Development of the HEFT and NuSTAR focusing telescopes

Hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray astrophysics is on the verge of a major advance with the practical realization of technologies capable of efficiently focusing X-rays above 10 keV. Hard X-ray focusing telescopes can achieve orders of magnitude improvements in sensitivity compared to the instruments based on coded apertures and collimated detectors that have traditionally been employed in this energy band. Compact focal planes enable high-performance detectors with good spectral resolution to be employed in efficient, low-background configurations. We have developed multilayer coated grazing incidence optics and solid state Cadmium Zinc Telluride focal plane systems for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) balloon-borne experiment, and for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer satellite. In this paper we describe the technologies, telescope designs, and performance of both experiments.     

Distinguishing Carbonate Reservoir Pore Facies with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements

  Characterization of carbonate rocks may involve identifying the important pore types which are present. In the past, this task has required detailed petrographic analysis of many core samples. Here, we describe a method which uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements to reduce the amount of petrographic analysis needed for porosity typing of carbonate reservoir rocks. For a rock sample which has been measured with NMR, our method decomposes the log(T₂) spectrum into at most three Gaussian-shaped components and gives a set of nine parameters. Two characteristic quantities having geological significance are extracted from the nine parameters. Values of the two quantities are compared with a reference set, established from samples having both NMR and petrographic evaluations of porosity types. We use a Bayesian approach to the classification of the dominant porosity type. Tests of our method on 103 samples show a correct prediction in 60 to 90 percent of the samples. The lower success rate was obtained for samples with five porosity types from three fields; the higher success rate obtained with samples with three porosity types from one well. The use of geologically significant quantities extracted from the decomposition gives comparable success rate to those obtained using a standard, non-geological approach such as canonical variates.     

"The Bush is No More": Insights on Institutional Change and Natural Resource Availability in Rural South Africa

The past decade has brought substantial transition to South Africa. The introduction of democracy in 1994 has yielded important political and socioeconomic transformations affecting millions of people. Here, we explore the impact of institutional and structural changes on the availability and management of fuelwood, a key natural resource in rural South Africa. As in other developing regions, many households depend on natural resources for both sustenance and energy needs. Drawing on qualitative data from 32 interviews, our objective is to describe, from the perspective of the respondents, (1) resource scarcity, (2) the underlying causes of resource scarcity, (3) the role of traditional authority in managing resources, and (4) strategies used by community members in the face of resource scarcity. The results have important implications for the well-being of both social and natural systems in many transitional, rural developing societies.     

A review of water column processes influencing hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico

In this review, we use data from field measurements of biogeochemical processes and cycles in the Mississippi River plume and in other shelf regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico to determine plume contributions to coastal hypoxia. We briefly review pertinent findings from these process studies, review recent mechanistic models that synthesize these processes to address hypoxia-related issues, and reinterpret current understanding in the context of these mechanistic models. Some of our conclusions are that both nitrogen and phosphorus are sometimes limiting to phytoplankton growth; respiration is the main fate of fixed carbon in the plume, implying that recycling is the main fate of nitrogen; decreasing the river nitrate loading results in less than a 1:1 decrease in organic matter sinking from the plume; and sedimenting organic matter from the Mississippi River plume can only fuel about 23% of observed coastal hypoxia, suggesting significant contributions from the Atchafalaya River and, possibly, coastal wetlands. We also identify gaps in our knowledge about controls on hypoxia, and indicate that some reinterpretation of our basic assumptions about this system is required. There are clear needs for improved information on the sources, rates, and locations of organic matter sedimentation; for further investigation of internal biogeochemical processes and cycling; for improved understanding of the rates of oxygen diffusion across the pycnocline; for identification and quantification of other sources of organic matter fueling hypoxia or other mechanisms by which Mississippi River derived organic matter fuels hypoxia; and for the development of a fully coupled physical-biogeochemical model.     

The effectiveness of double hulls in reducing vessel-accident oil spillage

While much work has been done in investigating determinants of oil spillage attributed to vessel accidents, little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of ship hull design in reducing marine pollution. This paper addresses whether the double-hull requirement reduces vessel-accident oil spillage. The volume of oil spillage due to oil-cargo vessel accidents was investigated using tobit regressions and an empirical data set of individual vessel accident pollution incidents investigated by the US Coast Guard from 2001 to 2008. The results indicate that the double hull design on average reduces the size of oil spills by 20% and 62% in tank barge and tanker ship accidents, respectively.     

Impact of Hudson Bay on the energy balance in the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the potential for climatic modification

Abstract

Three sites were instrumented to measure all components of the energy balance. The sites were located in the Churchill, Manitoba region and comprised a Sea Site on a sand spit 1 km seaward from the mainland, a Nearcoast Site 2 km inland from the coast and an Inland Site 65 km inland. Measurements were made continuously over a 90‐day period from 19 May to 16 August 1984. This period encompassed the bulk of the growing season.

The measurements were stratified into onshore and offshore wind directions and were compared for 10‐day periods. The comparisons show very significant differences attributable to the cold summer conditions promoted by the sea ice in Hudson Bay. The ground heat flux and latent heat flux were much greater during offshore winds but the sensible heat flux was greatest for onshore winds. Air temperatures averaged 7°C warmer for offshore than for onshore winds. The reasons for these differences are detailed and the climatic modifications that would probably result from earlier sea‐ice melt are discussed. Some implications of climatic modification are also noted.     

Bolide Energy Estimates from Infrasonic Measurements

The acoustic amplitude-yield relationships, including formal errors, for a population of energetic (>0.05 kt) and well-observed bolide events have been investigated. Using various infrasonic signal measurements as a function of range, these data have been calibrated against optical yield estimates from satellite measurements. Correction for the presence of stratospheric winds has also been applied to the observations and is found to be small, suggesting that either scatter is dominated by other variations amongst the fireball population such as differing burst altitudes and greater or lesser amounts of fragmentation or the magnitude of the variability in the stratospheric winds, which can be comparable to or even exceed the strength of the winds themselves. Comparison to similar point source, ground-level nuclear and high explosive airwave data shows that bolide infrasound is consistently lower in amplitude. This downward shift relative to nuclear and HE data is interpreted as due in part to increased weak non-linearity during signal propagation from higher altitudes. This is a likely explanation, since mean estimates of the altitude of maximum ene0rgy deposition along the bolide trajectory was found to be between 20 and 30 km altitude for this fireball population.