Exchange of moisture between atmosphere and ground regarding tritium transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunnenberg, C.

1980-09-01

Two measuring equipment have been developed in the framework of this study which fulfill important conditions to avoid microclimatic interferences during measurement by using site-specific ground samples and embedding these in the ground surface. The beta-absorption lysimeter allows the detection of a minimum deposit height of 0.001 mm in a 1 mm sample layer. The conductivity moisture probe is to measure the moisture diffusion within the first 80 mm of the upper ground with a vertical spacial resolution of 2 mm. It is possible to measure a minimum water content increase of 0.02 wt% per 2 mm ground layer using this probe. The influences of single microclimatic parameter on condensation and evaporation were investigated and a transport equation was developed. Investigations in the Negev proved the application ability of the measuring equipment. The application of the transport equation showed very good agreement with the measured values. When the ground surface starts to cool in the afternoon, there is a countercurrent moisture transport from the atmosphere and the deeper ground layers which lead to a higher water content in the upper ground layer. At about 50 mm depth there is an overlapping layer of the two moisture flows which remains almost constant over the 24 h cycle. This exchange zone of atmospheric humidity and ground water must be paid great attention with regard to HTO transfer. (orig./HP) [de

Using a quasi-heat-pulse method to determine heat and moisture transfer properties for porous orthotropic wood products or cellular solid materials

Science.gov (United States)

M. A. Dietenberger

2006-01-01

Understanding heat and moisture transfer in a wood specimen as used in the K-tester has led to an unconventional numerical solution arid intriguing protocol to deriving the transfer properties. Laplace transform solutions of Luikov’s differential equations are derived for one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in porous hygroscopic orthotropic materials and for a...

The influence of soil moisture transfer on building heat loss via the ground

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, H.M.; Carmeliet, J.; Hens, H.

2004-01-01

In this paper, the influence of soil moisture transfer on building heat loss via the ground is investigated by comparing fully coupled simulations with linear thermal simulations. The observed influences of coupling are (1) the larger amplitude of surface temperature, (2) the variation of thermal

Influence of the convective surface transfer coefficients on the Heat, Air, and Moisture (HAM) building performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steskens, Paul Wilhelmus Maria Hermanus; Janssen, Hans; Rode, Carsten

2009-01-01

Current models to predict heat, air and moisture (HAM) conditions in buildings assume constant boundary conditions for the temperature and relative humidity of the neighbouring air and for the surface heat and moisture transfer coefficients. These assumptions may introduce errors in the predicted...... influence on the predicted hygrothermal conditions at the surface of a building component and on the heat and vapour exchange with the indoor environment....

Conservative modelling of the moisture and heat transfer in building components under atmospheric excitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Janssen, Hans; Blocken, Bert; Carmeliet, Jan

2007-01-01

While the transfer equations for moisture and heat in building components are currently undergoing standardisation, atmospheric boundary conditions, conservative modelling and numerical efficiency are not addressed. In a first part, this paper adds a comprehensive description of those boundary...

Semi-empirical prediction of moisture build-up in an electronic enclosure using analysis of variance (ANOVA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shojaee Nasirabadi, Parizad; Conseil, Helene; Mohanty, Sankhya

2016-01-01

Electronic systems are exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as high humidity in many applications. Moisture transfer into electronic enclosures and condensation can cause several problems as material degradation and corrosion. Therefore, it is important to control the moisture content...... and the relative humidity inside electronic enclosures. In this work, moisture transfer into a typical polycarbonate electronic enclosure with a cylindrical shape opening is studied. The effects of four influential parameters namely, initial relative humidity inside the enclosure, radius and length of the opening...... and temperature are studied. A set of experiments are done based on a fractional factorial design in order to estimate the time constant for moisture transfer into the enclosure by fitting the experimental data to an analytical quasi-steady-state model. According to the statistical analysis, temperature...

Building characteristics associated with moisture related problems in 8,918 Swedish dwellings.

Science.gov (United States)

Hägerhed-Engman, Linda; Bornehag, Carl-Gustaf; Sundell, Jan

2009-08-01

Moisture problems in buildings have in a number of studies been shown to increase the risk for respiratory symptoms. The study Dampness in Buildings and Health (DBH) was initiated with the aim to identify health relevant exposures related to dampness in buildings. A questionnaire study about home environment with a focus on dampness problems and health was conducted in one county of Sweden (8,918 homes, response rate 79%). Building characteristics that were associated with one or more of the dampness indicators were for single-family houses, older houses, flat-roofed houses built in the 1960s and 1970s, houses with a concrete slab on the ground that were built before 1983. Moreover, tenancy and earlier renovation due to mould or moisture problems was strongly associated with dampness. A perception of dry air was associated with window-pane condensation, e.g. humid indoor air.

Simultaneous heat and moisture transfer in soils combined with building simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, G. H. dos; Mendes, N. [Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUCPR/CCET, Thermal Systems Laboratory (LST), Curitiba (Brazil)

2006-07-01

In order to precisely predict ground heat transfer, room air temperature and humidity, a combined model has been developed and conceived to calculate both the coupled heat and moisture transfer in soil and floor and the psychrometrics condition of indoor air. The present methodology for the soil is based on the theory of Philip and De Vries, using variable thermophysical properties for different materials. The governing equations were discretized using the finite-volume method and a three-dimensional model for describing the physical phenomena of heat and mass transfer in unsaturated moist porous soils and floor. Additionally, a lumped transient approach for a building room and a finite-volume multi-layer model for the building envelope have been developed to integrate with the soil model. Results are presented in terms of temperature, humidity and heat flux at the interface between room air and the floor, showing the importance of the approach presented and the model robustness for long-term simulations with a high time step. (author)

Assessment of vertical transfer in problem solving: Mapping the problem design space

Science.gov (United States)

Von Korff, Joshua; Hu, Dehui; Rebello, N. Sanjay

2012-02-01

In schema-based theories of cognition, vertical transfer occurs when a learner constructs a new schema to solve a transfer task or chooses between several possible schemas. Vertical transfer is interesting to study, but difficult to measure. Did the student solve the problem using the desired schema or by an alternative method? Perhaps the problem cued the student to use certain resources without knowing why? In this paper, we consider some of the threats to validity in problem design. We provide a theoretical framework to explain the challenges faced in designing vertical transfer problems, and we contrast these challenges with horizontal transfer problem design. We have developed this framework from a set of problems that we tested on introductory mechanics students, and we illustrate the framework using one of the problems.

The effects of drying conditions on moisture transfer and quality of pomegranate fruit leather (pestil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatih Mehmet Yılmaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Vacuum, cabinet and open air drying of pomegranate fruit leather were carried out at various drying conditions to monitor the drying kinetics together with bionutrient degradation of the product. Drying curves exhibited first order drying kinetics and effective moisture diffusivity values varied between 3.1 × 10−9 and 52.6 × 10−9 m2/s. The temperature dependence of the effective moisture diffusivity was satisfactorily described by an Arrhenius-type relationship. Drying conditions, product thickness and operation temperature had various effects on drying rate and final quality of the product. In terms of drying kinetics and final quality of product, vacuum drying had higher drying rate with higher conservation of phenolic, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid that is connected to faster drying condition and oxygen deficient medium. Anthocyanin content was significantly affected by drying method, drying temperature and product thickness. Scatter plot using principle component analysis enabled better understanding of moisture transfer rate and anthocyanin change under various drying conditions.

An overview of the measurements of soil moisture and modeling of moisture flux in FIFE

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J. R.

1992-01-01

Measurements of soil moisture and calculations of moisture transfer in the soil medium and at the air-soil interface were performed over a 15-km by 15-km test site during FIFE in 1987 and 1989. The measurements included intensive soil moisture sampling at the ground level and surveys at aircraft altitudes by several passive and active microwave sensors as well as a gamma radiation device.

Global Soil Moisture Estimation from L-Band Satellite Data: The Impact of Radiative Transfer Modeling in Assimilation and Retrieval Systems

Science.gov (United States)

De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Reichle, Rolf; Gruber, Alexander; Bechtold, Michel; Quets, Jan; Vrugt, Jasper; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre

2018-01-01

The SMOS and SMAP missions have collected a wealth of global L-band Brightness temperature (Tb) observations. The retrieval of surface Soil moisture estimates, and the estimation of other geophysical Variables, such as root-zone soil moisture and temperature, via data Assimilation into land surface models largely depends on accurate Radiative transfer modeling (RTM). This presentation will focus on various configuration aspects of the RTM (i) for the inversion of SMOS Tb to surface soil moisture, and (ii) for the forward modeling as part of a SMOS Tb data assimilation System to estimate a consistent set of geophysical land surface Variables, using the GEOS-5 Catchment Land Surface Model.

Conjugate problems in convective heat transfer

CERN Document Server

Dorfman, Abram S

2009-01-01

The conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problem takes into account the thermal interaction between a body and fluid flowing over or through it, a key consideration in both mechanical and aerospace engineering. Presenting more than 100 solutions of non-isothermal and CHT problems, this title considers the approximate solutions of CHT problems.

GRIZZLY Model of Multi-Reactive Species Diffusion, Moisture/Heat Transfer and Alkali-Silica Reaction for Simulating Concrete Aging and Degradation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Hai [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Spencer, Benjamin W. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Cai, Guowei [Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)

2015-09-01

/heat transfer module was implemented to simulate long-term spatial and temporal evolutions of the moisture and temperature fields within concrete structures at both room and elevated temperatures. The ASR swelling model implemented in GRIZZLY code can simulate anisotropic expansions of ASR gel under either uniaxial, biaxial and triaxial stress states, and can be run simultaneously with the moisture/heat transfer model and coupled with various elastic/inelastic solid mechanics models that were implemented in GRIZZLY code previously. This report provides detailed descriptions of the governing equations, constitutive equations and numerical algorithms of the three modules implemented in GRIZZLY during FY15, simulation results of example problems and model validation results by comparing simulations with available experimental data reported in the literature. The close match between the experiments and simulations clearly demonstrate the potential of GRIZZLY code for reliable evaluation and prediction of long-term performance and response of aged concrete structures in nuclear power plants.

Moisture in Crawl Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Anton TenWolde; Samuel V. Glass

2013-01-01

Crawl space foundations can be designed and built to avoid moisture problems. In this article we provide a brief overview of crawl spaces with emphasis on the physics of moisture. We review trends that have been observed in the research literature and summarize cur-rent recommendations for moisture control in crawl spaces.

Moisture transfer through the membrane of a cross-flow energy recovery ventilator: Measurement and simple data-driven modeling

Science.gov (United States)

CR Boardman; Samuel V. Glass

2015-01-01

The moisture transfer effectiveness (or latent effectiveness) of a cross-flow, membrane based energy recovery ventilator is measured and modeled. Analysis of in situ measurements for a full year shows that energy recovery ventilator latent effectiveness increases with increasing average relative humidity and surprisingly increases with decreasing average temperature. A...

Using a general problem-solving strategy to promote transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Youssef-Shalala, Amina; Ayres, Paul; Schubert, Carina; Sweller, John

2014-09-01

Cognitive load theory was used to hypothesize that a general problem-solving strategy based on a make-as-many-moves-as-possible heuristic could facilitate problem solutions for transfer problems. In four experiments, school students were required to learn about a topic through practice with a general problem-solving strategy, through a conventional problem solving strategy or by studying worked examples. In Experiments 1 and 2 using junior high school students learning geometry, low knowledge students in the general problem-solving group scored significantly higher on near or far transfer tests than the conventional problem-solving group. In Experiment 3, an advantage for a general problem-solving group over a group presented worked examples was obtained on far transfer tests using the same curriculum materials, again presented to junior high school students. No differences between conditions were found in Experiments 1, 2, or 3 using test problems similar to the acquisition problems. Experiment 4 used senior high school students studying economics and found the general problem-solving group scored significantly higher than the conventional problem-solving group on both similar and transfer tests. It was concluded that the general problem-solving strategy was helpful for novices, but not for students that had access to domain-specific knowledge. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

On-line moisture analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutmore, N.G.; Mijak, D.G

2002-01-01

Measurement of the moisture content of iron ore has become a key issue for controlling moisture additions for dust suppression. In most cases moisture content is still determined by manual or automatic sampling of the ore stream, followed by conventional laboratory analysis by oven drying. Although this procedure enables the moisture content to be routinely monitored, it is too slow for control purposes. This has generated renewed interest in on-line techniques for the accurate and rapid measurement of moisture in iron ore on conveyors. Microwave transmission techniques have emerged over the past 40 years as the dominant technology for on-line measurement of moisture in bulk materials, including iron ores. Alternative technologies have their limitations. Infra-red analysers are used in a variety of process industries, but rely on the measurement of absorption by moisture in a very thin surface layer. Consequently such probes may be compromised by particle size effects and biased presentation of the bulk material. Nuclear-based analysers measure the total hydrogen content in the sample and do not differentiate between free and combined moisture. Such analysers may also be sensitive to material presentation and elemental composition. Very low frequency electromagnetic probes, such as capacitance or conductance probes, operate in the frequency region where the DC conductivity dominates much of the response, which is a function not only of moisture content but also of ionic composition and chemistry. These problems are overcome using microwave transmission techniques, which also have the following advantages, as a true bulk moisture analysis is obtained, because a high percentage of the bulk material is analysed; the moisture estimate is mostly insensitive to any biased presentation of moisture, for example due to stratification of bulk material with different moisture content and because no physical contact is made between the sensor and the bulk material. This is

Molecular engineering problems in heat and mass transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotake, S.

1991-01-01

As for developing, manufacturing and applying new materials of advanced functions such as high-performance devices and high-temperature materials, fundamental understanding of the phenomena from the standpoint of molecular and atomic levels has been required. In these problems, the processes of heat and mass transfer play an important role, being one of the rate-controlling factors. But the energy levels associated with heat and mass transfer are of the orders much less than those of chemical reaction, and it is not easy to understand the thermal problems on the molecular and atomic basis. This paper views the processes of heat and mass transfer from the dynamical motions of atom and molecule for thermal engineering problems. Especially, problems are considered of heat conduction in fine-ceramics, sintered materials of high heat conductivity or high heat-insulation, phase change of condensation in vapor deposition processes such as CVD and PVD, and radiation in laser processing

Analysis of Moisture Evaporation from Underwear Designed for Fire-Fighters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Onofrei

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In this study we analysed the effect of moisture on the thermal protective performance of fire-fighter clothing in case of routine fire-fighting conditions. In the first stage of this research we investigated simultaneous heat and moisture transfer through a single-layer fabric, used as underwear for fire-fighters, at different moisture conditions. In the second stage of the study, the underwear in dry and wet state was tested together with protective clothing systems for fire-fighter consisting of three or four layers. It was found that during the evaporation of the moisture, a temperature plateau appeared during which temperatures hardly rose. The energy consumption used for the phase change of moisture located in the assembly dominated the heat transfer process as long as there was moisture present. As soon as all water had evaporated, the temperatures approached the temperatures measured for dry samples. The moisture within the clothing assembly did not lead to increased temperatures compared with the measurements with dry samples. This research has confirmed that moisture can positively affect the thermal protection of a clothing system.

How valid are parents' questionnaire responses regarding building characteristics, mouldy odour, and signs of moisture problems in Swedish homes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engman, L.H.; Bornehag, Carl-Gustaf; Sundell, Jan

2007-01-01

that included moisture problems. The aim of this study was to validate information received from a questionnaire survey regarding building characteristics, mouldy odour, and signs of moisture problems in 390 Swedish homes. Method: In a case control study on the association between home environmental factors......Aim: Questionnaires are a cheap means of studying large populations but the information obtained from them is seldom validated. Earlier studies have reported both high and low levels of agreements between inspectors' observations and occupants' reports regarding home environmental factors...... and indications of dampness and mouldy odour. However, the stronger the mouldy odour experienced by the inspector, the higher the level of agreement. Conclusions: The questionnaire was a quite reliable source regarding technical parameters of the home but not for dampness problems. The questionnaire was better...

Conjugate Problems in Convective Heat Transfer: Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abram Dorfman

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A review of conjugate convective heat transfer problems solved during the early and current time of development of this modern approach is presented. The discussion is based on analytical solutions of selected typical relatively simple conjugate problems including steady-state and transient processes, thermal material treatment, and heat and mass transfer in drying. This brief survey is accompanied by the list of almost two hundred publications considering application of different more and less complex analytical and numerical conjugate models for simulating technology processes and industrial devices from aerospace systems to food production. The references are combined in the groups of works studying similar problems so that each of the groups corresponds to one of selected analytical solutions considered in detail. Such structure of review gives the reader the understanding of early and current situation in conjugate convective heat transfer modeling and makes possible to use the information presented as an introduction to this area on the one hand, and to find more complicated publications of interest on the other hand.

MoisturEC: a new R program for moisture content estimation from electrical conductivity data

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, Neil; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Werkema, Dale D.; Lane, John W.

2018-01-01

Noninvasive geophysical estimation of soil moisture has potential to improve understanding of flow in the unsaturated zone for problems involving agricultural management, aquifer recharge, and optimization of landfill design and operations. In principle, several geophysical techniques (e.g., electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and nuclear magnetic resonance) offer insight into soil moisture, but data‐analysis tools are needed to “translate” geophysical results into estimates of soil moisture, consistent with (1) the uncertainty of this translation and (2) direct measurements of moisture. Although geostatistical frameworks exist for this purpose, straightforward and user‐friendly tools are required to fully capitalize on the potential of geophysical information for soil‐moisture estimation. Here, we present MoisturEC, a simple R program with a graphical user interface to convert measurements or images of electrical conductivity (EC) to soil moisture. Input includes EC values, point moisture estimates, and definition of either Archie parameters (based on experimental or literature values) or empirical data of moisture vs. EC. The program produces two‐ and three‐dimensional images of moisture based on available EC and direct measurements of moisture, interpolating between measurement locations using a Tikhonov regularization approach.

Package selection for moisture protection for solid, oral drug products.

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, Kenneth C; MacDonald, Bruce C

2010-11-01

This review describes how best to select the appropriate packaging options for solid, oral drug products based on both chemical and physical stability, with respect to moisture protection. This process combines an accounting for the initial moisture content of dosage form components, moisture transfer into (out of) packaging based on a moisture vapor transfer rate (MVTR), and equilibration between drug products and desiccants based on their moisture sorption isotherms to provide an estimate of the instantaneous relative humidity (RH) within the packaging. This time-based RH is calculationally combined with a moisture-sensitive Arrhenius equation (determined using the accelerated stability assessment program, ASAP) to predict the drug product's chemical stability over time as a function of storage conditions and packaging options. While physical stability of dosage forms with respect to moisture has been less well documented, a process is recommended based on the threshold RH at which changes (e.g., dosage form dissolution, tablet hardness, drug form) become problematic. The overall process described allows packaging to be determined for a drug product scientifically, with the effect of any changes to storage conditions or packaging to be explicitly accounted for. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association

CFD modelling of moisture interactions between air and constructions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Lone Hedegaard; Woloszyn, Monika; Hohota, Raluca

2005-01-01

There is a strong demand for accurate moisture modelling since moisture poses a risk for both the constructions and the indoor climate. Thus, in this investigation there is special focus on moisture modelling. The paper describes a new model based on a CFD tool that is enhanced to include both...... detailed modelling of airflows in rooms and heat and moisture transfer in walls by applying them as fluid walls. In a 3D configuration the impact of different boundary conditions are investigated and the results are discussed. The changes of boundary conditions that are studied are velocity, moisture...

MoisturEC: A New R Program for Moisture Content Estimation from Electrical Conductivity Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, Neil; Day-Lewis, Frederick D; Werkema, Dale; Lane, John W

2018-03-06

Noninvasive geophysical estimation of soil moisture has potential to improve understanding of flow in the unsaturated zone for problems involving agricultural management, aquifer recharge, and optimization of landfill design and operations. In principle, several geophysical techniques (e.g., electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and nuclear magnetic resonance) offer insight into soil moisture, but data-analysis tools are needed to "translate" geophysical results into estimates of soil moisture, consistent with (1) the uncertainty of this translation and (2) direct measurements of moisture. Although geostatistical frameworks exist for this purpose, straightforward and user-friendly tools are required to fully capitalize on the potential of geophysical information for soil-moisture estimation. Here, we present MoisturEC, a simple R program with a graphical user interface to convert measurements or images of electrical conductivity (EC) to soil moisture. Input includes EC values, point moisture estimates, and definition of either Archie parameters (based on experimental or literature values) or empirical data of moisture vs. EC. The program produces two- and three-dimensional images of moisture based on available EC and direct measurements of moisture, interpolating between measurement locations using a Tikhonov regularization approach. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Moisture transfer in a concrete slab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, C.L.D.; Siang, H.H.; Kirmser, P.G.

1979-01-01

A diffusion theory with a linear or a nonlinear coefficient of diffusivity is insufficient for the characterization of the drying behaviour of hydrated concrete slabs. A general mathematical model, based on nonequilibrium, irreversible flows of heat and mass, yields a set of nonlinear partial differential equations of parabolic type. Implicit finite difference calculations for a concrete slab yield moisture, temperature, and pressure histories as well as global average drying rates. Graphs show that during the pendular state of dessication, diffusion, capillary, and evaporation-condensation processes are the governing mechanisms in drying. (orig.)

Application of nonlinear Krylov acceleration to radiative transfer problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, A. T.; Adams, M. L.; Morel, J. E.

2013-01-01

The iterative solution technique used for radiative transfer is normally nested, with outer thermal iterations and inner transport iterations. We implement a nonlinear Krylov acceleration (NKA) method in the PDT code for radiative transfer problems that breaks nesting, resulting in more thermal iterations but significantly fewer total inner transport iterations. Using the metric of total inner transport iterations, we investigate a crooked-pipe-like problem and a pseudo-shock-tube problem. Using only sweep preconditioning, we compare NKA against a typical inner / outer method employing GMRES / Newton and find NKA to be comparable or superior. Finally, we demonstrate the efficacy of applying diffusion-based preconditioning to grey problems in conjunction with NKA. (authors)

Moisture transfer across the interface between brick and mortar joint

OpenAIRE

Derluyn, Hannelore; Moonen, Peter; Carmeliet, Jan

2008-01-01

This paper reports on experimental and modelling work on moisture transport in masonry, with special attention to the liquid transport across the interface between brick and mortar joint. Experiments and simulations reveal that two aspects need to be taken into account: (1) the dependence of moisture transport properties on the curing of the mortar; (2) the presence of a hydraulic interface resistance between brick and mortar. The resistance is due to imperfect contact between brick and morta...

Moisture-driven fracture in solid wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Finn; Ormarsson, Sigurdur; Olesen, John Forbes

2011-01-01

Moisture-induced fractures in solid timber create considerable problems for both building industries and sawmills. Cracks caused by kiln-drying of solid timber are extremely difficult to predict. This paper reports on experiments concerned with methods of reducing cracks in wood and with the crac......Moisture-induced fractures in solid timber create considerable problems for both building industries and sawmills. Cracks caused by kiln-drying of solid timber are extremely difficult to predict. This paper reports on experiments concerned with methods of reducing cracks in wood...... process, suggesting that sealing the ends of timber logs while in the green moisture state could considerably reduce the development of end-cracks. The initial moisture content and the shrinkage properties of the wood varied markedly from pith to bark. The importance of taking material inhomogeneities...... into account when modelling crack propagation in solid wood is emphasized. © 2011 Taylor & Francis....

Moisture Research - Optimizing Wall Assemblies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arena, L.; Mantha, P.

2013-05-01

The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) evaluated several different configurations of wall assemblies to determine the accuracy of moisture modeling and make recommendations to ensure durable, efficient assemblies. WUFI and THERM were used to model the hygrothermal and heat transfer characteristics of these walls.

Heat Transfer Search Algorithm for Non-convex Economic Dispatch Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Hazra, Abhik; Das, Saborni; Basu, Mousumi

2018-03-01

This paper presents Heat Transfer Search (HTS) algorithm for the non-linear economic dispatch problem. HTS algorithm is based on the law of thermodynamics and heat transfer. The proficiency of the suggested technique has been disclosed on three dissimilar complicated economic dispatch problems with valve point effect; prohibited operating zone; and multiple fuels with valve point effect. Test results acquired from the suggested technique for the economic dispatch problem have been fitted to that acquired from other stated evolutionary techniques. It has been observed that the suggested HTS carry out superior solutions.

Application of Quasi-Heat-Pulse Solutions for Luikov’s Equations of Heat and Moisture Transfer for Calibrating and Utilizing Thermal Properties Apparatus

Science.gov (United States)

Mark A. Dietenberger; Charles R. Boardman

2014-01-01

Several years ago the Laplace transform solutions of Luikov’s differential equations were presented for one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in porous hydroscopic orthotropic materials for the boundary condition of a gradual heat pulse applied to both surfaces of a flat slab. This paper presents calibration methods and data for the K-tester 637 (Lasercomp),...

An Analysis on the Moisture and Thermal Protective Performance of Firefighter Clothing Based on Different Layer Combinations and Effect of Washing on Heat Protection and Vapour Transfer Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozgur Atalay

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Fabric assemblies for firefighting clothing have been tested for heat protection and comfort. The constituent materials and fabric structures have been specifically selected and tailored for firefighters’ clothing. In order to do this, four types of outer shell fabrics, four types of moisture barrier fabrics, and four types of heat barriers with different weights and material compositions were used to make a multilayered fabric assembly. Heat transfer (flame, heat transfer (radiant, and water vapour resistance tests were conducted according to the latest EN469 test standard which also recommends washing tests. These tests reveal that material content and material brand have considerable effect on the required performance levels of heat protection. In addition, while washing tests have improved water vapor transfer properties, they have a deteriorating effect on heat protection performance. Considering heat protection and moisture comfort properties, the optimal assemblies are thereby identified.

Review of heat transfer problems associated with magnetically-confined fusion reactor concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, M.A.; Werner, R.W.; Carlson, G.A.; Cornish, D.N.

1976-01-01

Conceptual design studies of possible fusion reactor configurations have revealed a host of interesting and sometimes extremely difficult heat transfer problems. The general requirements imposed on the coolant system for heat removal of the thermonuclear power from the reactor are discussed. In particular, the constraints imposed by the fusion plasma, neutronics, structure and magnetic field environment are described with emphasis on those aspects which are unusual or unique to fusion reactors. Then the particular heat transfer characteristics of various possible coolants including lithium, flibe, boiling alkali metals, and helium are discussed in the context of these general fusion reactor requirements. Some specific areas where further experimental and/or theoretical work is necessary are listed for each coolant along with references to the pertinent research already accomplished. Specialized heat transfer problems of the plasma injection and removal systems are also described. Finally, the challenging heat transfer problems associated with the superconducting magnets are reviewed, and once again some of the key unsolved heat transfer problems are enumerated

Fastener Corrosion: A Result of Moisture Problems in the Building Envelope

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel L. Zelinka

2013-01-01

This paper reviews recent literature on the corrosion of metals embedded in wood and highlights the link be-tween moisture accumulation in wood and fastener cor-rosion. Mechanisms of fastener corrosion are described including dependence upon wood moisture content. These fundamental concepts are applied to practical examples by explaining how hygrothermal models can be...

The Effect of Temperature on Moisture Transport in Concrete.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yao; Xi, Yunping

2017-08-09

Most concrete structures and buildings are under temperature and moisture variations simultaneously. Thus, the moisture transport in concrete is driven by the moisture gradient as well as the temperature gradient. This paper presents an experimental approach for determining the effect of different temperature gradients on moisture distribution profiles in concrete. The effect of elevated temperatures under isothermal conditions on the moisture transport was also evaluated, and found not to be significant. The non-isothermal tests show that the temperature gradient accelerates the moisture transport in concrete. The part of increased moisture transfer due to the temperature gradient can be quantified by a coupling parameter D HT , which can be determined by the present test data. The test results indicated that D HT is not a constant but increases linearly with the temperature variation. A material model was developed for D HT based on the experimental results obtained in this study.

