure consistency between parameters derived from them. With the adjustments, any of the three instruments can serve as references for calibrating other satellites. Monitoring of the calibrations continues in near-real-time and the results are available via the world wide web.

  9. A Demonstration of Precise Calibration of Tropospheric Delay Fluctuations with Water Vapor Radiometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Teitelbaum, L. P.; Keihm, S. J.; Linfield, R. P.; Mahoney, M. J.; Resch, G. M.

    1996-01-01

    The ability of water vapor radiometers (WVRs) to calibrate changes in tropospheric delay was demonstrated during very long baseline radio interferometer (VLBI) observations at Goldstone, California. WVR measurements reduced the observed VLBI delay variations over a 13 hr period by a factor of approx. = 2.5. When applied to shorter time scales, a approx. = 50% reduction in 100-700 s delay variations was achieved during conditions of high tropospheric activity. Thermal WVR noise precluded calibration of short time scale delay fluctuations during quiet tropospheric conditions.

  10. A search for non-triggered events in the BATSE data base

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

    Kommers, J. M.; Lewin, W. H. G.; Kouveliotou, C.

    1998-05-16

    The archival data from BATSE permit a search for transients that did not activate the onboard burst trigger. Examples of such non-triggered events include faint gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), emission from soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), and bursts and flares from X-ray binaries. A GRB may fail to trigger onboard because it is too faint, because it occurs while the onboard trigger is disabled, or because it biases the onboard background estimation. We describe a search of the BATSE archival data that is sensitive to GRBs with peak fluxes fainter by a factor of {approx}2 than those detected with the onboard burstmore » trigger (on the 1.024 s time scale)« less

  11. More Than a Text Message: Dismantling Digital Triggers to Curate Behavior Change in Patient-Centered Health Interventions

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Digital triggers such as text messages, emails, and push alerts are designed to focus an individual on a desired goal by prompting an internal or external reaction at the appropriate time. Triggers therefore have an essential role in engaging individuals with digital interventions delivered outside of traditional health care settings, where other events in daily lives and fluctuating motivation to engage in effortful behavior exist. There is an emerging body of literature examining the use of digital triggers for short-term action and longer-term behavior change. However, little attention has been given to understanding the components of digital triggers. Using tailoring as an overarching framework, we separated digital triggers into 5 primary components: (1) who (sender), (2) how (stimulus type, delivery medium, heterogeneity), (3) when (delivered), (4) how much (frequency, intensity), and (5) what (trigger’s target, trigger’s structure, trigger’s narrative). We highlighted key considerations when tailoring each component and the pitfalls of ignoring common mistakes, such as alert fatigue and habituation. As evidenced throughout the paper, there is a broad literature base from which to draw when tailoring triggers to curate behavior change in health interventions. More research is needed, however, to examine differences in efficacy based on component tailoring, to best use triggers to facilitate behavior change over time, and to keep individuals engaged in physical and mental health behavior change efforts. Dismantling digital triggers into their component parts and reassembling them according to the gestalt of one’s change goals is the first step in this development work. PMID:28550001

  12. The development of high-voltage repetitive low-jitter corona stabilized triggered switch

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geng, Jiuyuan; Yang, Jianhua; Cheng, Xinbing; Yang, Xiao; Chen, Rong

    2018-04-01

    The high-power switch plays an important part in a pulse power system. With the trend of pulse power technology toward modularization, miniaturization, and accuracy control, higher requirements on electrical trigger and jitter of the switch have been put forward. A high-power low-jitter corona-stabilized triggered switch (CSTS) is designed in this paper. This kind of CSTS is based on corona stabilized mechanism, and it can be used as a main switch of an intense electron-beam accelerator (IEBA). Its main feature was the use of an annular trigger electrode instead of a traditional needle-like trigger electrode, taking main and side trigger rings to fix the discharging channels and using SF6/N2 gas mixture as its operation gas. In this paper, the strength of the local field enhancement was changed by a trigger electrode protrusion length Dp. The differences of self-breakdown voltage and its stability, delay time jitter, trigger requirements, and operation range of the switch were compared. Then the effect of different SF6/N2 mixture ratio on switch performance was explored. The experimental results show that when the SF6 is 15% with the pressure of 0.2 MPa, the hold-off voltage of the switch is 551 kV, the operating range is 46.4%-93.5% of the self-breakdown voltage, the jitter is 0.57 ns, and the minimum trigger voltage requirement is 55.8% of the peak. At present, the CSTS has been successfully applied to an IEBA for long time operation.

