A New Tethered Balloon-Borne Payload for Fine-Scale Observations in the Cloudy Boundary Layer

A new scientific payload is introduced for fine-scale measurements of meteorological (wind vector, static air temperature, humidity, and air pressure) and microphysical (aerosol particles and cloud droplets) properties, suspended below a tethered balloon. The high resolution sensors and the tethered balloon are described. Measurements in a lifted fog layer from a first field campaign are presented.The detailed investigation of the fog/haze and the temperature inversion layer demonstrates the damping influence of the fog on temperature fluctuations, while thewind fluctuations are significantly decreased by theevolving temperature inversion, whichwas about 30 m above the fog layer.From spectral analysis the noise floors of the high-resolution sensors are determined to10^-6 kg m^-3 for the LWC (liquid water content) and 4 mK for the fast temperature sensor (UFT-B). The correlation betweentemperature and LWC structures in shallow haze layers is investigated. The release of latent heat and the corresponding warming in the haze of about 0.1 K could be quantified.     

On the distribution of physical and chemical particle properties in the atmospheric aerosol

Consideration of sources and growth dynamics of aerosols has led to the conclusion that there may be a distribution or variation of chemical composition and physical structure among atmospheric aerosol particles as a function of size, and within a narrow size range as well. A mathematical representation of these particle properties in terms of an additional dimension to the number size distribution is described. Examples of the relevance of this aspect of aerosol characterization for physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere are discussed. A review of the available techniques shows that several methods are available which can and have provided quantitative results on the distribution of particle properties. Examples of data from the literature have been selected and are presented as three-dimensional distributions illustrating the wide range of particle properties which may exist in narrow size intervals. An evaluation of these results reiterates the value of taking the distribution of particle properties in the atmosphere into account for sampling and modeling purposes.     

Community ecology of the metazoan parasites of snoek Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791) (Perciformes: Gempylidae) off South Africa

The parasite assemblage of snoek Thyrsites atun, a commercially important fish in the Benguela system, was examined over a one-year period. In all, 16 parasite taxa including eight new host records (Bolbosoma vasculosum, Caligus coryphaenae, Caligus dakari, Corynosoma australe, Hatschekia conifera, Nothobomolochus fradei, Rhadinorhynchus cadenati, Tentacularia coryphaenae) and four new locality records (B. vasculosum, C. dakari, Molicola uncinatus, Pseudoterranova sp.) were recovered from 210 specimens. The dominance of larval helminths in the component community suggests that T. atun occupies an intermediate position in the food web. The ‘nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill’ (NODF) indicated that the parasite assemblage exhibited no nestedness (NODF = 73.3, p = 0.103). Generalised additive mixed modelling results indicated that host length is the main determinant of parasite species richness in T. atun. PERMANOVA and ANOSIM suggested that infracommunity structure varied little with respect to the sex, length, seasonality and capture region of the host. The stability and randomness in parasite acquisition, as indicated by the lack of nestedness of the parasite assemblage, can be ascribed to the opportunistic feeding behaviour and nomadic movement of T. atun in the southern Benguela. The homogeneity of the community structure of long-lived endoparasites suggests that a single T. atun stock occurs off South Africa.     

Complex mathematical model of the WIG motion including the take-off mode

This paper describes an effort to develop a predictive tool for the design of a new promising marine transport — the WIG craft. The presented mathematical model of the WIG craft is capable of modeling the aerodynamics of a WIG system including the ground effect, the hydrodynamics of a stepped planing hull with a hydrofoil and also the simulation of motion for the craft. Based on extensive experience using the model, it is shown that the most important and necessary features of WIG aero- and hydrodynamics are taken into account. The results of simulations have been validated through comparison with other theoretical approaches and also with model experiments. The mathematical model is applied to investigate the dynamics of the small manually piloted WIG craft: “Hydrowing VT01”. The numerical study resulted in recommendations allowing the pilot to overcome the pitch-up tendency and also to perform the take-off manoeuvre smoothly. The stability of the WIG with a hydrofoil and also the dynamic properties of anti-collision manoeuvres have been studied and are presented.     

An automated Dobson spectrophotometer

A new all-solid-state electronic circuit for Dobson instruments will be presented, including a self-balancing system and digital readout.