Integration of Tracer Test Data to Refine Geostatistical Hydraulic Conductivity Fields Using Sequential Self-Calibration Method

On the basis of local measurements of hydraulic conductivity,geostatistical methods have been found to be useful in heterogeneity characterization of a hydraulic conductivity field on a regional scale. However,the methods are not suited to directly integrate dynamic production data,such as,hydraulic head and solute concentration,into the study of conductivity distribution. These data,which record the flow and transport processes in the medium,are closely related to the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity. In this study,a three-dimensional gradient-based inverse method-the sequential self-calibration (SSC) method-is developed to calibrate a hydraulic conductivity field,initially generated by a geostatistical simulation method,conditioned on tracer test results. The SSC method can honor both local hydraulic conductivity measurements and tracer test data. The mismatch between the simulated hydraulic conductivity field and the reference true one,measured by its mean square error (MSE),is reduced through the SSC conditional study. In comparison with the unconditional results,the SSC conditional study creates the mean breakthrough curve much closer to the reference true curve,and significantly reduces the prediction uncertainty of the solute transport in the observed locations. Further,the reduction of uncertainty is spatially dependent,which indicates that good locations,geological structure,and boundary conditions will affect the efficiency of the SSC study results.     

Experimental verification of a wireless sensing and control system for structural control using MR dampers

The performance aspects of a wireless ‘active’ sensor, including the reliability of the wireless communication channel for real‐time data delivery and its application to feedback structural control, are explored in this study. First, the control of magnetorheological (MR) dampers using wireless sensors is examined. Second, the application of the MR‐damper to actively control a half‐scale three‐storey steel building excited at its base by shaking table is studied using a wireless control system assembled from wireless active sensors. With an MR damper installed on each floor (three dampers total), structural responses during seismic excitation are measured by the system's wireless active sensors and wirelessly communicated to each other; upon receipt of response data, the wireless sensor interfaced to each MR damper calculates a desired control action using an LQG controller implemented in the wireless sensor's computational core. In this system, the wireless active sensor is responsible for the reception of response data, determination of optimal control forces, and the issuing of command signals to the MR damper. Various control solutions are formulated in this study and embedded in the wireless control system including centralized and decentralized control algorithms. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resolution issues in numerical models of oceanic and coastal circulation

The baroclinic and barotropic properties of ocean processes vary on many scales. These scales are determined by various factors such as the variations in coastline and bottom topography, the forcing meteorology, the latitudinal dependence of the Coriolis force, and the Rossby radius of deformation among others. In this paper we attempt to qualify and quantify scales of these processes, with particular attention to the horizontal resolution necessary to accurately reproduce physical processes in numerical ocean models. We also discuss approaches taken in nesting or down-scaling from global/basin-scale models to regional-scale or shelf-scale models. Finally we offer comments on how vertical resolution affects the representation of stratification in these numerical models.     

Assessment of radionuclide transport uncertainty in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain

The present study assesses the uncertainty of flow and radionuclide transport in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain using a Monte Carlo method. Matrix permeability, porosity, and sorption coefficient are considered random. Different from previous studies that assume distributions of the parameters, the distributions are determined in this study by applying comprehensive transformations and rigorous statistics to on-site measurements of the parameters. The distribution of permeability is further adjusted based on model calibration results. Correlation between matrix permeability and porosity is incorporated using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. After conducting 200 Monte Carlo simulations of three-dimensional unsaturated flow and radionuclide transport for conservative and reactive tracers, the mean, variances, and 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles for quantities of interest (e.g., matrix liquid saturation and water potential) are evaluated. The mean and 50th percentile are used as the mean predictions, and their associated predictive uncertainties are measured by the variances and the 5th and 95th percentiles (also known as uncertainty bounds). The mean predictions of matrix liquid saturation and water potential are in reasonable agreement with corresponding measurements. The uncertainty bounds include a large portion of the measurements, suggesting that the data variability can be partially explained by parameter uncertainty. The study illustrates propagation of predictive uncertainty of percolation flux, increasing downward from repository horizon to water table. Statistics from the breakthrough curves indicate that transport of the reactive tracer is delayed significantly by the sorption process, and prediction on the reactive tracer is of greater uncertainty than on the conservative tracer because randomness in the sorption coefficient increases the prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in radionuclide transport is related to uncertainty in the percolation flux, suggesting that reducing the former entails reduction in the latter.     

Coaxial coil towed EMI sensor array for UXO detection and characterization

A new broadband electromagnetic induction (EMI) array sensor, GEM-5, for detecting and characterizing Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) has been developed in order to provide high production rates for EMI surveys. The sensor consists of a single rectangular loop transmitter around a linear array of seven pairs of coaxial receiver coils, with each coil in a pair located at the same vertical distance above and below the loop transmitter. The coil pairs are wired in an inverted series so that the signal consists of the difference between the voltage induced in the upper and lower coils. This particular configuration provides a high degree of primary field cancellation, dense spatial sampling rate due to simultaneous and continuous operation of all sensors, suppression of motion-induced and environmental noise, and strong source fields at typical UXO burial depths providing deep detection range. Our prototype tests indicate that the array yields a lower static and motion-induced noise over the critical low frequencies than that of existing sensors, and in particular, the signal-to-noise ratio at 90 Hz is 32 dB higher. Environmental noise can be largely removed from the difference measurements. The field test results from UXO test sites show that the prototype sensor has smoother background and appears to detect more seeded targets than the GEM-3 concentric sensor, however some of that gain can be attributed to higher power transmitter electronics.     

In-flight Performance of the Advanced Camera for Surveys CCDs

The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), installed in the Hubble Space telescope in March 2002, will significantly extend HST's deep, survey imaging capabilities. ACS has met, or exceeded, all of its key performance specifications. In this paper we briefly review the in-flight performance of the instrument's CCD detectors and preview early ACS science observations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectrophotometry of Jupiter

Spectrophotometric maps of Jupiter were made between 24 and 27(UT) November 1974 on the McMath Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. We report a comparison between observed scaled reflectivities of the Jovian North Tropical Zone and the North Equatorial Belt at System II longitudes between 195 and 205 degrees. The belt/zone reflectivity ratios between 430 and 740nm are related to the optical transmission curves of the organic and/or sulfur polymers synthesized by Khare and Sagan in a simulated Jovian atmosphere.     

A morphological study of solar spicules

From improved spicule filtergrams obtained with the Sacramento Peak vacuum telescope we measured some spicule properties. The spicule diameter of 950 km was well resolved. A small decrease of diameter with height was observed confirming older observations. The expansion of the spicule was found to be at least an order of magnitude less than reported by Mouradian. Spicule counts are very sensitive to the threshold intensity of the observations. Counts, and their dependence on threshold intensity, height and wavelength are reported.On leave from the Astronomy Department, University of Texas, Austin, Texas.