  13. The development of high-voltage repetitive low-jitter corona stabilized triggered switch.

    PubMed

    Geng, Jiuyuan; Yang, Jianhua; Cheng, Xinbing; Yang, Xiao; Chen, Rong

    2018-04-01

    The high-power switch plays an important part in a pulse power system. With the trend of pulse power technology toward modularization, miniaturization, and accuracy control, higher requirements on electrical trigger and jitter of the switch have been put forward. A high-power low-jitter corona-stabilized triggered switch (CSTS) is designed in this paper. This kind of CSTS is based on corona stabilized mechanism, and it can be used as a main switch of an intense electron-beam accelerator (IEBA). Its main feature was the use of an annular trigger electrode instead of a traditional needle-like trigger electrode, taking main and side trigger rings to fix the discharging channels and using SF 6 /N 2 gas mixture as its operation gas. In this paper, the strength of the local field enhancement was changed by a trigger electrode protrusion length Dp. The differences of self-breakdown voltage and its stability, delay time jitter, trigger requirements, and operation range of the switch were compared. Then the effect of different SF 6 /N 2 mixture ratio on switch performance was explored. The experimental results show that when the SF 6 is 15% with the pressure of 0.2 MPa, the hold-off voltage of the switch is 551 kV, the operating range is 46.4%-93.5% of the self-breakdown voltage, the jitter is 0.57 ns, and the minimum trigger voltage requirement is 55.8% of the peak. At present, the CSTS has been successfully applied to an IEBA for long time operation.

  14. Continuous glucose monitoring in newborn infants: how do errors in calibration measurements affect detected hypoglycemia?

    PubMed

    Thomas, Felicity; Signal, Mathew; Harris, Deborah L; Weston, Philip J; Harding, Jane E; Shaw, Geoffrey M; Chase, J Geoffrey

    2014-05-01

    Neonatal hypoglycemia is common and can cause serious brain injury. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) could improve hypoglycemia detection, while reducing blood glucose (BG) measurements. Calibration algorithms use BG measurements to convert sensor signals into CGM data. Thus, inaccuracies in calibration BG measurements directly affect CGM values and any metrics calculated from them. The aim was to quantify the effect of timing delays and calibration BG measurement errors on hypoglycemia metrics in newborn infants. Data from 155 babies were used. Two timing and 3 BG meter error models (Abbott Optium Xceed, Roche Accu-Chek Inform II, Nova Statstrip) were created using empirical data. Monte-Carlo methods were employed, and each simulation was run 1000 times. Each set of patient data in each simulation had randomly selected timing and/or measurement error added to BG measurements before CGM data were calibrated. The number of hypoglycemic events, duration of hypoglycemia, and hypoglycemic index were then calculated using the CGM data and compared to baseline values. Timing error alone had little effect on hypoglycemia metrics, but measurement error caused substantial variation. Abbott results underreported the number of hypoglycemic events by up to 8 and Roche overreported by up to 4 where the original number reported was 2. Nova results were closest to baseline. Similar trends were observed in the other hypoglycemia metrics. Errors in blood glucose concentration measurements used for calibration of CGM devices can have a clinically important impact on detection of hypoglycemia. If CGM devices are going to be used for assessing hypoglycemia it is important to understand of the impact of these errors on CGM data. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

  15. First Absolutely Calibrated Localized Measurements of Ion Velocity in the MST in Locked and Rotating Plasmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baltzer, M.; Craig, D.; den Hartog, D. J.; Nornberg, M. D.; Munaretto, S.