Relation between moisture content and granulation of Shatian shaddock during storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diao Junming

1999-01-01

The fruit Shatian shaddocks were stored at room temperature for ten days after harvest and then marked with 3 H 2 O. The radioactivities of the base, peel and pulp of the fruit were tested regularly, and the changes of the weight loss and fruit juice, the moisture content in different tissues, respiration intensity and the nutritious materials were also determined. The results showed that during the storage of Shatianyou, the moisture transferred among valves, pulp and peel. During granulation, the transfer of moisture from pulp to peel is faster than that of normal fruit. The reason for granulation of Shatian shaddock may be the consumption of nutritious materials in pulp and the simultaneously relative regeneration in peel tissue

MoisturEC: an R application for geostatistical estimation of moisture content from electrical conductivity data

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, N.; Day-Lewis, F. D.; Werkema, D. D.; Lane, J. W., Jr.

2017-12-01

Soil moisture is a critical parameter for agriculture, water supply, and management of landfills. Whereas direct data (as from TDR or soil moisture probes) provide localized point scale information, it is often more desirable to produce 2D and/or 3D estimates of soil moisture from noninvasive measurements. To this end, geophysical methods for indirectly assessing soil moisture have great potential, yet are limited in terms of quantitative interpretation due to uncertainty in petrophysical transformations and inherent limitations in resolution. Simple tools to produce soil moisture estimates from geophysical data are lacking. We present a new standalone program, MoisturEC, for estimating moisture content distributions from electrical conductivity data. The program uses an indicator kriging method within a geostatistical framework to incorporate hard data (as from moisture probes) and soft data (as from electrical resistivity imaging or electromagnetic induction) to produce estimates of moisture content and uncertainty. The program features data visualization and output options as well as a module for calibrating electrical conductivity with moisture content to improve estimates. The user-friendly program is written in R - a widely used, cross-platform, open source programming language that lends itself to further development and customization. We demonstrate use of the program with a numerical experiment as well as a controlled field irrigation experiment. Results produced from the combined geostatistical framework of MoisturEC show improved estimates of moisture content compared to those generated from individual datasets. This application provides a convenient and efficient means for integrating various data types and has broad utility to soil moisture monitoring in landfills, agriculture, and other problems.

Transfer of learning in binary decision making problems.

OpenAIRE

Robotti, O. P.

2007-01-01

Transfer, the use of acquired knowledge, skills and abilities across tasks and contexts, is a key and elusive goal of learning. Most evidence available in literature is based on a limited number of tasks, predominantly open-ended problems, game-like problems and taught school subjects (e.g. maths, physics, algebra). It is not obvious that findings from this work can be extended to the domain of decision making problems. This thesis, which aims to broaden the understanding of enhancing and lim...

Combined natural convection heat and mass transfer from vertical fin arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giri, A.; Narasimham, G.S.V.L.; Krishna Murthy, M.V.

2003-01-01

Natural convection transport processes play an important role in many applications like ice-storage air-conditioning. A mathematical formulation of natural convection heat and mass transfer over a shrouded vertical fin array is developed. The base plate is maintained at a temperature below the dew point of the surrounding moist air. Hence there occurs condensation of moisture on the base plate, while the fins may be partially or fully wet. A numerical study is performed by varying the parameters of the problem. The local and average Nusselt numbers decrease in streamwise direction and tend to approach fully developed values for sufficiently large values of the fin length. The results show that beyond a certain streamwise distance, further fin length does not improve the sensible and latent heat transfer performance, and that if dry fin analysis is used under moisture condensation conditions, the overall heat transfer will be underestimated by about 50% even at low buoyancy ratios

Thermogravimetric analysis for rapid assessment of moisture diffusivity in polydisperse powder and thin film matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Thirunathan, Praveena; Arnz, Patrik; Husny, Joeska; Gianfrancesco, Alessandro; Perdana, Jimmy

2018-03-01

Accurate description of moisture diffusivity is key to precisely understand and predict moisture transfer behaviour in a matrix. Unfortunately, measuring moisture diffusivity is not trivial, especially at low moisture values and/or elevated temperatures. This paper presents a novel experimental procedure to accurately measure moisture diffusivity based on thermogravimetric approach. The procedure is capable to measure diffusivity even at elevated temperatures (>70°C) and low moisture values (>1%). Diffusivity was extracted from experimental data based on "regular regime approach". The approach was tailored to determine diffusivity from thin film and from poly-dispersed powdered samples. Subsequently, measured diffusivity was validated by comparing to available literature data, showing good agreement. Ability of this approach to accurately measure diffusivity at a wider range of temperatures provides better insight on temperature dependency of diffusivity. Thus, this approach can be crucial to ensure good accuracy of moisture transfer description/prediction especially when involving elevated temperatures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-Thrust Orbital Transfers in the Two-Body Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Sukhanov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Low-thrust transfers between given orbits within the two-body problem are considered; the thrust is assumed power limited. A simple method for obtaining the transfer trajectories based on the linearization of the motion near reference orbits is suggested. Required calculation accuracy can be reached by means of use of a proper number of the reference orbits. The method may be used in the case of a large number of the orbits around the attracting center; no averaging is necessary in this case. The suggested method also is applicable to the cases of partly given final orbit and if there are constraints on the thrust direction. The method gives an optimal solution to the linearized problem which is not optimal for the original nonlinear problem; the difference between the optimal solutions to the original and linearized problems is estimated using a numerical example. Also examples illustrating the method capacities are given.

Autoradiographic study on moisture distribution in pearl-barley and in rice grain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakharov, Eh.V.; Koz'mina, E.P.; Troitskaya, E.Ya

1975-01-01

The dependence of some structural details of the pearl-barley and rice endosperm on the internal moisture distribution is found. The general scheme of the study is shown. The curves of the local moisture distribution in the pearly-barley and rice kernel are plotted according to the radiography data. Moisture distribution over the whole section of the rice kernel is relatively constant at 85 deg C after ten minutes of moisture. Whereas moisture of pearl-barley kernel is only approaching the center of kernel by the time the moisture content increases to 1.5-2%. The slow moisture transfer in the pearl-barley kernel makes the cooking period three times longer as that of the rice

Distribution of temperature and moisture content fields in a rectangular beet pulp particle during convection drying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Ostrikov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The mathematical model describing distribution of fields of temperatures and moisture contents in a particle of a squared beet press at convective drying is given. As the initial equations the differential equations of material and thermal balances in which transfer of warmth and weight is caused by phase transformations have been accepted. The algorithm of the numerical solution of a non-stationary regional problem of heat conductivity with variable heat and mass transfer coefficients of the dried-up product, boundary and entry conditions and also phase transition with mobile limit of the section of phases is developed for the solution of mathematical model. At the same time the initial system of the equations is given to a dimensionless look. For the solution of a problem of non-stationary heat conductivity the zone method of calculation of temperature fields when drying a beet press is used. Process of drying broke into some time intervals. Within each interval geometrical form of a particle, its density, heatphysical and mass-exchanged characteristics; initial distribution of temperature and moisture content on particle volume and also density of a mass and thermal stream with the evaporated moisture are constant. The zone method of the solution of a problem of the non-stationary three-dimensional equation of heat conductivity for a parallelepiped taking into account internal sources of warmth has been checked on experimental data of stationary drying of a beet press with use of basic data. For realization of a zone method dependences of change of the linear size of a particle of a beet press on spatial coordinate x and its moisture content in the course of drying are received. At constant values of moisture content and the sizes of the party of the dried-up particle on each step the method of a machine experiment has found the current values of coefficient of phase transformation on condition of the maximum rapprochement of settlement and

Moisture assessment by fast and non-destructive in situ measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard; Møller, Eva B.; Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place

2014-01-01

moisture content, which is not revealed by this inspection. The moisture content may become a problem for the buyers. This problem might have been avoided if the moisture content of the Building materials was measured on inspection. This is easily done in wood-based materials but for example in concrete...... to use, easily applicable and suitable for most porous building materials. Furthermore, the measurements must be reliable at the high end of the hygroscopic area and describe absolute moisture content or corresponding relative humidity. The existing methods for moisture measuring cannot meet...... on measurements of the relative humidity of the air in a small hood placed tightly and sealed to the surface of the construction. Results with aerated concrete covered with acrylic paint are presented....

Two-dimensional finite element heat transfer model of softwood. Part III, Effect of moisture content on thermal conductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Hongmei Gu; John F. Hunt

2007-01-01

The anisotropy of wood creates a complex problem for solving heat and mass transfer problems that require analyses be based on fundamental material properties of the wood structure. Most heat transfer models for softwood use average thermal properties across either the radial or tangential direction and do not differentiate the effects of cellular alignment or...

Prediction of moisture variation during composting process: A comparison of mathematical models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongjiang; Ai, Ping; Cao, Hongliang; Liu, Zhigang

2015-10-01

This study was carried out to develop and compare three models for simulating the moisture content during composting. Model 1 described changes in water content using mass balance, while Model 2 introduced a liquid-gas transferred water term. Model 3 predicted changes in moisture content without complex degradation kinetics. Average deviations for Model 1-3 were 8.909, 7.422 and 5.374 kg m(-3) while standard deviations were 10.299, 8.374 and 6.095, respectively. The results showed that Model 1 is complex and involves more state variables, but can be used to reveal the effect of humidity on moisture content. Model 2 tested the hypothesis of liquid-gas transfer and was shown to be capable of predicting moisture content during composting. Model 3 could predict water content well without considering degradation kinetics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Errors in the calculation of sub-soil moisture probe by equivalent moisture content technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lakshmipathy, A.V.; Gangadharan, P.

1982-01-01

The size of the soil sample required to obtain the saturation response, with a neutron moisture probe is quite large and this poses practical problems of handling and mixing large amounts of samples for absolute laboratory calibration. Hydrogenous materials are used as a substitute for water in the equivalent moisture content technique, for calibration of soil moisture probes. In this it is assumed that only hydrogen of the bulk sample is responsible for the slowing down of fast neutrons and the slow neutron countrate is correlated to equivalent water content by considering the hydrogen density of sample. It is observed that the higher atomic number elements present in water equivalent media also affect the response of the soil moisture probe. Hence calculations, as well as experiments, were undertaken to know the order of error introduced by this technique. The thermal and slow neutron flux distribution around the BF 3 counter of a sub-soil moisture probe is calculated using three group diffusion theory. The response of the probe corresponding to different equivalent moisture content of hydrogenous media, is calculated taking into consideration the effective length of BF 3 counter. Soil with hydrogenous media such as polyethylene, sugar and water are considered for calculation, to verify the suitability of these materials as substitute for water during calibration of soil moisture probe. Experiments were conducted, to verify the theoretically calculated values. (author)

Moisture ingress into electronics enclosures under isothermal conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staliulionis, Zygimantas; Jabbaribehnam, Mirmasoud; Hattel, Jesper Henri

2016-01-01

loads are still not understood well by design engineers, therefore this field has become one of the bottlenecks in the electronics system design. The objective of this paper is to model moisture ingress into an electronics enclosure under isothermal conditions. The moisture diffusion model is based......The number of electronics used in outdoor environment is constantly growing. The humidity causes about 19 % of all electronics failures and, especially, moisture increases these problems due to the ongoing process of miniaturization and lower power consumption of electronic components. Moisture...

Boiling heat transfer and stability problems. Final report, November 1, 1976--March 31, 1979

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh, D.Y.

1979-03-01

Substantial progress has been made in two areas relating to the boiling heat transfer: the stability of a vapor-liquid system and the dynamics of bubbles. For the stability problem, a simplified formulation retaining the essential feature of the interfacial mass transfer has been established for the complex interfacial stability problem with mass and heat transfer. The simplified version was first applied to the linear Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin--Helmholtz stability problems. General agreement with results from previous more comprehensive treatment is obtained. Then the simplified formulation is utilized to study the nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor stability problem. It is found that the combined effects of finite amplitude and the heat and mass transfer can stabilize the system in a regime which is linearly unstable. A single non-dimensional parameter can be found to characterize the stability criterion for certain configuration relevant to the problem of boiling heat transfer. For the problem of bubble dynamics, the investigation of the nonlinear coupling between the subharmonic spherical oscillation and the nonspherical oscillation has been carried out

Thermodynamic analysis on heavy metals partitioning impacted by moisture during the MSW incineration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yanguo; Li Qinghai; Jia Jinyan; Meng Aihong

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Partitioning of HMs affected by moisture was investigated by thermodynamic analysis. ► Increase in moisture and in temperature was opposite impact on HMs contribution. ► The extent of temperature decreased by increase in moisture determines the impact. - Abstract: A thermodynamic calculation was carried out to predict the behavior and speciation of heavy metals (HMs), Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd, during municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration with the different moisture levels. The calculation was based on the minimization of the total Gibbs free energy of the multi-components and multi-phases closed system reaching chemical equilibrium. The calculation also indicated the reaction directions and tendencies of HMs components. The impacts of chlorine additives (No PVC, 1%PVC, and 5%PVC) and moisture on the behavior of HMs were investigated at different temperature levels in the system (750 °C, 950 °C, and 1150 °C). Furthermore, because the incineration temperature falls down with the increase in moisture in waste, the co-influence of moisture and temperature in combusting MSW on the HMs was also studied with the given chlorine (as 1%PVC + 0.5%NaCl). The results showed that in the non-chlorine system, the impact of the moisture on Pb, Zn, and Cu was not significant, and the ratio of compound transformation was less than 10%, except the Cd compounds at 950 °C and 1150 °C. In the system with low chlorine (as 1%PVC) at constant temperature, the chlorides of HMs (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) transferred to oxides, and when the content of chlorine rose up (as 5%PVC), the ratio of the chlorides of HMs (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) transferring to oxides fell down noticeably. When the moisture varied together with the temperature, the Zn and Cu compounds transferred from chlorides to oxides with increase in moisture as well as decrease in temperature. At the temperature of 700–1000 °C, the impact of temperature on Pb and Cd was little and the moisture was the main factor

An inverse heat transfer problem for optimization of the thermal ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This paper takes a different approach towards identification of the thermal process in machining, using inverse heat transfer problem. Inverse heat transfer method allows the closest possible experimental and analytical approximation of thermal state for a machining process. Based on a temperature measured at any point ...

Following the Template: Transferring Modeling Skills to Nonstandard Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Tyumeneva, Yu. A.; Goncharova, M. V.

