Small linear wind tunnel saltation experiments: Some experiences

Since the wind tunnels proposed to be used for the Space Station Planetology Experiments are of a rather limited size, some experience and techniques used for saltation experiments in a small linear wind tunnel may be of interest. Three experiments will be presented. The first concerns a length effect of saltation mass flux in which the size of the wind tunnel exaggerates the physical process taking place. The second experiment concerns a nonoptical technique that does not interfere with flow and by which momentum flux to the floor may be measured. The technique may also be used to calculate saltation flux (using appropriate assumptions). The third experiment concerns the use of the momentum equation to estimate momentum fluxes by difference

Short-term effect of soil disturbance by mechanical weeding on plant available nutrients in an organic vs conventional rotations experiment

The question whether soil disturbance from mechanical weeding in organic systems affects nutrient release from organic matter in compost-amended soil was examined in a long-term organic-versus-conventional rotational cropping system experiment over three years. The experimental design included continuous snap beans, and a fully phased snap beans/fall rye crop rotation sequence. Treatments were combinations of yearly applied fertiliser (synthetic fertiliser, 1× compost, 3× compost) and weed control (herbicide, mechanical weeding). The 1× compost rate was calculated to deliver the equivalent of 50 kg N ha-1: equal to the rate ofN in the synthetic fertiliser treatments. Ion exchange membranes were buried for 24 hours following mechanical weeding in bean plots. Adsorbed ions were then eluted and quantified. Available ammonium-nitrogen was not affected byweeding treatment, but nitrate-nitrogen was consistently less in mechanically weeded plots than in plots treated with herbicide. Principal component analysis of NH4-N, NO3-N, P, K, Ca and Mg availabilities showed distinct groupings of treatments according to fertility treatment rather than weeding treatment. The effect of cropping sequence on available nutrients was pronounced (P ≤ 0.001) only in plots amended with synthetic fertilisers

New Velocity Distribution in the Context of the Eddington Theory

Exotic dark matter together with the vacuum energy (associated with the cosmological constant) seem to dominate the Universe. Thus its direct detection is central to particle physics and cosmology. Supersymmetry provides a natural dark matter candidate, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). One essential ingredient in obtaining the direct detection rates is the density and velocity distribution of the LSP. The detection rate is proportional to this density in our vicinity. Furthermore, since this rate is expected to be very low, one should explore the two characteristic signatures of the process, namely the modulation effect, i.e. the dependence of the event rate on the Earth's motion and the correlation of the directional rate with the motion of the sun. Both of these crucially depend on the LSP velocity distribution. In the present paper we study simultaneously density profiles and velocity distributions based on the Eddington theory.Comment: 40 LaTex pages, 19 figures and one table. The previous version was expanded to include new numerical solutions to Poisson's equation. Sheduled to appear in vol. 588, ApJ, May 1, 300

A GPU Implementation for Two-Dimensional Shallow Water Modeling

In this paper, we present a GPU implementation of a two-dimensional shallow water model. Water simulations are useful for modeling floods, river/reservoir behavior, and dam break scenarios. Our GPU implementation shows vast performance improvements over the original Fortran implementation. By taking advantage of the GPU, researchers and engineers will be able to study water systems more efficiently and in greater detail.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

A microgravity isolation mount

The design and preliminary testing of a system for isolating microgravity sensitive payloads from spacecraft vibrational and impulsive disturbances is discussed. The Microgravity Isolation Mount (MGIM) concept consists of a platform which floats almost freely within a limited volume inside the spacecraft, but which is constrained to follow the spacecraft in the long term by means of very weak springs. The springs are realized magnetically and form part of a six degree of freedom active magnetic suspension system. The latter operates without any physical contact between the spacecraft and the platform itself. Power and data transfer is also performed by contactless means. Specifications are given for the expected level of input disturbances and the tolerable level of platform acceleration. The structural configuration of the mount is discussed and the design of the principal elements, i.e., actuators, sensors, control loops and power/data transfer devices are described. Finally, the construction of a hardware model that is being used to verify the predicted performance of the MGIM is described

Endotaxial Si nanolines in Si(001):H

We present a detailed study of the structural and electronic properties of a self-assembled silicon nanoline embedded in the H-terminated silicon (001) surface, known as the Haiku stripe. The nanoline is a perfectly straight and defect free endotaxial structure of huge aspect ratio; it can grow micrometre long at a constant width of exactly four Si dimers (1.54nm). Another remarkable property is its capacity to be exposed to air without suffering any degradation. The nanoline grows independently of any step edges at tunable densities, from isolated nanolines to a dense array of nanolines. In addition to these unique structural characteristics, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory reveal a one-dimensional state confined along the Haiku core. This nanoline is a promising candidate for the long sought after electronic solid-state one-dimensional model system to explore the fascinating quantum properties emerging in such reduced dimensionality.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure