Temperature measurement

This paper describes the analysis of L-band radiometric measurement data gathered with the synthetic aperture radiometer HUT-2D during several ground-based and airborne measurement campaigns. The radiometric data are analyzed from the instrument's performance point of view, aiming to verify the theoretical performance of an instrument of this kind and to assess the performance of the HUT-2D radiometer system in particular. The data sets considered for the study consist of measurements of well-known natural targets, such as cosmic background radiation, and measurements of pure water scenes, the brightness temperature of which is possible to model based on in situ measurements. We define four figures of merit, which are applicable for synthetic aperture radiometers. These are radiometric resolution, image bias, pixel-to-pixel random error, and temporal stability. Then, we use the selected data sets to assess these in the case of HUT-2D. The experimental results are discussed and compared to the theoretical values, where applicable. Also, we discuss possibilities to improve the presented performance. The main results of this paper are the consolidated performance parameters of the HUT-2D instrument. We study and discuss the properties of the error components related to the technology in a general level, and study the scalability of the errors as a function of the measured targets. In particular, the stability of the direction-dependent error component is pointed out, and a mitigation guideline is proposed.

Changes of acral skin blood flow are a commonly used indicator for sympathetic reflex responses to various stimuli. The goal of the present study was to determine whether decreases in fingertip temperature are indicative for sympathetic induced changes in microcirculation. Infrared thermography demonstrated that various stimuli triggering the sympathetic nervous system induced decreases in cutaneous microcirculation, most prominently in fingertip skin. Various such stimuli induced almost immediate temporary vasoconstriction, measured by laser Doppler flux and photoplethysmography. With a lag phase of approximately 15 s, reduced microcirculation was also reflected by a transient decrease in fingertip temperature. Vasoconstrictions were easily demonstrable by fingertip temperature when the starting fingertip temperature was above 32ЊC and vasoconstriction lasted at least 5 s. Temperature measurement offers the advantages of ease and simplicity of performance and analysis, compared with the more complex analyses of flux and pulse volume.

1] We have studied the 10 mm temperature of overcast skies, as measured from the ground, in a coastal region of South Australia. The long-term aim of this work is to be able to use measurements of the sky temperature, plus other readily measured ground-based parameters, to recognize the presence, or otherwise, of clouds. Comparisons have been made between the 10 mm sky temperature and cloud height in overcast conditions, measured both with a ceilometer and radiosondes. A low-altitude cloud exhibits a wide range of emissivities, such that clouds with base heights up to 1200 m have emissivities ranging from below 0.2 to close those expected for black bodies at those wavelengths. However, higher clouds exhibit different properties, as their temperatures approach those to be expected for a clear sky with water vapor.

Photovoltaic (PV) system performance can be degraded by a series of factors affecting the PV generator, such as partial shadows, soiling, increased series resistance and shunting of the cells. This concern has led to greater interest in improving PV system operation and availability through automatic supervision and condition monitoring of the PV system components, especially for small PV installations, where no specialized personnel is present at the site. This work proposes a PV array condition monitoring system based on a PV array performance model. The system is parameterized online, using regression modeling, from PV array production, plane-of-array irradiance, and module temperature measurements, acquired during an initial learning phase of the system. After the model has been parameterized automatically, the condition monitoring system enters the normal operation phase, where the performance model is used to predict the power output of the PV array. Utilizing the predicted and measured PV array output power values, the condition monitoring system is able to detect power losses above 5%, occurring in the PV array.

Periodicity mining is used for predicting trends in time series data. Discovering the rate at which the time series is periodic has always been an obstacle for fully automated periodicity mining. Existing periodicity mining algorithms assume that the periodicity rate (or simply the period) is user-specified. This assumption is a considerable limitation, especially in time series data where the period is not known a priori. In this paper, we address the problem of detecting the periodicity rate of a time series database. Two types of periodicities are defined, and a scalable, computationally efficient algorithm is proposed for each type. The algorithms perform in Oðn log nÞ time for a time series of length n. Moreover, the proposed algorithms are extended in order to discover the periodic patterns of unknown periods at the same time without affecting the time complexity. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms are highly accurate with respect to the discovered periodicity rates and periodic patterns. Real-data experiments demonstrate the practicality of the discovered periodic patterns.

A theory of the influence of measurement conditions on temperature measurement accuracy with infrared systems has been recently presented. A comparison study of the shortwave 13-5-µm2 and longwave 18-12-µm2 measuring IR cameras was conducted on the basis of this theory. The results of the simulations show that the shortwave systems in typical measurement conditions generally offer better accuracy in temperature measurement than do the longwave systems. Some experiments that use a commercially available IR camera were carried out to verify the theory. The results of these experiments and a discussion about the theory limitations are presented.

Measurements of gaseous species and temperature profiles for RDX/BAMO pseudo-propellants were performed to study their decomposition and the chemical and physical effects of their binder ingredient, 3,3Ј-bis-azidomethyl-oxetane (BAMO), on the base ingredient, 1,3,5-trimethylene trinitramine (RDX). The propellants were made from a physical mixture of RDX and BAMO in weight ratio of 80:20. Experiments were conducted at atmospheric pressure in argon with heat fluxes of 100 and 400 W/cm 2 delivered by a CO 2 laser. Gaseous samples were extracted through the use of quartz microprobes and analyzed by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (TQMS). Temperature profiles were measured using micro-thermocouple techniques to investigate surface and gas-phase reaction zones identified by the species measurement. Results of species and temperature measurements showed chemical and physical interactions between the two ingredients. From the species measurements, products of each ingredient, RDX and BAMO, were found to exist simultaneously throughout the gas phase; however, primary reaction chemistry in the gas phase was dominated by RDX. Three different categories of gaseous products were identified in the species measurements: species common to both BAMO and RDX; from RDX or BAMO only; and those which can not be attributed to RDX or BAMO alone. Surface temperatures were ϳ640 and ϳ670 K at 100 and 400 W/cm 2 , respectively, while that of RDX was ϳ610 K for both heat fluxes. The temperature profiles showed the existence of an isothermal region in the gas phase, with the temperature of ϳ1200 K at 100 W/cm 2 and ϳ1500 K at 400 W/cm 2 . The effect of BAMO in RDX/BAMO was clearly evident in the change of surface mole fractions and profiles of major species, expansion of reaction zones, and the constant temperature profile in the gas phase.

This paper explains the existence and observability conditions for the design of an Unknown Inputs Observer (UIO) for a chemical process. First, a phenomenological interpretation for the existence of the observer is given from the transfer function of the linearized system. And secondly, the existence and observability conditions of the observer are verified algebraically evaluating the rank of a defined observability matrix. Both ways of verification are compared. Finally, an UIO is implemented and simulation results are presented.

ln this paper a novel on-line tritium monitor is pre sented. TI is made with a single crystal diamond detector (SCD) covt'rtd W\Ul a thin taycr of LiF 95% emiched in oLi. Thermal neutrons impinging on the LiF tayer produce o: and T ions which are detected by tbe uctive diaJ.llood. Tbc pulse beìght spectrum shows two separated peaks due to CII and T ions respectively. By a proper ClIlibration In li reference thennal flux tbc Dumber of 6 Li :,ltOtnS and thus the àbsolute Il +6 Li -t et + T reactioo rate per unit.ary fl u:\: CUn be established. Once callbnlted the detector can be u~lo measure the lritium production. Due lo the many out standlng propcrtles of diamond this detector could operate in the harsh working cOlldi!.i(Jns or a fusioll brudillg blanket. A tesi of ihis dete.:lor was perfurlned:.ll ihe 14 McV Frascati NeutrOll.Geo crator (FNG). The detector was inserted inside a mock-up or tbe European HeliulII COllled Lltbiulll Lead (HCLL) 1'ritium BlankeL Module (TUM), tlesigned lO validale the neul. ronic dalabase for ru sioo applicatioll. The mock-up of tbe TBM was designed lo pcr fornI a full seI of e~erime nCs lO valtdaie triliom prodllction code predictkm comparing Ihe experlmtnlal results wllh calcularions_ The measured tritium rates witb tbe Li-Diamond detector are de seribed in Ihis paper. Comparisoll wilb cakulatiollS is ID progress and wiU be reported in a ruture paper.

During ONR's Shoaling Waves Experiment (SHOWEX) off the coast of North Carolina in November and December 1999, measurements of wind speed and direction as well as air and water temperatures were made using a variety of techniques. This paper shows a comparison of the measurements taken on December 3, 1999.

Page 1. ORIGINAL ARTICLE Design of an advanced incremental fuzzy logic controller for laser surface heat treatments José Antonio Pérez & José Luis Ocaña & Carlos Molpeceres Received: 5 July 2006 /Accepted: 7 November ...

We report results from an investigation of the geologic processes controlling hydrothermal activity along the previously-unstudied southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (3-7°S). Our study employed the NOC (UK) deep-tow sidescan sonar instrument, TOBI, in concert with the WHOI (USA) autonomous underwater vehicle, ABE, to collect information concerning hydrothermal plume distributions in the water column co-registered with geologic investigations of the underlying seafloor. Two areas of high-temperature hydrothermal venting were identified. The first was situated in a non-transform discontinuity (NTD) between two adjacent secondorder ridge-segments near 4°02′S, distant from any neovolcanic activity. This geologic setting is very similar to that of the ultramafic-hosted and tectonically-controlled Rainbow vent-site on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The second site was located at 4°48′S at the axial-summit centre of a second-order ridge-segment. There, high-temperature venting is hosted in an ∼ 18 km 2 area of young lava flows which in some cases are observed to have flowed over and engulfed pre-existing chemosynthetic vent-fauna. In both appearance and extent, these lava flows are directly reminiscent of those emplaced in Winter 2005−06 at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50′N and reference to global seismic catalogues reveals that a swarm of large (M 4.6−5.6) seismic events was centred on the 5°S segment over a ∼ 24 h period in late June 2002, perhaps indicating the precise timing of this volcanic eruptive episode. Temperature measurements at one of the vents found directly adjacent to the fresh lava flows at 5°S MAR (Turtle Pits) have subsequently revealed vent-fluids that are actively phase separating under conditions very close to the Critical Point for seawater, at ∼ 3000 m depth and 407°C: the hottest vent-fluids yet reported from anywhere along the global ridge crest.

In this paper, a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling study was undertaken by integrating the combustion of pulverized dry lignite in several combustion environments. Four different cases were investigated: an air-fired and three different oxy-fuel combustion environments (25 vol.% O 2 concentration (OF25), 27 vol.% O 2 concentration (OF27), and 29 vol.% O 2 concentration (OF29) were considered. The chemical reactions (devolatilization and char burnout), convective and radiative heat transfer, fluid and particle flow fields (homogenous and heterogenous processes), and turbulent models were employed in 3-D hybrid unstructured grid CFD simulations. The available experimental results from a lab-scale 100 KW firing lignite unit (Chalmer's furnace) were selected for the validation of these simulations. The aerodynamic effect of primary and secondary registers of the burner was included through swirl at the burner inlet in order to achieve the flame stability inside the furnace. Validation and comparison of all the combustion cases with the experimental data were made by using the temperature distribution profiles and species concentration (O 2 , CO 2 , and H 2 O) profiles at the most intense combustion locations of the furnace. The overall visualization of the flame temperature distributions and oxygen concentrations were presented in the upper part of the furnace. The numerical results showed that the flame temperature distributions and O 2 consumptions of the OF25 case were approximately similar to the reference combustion case. In contrast, in the OF27 and OF29 combustion cases, the flame temperatures were higher and more confined in the closest region of the burner exit plane. This was a result of the quick consumption of oxygen that led to improve the ignition conditions in the latter combustion cases. Therefore, it is concluded that the resident time, stoichiometry, and recycled flue gas rates are relevant parameters to optimize the design of oxy-fuel furnaces. The findings showed reasonable agreement with the qualitative and quantitative measurements of temperature distribution profiles and species concentration profiles at the most intense combustion locations inside the furnace. These numerical results can provide useful information towards future modelling of the behaviour of pulverized brown coal in a large-scale oxy-fuel furnace/boiler in order to optimize the burner's and combustor's design.

Aural canal temperature measurement using an ear mould integrated sensor (T ac ) might be a method suited for continuous non-invasive core temperature estimation in operational settings. We studied the effect of ambient temperature, wind and high intensity exercise on T ac and its ability to predict esophageal (T es ) and rectal temperatures (T re ). Seven subjects performed a protocol of rest at 21, 10 and 30 • C, followed by exercise and recovery at 30 • C. The subjects performed the protocol twice: with and without face-wind from halfway through the 30 • C rest period. Extra auricle insulation was applied at one side. Ambient temperature changes affected T ac significantly, while T es and T re remained stable. Insulating the auricle reduced but did not abolish this effect. Wind had an immediate cooling effect on T ac independent of auricle insulation. During exercise and recovery in 30 • C, T ac provided acceptable group predictions of T re in trials without wind (bias: −0.66 ± 0.21 • C covered, −1.20 ± 0.15 • C uncovered). Bias was considerably higher with wind, but variability was similar (−1.73 ± 0.11 • C covered, −2.49 ± 0.04 • C uncovered). Individual predictions of T es and T re showed more variation, especially with wind. We conclude that T ac may be used for core temperature assessment of groups in warm and stable conditions.

An audit was carried out in paediatric wards to study the compliance of healthcare workers (HCWs) to the procedures recommended for the control of hospital-acquired diarrhoea. Thirty-two paediatric wards in the southeast of France participated on a voluntary basis in this prospective observational study after completing a self-administered questionnaire recording measures of hygiene. All the observations were made by the same investigator and focused on preventive procedures: use of single room, handwashing, hand disinfection, overclothing, single-use gloves and masks. Two hundred and seventy patient -HCW contacts were observed, including mainly diapering, temperature measurement, collection of blood sample and catheter care. The isolation of patients in a single room and use of gowns by HCWs were significantly associated with diarrhoea. Whereas handwashing before care was performed by HCWs in more than 95% of all the procedures, the compliance in the use of disposable gloves by HCWs was only of 39.4% for technical procedures (including those with potential exposure to blood) and 20.3% for diapering or temperature measurement. A substantial agreement between reported and observed measures of hygiene was observed for handwashing before contact and hand disinfection with antimicrobial soap before contact. In contrast, this agreement was moderate for use of single room, handwashing after contact, overclothing and wearing disposable gloves after a diaper change. Despite the excellent compliance of HCWs to handwashing, clearer recommendations for the indication and use of disinfectants and disposable gloves are urgently needed.

The magnetic field dependence of the resistance of commercial 1000 ⍀ thick film chip resistors between 0.03 and 0.6 K in fields from zero to 18 T for five resistors and up to 32 T for one of those five shows both a positive and a negative magnetoresistance that is temperature dependent. In the field range between 4 and 32 T, and over the temperature measurement range, the resistance is proportional to B 1/2 , and once an individual thermometer is calibrated, it can easily be used to determine the temperature at any field within the range. Measurements of the effect of repeated thermal cycling of these resistors from 300 to 77 and 4.2 K show that the resistance continually changes up to 120 cycles to 77 K or below then becomes stable.

ABSTRACT Reducing the amount of lost and damaged perishable goods (food and medicines) during transportation and storage represents a substantial global challenge, which imply the implementation of cold chain monitoring at all levels of the supply chains. The main objective of this work is to develop an IoT enabled infrastructure, which supports the development of smart transportation specific applications. The proposed infrastructure contains an emulator, which can be used for emulating the conditions inside a truck during the transportation process and some CEP based tools for processing the data generated by the sensors.

Partial shading of photovoltaic modules is a widespread phenomenon in all kinds of Photovoltaic (PV) systems. In many cases the PV arrays get shadowed, completely or partially, by the passing clouds, neighboring buildings and towers, trees or the shadow of one solar array on the other, etc. This further leads to nonlinearities in characteristics. In this study, the simulation and experimental results of uniform and partial shading of PV modules are presented. Different shading pattern have been investigated on series and parallel connected photovoltaic module to find a configuration that is comparatively less susceptible to electrical mismatches due shadow problems. Simscape simulation model is employed to model the solar cell taking into account its series and parallel resistance.

For the LHC upgrade projects, CERN will rely on the Nb 3 Sn technology to build high field dipole and quadrupole superconducting magnets. In the frame of this R&D program, cooling studies are carried out to determine the heat extraction from this new type of accelerator magnets and the relevant quench limits. In this paper we present and discuss experimental results of heat transfer through the electrical insulation of Nb 3 Sn cables. A cable-stack was prepared using fiberglass sleeves and CTD-101K impregnation resin. Two different measurement methods were compared, consisting of instrumenting the sample before or after the vacuum impregnation. The tests were performed both in 1.9 K superfluid and 4.2 K liquid helium baths, using different heating configurations. We also present results of the numerical model developed to reproduce the experimental results.  Index Terms-Electrical insulation, heat transfer, LHC upgrade, Nb 3 Sn, superconducting high field magnets.

In this paper, we present a new generation of active tactile modules (i.e., HEX-O-SKIN), which are developed in order to approach multimodal whole-body-touch sensation for humanoid robots. To better perform like humans, humanoid robots need the variety of different sensory modalities in order to interact with their environment. This calls for certain robustness and fault tolerance as well as an intelligent solution to connect the different sensory modalities to the robot. Each HEX-O-SKIN is a small hexagonal printed circuit board equipped with multiple discrete sensors for temperature, acceleration, and proximity. With these sensors, we emulate the human sense of temperature, vibration, and light touch. Off-the-shelf sensors were utilized to speed up our development cycle; however, in general, we can easily extend our design with new discrete sensors, thereby making it flexible for further exploration. A local controller on each HEX-O-SKIN preprocesses the sensor signals and actively routes data through a network of modules toward the closest PC connection. Local processing decreases the necessary network and high-level processing bandwidth, while a local analog-to-digital conversion and digital-data transfers are less sensitive to electromagnetic interference. With an active data-routing scheme, it is also possible to reroute the data around broken connections-yielding robustness throughout the global structure while minimizing wirings. To support our approach, multiple HEX-O-SKIN are embedded into a rapid-prototyped elastomer skin material and redundantly connected to neighboring modules by just four ports. The wiring complexity is shifted to each HEX-O-SKIN such that a power and data connection between two modules is reduced to four noncrossing wires. Thus, only a very simple robot-specific base frame is needed to support and wire the HEX-O-SKIN to a robot. The potential of our multimodal sensor modules is demonstrated experimentally on a robot platform.

As well known, the market of PV systems is having a great development nowadays. In this process both companies and governments require to evaluate the projects of PV plants both in terms of revenue and quality. Therefore accurate tools for predicting their performances are becoming more and more important. The accuracy of the estimation is key for photovoltaic applications since this technology is characterized by quite low efficiency and high fixed costs. In this scenario, it is extremely important to develop models of each component of the system in order to evaluate the PV plant behavior in any working condition. In this paper a flexible model of PV module suitable for off-line and on-line simulation will be presented and discussed. It will be shown that beside its simplicity, the accuracy is very good. Furthermore its parameters can be easily measured or estimated from the rated values.

An experimental investigation on natural convection in air in vertical convergent channels with wall uniform heat flux is presented. Wall temperatures show that by increasing the spacing the effect of the convergence angle decreases. For the lowest spacing, a significant decrease of maximum wall temperature occurs passing from the parallel vertical plate configurations to convergence angles h P 2 .

Firementor is an implementation of an innovative concept into a tangible set of products and services which address applications ranging from Natural Environment Preservation and Risk Management, to Civil Safety and Protection; its primary focus is the provision of services for decision and operational support in forest fire suppression. Within its scope fall several functional elements, all of which together constitute an integrated system to detect, monitor and predict the eruption of forest fires, assist in the suppression from the operational perspective, and provide decision support for planning and preparation of the proper authorities. Firementor consists of a state-of-art self-organizing fire sensor network along with a sophisticated software application. By deploying Firementor, authorities and targeted users will have at their disposal a tool to create fire suppression scenarios, train professional and volunteer teams as well as the public, simulate and get prepared for extreme operational situations, and solve operational logistic problems using advanced heuristic techniques; the system will also locate fire ignition points and support the deployment of tactical forest fires suppression services in real time. Potential users of the system are Forest Fires Suppression Services, local authorities, civil protection authorities, as well as the Command and Control Centres in-charge of operations.

To determine the accuracy of noninvasive infrared temporal artery thermometry compared with rectal, axillary, and pulmonary artery catheter measurements in pediatric intensive care patients, and to determine whether temporal artery temperatures are affected by circulatory shock or by vasopressor use. We hypothesized that temporal artery temperatures do not differ from axillary and rectal temperatures in critically ill children, but temporal artery accuracy is decreased by shock or vasopressor use.

Recent advances for the measurement of TeraHertz (THz) radiation by using original IR temperature flux sensors are presented. The bolometer principle is used for designing simple thermal converters for THz radiations (measurement of the temperature increase of a sensitive absorber). Most of these sensors are efficient, sensitive and fast enough for quantitative measurement of THz source power as well as for 2D and 3D THz imaging. By combining optical and thermal technologies, we extend and adapt the use of thermal sensors to large THz wavelength till 3 mm (0.1 THz). A large variety of mono-or arrayed-thermal sensors is used and optimized for real-time room temperature THz imaging using adapted IR focal-plane microbolometers array (FPMA) camera. Optimisation and adaptation of such FPMA is discussed and a new arrayed prototype device of THz-Thermal Converter, "TTC", for full-field real-time THz imaging is presented. This small size, low cost and efficient prototype design is discussed from the thermal point of view and is characterized using a compact powerful THz source. Their sensitivity is evaluated and the obtained 2D and 3D images clearly illustrates the high potential of this new kind of THz camera. Finally, it is shown that non-arrayed extended plane TTCs (EMIR sensitive screens) coupled to FPA cameras produce THz images free of diffraction phenomena.

Microbiological control of raw milk quality at the dairy plant is an important step before appropriate decisions concerning the milk processing can be made. This step is therefore considered a CCP in the HACCP plans. Under the European Union (EU) law, 10 5 bacteria ml À1 at this point of the process are the critical limit enforced through the Directive 92/46 EEC. In the present work, the authors propose shifting the monitoring from procedures based only in temperature measurement to direct microbial count in milk using an ATP bioluminescence method, thus improving compliance at the CCP mentioned.

The major objective is to give a programmed water system framework in this way saving time, cash and labor. The conventional ranch land water system procedures require manual intercession. With the mechanized innovation of water system, the human mediation can be limited. Different sensors have been utilized for estimating boundaries like water stream, temperature, moistness, soil dampness and pH esteems. Shading sensors are utilized to anticipate crop sicknesses. Soil dampness sensor is utilized to gauge the dampness of soil. The DHT sensor is utilized to quantify temperature and dampness level of soil. pH sensor is utilized to gauge the pH evaluations of the earth. Water stream sensor is utilized to gauge the development of water through line. The yield can be checked by using an android application. Consequently clients can undoubtedly screen the boundaries and yields distantly. The framework will generally contribute in development in the yield of the clients and in this way diminishes the manual mediation.

In-core temperature measurements are pivotal in maintaining nuclear reactors in a safe state of operation. Thermocouples serve as the liaison in ensuring this safe state. The realization of the thermocouple's full potential is hindered by the fact that thermocouples cannot be situated in areas with high radiation fields. Radiation has the potential of generating voltages in the thermocouple wires, hence producing an error in the temperature transmitter output. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to quantify the effect that radiation from the Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) has on the thermocouple temperature reading. Subsequently, a method to offset the effect of radiation on the thermocouple is proposed. Simulation is performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can be very useful for acquiring high resolution thermal imagery for many ecological applications. With these systems, routine ground sampling is important in order to calibrate the imagery and to understand unique environmental disturbances. Simple, accurate methods to sample surface temperature is needed. This paper introduces two methods for sampling ground surface temperatures. One method uses a ground-based thermal camera to capture a high-resolution sample of a small area. The other method uses temperature controlled pools, which can be seen from the aerial thermal image. These samples are used to calibrate a thermal mosaic captured by the UAS AggieAir. Accuracy and simplicity are evaluated for each method.

Page 1. ORIGINAL ARTICLE Design of an advanced incremental fuzzy logic controller for laser surface heat treatments José Antonio Pérez & José Luis Ocaña & Carlos Molpeceres Received: 5 July 2006 /Accepted: 7 November ...

The paper Design and Implementation of Bluetooth Based Industrial Automation is used to control the circuit from a short distance during fire accidents .In this project we are using microcontroller, LDR ,flame sensor, Bluetooth sensor. Microcontroller is used to control the entire device by giving the commands. The project presents the design and implementation of low cost but a flexible and secure Bluetooth based industrial automation system. The communication between the cell phone and Arduino Bluetooth board is wireless.

The solid + liquid phase equilibria between α-Al and β-AlLi were determined using differential thermal analysis (DTA), metallography, and chemical analysis. Boron nitride (BN), which was found to be inert to these alloys, was used as the container. These measurements were carried out in order to resolve the discrepancies reported in the literature. The α-Al+β-AlLi eutectic temperature and composition were

In the past 25 years, the majority of interplanetary spacecraft have been powered by nuclear sources. However, as the emphasis on smaller, low cost missions gains momentum, more deep space missions now being planned have baselined photovoltaic solar arrays due to the low power requirements (usually significantly less than 100 W) needed for engineering and science payloads. This will present challenges to the solar array builders, inasmuch as planetary requirements usually differ from earth orbital requirements. In addition, these requirements often differ greatly, depending on the specific mission; for example, inner planets vs. outer planets, orbiters vs. flybys, spacecraft vs. landers, and so on. Also, the likelihood of electric propulsion missions will influence the requirements placed on solar array developers. This paper will discuss representative requirements for a range of planetary and deep space science missions now in the planning stages. We have divided the requirements into three categories: Inner planets and the sun; outer planets (greater than 3 AU); and Mars, cometary, and asteroid landers and probes. Requirements for Mercury and Ganymede hinders will be covered in the Inner and Outer Planets sections with their respective orbiters. We will also discuss special requirements associated with solar electric propulsion (SEP). New technology developments will be needed to meet the demanding environments presented by these future applications as many of the technologies envisioned have not yet been demonstrated. In addition, new technologies that will be needed reside not only in the photovoltaic solar array, but also in other spacecraft systems that are key to operating the spacecraft reliably with the photovoltaics. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Planetary and deep space scientific exploration is faced with the same programmatic requirements common to virtually all space programs in the 1990's, and beyond. These programs will face tightly constrained budgets that are often near $100 million for the design, fabrication and integration of the spacecraft. Launch services costs must be kept to a minimum. "13ght funding requires the payload system developer to produce mission hardware that is mass and volume efficient. The more capability which can be packaged in a small, light weight system the smaller and less expensive the launch vehicle that is required to boost it. Spacecraft and payload development cycles will frequently be only 2-3 years. This will demand that proven or accepted designs and technologies must be ready for implementation once project start is approved, since critical design reviews may be schedrJled within three months of project start. Accordingly, overlaying requirements associated with low mass, low cost systems will always be in place as part of the system trade-offs. This means that compact packaging and low mass structures conforming to launch vehicle restraints will be needed. In general, the highest efficiency cell technologies consistent with the cost constraints will be sought as planetary and deep space missions are usually power limited. Finally, short cycle times also require that The work described in this paper was performed by the let Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.-2-constituent components are readily available for rapid assembly and that vendor source agreements are in place. Finally, beyond direct power system considerations, there are a host of ancilliary spacecraft technology considerations for the described mission concepts. Such considerations play a key role in determining power system feasibility. Some of these considerations include fault tolerance and reliability requirements, on-board autonomous operations capability, power-down cruise capability, low-temperature tolerances and thermal control constraints, and power storage requirements and capabilities for off-sun events and pointing anomalies. While beyond the scope of the photovoltaic solar array requirements addressed in this paper, such considerations and the technologies needed to address them are enabling for application of photovoltaics in many of the applications described here, especially for those missions beyond the orbit of Mars. INNER PLANETS AND THE SUN Several inner body explorations are under study at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Missions being planned for exploration inside 1 AU include a Mercury lander and orbiter combination, and a "solar probe"to investigate solar regions within one-half of a solar radius. A mission to Venus is also under study, but has not identified exceptional technology demands that are beyond the need for rapid, low cost implementation with the best performance, lowest mass, and most compact packaging. microlander/penetrator, up +to100 watts for more _complexrovers_orother science packages. Surface temperatures will likely range between 150K (night time=at 70" south latitude) to 300K in the day time. Low mass, highly compact packaging will be essential for these systems. In addition, the probe may experience landing conditions ranging from a soft landing to shock Ioadings up to 10,000 g's for the case of a penetrator afterbody. These conditions might also be common to asteroid landings. Surface weather conditions on Mars are of special concern due to the possibilityof blowing dust. This will affect solar array performance either through obscuration of the sun or deposition of dust on the surface of the array. Optical depths of 3.6 have been measured by the Viking I lander and up to 6 are possible in low to middle latitudes, thus reducing the solar flux by as much as 85 percent. The Mars Pathfinder/Rover mission will carry a small experiment, supplied by NASA's Lewis Research Center, to determine the effects of dust on solar cells in the Martian environment at Ares Vallis(19"N, 32"W). The use of solar arrays for a cometary lander (Figure 4) would present additional problems. A proposed lander for the Rosetta mission to the comet 'NVirtanen"would require 1-10 W of power at about 3.25 AU. The surface temperatures are expected to be 130-150K with power requirements being sized to recharge batteries during a 15 hour rotation cycle. A comet lander system powered by a solar array may require that that rendezvous occur far enough from the sun such that the comet is relatively inactive to minimize the effects of dust or other debris contamination. Due to these issues, along with mass and volume constraints, no solar array system has yet been baselined for a comet lander misssion. SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION One of the more exciting applications for interplanetary photovoltaics is solar electric propulsion (SEP). Combining high power lightweight solar arrays with efficient ion propulsion will provide a multitude of benefits for future missions. For many missions the use of SEP will dramatically reduce flight times to distant targets. For others, the use of SEP will allow for increases in the spacecraft science mass. These benef'dsarise from the advantage of SEP in achieving high spacecraft velocities with a minimum of mass. These advantages are well understood by mission designers and the first New Millennium (NM) mission is planned to space qualify an SEP stage suitable for a wide range of small spacecraft missions. Unlike conventional Earth orbiting spacecraft, where high powered array systems are combined with heavy battery storage systems, SEP stages will rely only on PV for propulsion, with no allocation for thrusting during non-illuminated periods. As a result, the solar array can be a significant fraction of the SEP mass and low mass array technology is directly applicable. SEP arrays may also serve a dual purpose for outbound missions,for as the array power drops with increasing solar distance, eventually being insufficientfor propulsion stage operation, it is in most cases mere than sufficient to power a small spacecraft. In this manner a well designed mission would utilize a single array for both propulsion and the spacecraft. This is the approach that will be followed for the first New Millennium flight. For the NM flight test, it will be critical to verify that the solar array is not degraded to any extent by metallic erosion products of the SEP thruster. Since the thruster operates best at high voltages, the NM array will be operated at approximately 100 V with down conversion used for the spacecraft (28 V) and up conversion used for the ion thruster (1000 V). Due to inefficiencies in the conversion process and the high power level required for the thruster, future efforts will attempt to design direct drive solar arrays that can operate at 1000 V and directly feed the propulsion stage. At present, these voltage levels have not been demonstrated with solar arrays and will be a formidable challenge. Concentrator solar arrays that require fewer cells are the most likely choices for such systems.-5-EXAMPLE SEPBENEFITS Anexample of the advantages attributable to the use of SEP is in the Mercury Orbiter/Lander mission described previously. Optimum SEP trajectories, based on the performance of xenon ion =NSTAR" thrusters, with flight times between 600 and 880 days were developed. The spiral trajectories have flight times equal to or less than those required for multiple Venus and Mercury gravity assists. Launch opportunities exist approximately every four months. Various SEP system mass reductions were examined including an "advanced SEP" design which incorporates _AL" (anode layer) thrusters. Unlike the all chemical propulsion design, the maximum landed mass for an SEP-delivered system occurs for lander deployment from low circular orbits. The reason is that the AV required to circularize the orbit at Mercury is less than 10% of the total AV required for the mission (for the chemical mission option, the maximum orbiter and lander masses are delivered for Mercury orbits...

Single and double pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was carried out on aluminum samples in air. In the case of double pulse excitation, experiments were conducted by using the same laser source operated at the same wavelength (1064 nm in most cases here presented). A lowering of the second pulse plasma threshold was observed, together with an overall enhancement in line emission for the investigated time delay between the two pulses (40-60 ms). The laser-induced plasma originated by a single and double pulse was investigated near ignition threshold with the aim to study possible dynamical mechanisms in different regimes. Currently available spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma, such as the line broadening and shift due Stark effects, have been used in the characterization in order to retrieve electron densities, while standard temperature measurements were based on Boltzmann plot. Plasma relevant parameters, such as temperature and electron density, have been measured in the plasma decay on a long time scale, and compared with crater shape (diameter and inferred volume). The comparison of double with single pulse laser excitation was carried out while keeping constant the energy per pulse; the influence of laser energy was investigated as well. Results here obtained suggest that use of the double pulse technique could significantly improve the analytical capabilities of LIBS technique in routine laboratory experiments. ᮊ

The density-functional theory (DFT) is used to simulate clusters of the formula FenAsm. We optimize the bond lengths and angles to determine the stable structure for integer values of n and m. We calculate the vibrational frequencies for all of the clusters and hence determine the largest frequency of each cluster as a function of number of As atoms. For

We developed the model PHENIPS for spatial and temporal simulation of the seasonal development of Ips typographus at the Kalkalpen National Park in Austria. The model is based on a digital elevation model used for interpolation of temperature and solar radiation to calculate the microclimatic conditions (bark temperature) for the beetles’ development. Additionally, the beetles’ phenology at Kalkalpen National Park was monitored along with air and bark temperature measurements. The onset of host tree infestation in spring was estimated using a lower threshold of 16.5 °C for flight activity and a mean thermal sum of 140 degree-days (dd) from beginning of April 1st onward. Rate of brood development was calculated from accumulated degree-days of hourly temperature data using upper and lower temperature thresholds of 38.9 and 8.3 °C, respectively, and a nonlinear function for calculating effective thermal sums. Re-emergence of parental beetles occurred at a time when 49.7% of the thermal sum for total development (557 dd) was reached. The model includes the discontinuance of the beetle's reproductive activity at a day length <14.5 h. The rate of successful hibernation of established broods is predicted by assessing the developmental stage of initiated generations at the beginning of the cold period. For validation we compared the timing of phenological events in the field with predicted events using both, hourly recorded data at trap trees in the terrain and generated daily topoclimatic data. Using topoclimatic data, the onset of infestation was predicted with a mean absolute error of 1.3 days. The observed onset of emergence of filial beetles in the field was estimated with a mean error of 39 dd. Our PHENIPS explicitly considers the strong effects of regional topography and stand conditions on local air and bark temperature and can be used for precise monitoring of the actual state of bark beetle development at the specific stand/tree level. Using topoclimatic data, PHENIPS simulates the maximum number of generations which is necessary to assess the potential impact of bark beetle outbreaks at regional scale. Further applications of PHENIPS for site-specific hazard rating of bark beetle infestation are discussed.

We present the use of swept wavelength interferometry for distributed fiber-optic, temperature measurements of up to 850degC over a 1m fiber segment in commercially available, single mode, gold coated fiber. The interrogation technique is based on measuring the spectral shift of the intrinsic Rayleigh backscatter signal along the optical fiber and converting the spectral shift to temperature.

Integrating data is a basic concern in many accredited laboratories that perform a large variety of measurements. However, the present working style in engineering faculties does not focus much on this aspect. To deal with this challenge, we developed an educational platform that allows characterization of acquisition ensembles, generation of Web pages for lessons, as well as transformation of measured data and storage in a common format. As generally we had to develop individual parsers for each instrument, we also added the possibility to integrate the LabVIEW workbench, often used for rapid development of applications in electrical engineering and automatic control. This paper describes how we configure the platform for specific equipment, i.e. how we model it, how we create the learning material and how we integrate the results in a central database. It also introduces a case study for collecting data from a thermocouple-based acquisition system based on LabVIEW, used by students for a laboratory of measurement technologies and transducers.

Fifty nine primiparous sows PIC Camborough 23 were distributed in a completely randomized 2 × 2 (with and without floor cooling × two dietary treatments) factorial design with 16 sows/treatment, each sow being considered as an experimental unit. Four replicates of sixteen sows each were used during the trial with the objective of evaluating the effects of floor cooling and the use of dietary amino acid contents on their performance and behaviour during summer. The sows were distributed among the treatments according to body weight and backfat thickness after farrowing. The sows were maintained in the experiment until weaning at 21 days of lactation. The two experimental diets supplied the same levels of crude protein (22%), metabolizable energy (ME; 14.65 MJ/kg) and levels of essential digestible AA relative to digestive lysine and differed according to the digestible lysine to ME ratio (0.75 vs. 0.82 g/MJ of ME). The temperature of the water circulating in the cooled floor was maintained at about 17°C. Based on the average minimum and maximum temperatures (21.5 and 29.5°C) obtained during the experimental trial, it can be assumed that the sows were exposed to periods of heat stress. The replicate and the interaction between replicate and treatment effects on all the measurements were not significant. Similarly, no effect of diet or interaction between diet and floor cooling system was found for all criteria measured. An effect (P b 0.05) of floor cooling on average daily feed intake was observed and floor cooling sows showed a higher average (P b 0.05) digestible lysine (61.5 vs. 51.8 g/d) and ME (78.2 vs. 65.9 MJ/d) intakes. The sows submitted to floor cooling showed, consistently, higher absolute values for average weight (+ 8.5 kg) and backfat (+ 0.75 mm) at weaning, compared with the control sows. The sows submitted to the cooled floor showed a shorter (P b 0.01) weaning-to-oestrus interval. The piglet and litter's daily weight gain (DWG), average weight at weaning (AWW) and total weight gain during lactation (TWG) were higher (P b 0.01) for the floor cooling sows. The floor cooling sows showed a higher (P b 0.01) daily milk production. The respiratory rate and rectal temperature values were lower (P b 0.01) for the floor cooling sows. There were differences (P b 0.01) on the cutaneous temperatures measured on the different parts of the sow's body, with the animals submitted to the cooled floor having lower values. The sows submitted to floor cooling spent less (P b 0.01) time in lateral recumbency inactive, more time nursing (P b 0.05) and more time feeding (P b 0.01) compared with control sows. The floor cooling under the sows increased daily feed intake and lysine intake, leading to a lower body weight loss, a lower weaning-to-oestrus interval and also improved nursing behaviour of the sows, leading to a higher milk production and, consequently, higher weight gains of piglets and litter during the lactation period.