Minimum Altitude-Loss Soaring in a Specified Vertical Wind Distribution

Minimum altitude-loss flight of a sailplane through a given vertical wind distribution is discussed. The problem is posed as an optimal control problem, and several numerical solutions are obtained for a sinusoidal wind distribution

Transverse and secondary voltages in BSCCO single crystals

Multicontact configuration is one of the most powerful arrangements for electrical transport measurements applied to study vortex phase transition and vortex phase dimensionality in strongly anisotropic high-Tc superconducting materials. In this paper we present electrical transport measurements using a multiterminal configuration, which prove both the existence of guided vortex motion in BSCCO single crystals near the transition temperature and that secondary voltage in zero external magnetic field is induced by thermally activated vortex loop unbinding. The phase transition between the bound and unbound states of the vortex loops was found to be below the temperature where the phase coherence of the superconducting order parameter extends over the whole volume of the sample. We show experimentally that 3D/2D phase transition in vortex dimensionality is a length-scale-dependent layer decoupling process and takes place simultaneously with the 3D/2D phase transition in superconductivity at the same temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Physica

Renormalization Group Study of the Intrinsic Finite Size Effect in 2D Superconductors

Vortices in a thin-film superconductor interact logarithmically out to a distance on the order of the two-dimensional (2D) magnetic penetration depth $\lambda_\perp$, at which point the interaction approaches a constant. Thus, because of the finite $\lambda_\perp$, the system exhibits what amounts to an {\it intrinsic} finite size effect. It is not described by the 2D Coulomb gas but rather by the 2D Yukawa gas (2DYG). To study the critical behavior of the 2DYG, we map the 2DYG to the massive sine-Gordon model and then perform a renormalization group study to derive the recursion relations and to verify that $\lambda_\perp$ is a relevant parameter. We solve the recursion relations to study important physical quantities for this system including the renormalized stiffness constant and the correlation length. We also address the effect of current on this system to explain why finite size effects are not more prevalent in experiments given that the 2D magnetic penetration depth is a relevant parameter.Comment: 8 pages inRevTex, 5 embedded EPS figure

Synoptic scale wind field properties from the SEASAT SASS

Dealiased SEASAT SEASAT A Scatterometer System SASS vector winds obtained during the Gulf Of Alaska SEASAT Experiment GOASEX program are processed to obtain superobservations centered on a one degree by one degree grid. The grid. The results provide values for the combined effects of mesoscale variability and communication noise on the individual SASS winds. These superobservations winds are then processed further to obtain estimates of synoptic scale vector winds stress fields, the horizontal divergence of the wind, the curl of the wind stress and the vertical velocity at 200 m above the sea surface, each with appropriate standard deviations of the estimates for each grid point value. They also explain the concentration of water vapor, liquid water and precipitation found by means of the SMMR Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer at fronts and occlusions in terms of strong warm, moist air advection in the warm air sector accompanied by convergence in the friction layer. Their quality is far superior to that of analyses based on conventional data, which are shown to yield many inconsistencies

Some applications of radar return data to the study of terrestrial and oceanic phenomena

Side-looking radar spacecraft application to mapping, imagery, altimetry, geology, pedology, glaciology, agriculture, and oceanograph

Vector wind, horizontal divergence, wind stress and wind stress curl from SEASAT-SASS at one degree resolution

Conventional data obtained in 1983 are contrasted with SEASAT-A scatterometer and scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) data to show how observations at a single station can be extended to an area of about 150,000 square km by means of remotely sensed data obtained in nine minutes. Superobservations at a one degree resolution for the vector winds were estimated along with their standard deviations. From these superobservations, the horizontal divergence, vector wind stress, and the curl of the wind stress can be found. Weather forecasting theory is discussed and meteorological charts of the North Pacific Ocean are presented. Synoptic meteorology as a technique is examined

Some examples of deep structure of the Archean from geophysics

The development of Archean crust remains as one of the significant problems in earth science, and a major unknown concerning Archean terrains is the nature of the deep crust. The character of crust beneath granulite terrains is especially fascinating because granulites are generally interpreted to represent a deep crustal section. Magnetic data from this area can be best modeled with a magnetized wedge of older Archean rocks (granulitic gneisses) underlying the younger Archean greenstone terrain. The dip of the boundary based on magnetic modeling is the same as the dip of the postulated thrust-fault reflection. Thus several lines of evidence indicate that the younger Archean greenstone belt terrain is thrust above the ancient Minnesota Valley gneiss terrain, presumably as the greenstone belt was accreted to the gneiss terrain, so that the dipping reflection represents a suture zone. Seismic data from underneath the granulite-facies Minnesota gneiss terrain shows abundant reflections between 3 and 6 s, or about 9 to 20 km. These are arcuate or dipping multicyclic events indicative of layering

Remote Sensing Analysis of Recent Carbonate Platforms, East of Sabah: Potential Analogues for Miocene Carbonate Platforms of the South China Sea

DOI: 10.17014/ijog.v7i3.141Recent carbonate platforms may provide useful analogues for fossil platforms and reefs, and could allow the generation of quantitative tools for the prediction of facies distribution, reservoir volumes, and reservoir quality. Data from these modern analogues would greatly enhance our ability to construct more reliable and calibrated reservoir models for carbonate fossil fields, such as the Miocene carbonate platforms of Central Luconia Province, Sarawak. In this study, carbonate facies maps and quantitative reservoir data will be generated by using remote sensing techniques. Satellite imageries over the carbonate platforms east of Sabah have been acquired and processed for generating facies maps. In order to produce a reliable facies map, the composition and grain size distribution of the sediments that make up individual facies must be known in order to determine the classes that have been identified on the initial facies maps. Samples collected from the Gaya and Selekan platforms were analyzed and the results of grain size analysis are illustrated

Why the lowest Landau level approximation works in strongly type II superconductors

Higher than the lowest Landau level contributions to magnetization and specific heat of superconductors are calculated using Ginzburg - Landau equations approach. Corrections to the excitation spectrum around solution of these equations (treated perturbatively) are found. Due to symmetries of the problem leading to numerous cancellations the range of validity of the LLL approximation in mean field is much wider then a naive range and extends all the way down to $H = {H_{c2}(T)}/13$. Moreover the contribution of higher Landau levels is significantly smaller compared to LLL than expected naively. We show that like the LLL part the lattice excitation spectrum at small quasimomenta is softer than that of usual acoustic phonons. This enhanses the effect of fluctuations. The mean field calculation extends to third order, while the fluctuation contribution due to HLL is to one loop. This complements the earlier calculation of the LLL part to two loop order.Comment: 20 pages, Latex file, three figure

Renormalization group approach to layered superconductors

A renormalization group theory for a system consisting of coupled superconducting layers as a model for typical high-temperature superconducters is developed. In a first step the electromagnetic interaction over infinitely many layers is taken into account, but the Josephson coupling is neglected. In this case the corrections to two-dimensional behavior due to the presence of the other layers are very small. Next, renormalization group equations for a layered system with very strong Josephson coupling are derived, taking into account only the smallest possible Josephson vortex loops. The applicability of these two limiting cases to typical high-temperature superconductors is discussed. Finally, it is argued that the original renormalization group approach by Kosterlitz is not applicable to a layered system with intermediate Josephson coupling.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages, 4 figures can be obtained from the author by conventional mail; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.