2017-01-01

This study seeks to analyze how students apply a mathematical modeling skill that was previously learned by solving standard word problems to the solution of word problems with nonstandard contexts. During the course of an experiment involving 106 freshmen, we assessed how well they were able to transfer the mathematical modeling skill that is…

Dynamic analysis of temporal moisture profiles in heatset printing studied with near-infrared spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tåg, C-M; Toiviainen, M; Juuti, M; Gane, P A C

2010-01-01

Dynamic analysis of the water transfer onto coated paper, and its permeation and absorption into the porous structure were studied online in a full-scale heatset web offset printing environment. The moisture content of the paper was investigated at five different positions during the printing process. Changes in the moisture content of the paper were studied as a function of the web temperature, printing speed and silicone application in the folding unit positioned after the hot air drying oven. Additionally, the influence of fountain solution composition on the pick-up by the paper was investigated. The water content of the fountain solution transferred to the paper from the printing units was observed as changes in near-infrared absorbance. A calibration data set enabled the subsequent quantification of the dynamic moisture content of the paper at the studied locations. An increase in the printing speed reduced the water transfer to the paper and an increase in web temperature resulted in a reduction in the moisture content. An increase in the dosage level of the water–silicone mixture was observed as a re-moistening effect of the paper. Differences in the drying strategy resulted in different moisture profiles depending on the type of fountain solution used. As a conclusion, the near-infrared signal provides an effective way to characterize the moisture dynamics online at different press units

Problems of heat transfer and hydraulics of two-phase media

CERN Document Server

Kutateladze, S S

1969-01-01

Problems of Heat Transfer and Hydraulics of Two-Phase Media presents the theory of heat transfer and hydrodynamics. This book discusses the various aspects of heat transfer and the flow of two-phase systems. Organized into two parts encompassing 22 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the laws of similarity for heat transfer to or from a flowing liquid with various physical properties and allowed for variation in viscosity and thermal conductivity. This book then explores the general functional relationship that exists between viscosity and thermal conductivity for thermodynamically

Moisture transfer and change in strength during the construction of earthen buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schroeder, H.

2011-09-01

Full Text Available A number of rammed earth projects constructed in recent years in Germany and abroad testify to the high level of architectural interest in this material, not only in our country. Rammed earth has been “rediscovered”, in particular by young architects, due to its unique materiality and fascinating and individual surface aesthetics. In connection with the realisation of two rammed earth projects realised in Thuringia, Germany, in 2003/2004 some questions arose concerning the process of moisture transfer and changes in strength properties during construction. The earthen building standards detail only very rough estimates of drying times for rammed earth walls. The idea arose to develop a test programme for investigating the aspect of drying time with regard to the change in material strength in rammed earth walls, as well as for elaborating general aspects of testing procedures for rammed earth in standards. The paper presents results of a laboratory programme that attempts to approach this very complex problem. A series of test specimens were produced and the unconfined compressive strength was determined after different drying times varying from 7 to 90 days. The moisture content of the test specimens also was varied: at OMC (Proctor test and above and below the OMC.

Una serie de proyectos de tierra apisonada construidos en los últimos años en Alemania y en el extranjero dan testimonio del alto nivel de interés arquitectónico en este material, no solo en nuestro país. La tierra apisonada ha sido “redescubierta”, en particular por los arquitectos jóvenes, debido a su materialidad única y fascinante y la estética singular de su superficie. En relación con la realización de dos proyectos de tierra apisonada realizados en Turingia, Alemania, en el período 2003/2004 surgieron algunas preguntas sobre el proceso de transferencia de la humedad y los cambios en las propiedades de resistencia durante la construcción. Las

Applications of moisture monitoring using TAUPE-sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeniger, F.

2007-01-01

TAUPE as a moisture sensor has been developed in cooperation with Technology Transfer Division in Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe since 1996. These sensors can be used to monitor moisture in a variety of materials, using time domain or frequency domain techniques. Major applications are large area supervision of landfill sealings, determination of the snow water equivalent, e.g. in the project SNOWPOWER for the forecasting of the amount of water for energy production in storage lakes and, as a new project, continuous monitoring of groundwater level in the flood plane of river Rhine. (orig.)

A 3D moisture-stress FEM analysis for time dependent problems in timber structures

Science.gov (United States)

Fortino, Stefania; Mirianon, Florian; Toratti, Tomi

2009-11-01

This paper presents a 3D moisture-stress numerical analysis for timber structures under variable humidity and load conditions. An orthotropic viscoelastic-mechanosorptive material model is specialized on the basis of previous models. Both the constitutive model and the equations needed to describe the moisture flow across the structure are implemented into user subroutines of the Abaqus finite element code and a coupled moisture-stress analysis is performed for several types of mechanical loads and moisture changes. The presented computational approach is validated by analyzing some wood tests described in the literature and comparing the computational results with the reported experimental data.

The influence of soil moisture in the unsaturated zone on the heat loss from buildings via the ground

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, H.; Carmeliet, J.; Hens, H.

2002-01-01

In calculations of building heat loss via the ground, the coupling with soil moisture transfer is generally ignored, an important hypothesis which will be falsified in this paper. Results from coupled simulations - coupled soil heat and moisture transfer equations and complete surface heat and

Relations between transfer matrices and numerical stability analysis to avoid the $\\Omega d$ problem

OpenAIRE

Pérez-Álvarez, R.; Pernas-Salomón, R.; Velasco, V. R.

2015-01-01

The transfer matrix method is usually employed to study problems described by $N$ equations of matrix Sturm-Liouville (MSL) kind. In some cases a numerical degradation (the so called $\\Omega d$ problem) appears thus impairing the performance of the method. We present here a procedure that can overcome this problem in the case of multilayer systems having piecewise constant coefficients. This is performed by studying the relations between the associated transfer matrix and other transfer matri...

Numerical Problems and Agent-Based Models for a Mass Transfer Course

Science.gov (United States)

Murthi, Manohar; Shea, Lonnie D.; Snurr, Randall Q.

2009-01-01

Problems requiring numerical solutions of differential equations or the use of agent-based modeling are presented for use in a course on mass transfer. These problems were solved using the popular technical computing language MATLABTM. Students were introduced to MATLAB via a problem with an analytical solution. A more complex problem to which no…

A difference quotient-numerical integration method for solving radiative transfer problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Peizhu

1992-01-01

A difference quotient-numerical integration method is adopted to solve radiative transfer problems in an anisotropic scattering slab medium. By using the method, the radiative transfer problem is separated into a system of linear algebraic equations and the coefficient matrix of the system is a band matrix, so the method is very simple to evaluate on computer and to deduce formulae and easy to master for experimentalists. An example is evaluated and it is shown that the method is precise

Gaussian variable neighborhood search for the file transfer scheduling problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dražić Zorica

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new modifications of Variable Neighborhood Search approach for solving the file transfer scheduling problem. To obtain better solutions in a small neighborhood of a current solution, we implement two new local search procedures. As Gaussian Variable Neighborhood Search showed promising results when solving continuous optimization problems, its implementation in solving the discrete file transfer scheduling problem is also presented. In order to apply this continuous optimization method to solve the discrete problem, mapping of uncountable set of feasible solutions into a finite set is performed. Both local search modifications gave better results for the large size instances, as well as better average performance for medium and large size instances. One local search modification achieved significant acceleration of the algorithm. The numerical experiments showed that the results obtained by Gaussian modifications are comparable with the results obtained by standard VNS based algorithms, developed for combinatorial optimization. In some cases Gaussian modifications gave even better results. [Projekat Ministarstava nauke Republike Srbije, br. 174010

Moisture problems of functional joints of wooden windows – causes analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palková Adela

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article addresses the issue of the humidity regimen of a functional wooden window joint. Current energy-saving trends in the buildings bring secondary effects associated with indoor climate change. Increase of the thermal-technical quantification, non-breathability, and diffusion resistance of the building envelope without the solution of controlled ventilation brings an extreme rise of the interior moisture. The passage of moisture through a functional joint is ensured mainly by exfiltration. The energy standard applicable after the year 2020 assumes buildings with almost zero energy need that cannot be reached without a recuperation system. The concept of the recuperation systems usually works as a pressure system, which increases the likelihood of exfiltration. Measurements done in a large climate chamber show that the diffusion of water vapor can overcome the infiltration flow of the outside air. The passage of moisture results in icing or condensation in the functional joint, which subsequently damages the surface treatment of the wood. Another serious defect is the subsequent mold growth.

Heat and Mass Transfer Model in Freeze-Dried Medium

Science.gov (United States)

Alfat, Sayahdin; Purqon, Acep

2017-07-01

There are big problems in agriculture sector every year. One of the major problems is abundance of agricultural product during the peak of harvest season that is not matched by an increase in demand of agricultural product by consumers, this causes a wasted agricultural products. Alternative way was food preservation by freeze dried method. This method was already using heat transfer through conduction and convection to reduce water quality in the food. The main objective of this research was to design a model heat and mass transfer in freeze-dried medium. We had two steps in this research, the first step was design of medium as the heat injection site and the second was simulate heat and mass transfer of the product. During simulation process, we use physical property of some agriculture product. The result will show how temperature and moisture distribution every second. The method of research use finite element method (FEM) and will be illustrated in three dimensional.

Error estimates for near-Real-Time Satellite Soil Moisture as Derived from the Land Parameter Retrieval Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Parinussa, R.M.; Meesters, A.G.C.A.; Liu, Y.Y.; Dorigo, W.; Wagner, W.; de Jeu, R.A.M.

2011-01-01

A time-efficient solution to estimate the error of satellite surface soil moisture from the land parameter retrieval model is presented. The errors are estimated using an analytical solution for soil moisture retrievals from this radiative-transfer-based model that derives soil moisture from

Automatic coal sampling for thermoelectric power plants; some remarks on moisture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanzi, M.

1983-06-01

Some problems associated with automatic coal sampling are discussed, in particular the change in moisture content during transport to sampling station. The moisture level is reduced by crushing and air exposure. Possible solutions to the problems are outlined: reducing exposure to air; reducing the degree of pulverisation; and use of special crushing equipment.

Heating in churches. Heat and moisture transfer simulations for design and climate control; Uppvaermning i kyrkor. Fukt- och vaermetekniska beraekningar foer dimensionering och klimatstyrning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brostroem, T. [KTH College of Engineering, Visby (Sweden)

1996-10-01

This thesis aims to describe heat and moisture transfer in churches, i.e. how the outdoor climate and the building fabric influence the indoor climate. The goal is to provide methods for calculating the heat and moisture transfer that can be used to simulate and control the indoor climate. The methods suggested are developed from the basic relations for heat and mass transfer and then verified in relation to measurements made in five medieval churches. When a church is heated intermittently with a constant heat input, the temperature increases proportionally to the square root of time. In the present work it is shown how this relation can be used to: Determine the total thermal inertia of the building; Calculate heating-up load and the heating times. The design outdoor temperature (DOT) depends on the thermal inertia of the building. It is shown that the method commonly used in Sweden to determine DOT can also be used for buildings with extremely high thermal inertia, such as stone churches. Furthermore, it is shown how internal walls and the insulation of external walls may affect the thermal inertia of the building. Churches built in stone have a great capacity for moisture exchange with the indoor air. This enables them to dampen variations in humidity. It is shown here how the humidity in a church can be calculated as a function of the indoor temperature and the outdoor humidity. There is not enough scientific evidence to determine what constitutes a good indoor climate with respect to damage. It is certain, however, that the variations in relative humidity should be minimized. The heating strategy is crucial in this respect. Permanent heating gives great annual variations, whereas intermittent heating will limit the variations. The above-mentioned calculation methods can be used to predict and control the relative humidity, both annually and during intermittent heating. 87 refs, 133 figs, 13 tabs

Using an isomorphic problem pair to learn introductory physics: Transferring from a two-step problem to a three-step problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shih-Yin Lin

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. 382 students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were administered a quiz in the recitation in which they had to learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another isomorphic problem (which we call the quiz problem. The solved problem provided has two subproblems while the quiz problem has three subproblems, which is known from previous research to be challenging for introductory students. In addition to the solved problem, students also received extra scaffolding supports that were intended to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. The data analysis suggests that students had great difficulty in transferring what they learned from a two-step problem to a three-step problem. Although most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with six introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. The interviews suggest that students often superficially mapped the principles employed in the solved problem to the quiz problem without necessarily understanding the governing conditions underlying each principle and examining the applicability of the principle in the new situation in an in-depth manner. Findings suggest that more scaffolding is needed to help students in transferring from a two-step problem to a three-step problem and applying the physics principles appropriately. We outline a few

Using an isomorphic problem pair to learn introductory physics: Transferring from a two-step problem to a three-step problem

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

2013-12-01

In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. 382 students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were administered a quiz in the recitation in which they had to learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another isomorphic problem (which we call the quiz problem). The solved problem provided has two subproblems while the quiz problem has three subproblems, which is known from previous research to be challenging for introductory students. In addition to the solved problem, students also received extra scaffolding supports that were intended to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. The data analysis suggests that students had great difficulty in transferring what they learned from a two-step problem to a three-step problem. Although most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with six introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. The interviews suggest that students often superficially mapped the principles employed in the solved problem to the quiz problem without necessarily understanding the governing conditions underlying each principle and examining the applicability of the principle in the new situation in an in-depth manner. Findings suggest that more scaffolding is needed to help students in transferring from a two-step problem to a three-step problem and applying the physics principles appropriately. We outline a few possible strategies

Design and construction of OGL-1 Specimen Transfer System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Kunio; Saruta, Tohru; Nabeya, Hideaki; Nakagaki, Shogo; Nishizaki, Tadashi.

1977-11-01

OGL-1 is the first high temperature gas in-pile loop in Japan, which is installed in JMTR of Oarai Research Establishment, JAERI. As the JMTR is the PWR type, specimens must be set in the loop with a remote control system ''OGL-1 Specimen Transfer System'' because of the needs for moisture prevention and radiation shielding. Described in this report are design philosophy, loop development, problems in construction, inspection and operation. (auth.)