    2015-11-01

    An Ion Doppler Spectrometer (IDS) is used on MST for high time-resolution passive and active measurements of impurity ion emission. Absolutely calibrated measurements of flow are difficult because the spectrometer records data within 0.3 nm of the C+5 line of interest, and commercial calibration lamps do not produce lines in this narrow range . A novel optical system was designed to absolutely calibrate the IDS. The device uses an UV LED to produce a broad emission curve in the desired region. A Fabry-Perot etalon filters this light, cutting transmittance peaks into the pattern of the LED emission. An optical train of fused silica lenses focuses the light into the IDS with f/4. A holographic diffuser blurs the light cone to increase homogeneity. Using this light source, the absolute Doppler shift of ion emissions can be measured in MST plasmas. In combination with charge exchange recombination spectroscopy, localized ion velocities can now be measured. Previously, a time-averaged measurement along the chord bisecting the poloidal plane was used to calibrate the IDS; the quality of these central chord calibrations can be characterized with our absolute calibration. Calibration errors may also be quantified and minimized by optimizing the curve-fitting process. Preliminary measurements of toroidal velocity in locked and rotating plasmas will be shown. This work has been supported by the US DOE.

  16. Hubble Space Telescope: Cycle 1 calibration plan. Version 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stanley, Peggy (Editor); Blades, Chris (Editor)

    1990-01-01

    The framework for quantitative scientific analysis with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will be established from a detailed calibration program, and a major responsibility of staff in the Telescope & Instruments Branch (TIB) is the development and maintenance of this calibration for the instruments and the telescope. The first in-orbit calibration will be performed by the SI Investigation Definition Teams (IDTs) during the Science Verification (SV) period in Cycle 0 (expected to start 3 months after launch and last for 5 months). Subsequently, instrument scientists in the TIB become responsible for all aspects of the calibration program. Because of the long lead times involved, TIB scientists have already formulated a calibration plan for the next observing period, Cycle 1 (expected to last a year after the end of SV), which has been reviewed and approved by the STScI Director. The purpose here is to describe the contents of this plan. Our primary aim has been to maintain through Cycle 1 the level of calibration that is anticipated by the end of SV. Anticipated accuracies are given here in tabular form - of course, these accuracies can only be best guesses because we do not know how each instrument will actually perform on-orbit. The calibration accuracies are expected to satisfy the normal needs of both the General Observers (GOs) and the Guaranteed Time Observers (GTOs).

  17. A model of seismic coda arrivals to suppress spurious events.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arora, N.; Russell, S.

    2012-04-01

    We describe a model of coda arrivals which has been added to NET-VISA (Network processing Vertically Integrated Seismic Analysis) our probabilistic generative model of seismic events, their transmission, and detection on a global seismic network. The scattered energy that follows a seismic phase arrival tends to deceive typical STA/LTA based arrival picking software into believing that a real seismic phase has been detected. These coda arrivals which tend to follow all seismic phases cause most network processing software including NET-VISA to believe that multiple events have taken place. It is not a simple matter of ignoring closely spaced arrivals since arrivals from multiple events can indeed overlap. The current practice in NET-VISA of pruning events within a small space-time neighborhood of a larger event works reasonably well, but it may mask real events produced in an after-shock sequence. Our new model allows any seismic arrival, even coda arrivals, to trigger a subsequent coda arrival. The probability of such a triggered arrival depends on the amplitude of the triggering arrival. Although real seismic phases are more likely to generate such coda arrivals. Real seismic phases also tend to generate coda arrivals with more strongly correlated parameters, for example azimuth and slowness. However, the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of a coda arrival immediately following a phase arrival tends to be lower because of the nature of the SNR calculation. We have calibrated our model on historical statistics of such triggered arrivals and our inference accounts for them while searching for the best explanation of seismic events their association to the arrivals and the coda arrivals. We have tested our new model on one week of global seismic data spanning March 22, 2009 to March 29, 2009. Our model was trained on two and half months of data from April 5, 2009 to June 20, 2009. We use the LEB bulletin produced by the IDC (International Data Center) as the ground truth and computed the precision (percentage of reported events which are true) and recall (percentage of true events which are reported). The existing model has a precision of 32.2 and recall of 88.6 which changes to a precision of 50.7 and recall of 88.5 after pruning. The new model has a precision of 56.8 and recall of 86.9 without any pruning and the corresponding precision recall curve is dramatically improved. In contrast, the performance of the current automated bulletin at the IDC, SEL3, has a precision of 46.2 and recall of 69.7.

  18. Model-Based Adaptive Event-Triggered Control of Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems.

    PubMed

    Li, Yuan-Xin; Yang, Guang-Hong

    2018-04-01

    This paper is concerned with the adaptive event-triggered control problem of nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict-feedback form. By using the event-sampled neural network (NN) to approximate the unknown nonlinear function, an adaptive model and an associated event-triggered controller are designed by exploiting the backstepping method. In the proposed method, the feedback signals and the NN weights are aperiodically updated only when the event-triggered condition is violated. A positive lower bound on the minimum intersample time is guaranteed to avoid accumulation point. The closed-loop stability of the resulting nonlinear impulsive dynamical system is rigorously proved via Lyapunov analysis under an adaptive event sampling condition. In comparing with the traditional adaptive backstepping design with a fixed sample period, the event-triggered method samples the state and updates the NN weights only when it is necessary. Therefore, the number of transmissions can be significantly reduced. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

  19. Evaluation of artificial time series microarray data for dynamic gene regulatory network inference.

    PubMed

    Xenitidis, P; Seimenis, I; Kakolyris, S; Adamopoulos, A

    2017-08-07

    High-throughput technology like microarrays is widely used in the inference of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). We focused on time series data since we are interested in the dynamics of GRNs and the identification of dynamic networks. We evaluated the amount of information that exists in artificial time series microarray data and the ability of an inference process to produce accurate models based on them. We used dynamic artificial gene regulatory networks in order to create artificial microarray data. Key features that characterize microarray data such as the time separation of directly triggered genes, the percentage of directly triggered genes and the triggering function type were altered in order to reveal the limits that are imposed by the nature of microarray data on the inference process. We examined the effect of various factors on the inference performance such as the network size, the presence of noise in microarray data, and the network sparseness. We used a system theory approach and examined the relationship between the pole placement of the inferred system and the inference performance. We examined the relationship between the inference performance in the time domain and the true system parameter identification. Simulation results indicated that time separation and the percentage of directly triggered genes are crucial factors. Also, network sparseness, the triggering function type and noise in input data affect the inference performance. When two factors were simultaneously varied, it was found that variation of one parameter significantly affects the dynamic response of the other. Crucial factors were also examined using a real GRN and acquired results confirmed simulation findings with artificial data. Different initial conditions were also used as an alternative triggering approach. Relevant results confirmed that the number of datasets constitutes the most significant parameter with regard to the inference performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Modeling the October 2005 lahars at Panabaj (Guatemala)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Charbonnier, S. J.; Connor, C. B.; Connor, L. J.; Sheridan, M. F.; Oliva Hernández, J. P.; Richardson, J. A.

    2018-01-01

    An extreme rainfall event in October of 2005 triggered two deadly lahars on the flanks of Tolimán volcano (Guatemala) that caused many fatalities in the village of Panabaj. We mapped the deposits of these lahars, then developed computer simulations of the lahars using the geologic data and compared simulated area inundated by the flows to mapped area inundated. Computer simulation of the two lahars was dramatically improved after calibration with geological data. Specifically, detailed field measurements of flow inundation area, flow thickness, flow direction, and velocity estimates, collected after lahar emplacement, were used to calibrate the rheological input parameters for the models, including deposit volume, yield strength, sediment and water concentrations, and Manning roughness coefficients. Simulations of the two lahars, with volumes of 240,200 ± 55,400 and 126,000 ± 29,000 m3, using the FLO-2D computer program produced models of lahar runout within 3% of measured runouts and produced reasonable estimates of flow thickness and velocity along the lengths of the simulated flows. We compare areas inundated using the Jaccard fit, model sensitivity, and model precision metrics, all related to Bayes' theorem. These metrics show that false negatives (areas inundated by the observed lahar where not simulated) and false positives (areas not inundated by the observed lahar where inundation was simulated) are reduced using a model calibrated by rheology. The metrics offer a procedure for tuning model performance that will enhance model accuracy and make numerical models a more robust tool for natural hazard reduction.

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