Power supplies for long duration balloon flights

Long duration balloon flights require more electrical power than can be carried in primary batteries. This paper provides design information for selecting rechargeable batteries and charging systems. Solar panels for recharging batteries are discussed, with particular emphasis on cells mounting suitable for balloon flights and panel orientation for maximum power collection. Since efficient utilization of power is so important, modern DC to DC power conversion techniques are presented.On short flights of 1 day or less, system designers have not been greatly concerned with battery weight. But, with the advent of long duration balloon flights using superpressure balloons, anchor balloon systems, and RACOON balloon techniques, power supplies and their weight become of prime importance. The criteria for evaluating power systems for long duration balloon flights is performance per unit weight. Instrumented balloon systems have flown 44 days. For these very long duration flights, batteries recharged from solar cells are the only solution. For intermediate flight duration, say less than 10 days, the system designer should seriously consider using primary cells.     

Early Data from Aura and Continuity from Uars and Toms

Aura, the last of the large EOS observatories, was launched on July~15, 2004. Aura is designed to make comprehensive stratospheric and tropospheric composition measurements from its four instruments, HIRDLS, MLS, OMI and TES. These four instruments work in synergy to provide data on ozone trends, air quality and climate change. The instruments observe in the nadir and limb and provide the best horizontal and vertical resolution ever achieved from space. After over one year in orbit the instruments are nearly operational and providing data to the scientific community. We summarize the mission, instruments, and initial results and give examples of how Aura will provide continuity to earlier chemistry missions.     

Tracking and communication in long-duration flights

Balloon location techniques have developed along the same lines as ship and aircraft navigation systems. Early NCAR balloon flights were located by sun angle measurements versus time and magnetic field measurement, much the same way that Captain Cook used to navigate his sailing vessel. Others have used radio systems developed for ship and aircraft location such as Omega, Loran, radio direction finding, Variable Omnidirectional Radio (VOR) and radar transponders.     

Ozone variations observed during the International Ozone Rocket Sonde Intercomparison

The International Ozone Rocket Sonde Intercomparison (IORI) conducted at Wallops Island during October 1979 provided a unique opportunity to observe ozone variations in great detail from several observing systems. The measurement period lasted 15 days during which time ozone observations were taken by ground-based, balloon, rocket, and satellite instruments. These data provided a unique opportunity for diagnosing regional stratospheric variability over a 2 week period. Examination of NMC analyses indicated that during this period the stratospheric polar vortex moved southeastward bringing air from high latitudes to Wallops Island above 10 mb. A concurrent change was observed in the upper stratosphere ozone fields observed by Nimbus-7 SBUV and in the ozone vertical distribution measured by the rocket soundings. In this study the satellite and rocket measurements are compared. The agreement is good, certainly within the errors of the measurements.     

Comparison of Combined Barker Codes for Coded Radar Use

The autocorrelation functions ?I(?) and ?II(?) of Codes I and II are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. Several interesting points are noted from a comparison of these figures.     

A Qualitative Calculus for Three-Dimensional Rotations

We have developed a qualitative calculus for three-dimensional directions and rotations. A direction is characterized in terms of the signs of its components relative to an absolute coordinate system. A rotation is characterized in terms of the signs of the components of the associated 3 × 3 rotation matrix.

A system has been implemented that can solve the following problems: 1. Given the signs of direction and rotation matrix P, find the possible signs of the image of under P. Moreover, for each possible sign vector of · P, generate numerical instantiations of and P that yields that result.

2. Given the signs of rotation matrices P and Q, find the possible signs of the composition P · Q. Moreover, for each possible sign matrix for the composition, generate numerical instantiations of P and Q that yield that result.

We have also proved some related complexity and expressivity results. The satisfiability problem for a qualitative rotation constraint network is NP-complete in two dimensions and NP-hard in three dimensions. In three dimensions, any two directions are distinguishable by a qualitative rotation constraint network.     

Space,Language, and Ontology: A Response to Bateman

Abstract

Some of John Bateman's critiques of my article “Qualitative Spatial Reasoning in Interpreting Text and Narrative” are certainly valid. However, the alternative solutions that he proposes do not seem to me to be improvements.     

UV disinfection system for cabin air

The air of indoor cabin environments is susceptible to contamination by airborne microbial pathogens. A number of air treatment processes are available for inactivation or removal of airborne pathogens; included among these processes is ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The effectiveness of UV-based processes is known to be determined by the combined effects of UV dose delivery by the reactor and the UV dose–response behavior of the target microbe(s). To date, most UV system designs for air treatment have been based on empirical approaches, often involving crude representations of dose delivery and dose–response behavior. The objective of this research was to illustrate the development of a UV system for disinfection of cabin air based on well-defined methods of reactor and reaction characterization.