Moisture measurement in the iron and steel industry: experience with nuclear moisture measurements in coke, and studies of infrared moisture measurement of iron ore mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beumer, J.A.; Wouters, M.

1976-01-01

In the heavy iron-making industry there are several processes for which it is necessary to measure on-line the moisture content of certain process materials, especially in the field of iron ore preparation and blast furnace practice. Two examples are given. (1) Experience with nuclear moisture-measurements in coke covers a period of ten years in which eight measuring systems have been installed in the weighing hoppers of blast furnaces. The standard deviation is about 0.7% moisture in the range 0 to 15% moisture. The way the method is used, the safety measures and the difficulties encountered, especially the effect on recalibration of neutron-absorbing materials in photomultipliers are described. (2) The application of infrared absorption to the study of moisture measurment or iron ore mixtures is described. With an ore mixture for pellets manufacture, a rather dark ore mixture, problems have arisen concerning the sensitivity. The reference and measuring wavelengths now in use are 2.51 and 2.95 μm. In this case the absorption of the energy is rather high. The results may be improved by using quartz optics instead of the normal Pyrex ones, as the cut-off wavelength of Pyrex is about 3 μm. Variations due to colour and specific surface have been studied. As the accuracy required is +- 0.1% moisture in the range 8 to 12% moisture, these variations need to be eliminated. (author)

Heat transfer problems in ductus of retangular cross section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cintra Filho, J. de S.

1976-01-01

The finite difference method is used to resolve the problem of heat transfer in the rectangular ducts in turbulent conditions. Velocities, temperatures and diffusivity distributions are determined. A computer programme is also developed for such calculations [pt

BATCH ANAEROBIC TREATMENT OF FRESH LEACHATE FROM TRANSFER STATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SEYED MOHAMMAD DARA GHASIMI

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Leachate from transfer station requires treatment before being discharged into the environment to avoid surface and underground water contamination. Various factors such as waste composition, availability of oxygen and moisture, designing and controlling of transfer station operations have been shown to affect the composition of the leachate. The high COD, BOD, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N and heavy metals contents of fresh leachate are the main problems faced by leachate treatment operators. The result of the present study indicated that this process reduced the COD content by 43%.The average removal efficiencies of BOD5, TS, TSS, and VSS were 80, 49, 37 and 39 %, respectively.

Using Whole-House Field Tests to Empirically Derive Moisture Buffering Model Inputs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woods, J.; Winkler, J.; Christensen, D.; Hancock, E.

2014-08-01

Building energy simulations can be used to predict a building's interior conditions, along with the energy use associated with keeping these conditions comfortable. These models simulate the loads on the building (e.g., internal gains, envelope heat transfer), determine the operation of the space conditioning equipment, and then calculate the building's temperature and humidity throughout the year. The indoor temperature and humidity are affected not only by the loads and the space conditioning equipment, but also by the capacitance of the building materials, which buffer changes in temperature and humidity. This research developed an empirical method to extract whole-house model inputs for use with a more accurate moisture capacitance model (the effective moisture penetration depth model). The experimental approach was to subject the materials in the house to a square-wave relative humidity profile, measure all of the moisture transfer terms (e.g., infiltration, air conditioner condensate) and calculate the only unmeasured term: the moisture absorption into the materials. After validating the method with laboratory measurements, we performed the tests in a field house. A least-squares fit of an analytical solution to the measured moisture absorption curves was used to determine the three independent model parameters representing the moisture buffering potential of this house and its furnishings. Follow on tests with realistic latent and sensible loads showed good agreement with the derived parameters, especially compared to the commonly-used effective capacitance approach. These results show that the EMPD model, once the inputs are known, is an accurate moisture buffering model.

Topology optimization for transient heat transfer problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeidan, Said; Sigmund, Ole; Lazarov, Boyan Stefanov

The focus of this work is on passive control of transient heat transfer problems using the topology optimization (TopOpt) method [1]. The goal is to find distributions of a limited amount of phase change material (PCM), within a given design domain, which optimizes the heat energy storage [2]. Our......, TopOpt has later been extended to transient problems in mechanics and photonics (e.g. [5], [6] and [7]). In the presented approach, the optimization is gradient-based, where in each iteration the non-steady heat conduction equation is solved,using the finite element method and an appropriate time......-stepping scheme. A PCM can efficiently absorb heat while keeping its temperature nearly unchanged [8]. The use of PCM ine.g. electronics [9] and mechanics [10], yields improved performance and lower costs depending on a.o., the spatial distribution of PCM.The considered problem consists in optimizing...

Mass transfer characteristics of bisporus mushroom ( Agaricus bisporus) slices during convective hot air drying

Science.gov (United States)

Ghanbarian, Davoud; Baraani Dastjerdi, Mojtaba; Torki-Harchegani, Mehdi

2016-05-01

An accurate understanding of moisture transfer parameters, including moisture diffusivity and moisture transfer coefficient, is essential for efficient mass transfer analysis and to design new dryers or improve existing drying equipments. The main objective of the present study was to carry out an experimental and theoretical investigation of mushroom slices drying and determine the mass transfer characteristics of the samples dried under different conditions. The mushroom slices with two thicknesses of 3 and 5 mm were dried at air temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 °C and air flow rates of 1 and 1.5 m s-1. The Dincer and Dost model was used to determine the moisture transfer parameters and predict the drying curves. It was observed that the entire drying process took place in the falling drying rate period. The obtained lag factor and Biot number indicated that the moisture transfer in the samples was controlled by both internal and external resistance. The effective moisture diffusivity and the moisture transfer coefficient increased with increasing air temperature, air flow rate and samples thickness and varied in the ranges of 6.5175 × 10-10 to 1.6726 × 10-9 m2 s-1 and 2.7715 × 10-7 to 3.5512 × 10-7 m s-1, respectively. The validation of the Dincer and Dost model indicated a good capability of the model to describe the drying curves of the mushroom slices.

Space-dependent perfusion coefficient estimation in a 2D bioheat transfer problem

Science.gov (United States)

Bazán, Fermín S. V.; Bedin, Luciano; Borges, Leonardo S.

2017-05-01

In this work, a method for estimating the space-dependent perfusion coefficient parameter in a 2D bioheat transfer model is presented. In the method, the bioheat transfer model is transformed into a time-dependent semidiscrete system of ordinary differential equations involving perfusion coefficient values as parameters, and the estimation problem is solved through a nonlinear least squares technique. In particular, the bioheat problem is solved by the method of lines based on a highly accurate pseudospectral approach, and perfusion coefficient values are estimated by the regularized Gauss-Newton method coupled with a proper regularization parameter. The performance of the method on several test problems is illustrated numerically.

Use of Soil Moisture Variability in Artificial Neural Network Retrieval of Soil Moisture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bert Veenendaal

2009-12-01

solving the problem of predicting “out-of-range” soil moisture values. However, the applicability of this method is highly dependent on the accuracy of the mean and standard deviation values within the sub-region, potentially limiting its routine application.

Embankment quality and assessment of moisture control implementation : tech transfer summary.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-01

The motivation for this project was based on work by : Iowa State University (ISU) researchers at a few recent : grading projects that demonstrated embankments were : being constructed outside moisture control limits, even : though the contractor QC ...

Quality Assurance of Rice and Paddy Moisture Measurements in Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Sinhaneti, T.; Keawprasert, T.; Puuntharo, P.; Triarun, W.

2017-10-01

A bilateral comparison in moisture measurement between the National Institute of Metrology Thailand (NIMT) and the Central Bureau of Weights and Measures (CBWM) was organized for quality assuring of rice and paddy moisture measurement in Thailand. The bilateral comparison was conducted by using the same batch of sample and moisture meter as transfer device. It consisted of two parts: moisture measurement in rice and in paddy. A rice moisture meter belonging to CBWM and rice standards prepared at the nominal moisture content of 10 %, 12 %, 14 % and 16 % at NIMT, were used for rice moisture comparison, while a paddy moisture meter belonging to NIMT and paddy standards prepared at the nominal moisture content of 12 %, 14 %, 16 % and 18 % at CBWM, were used for paddy moisture comparison. Both laboratories measured the moisture content of a sample by using the standard method in ISO 712 and used that sample to calibrate a moisture meter by means of the method based on ISO 7700-1. Since the moisture content of the sample can change during the comparison, correction values in moisture content between the standard value and the reading value from the moisture meter are used as calibration results for the comparison evaluation. For the rice moisture comparison, differences in the correction value measured by the two laboratories vary from 0.18 % to 0.46 %, with their combined comparison uncertainty of 0.37 % (k= 2). The main contribution to the difference comes from the standard values from both laboratories differing from 0.27 % to 0.53 %, as the rice standard was found to drift in moisture content less than 0.05 %. Similarly to the rice moisture comparison, differences in the correction value for the paddy moisture measurement range from 0.08 % to 0.56 % with the combined comparison uncertainty of 0.38 % (k = 2), whereas the stability in moisture content of the paddy sample at NIMT was found to be within 0.12 %.

A geometrical multi-scale numerical method for coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates.

Science.gov (United States)

Lenarda, P; Paggi, M

A comprehensive computational framework based on the finite element method for the simulation of coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates is herein proposed. While the thermo-mechanical problem takes place in the three-dimensional space of the laminate, moisture diffusion occurs in a two-dimensional domain represented by the polymeric layers and by the vertical channel cracks in the solar cells. Therefore, a geometrical multi-scale solution strategy is pursued by solving the partial differential equations governing heat transfer and thermo-elasticity in the three-dimensional space, and the partial differential equation for moisture diffusion in the two dimensional domains. By exploiting a staggered scheme, the thermo-mechanical problem is solved first via a fully implicit solution scheme in space and time, with a specific treatment of the polymeric layers as zero-thickness interfaces whose constitutive response is governed by a novel thermo-visco-elastic cohesive zone model based on fractional calculus. Temperature and relative displacements along the domains where moisture diffusion takes place are then projected to the finite element model of diffusion, coupled with the thermo-mechanical problem by the temperature and crack opening dependent diffusion coefficient. The application of the proposed method to photovoltaic modules pinpoints two important physical aspects: (i) moisture diffusion in humidity freeze tests with a temperature dependent diffusivity is a much slower process than in the case of a constant diffusion coefficient; (ii) channel cracks through Silicon solar cells significantly enhance moisture diffusion and electric degradation, as confirmed by experimental tests.

Moisture diffusivity in structure of random fractal fiber bed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Fanglong, E-mail: zhufanglong_168@163.com [College of Textile, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou City (China); The Chinese People' s Armed Police Forces Academy, Langfan City (China); Zhou, Yu; Feng, Qianqian [College of Textile, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou City (China); Xia, Dehong [School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing (China)

2013-11-08

A theoretical expression related to effective moisture diffusivity to random fiber bed is derived by using fractal theory and considering both parallel and perpendicular channels to diffusion flow direction. In this Letter, macroporous structure of hydrophobic nonwoven material is investigated, and Knudsen diffusion and surface diffusion are neglected. The effective moisture diffusivity predicted by the present fractal model are compared with water vapor transfer rate (WVTR) experiment data and calculated values obtained from other theoretical models. This verifies the validity of the present fractal diffusivity of fibrous structural beds.

Analytical methods for heat transfer and fluid flow problems

CERN Document Server

Weigand, Bernhard

2015-01-01

This book describes useful analytical methods by applying them to real-world problems rather than solving the usual over-simplified classroom problems. The book demonstrates the applicability of analytical methods even for complex problems and guides the reader to a more intuitive understanding of approaches and solutions. Although the solution of Partial Differential Equations by numerical methods is the standard practice in industries, analytical methods are still important for the critical assessment of results derived from advanced computer simulations and the improvement of the underlying numerical techniques. Literature devoted to analytical methods, however, often focuses on theoretical and mathematical aspects and is therefore useless to most engineers. Analytical Methods for Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Problems addresses engineers and engineering students. The second edition has been updated, the chapters on non-linear problems and on axial heat conduction problems were extended. And worked out exam...

Homogenization of a Conductive-Radiative Heat Transfer Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Habibi Zakaria

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the contribution of the second order corrector in periodic homogenization applied to a conductive-radiative heat transfer problem. Especially, for a heat conduction problem in a periodically perforated domain with a non-local boundary condition modelling the radiative heat transfer, if this model contains an oscillating thermal source and a thermal exchange with the perforations, the second order corrector helps us to model the gradients which appear between the source area and the perforations. Ce papier est consacré à montrer l’influence du correcteur de second ordre en homogénéisation périodique. Dans l’homogénéisation d’un problème de conduction rayonnement dans un domaine périodiquement perforé par plusieurs trous, on peut voir une contribution non négligeable de ce correcteur lors de la présence d’une source thermique oscillante et d’un échange thermique dans les perforations. Ce correcteur nous permet de modéliser les gradients qui apparaissent entre la zone de la source thermique et les perforations.

Moisture ingress into electronics enclosures under isothermal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Staliulionis, Ž.; Jabbari, M.; Hattel, J. H.

2016-01-01

The number of electronics used in outdoor environment is constantly growing. The humidity causes about 19 % of all electronics failures and, especially, moisture increases these problems due to the ongoing process of miniaturization and lower power consumption of electronic components. Moisture loads are still not understood well by design engineers, therefore this field has become one of the bottlenecks in the electronics system design. The objective of this paper is to model moisture ingress into an electronics enclosure under isothermal conditions. The moisture diffusion model is based on a 1D quasi-steady state (QSS) approximation for Fick’s second law. This QSS approach is also described with an electrical analogy which gives a fast tool in modelling of the moisture response. The same QSS method is applied to ambient water vapour variations. The obtained results are compared to an analytical solution and very good agreement is found.

Investigation on Moisture and Indoor Environment in Eight Danish Houses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kasper Risgaard; Jensen, Rasmus Lund; Nørgaard, Jesper

2011-01-01

then need to be ventilated actively either by natural or mechanical ventilation. Increased focus on energy reduction together with requirements for e.g. thermal comfort indoors may lead to reduced indoor air quality and moisture problems which in turn may cause mould problems. This paper describes...... an investigation of the indoor air quality, relative humidity and air change rate in eight Danish houses. The houses were selected as they are all having recurrent problems with condensation on the windows. The houses were built between 1930 and 2007. Some of them have been only slightly renovated where others......, to indoor air quality in terms of CO2 concentration, and to the use of the house in terms of the level of the relative humidity and indoor moisture excess. Furthermore, the moisture production in the houses was estimated and compared to values provided in the literature. A better indoor air quality...

Some New Results in Astrophysical Problems of Nonlinear Theory of Radiative Transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Pikichyan, H. V.

2017-07-01

In the interpretation of the observed astrophysical spectra, a decisive role is related to nonlinear problems of radiative transfer, because the processes of multiple interactions of matter of cosmic medium with the exciting intense radiation ubiquitously occur in astrophysical objects, and in their vicinities. Whereas, the intensity of the exciting radiation changes the physical properties of the original medium, and itself was modified, simultaneously, in a self-consistent manner under its influence. In the present report, we show that the consistent application of the principle of invariance in the nonlinear problem of bilateral external illumination of a scattering/absorbing one-dimensional anisotropic medium of finite geometrical thickness allows for simplifications that were previously considered as a prerogative only of linear problems. The nonlinear problem is analyzed through the three methods of the principle of invariance: (i) an adding of layers, (ii) its limiting form, described by differential equations of invariant imbedding, and (iii) a transition to the, so-called, functional equations of the "Ambartsumyan's complete invariance". Thereby, as an alternative to the Boltzmann equation, a new type of equations, so-called "kinetic equations of equivalence", are obtained. By the introduction of new functions - the so-called "linear images" of solution of nonlinear problem of radiative transfer, the linear structure of the solution of the nonlinear problem under study is further revealed. Linear images allow to convert naturally the statistical characteristics of random walk of a "single quantum" or their "beam of unit intensity", as well as widely known "probabilistic interpretation of phenomena of transfer", to the field of nonlinear problems. The structure of the equations obtained for determination of linear images is typical of linear problems.

Simulation of heat transfer in the unsaturated zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zyvoloski, G.

1990-01-01

Heat transfer can play an important role in fluid flow near the emplacement site of high-level nuclear waste. The effects on far- field flow can be important in understanding net moisture fluxes above the repository zone. The convection in the unsaturated zone at the Yucca Mountain site was responsible for this movement. If this is so, then the convection could provide a mechanism for drying the rock above the repository zone and thus provide a buffer for heavy rainfall events. In addition, the convection would increase the movement of gaseous radionuclides such as 14 CO 2 , tritiated water vapor, and 129 I (Weeks, 1987). Because of the complexity of the problem, numerical models were required to calculate gas flow and vapor transport at the site. Kipp previously modeled this problem using the code HST3D. This code represents the flow of a single-phase fluid with both heat- and mass-transfer effects included. Water density and partial pressure effects are accounted for by the virtual temperature method. In this paper, the problem was simulated using the code FEHMN, a finite-element heat- and mass-transfer code being developed for the Yucca Mountain Project. The work described in this paper was done in preparation of the upcoming problem to be formulated for the Performance Assessment Calculation Exercise. 5 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

Industrial Application of Topology Optimization for Combined Conductive and Convective Heat Transfer Problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Mingdong; Alexandersen, Joe; Sigmund, Ole

2016-01-01

This paper presents an industrial application of topology optimization for combined conductive and convective heat transfer problems. The solution is based on a synergy of computer aided design and engineering software tools from Dassault Systemes. The considered physical problem of steady......-state heat transfer under convection is simulated using SIMULIA-Abaqus. A corresponding topology optimization feature is provided by SIMULIA-Tosca. By following a standard workflow of design optimization, the proposed solution is able to accommodate practical design scenarios and results in efficient...

Study of water mass transfer dynamics in frescoes by dielectric spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olmi, R.; Riminesi, C.

2008-01-01

The knowledge of moisture content (M C) is essential for determining the state of preservation of various types of hand-work: from building materials such as bricks and concrete, to objects of artistic value, in particular frescoes and mural paintings. In all above, moisture is the primary source of damages, as it affects the durability of porous materials. Dielectric properties of porous materials are strongly affected by the presence of water, suggesting dielectric spectroscopy as a suitable non-invasive diagnostic technique. The development of a quantitative relationship between M C and permittivity requires to investigate the dynamics of water mass transfer in porous media, and to determine its effect on the dielectric properties. In this paper a coupled mass transfer/dielectric problem is introduced and solved numerically, based on a finite element model. Results are compared to experimental dielectric measurements performed on plaster samples by the open coaxial method. The application of the dielectric technique to frescoes monitoring is proposed, showing the results obtained is an on-site study.

Time series modeling of soil moisture dynamics on a steep mountainous hillside

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sanghyun

2016-05-01

The response of soil moisture to rainfall events along hillslope transects is an important hydrologic process and a critical component of interactions between soil vegetation and the atmosphere. In this context, the research described in this article addresses the spatial distribution of soil moisture as a function of topography. In order to characterize the temporal variation in soil moisture on a steep mountainous hillside, a transfer function, including a model for noise, was introduced. Soil moisture time series with similar rainfall amounts, but different wetness gradients were measured in the spring and fall. Water flux near the soil moisture sensors was modeled and mathematical expressions were developed to provide a basis for input-output modeling of rainfall and soil moisture using hydrological processes such as infiltration, exfiltration and downslope lateral flow. The characteristics of soil moisture response can be expressed in terms of model structure. A seasonal comparison of models reveals differences in soil moisture response to rainfall, possibly associated with eco-hydrological process and evapotranspiration. Modeling results along the hillslope indicate that the spatial structure of the soil moisture response patterns mainly appears in deeper layers. Similarities between topographic attributes and stochastic model structures are spatially organized. The impact of temporal and spatial discretization scales on parameter expression is addressed in the context of modeling results that link rainfall events and soil moisture.

Moisture Durability with Vapor-Permeable Insulating Sheathing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Lstiburek, J. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-09-01

Exterior sheathing insulation is an effective strategy in increasing the overall R-value of wall assemblies; other benefits include decreasing the effects of thermal bridging and increasing the moisture durability of the built assembly. Vapor-permeable exterior insulation, such as mineral board or expanded polystyrene foam, are one such product that may be used to achieve these benefits. However, uncertainty exists on the effects of inward driven moisture and the interaction of increased sheathing temperatures on the moisture durability of the edifice. To address these concerns, Building Science Corporation (BSC) conducted a series of hygrothermal models for cities representing a range of different climate zones. This report describes the research project, key research questions, and the procedures utilized to analyse the problems.

Moisture Durability with Vapor-Permeable Insulating Sheathing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Lstiburek, J. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-09-01

Exterior sheathing insulation is an effective strategy in increasing the overall R-value of wall assemblies; other benefits include decreasing the effects of thermal bridging and increasing the moisture durability of the built assembly. Vapor-permeable exterior insulation, such as mineral board or expanded polystyrene foam, are one such product that may be used to achieve these benefits. However,uncertainty exists on the effects of inward driven moisture and the interaction of increased sheathing temperatures on the moisture durability of the edifice. To address these concerns, Building Science Corporation (BSC) conducted a series of hygrothermal models for cities representing a range of different climate zones. This report describes the research project, key research questions, and theprocedures utilized to analyse the problems.

Solving fractal steady heat-transfer problems with the local fractional Sumudu transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Yi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the linear oscillator problem in fractal steady heat-transfer is studied within the local fractional theory. In particular, the local fractional Sumudu transform (LFST will be used to solve both the homogeneous and the non-homogeneous local fractional oscillator equations (LFOEs under fractal steady heat-transfer. It will be shown that the obtained non-differentiable solutions characterize the fractal phenomena with and without the driving force in fractal steady heat transfer at low excess temperatures.

Moisture Control Guidance for Commercial and Public Buildings (EPA 402-F-13053)

Science.gov (United States)

This document provides guidance to designers, construction mangers, and building operation/maintenance managers to improve IEQ and reduce risks of encountering IEQ problems due to insufficient moisture control. EPA will be producing a document entitled "Moisture Control Guida...

Assimilation of microwave brightness temperatures for soil moisture estimation using particle filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bi, H Y; Ma, J W; Qin, S X; Zeng, J Y

2014-01-01

Soil moisture plays a significant role in global water cycles. Both model simulations and remote sensing observations have their limitations when estimating soil moisture on a large spatial scale. Data assimilation (DA) is a promising tool which can combine model dynamics and remote sensing observations to obtain more precise ground soil moisture distribution. Among various DA methods, the particle filter (PF) can be applied to non-linear and non-Gaussian systems, thus holding great potential for DA. In this study, a data assimilation scheme based on the residual resampling particle filter (RR-PF) was developed to assimilate microwave brightness temperatures into the macro-scale semi-distributed Variance Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Model to estimate surface soil moisture. A radiative transfer model (RTM) was used to link brightness temperatures with surface soil moisture. Finally, the data assimilation scheme was validated by experimental data obtained at Arizona during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2004 (SMEX04). The results show that the estimation accuracy of soil moisture can be improved significantly by RR-PF through assimilating microwave brightness temperatures into VIC model. Both the overall trends and specific values of the assimilation results are more consistent with ground observations compared with model simulation results

Heat Transfer in Directional Water Transport Fabrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Zeng

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Directional water transport fabrics can proactively transfer moisture from the body. They show great potential in making sportswear and summer clothing. While moisture transfer has been previously reported, heat transfer in directional water transport fabrics has been little reported in research literature. In this study, a directional water transport fabric was prepared using an electrospraying technique and its heat transfer properties under dry and wet states were evaluated, and compared with untreated control fabric and the one pre-treated with NaOH. All the fabric samples showed similar heat transfer features in the dry state, and the equilibrium temperature in the dry state was higher than for the wet state. Wetting considerably enhanced the thermal conductivity of the fabrics. Our studies indicate that directional water transport treatment assists in moving water toward one side of the fabric, but has little effect on thermal transfer performance. This study may be useful for development of “smart” textiles for various applications.

Moisture Control Guidance for Commercial and Public ...

Science.gov (United States)

This document provides guidance to designers, construction mangers, and building operation/maintenance managers to improve IEQ and reduce risks of encountering IEQ problems due to insufficient moisture control. EPA will be producing a document entitled

Predicting temperature and moisture distributions in conditioned spaces using the zonal approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendonca, K.C. [Parana Pontifical Catholic Univ., Curitiba (Brazil); Wurtz, E.; Inard, C. [La Rochelle Univ., La Rochelle, Cedex (France). LEPTAB

2005-07-01

Moisture interacts with building elements in a number of different ways that impact upon building performance, causing deterioration of building materials, as well as contributing to poor indoor air quality. In humid climates, moisture represents one of the major loads in conditioned spaces. It is therefore important to understand and model moisture transport accurately. This paper discussed an intermediate zonal approach to building a library of data in order to predict whole hygrothermal behavior in conditioned rooms. The zonal library included 2 models in order to consider building envelope moisture buffering effects as well as taking into account the dynamic aspect of jet airflow in the zonal method. The zonal library was then applied to a case study to show the impact of external humidity on the whole hygrothermal performance of a room equipped with a vertical fan-coil unit. The proposed theory was structured into 3 groups representing 3 building domains: indoor air; envelope; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The indoor air sub-model related to indoor air space, where airflow speed was considered to be low. The envelope sub-model related to the radiation exchanges between the envelope and its environment as well as to the heat and mass transfers through the envelope material. The HVAC system sub-model referred to the whole system including equipment, control and specific airflow from the equipment. All the models were coupled into SPARK, where the resulting set of non-linear equations were solved simultaneously. A case study of a large office conditioned by a vertical fan-coil unit with a rectangular air supply diffuser was presented. Details of the building's external and internal environment were provided, as well as convective heat and mass transfer coefficients and temperature distributions versus time. Results of the study indicated that understanding building material moisture buffering effects is as important as

Galvanic Cell Type Sensor for Soil Moisture Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaikwad, Pramod; Devendrachari, Mruthyunjayachari Chattanahalli; Thimmappa, Ravikumar; Paswan, Bhuneshwar; Raja Kottaichamy, Alagar; Makri Nimbegondi Kotresh, Harish; Thotiyl, Musthafa Ottakam

2015-07-21

Here we report the first potentiometric sensor for soil moisture analysis by bringing in the concept of Galvanic cells wherein the redox energies of Al and conducting polyaniline are exploited to design a battery type sensor. The sensor consists of only simple architectural components, and as such they are inexpensive and lightweight, making it suitable for on-site analysis. The sensing mechanism is proved to be identical to a battery type discharge reaction wherein polyaniline redox energy changes from the conducting to the nonconducting state with a resulting voltage shift in the presence of soil moisture. Unlike the state of the art soil moisture sensors, a signal derived from the proposed moisture sensor is probe size independent, as it is potentiometric in nature and, hence, can be fabricated in any shape or size and can provide a consistent output signal under the strong aberration conditions often encountered in soil moisture analysis. The sensor is regenerable by treating with 1 M HCl and can be used for multiple analysis with little read out hysteresis. Further, a portable sensor is fabricated which can provide warning signals to the end user when the moisture levels in the soil go below critically low levels, thereby functioning as a smart device. As the sensor is inexpensive, portable, and potentiometric, it opens up avenues for developing effective and energy efficient irrigation strategies, understanding the heat and water transfer at the atmosphere-land interface, understanding soil mechanics, forecasting the risk of natural calamities, and so on.

Moisture content analysis of covered uranium mill tailings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayer, D.W.; Beedlow, P.A.; Cadwell, L.L.

1981-12-01

The use of vegetation and rock covers to stabilize uranium mill tailings cover systems is being investigated by Pacific Northwest Laboratory. A modeling study of moisture movement through the tailings and cover layers was initiated to determine the effect of the stabilizing techniques. The cover system was simulated under climatic conditions occurring at Grand Junction, Colorado. The cover consisted of a layer of wet clay/gravel mix followed by a capillary barrier of washed rock and a surface layer of fill soil. Vegetation and rock were used to stabilize the surface layer. The simulation yielded moisture content and moisture storage values for the tailings and cover system along with information about moisture losses due to evaporation, transpiration, and drainage. The study demonstrates that different surface stabilization treatments lead to different degrees of moisture retention in the covered tailings pile. The evapotranspiration from vegetation can result in a relatively stable moisture content. Rock covers, however, may cause drainage to occur because they reduce evaporation and lead to a subsequent increase in moisture content. It is important to consider these effects when designing a surface stabilization treatment. Drainage may contribute to a groundwater pollution problem. A surface treatment that allows the cover system to dry out can increase the risk of atmospheric contamination through elevated radon emission rates

A metaheuristic for a numerical approximation to the mass transfer problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avendaño-Garrido Martha L.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This work presents an improvement of the approximation scheme for the Monge-Kantorovich (MK mass transfer problem on compact spaces, which is studied by Gabriel et al. (2010, whose scheme discretizes the MK problem, reduced to solve a sequence of finite transport problems. The improvement presented in this work uses a metaheuristic algorithm inspired by scatter search in order to reduce the dimensionality of each transport problem. The new scheme solves a sequence of linear programming problems similar to the transport ones but with a lower dimension. The proposed metaheuristic is supported by a convergence theorem. Finally, examples with an exact solution are used to illustrate the performance of our proposal.

SOFC LSM:YSZ cathode degradation induced by moisture: An impedance spectroscopy study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jimmi; Mogensen, Mogens Bjerg

2011-01-01

The cause of the degradation effect of moisture during operation of LSM cathode based SOFCs has been investigated by means of a detailed impedance characterization on LSM:YSZ composite cathode based SOFCs. Further the role of YSZ as cathode composite material was studied by measurements on SOFCs...... with a LSM:CGO composite cathode on a CGO interdiffusion barrier layer. It was found that both types of cathodes showed similar electrochemical characteristics towards the presence of moisture during operation. Upon addition and removal of moisture in the fed air the impedance study showed a change...... in the high frequency cathode arc, which is associated with the charge transport/transfer at the LSM/YSZ interface. On prolonged operation with the presence of moisture an ongoing increase in the high frequency cathode arc resulted in a permanent loss of cathode/electrolyte contact and thus increase...

Drought monitoring with soil moisture active passive (SMAP) measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Ashok; Vu, Tue; Veettil, Anoop Valiya; Entekhabi, Dara

2017-09-01

Recent launch of space-borne systems to estimate surface soil moisture may expand the capability to map soil moisture deficit and drought with global coverage. In this study, we use Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture geophysical retrieval products from passive L-band radiometer to evaluate its applicability to forming agricultural drought indices. Agricultural drought is quantified using the Soil Water Deficit Index (SWDI) based on SMAP and soil properties (field capacity and available water content) information. The soil properties are computed using pedo-transfer function with soil characteristics derived from Harmonized World Soil Database. The SMAP soil moisture product needs to be rescaled to be compatible with the soil parameters derived from the in situ stations. In most locations, the rescaled SMAP information captured the dynamics of in situ soil moisture well and shows the expected lag between accumulations of precipitation and delayed increased in surface soil moisture. However, the SMAP soil moisture itself does not reveal the drought information. Therefore, the SMAP based SWDI (SMAP_SWDI) was computed to improve agriculture drought monitoring by using the latest soil moisture retrieval satellite technology. The formulation of SWDI does not depend on longer data and it will overcome the limited (short) length of SMAP data for agricultural drought studies. The SMAP_SWDI is further compared with in situ Atmospheric Water Deficit (AWD) Index. The comparison shows close agreement between SMAP_SWDI and AWD in drought monitoring over Contiguous United States (CONUS), especially in terms of drought characteristics. The SMAP_SWDI was used to construct drought maps for CONUS and compared with well-known drought indices, such as, AWD, Palmer Z-Index, sc-PDSI and SPEI. Overall the SMAP_SWDI is an effective agricultural drought indicator and it provides continuity and introduces new spatial mapping capability for drought monitoring. As an

Macroscopic lattice Boltzmann model for heat and moisture transfer process with phase transformation in unsaturated porous media during freezing process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Wenyu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In the current study, a macroscopic lattice Boltzmann model for simulating the heat and moisture transport phenomenon in unsaturated porous media during the freezing process was proposed. The proposed model adopted percolation threshold to reproduce the extra resistance in frozen fringe during the freezing process. The freezing process in Kanagawa sandy loam soil was demonstrated by the proposed model. The numerical result showed good agreement with the experimental result. The proposed model also offered higher computational efficiency and better agreement with the experimental result than the existing numerical models. Lattice Boltzmann method is suitable for simulating complex heat and mass transfer process in porous media at macroscopic scale under proper dimensionless criterion, which makes it a potentially powerful tool for engineering application.

Green tea moisturizer improves skin hydration in elderly

OpenAIRE

Oentarini Tjandra; Linda J Wijayadi; Marcella E Rumawas

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND Dry skin is a major skin health problem in elderly. Green tea, which has an antioxidant effect, has recently been used as an active ingredient in moisturizing creams; yet the effect has not been well studied. This study compares the skin hydration effect of green tea and vitamin E moisturizer among elderly. METHODS This quasi-experimental study involved 60 elderly living in Tresna Werda Budi Mulia 4 Social Institution, Jakarta. Using the Runve HL 611 skin analyzer, skin c...

Estimating Soil Organic Carbon of Cropland Soil at Different Levels of Soil Moisture Using VIS-NIR Spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qinghu Jiang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Soil organic carbon (SOC is an essential property for soil function, fertility and sustainability of agricultural systems. It can be measured with visible and near-infrared reflectance (VIS-NIR spectroscopy efficiently based on empirical equations and spectra data for air/oven-dried samples. However, the spectral signal is interfered with by soil moisture content (MC under in situ conditions, which will affect the accuracy of measurements and calibration transfer among different areas. This study aimed to (1 quantify the influences of MC on SOC prediction by VIS-NIR spectroscopy; and (2 explore the potentials of orthogonal signal correction (OSC and generalized least squares weighting (GLSW methods in the removal of moisture interference. Ninety-eight samples were collected from the Jianghan plain, China, and eight MCs were obtained for each sample by a rewetting process. The VIS-NIR spectra of the rewetted soil samples were measured in the laboratory. Partial least squares regression (PLSR was used to develop SOC prediction models. Specifically, three validation strategies, namely moisture level validation, transferability validation and mixed-moisture validation, were designed to test the potentials of OSC and GLSW in removing the MC effect. Results showed that all of the PLSR models generated at different moisture levels (e.g., 50–100, 250–300 g·kg−1 were moderately successful in SOC predictions (r2pre = 0.58–0.85, RPD = 1.55–2.55. These models, however, could not be transferred to soil samples with different moisture levels. OSC and GLSW methods are useful filter transformations improving model transferability. The GLSW-PLSR model (mean of r2pre = 0.77, root mean square error for prediction (RMSEP = 3.08 g·kg−1, and residual prediction deviations (RPD = 2.09 outperforms the OSC-PLSR model (mean of r2pre = 0.67, RMSEP = 3.67 g·kg−1, and RPD = 1.76 when the moisture-mixed protocol is used. Results demonstrated the use of OSC

Solving implicit multi-mesh flow and conjugate heat transfer problems with RELAP-7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, L.; Peterson, J.; Zhao, H.; Zhang, H.; Andrs, D.; Martineau, R.

2013-01-01

The fully implicit simulation capability of RELAP-7 to solve multi-mesh flow and conjugate heat transfer problems for reactor system safety analysis is presented. Compared to general single-mesh simulations, the reactor system safety analysis-type of code has unique challenges due to its highly simplified, interconnected, one-dimensional, and zero-dimensional flow network describing multiple physics with significantly different time and length scales. To use the Jacobian-free Newton Krylov-type of solver, preconditioning is generally required for the Krylov method. The uniqueness of the reactor safety analysis-type of code in treating the interconnected flow network and conjugate heat transfer also introduces challenges in providing preconditioning matrix. Typical flow and conjugate heat transfer problems involved in reactor safety analysis using RELAP-7, as well as the special treatment on the preconditioning matrix are presented in detail. (authors)

Simulation of whole building coupled hygrothermal-airflow transfer in different climates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Menghao; Walton, George; Belarbi, Rafik; Allard, Francis

2011-01-01

The coupled heat, air and moisture transfer between building envelopes and indoor air is complicated, and has a significant influence on the indoor environment and the energy performance of buildings. In the paper, a model for predicting coupled multi-zone hygrothermal-airflow transfer is presented. Both heat and moisture transfer in the building envelope and multi-zone indoor airflow are simultaneously considered; their interactions are modeled. The coupled system model is implemented into Matlab-Simulink, and is validated by using a series of testing tools and experiments. The new program is applied to investigate the moisture transfer effect on indoor air humidity and building energy consumption in different climates (hot-humid, temperate and hot-dry climates). The results show that not accounting for hygrothermal effects in modeling will result in overestimation of energy costs for hot and humid climate situations and possible over sizing of plant leading to inefficient operation.

Measurement of moisture depth distribution in composite materials using positron lifetime technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.J.; Holt, W.H.; Mock, W. Jr.; Mall, G.H.

1980-01-01

Fiber-reinforced resin matrix composites reportedly suffer significant degradation in their mechanical properties when exposed to hot, moist, environments for extended periods. Moisture weakens the fiber matrix bond as well as the matrix shear strength. An important factor in determining the extent of degradation is the depth distribution of moisture in the resin matrix. Despite the importance of measuring moisture distribution and its effects on composite material properties, not enough data are available on suitable nondestructive techniques for detecting and measuring moisture diffusion in organic composite materials. This paper addresses itself to the problem of measuring the moisture content of such materials, with special emphasis on its depth distribution, using positron lifetime technique

An analytical solution to the heat transfer problem in thick-walled hunt flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bluck, Michael J; Wolfendale, Michael J

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Convective heat transfer in Hunt type flow of a liquid metal in a rectangular duct. • Analytical solution to the H1 constant peripheral temperature in a rectangular duct. • New H1 result demonstrating the enhancement of heat transfer due to flow distortion by the applied magnetic field. • Analytical solution to the H2 constant peripheral heat flux in a rectangular duct. • New H2 result demonstrating the reduction of heat transfer due to flow distortion by the applied magnetic field. • Results are important for validation of CFD in magnetohydrodynamics and for implementation of systems code approaches. - Abstract: The flow of a liquid metal in a rectangular duct, subject to a strong transverse magnetic field is of interest in a number of applications. An important application of such flows is in the context of coolants in fusion reactors, where heat is transferred to a lead-lithium eutectic. It is vital, therefore, that the heat transfer mechanisms are understood. Forced convection heat transfer is strongly dependent on the flow profile. In the hydrodynamic case, Nusselt numbers and the like, have long been well characterised in duct geometries. In the case of liquid metals in strong magnetic fields (magnetohydrodynamics), the flow profiles are very different and one can expect a concomitant effect on convective heat transfer. For fully developed laminar flows, the magnetohydrodynamic problem can be characterised in terms of two coupled partial differential equations. The problem of heat transfer for perfectly electrically insulating boundaries (Shercliff case) has been studied previously (Bluck et al., 2015). In this paper, we demonstrate corresponding analytical solutions for the case of conducting hartmann walls of arbitrary thickness. The flow is very different from the Shercliff case, exhibiting jets near the side walls and core flow suppression which have profound effects on heat transfer.

Extent of moisture and mould damage in structures of public buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petri J. Annila

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The study concentrated on the extent of moisture and mould damage in different structures in 25 public buildings in Finland. Users of all the buildings had health symptoms suspected to be the result of moisture and mould damage, which is why moisture performance assessments had been performed. The assessment reports on each building were available as research material. The reports indicated that the examined buildings suffered from multiple moisture and mould problems in several different structures. On average, however, a relatively small proportion of the total number of structures had suffered damage. On the basis of the research material, damage was most extensive in walls in soil contact (16.3% and base floor structures (12.5%. The lowest damage rates were found in partition walls (2.4%, external walls (2.6% and intermediate floors (2.5%. The results of the study underline the importance of thorough moisture performance assessments to ensure that all point-sized moisture and mould damage is detected.

Moisture conditions in buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten

2012-01-01

Growth of mould requires the presence of moisture at a certain high level. In a heated indoor environment such moisture levels occur only if there is a reason for the moisture supply. Such moisture can come from the use of the building, because of malfunctioning constructions, or it can be the re......Growth of mould requires the presence of moisture at a certain high level. In a heated indoor environment such moisture levels occur only if there is a reason for the moisture supply. Such moisture can come from the use of the building, because of malfunctioning constructions, or it can...

Observer Based Fault Detection and Moisture Estimating in Coal Mill

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Mataji, Babak

2008-01-01

In this paper an observer-based method for detecting faults and estimating moisture content in the coal in coal mills is presented. Handling of faults and operation under special conditions, such as high moisture content in the coal, are of growing importance due to the increasing...... requirements to the general performance of power plants. Detection  of faults and moisture content estimation are consequently of high interest in the handling of the problems caused by faults and moisture content. The coal flow out of the mill is the obvious variable to monitor, when detecting non-intended drops in the coal...... flow out of the coal mill. However, this variable is not measurable. Another estimated variable is the moisture content, which is only "measurable" during steady-state operations of the coal mill. Instead, this paper suggests a method where these unknown variables are estimated based on a simple energy...

A Novel Bias Correction Method for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS Soil Moisture: Retrieval Ensembles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju Hyoung Lee

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Bias correction is a very important pre-processing step in satellite data assimilation analysis, as data assimilation itself cannot circumvent satellite biases. We introduce a retrieval algorithm-specific and spatially heterogeneous Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV bias correction method for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS soil moisture. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to present the probabilistic presentation of SMOS soil moisture using retrieval ensembles. We illustrate that retrieval ensembles effectively mitigated the overestimation problem of SMOS soil moisture arising from brightness temperature errors over West Africa in a computationally efficient way (ensemble size: 12, no time-integration. In contrast, the existing method of Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF matching considerably increased the SMOS biases, due to the limitations of relying on the imperfect reference data. From the validation at two semi-arid sites, Benin (moderately wet and vegetated area and Niger (dry and sandy bare soils, it was shown that the SMOS errors arising from rain and vegetation attenuation were appropriately corrected by ensemble approaches. In Benin, the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSEs decreased from 0.1248 m3/m3 for CDF matching to 0.0678 m3/m3 for the proposed ensemble approach. In Niger, the RMSEs decreased from 0.14 m3/m3 for CDF matching to 0.045 m3/m3 for the ensemble approach.

Regularization and computational methods for precise solution of perturbed orbit transfer problems

Science.gov (United States)

Woollands, Robyn Michele

The author has developed a suite of algorithms for solving the perturbed Lambert's problem in celestial mechanics. These algorithms have been implemented as a parallel computation tool that has broad applicability. This tool is composed of four component algorithms and each provides unique benefits for solving a particular type of orbit transfer problem. The first one utilizes a Keplerian solver (a-iteration) for solving the unperturbed Lambert's problem. This algorithm not only provides a "warm start" for solving the perturbed problem but is also used to identify which of several perturbed solvers is best suited for the job. The second algorithm solves the perturbed Lambert's problem using a variant of the modified Chebyshev-Picard iteration initial value solver that solves two-point boundary value problems. This method converges over about one third of an orbit and does not require a Newton-type shooting method and thus no state transition matrix needs to be computed. The third algorithm makes use of regularization of the differential equations through the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation and extends the domain of convergence over which the modified Chebyshev-Picard iteration two-point boundary value solver will converge, from about one third of an orbit to almost a full orbit. This algorithm also does not require a Newton-type shooting method. The fourth algorithm uses the method of particular solutions and the modified Chebyshev-Picard iteration initial value solver to solve the perturbed two-impulse Lambert problem over multiple revolutions. The method of particular solutions is a shooting method but differs from the Newton-type shooting methods in that it does not require integration of the state transition matrix. The mathematical developments that underlie these four algorithms are derived in the chapters of this dissertation. For each of the algorithms, some orbit transfer test cases are included to provide insight on accuracy and efficiency of these

On the assimilation of satellite derived soil moisture in numerical weather prediction models

Science.gov (United States)

Drusch, M.

2006-12-01

Satellite derived surface soil moisture data sets are readily available and have been used successfully in hydrological applications. In many operational numerical weather prediction systems the initial soil moisture conditions are analysed from the modelled background and 2 m temperature and relative humidity. This approach has proven its efficiency to improve surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and consequently the forecast on large geographical domains. However, since soil moisture is not always related to screen level variables, model errors and uncertainties in the forcing data can accumulate in root zone soil moisture. Remotely sensed surface soil moisture is directly linked to the model's uppermost soil layer and therefore is a stronger constraint for the soil moisture analysis. Three data assimilation experiments with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have been performed for the two months period of June and July 2002: A control run based on the operational soil moisture analysis, an open loop run with freely evolving soil moisture, and an experimental run incorporating bias corrected TMI (TRMM Microwave Imager) derived soil moisture over the southern United States through a nudging scheme using 6-hourly departures. Apart from the soil moisture analysis, the system setup reflects the operational forecast configuration including the atmospheric 4D-Var analysis. Soil moisture analysed in the nudging experiment is the most accurate estimate when compared against in-situ observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. The corresponding forecast for 2 m temperature and relative humidity is almost as accurate as in the control experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that the soil moisture analysis influences local weather parameters including the planetary boundary layer height and cloud coverage. The transferability of the results to other satellite derived soil moisture data sets will be discussed.

Dual and primal mixed Petrov-Galerkin finite element methods in heat transfer problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loula, A.F.D.; Toledo, E.M.

1988-12-01

New mixed finite element formulations for the steady state heat transfer problem are presented with no limitation in the choice of conforming finite element spaces. Adding least square residual forms of the governing equations of the classical Galerkin formulation the original saddle point problem is transformed into a minimization problem. Stability analysis, error estimates and numerical results are presented, confirming the error estimates and the good performance of this new formulation. (author) [pt

Comparative measurements of heat and moisture transfer in different wood-based building elements; Vergleichende Untersuchungen zum Feuchte- und Waermeverhalten unterschiedlicher Holzbauelemente

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joscak, Matus; Sonderegger, Walter; Niemz, Peter [ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Baustoffe, Arbeitsgruppe Holzphysik, Zuerich (Switzerland); Holm, Andreas; Krus, Martin; Grosskinsky, Theo; Lengsfeld, Kristin [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Bauphysik, Valley (Germany); Grunewald, John; Plagge, Rudolf [Technische Universitaet Dresden, Institut fuer Bauklimatik, Dresden (Germany)

2011-10-15

At the campus of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) in Holzkirchen/Germany comparative measurements of heat and moisture transfer in five different wood-based building elements were carried out (wood construction with slotted wood elements, solid wood construction connected with wooden dowels, new developed soft fibreboard brick construction, solid wood panel construction, wood frame construction with stacked wood elements). The elements were installed on the west side of the test building and examined during one year. The following physical quantities were measured: indoor climate, external and internal surface temperatures, temperatures in the boundary layers, heat flux through the internal surface of the constructions, relative humidity and moisture content. Furthermore, the measured data were used for validation of the simulation softwares WUFI {sup registered} Pro and Delphin. During winter, the measured U-values (from unsteady-state values) were compared with steady-state calculated U-values. Both values were well coincident. Moreover, the simulation results achieved good agreement by using the thermal conductivity values measured at ETH Zurich, which were considerably lower than the standard values. Although, the four elements had been covered with a non rear-ventilated facade, no critical values of relative humidity were measured inside the constructions. The simulation results of relative humidity have partly shown large deviations from measured data by both simulation softwares.

Understanding natural moisturizing mechanisms: implications for moisturizer technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandar, Prem; Nole, Greg; Johnson, Anthony W

2009-07-01

Dry skin and moisturization are important topics because they impact the lives of many individuals. For most individuals, dry skin is not a notable concern and can be adequately managed with current moisturizing products. However, dry skin can affect the quality of life of some individuals because of the challenges of either harsh environmental conditions or impaired stratum corneum (SC) dry skin protection processes resulting from various common skin diseases. Dry skin protection processes of the SC, such as the development of natural moisturizing factor (NMF), are complex, carefully balanced, and easily perturbed. We discuss the importance of the filaggrin-NMF system and the composition of NMF in both healthy and dry skin, and also reveal new insights that suggest the properties required for a new generation of moisturizing technologies.

Study of Material Moisture Measurement Method and Instrument by the Combination of Fast Neutron Absorption and γ Absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Chaoqin; Gong Yalin; Zhang Wei; Shang Qingmin; Li Yanfeng; Gou Qiangyuan; Yin Deyou

2010-01-01

To solve the problem of on-line sinter moisture measurement in the iron making plant, we developed material moisture measurement method and instrument by the combination of fast neutron absorption and y-absorption. It overcomes the present existed problems of other moisture meters for the sinter. Compare with microwave moisture meter, the measurement dose not affected by conductance and magnetism of material; to infrared moisture meter, the measurement result dose not influenced by colour and light-reflect performance of material surface, dose not influenced by changes of material kind; to slow neutron scatter moisture meter, the measurement dose not affected by density of material and thickness of hopper wall; to the moisture measurement meter which combined by slow neutron penetrate through and y-absorption, there are definite math model and good linear relation between the measurement values, and the measurement dose not affected by material thickness, changes of material form and component. (authors)

Opto-thermal moisture content and moisture depth profile measurements in organic materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xiao, P.; Guo, X.; Cui, Y.Y.; Imhof, R.; Bicanic, D.D.

2004-01-01

Opto-thermal transient emission radiometry(OTTER) is a infrared remote sensing technique, which has been successfully used in in vivo skin moisture content and skin moisture depth profiling measurements.In present paper, we extend this moisture content measurement capability to analyze the moisture

Experimental study of moisture-driven distortion and fracture in solid wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Finn; Ormarsson, Sigurdur; Olesen, John Forbes

2010-01-01

Moisture-induced fracture and lack of shape stability in solid wood products are well known problems to the saw-milling and building industries. Cracks that initiate during the drying process may cause severe material losses and the building industry may be forced to use alternative building....... An experimental study has been performed to reveal the cracking behaviour of Norway spruce during drying from green moisture content down to equilibrium moisture content (EMC) at a temperature of 22-24°C and a RH of 64%. The moisture related strains and crack widths were measured with a digital image correlation...... than the thinner ones (15 mm) and the crack patterns developed differently. For the thicker discs the early cracks which may partly be caused by the moisture gradient in the longitudinal direction of the log, closed and became invisible later during the drying process. This indicates that sealing...

Evaluation of Assimilated SMOS Soil Moisture Data for US Cropland Soil Moisture Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhengwei; Sherstha, Ranjay; Crow, Wade; Bolten, John; Mladenova, Iva; Yu, Genong; Di, Liping

2016-01-01

Remotely sensed soil moisture data can provide timely, objective and quantitative crop soil moisture information with broad geospatial coverage and sufficiently high resolution observations collected throughout the growing season. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using the assimilated ESA Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS)Mission L-band passive microwave data for operational US cropland soil surface moisture monitoring. The assimilated SMOS soil moisture data are first categorized to match with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) survey based weekly soil moisture observation data, which are ordinal. The categorized assimilated SMOS soil moisture data are compared with NASSs survey-based weekly soil moisture data for consistency and robustness using visual assessment and rank correlation. Preliminary results indicate that the assimilated SMOS soil moisture data highly co-vary with NASS field observations across a large geographic area. Therefore, SMOS data have great potential for US operational cropland soil moisture monitoring.

High resolution soil moisture radiometer. [large space structures

Science.gov (United States)

Wilheit, T. T.

1978-01-01

An electrically scanned pushbroom phased antenna array is described for a microwave radiometer which can provide agriculturally meaningful measurements of soil moisture. The antenna size of 100 meters at 1400 MHz or 230 meters at 611 MHz requires several shuttle launches and orbital assembly. Problems inherent to the size of the structure and specific instrument problems are discussed as well as the preliminary design.

Problems with multiple use of transfer buffer in protein electrophoretic transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorri, Yaser; Kurien, Biji T; Scofield, R Hal

2010-04-01

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and SDS-PAGE are the two most useful methods in protein separation. Proteins separated by 2DE or SDS-PAGE are usually transferred to membranes using a variety of methods, such as electrophoretic transfer, heat-mediated transfer, or nonelectrophoretic transfer, for specific protein detection and/or analysis. In a recent study, Pettegrew et al. claim to reuse transfer buffer containing methanol for at least five times for transferring proteins from SDS-PAGE to polyvinylidene difluoride. They add 150-200 ml fresh transfer solution each time for extended use as a result of loss of transfer buffer. Finally, they test efficiency of each protein transfer by chemiluminescence detection. Here, we comment on this report, as we believe this method is not accurate and useful for protein analysis, and it can cause background binding as well as inaccurate protein analysis.

Improving agricultural drought monitoring in West Africa using root zone soil moisture estimates derived from NDVI

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, A.; Funk, C. C.; Yatheendradas, S.; Michaelsen, J.; Cappelarere, B.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Verdin, J. P.

2012-12-01

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) relies heavily on remotely sensed rainfall and vegetation data to monitor agricultural drought in Sub-Saharan Africa and other places around the world. Analysts use satellite rainfall to calculate rainy season statistics and force crop water accounting models that show how the magnitude and timing of rainfall might lead to above or below average harvest. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is also an important indicator of growing season progress and is given more weight over regions where, for example, lack of rain gauges increases error in satellite rainfall estimates. Currently, however, near-real time NDVI is not integrated into a modeling framework that informs growing season predictions. To meet this need for our drought monitoring system a land surface model (LSM) is a critical component. We are currently enhancing the FEWS NET monitoring activities by configuring a custom instance of NASA's Land Information System (LIS) called the FEWS NET Land Data Assimilation System. Using the LIS Noah LSM, in-situ measurements, and remotely sensed data, we focus on the following questions: What is the relationship between NDVI and in-situ soil moisture measurements over the West Africa Sahel? How can we use this relationship to improve modeled water and energy fluxes over the West Africa Sahel? We investigate soil moisture and NDVI cross-correlation in the time and frequency domain to develop a transfer function model to predict soil moisture from NDVI. This work compares sites in southwest Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali to test the generality of the transfer function. For several sites with fallow and millet vegetation in the Wankama catchment in southwest Niger we developed a non-parametric frequency response model, using NDVI inputs and soil moisture outputs, that accurately estimates root zone soil moisture (40-70cm). We extend this analysis by developing a low order parametric transfer function

Multiscale soil moisture estimates using static and roving cosmic-ray soil moisture sensors

Science.gov (United States)

McJannet, David; Hawdon, Aaron; Baker, Brett; Renzullo, Luigi; Searle, Ross

2017-12-01

Soil moisture plays a critical role in land surface processes and as such there has been a recent increase in the number and resolution of satellite soil moisture observations and the development of land surface process models with ever increasing resolution. Despite these developments, validation and calibration of these products has been limited because of a lack of observations on corresponding scales. A recently developed mobile soil moisture monitoring platform, known as the rover, offers opportunities to overcome this scale issue. This paper describes methods, results and testing of soil moisture estimates produced using rover surveys on a range of scales that are commensurate with model and satellite retrievals. Our investigation involved static cosmic-ray neutron sensors and rover surveys across both broad (36 × 36 km at 9 km resolution) and intensive (10 × 10 km at 1 km resolution) scales in a cropping district in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. We describe approaches for converting rover survey neutron counts to soil moisture and discuss the factors controlling soil moisture variability. We use independent gravimetric and modelled soil moisture estimates collected across both space and time to validate rover soil moisture products. Measurements revealed that temporal patterns in soil moisture were preserved through time and regression modelling approaches were utilised to produce time series of property-scale soil moisture which may also have applications in calibration and validation studies or local farm management. Intensive-scale rover surveys produced reliable soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution while broad-scale surveys produced soil moisture estimates at 9 km resolution. We conclude that the multiscale soil moisture products produced in this study are well suited to future analysis of satellite soil moisture retrievals and finer-scale soil moisture models.

THE INFLUENCE OF RAW MATERIAL ON THE LIQUID MOISTURE TRANSPORT THROUGH KNITTED FABRIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

COLDEA Alina

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The comfort is undoubtedly the most important human attribute depends upon the moisture transport which in turn depends on the moisture transport behavior of the knitted fabric. Moisture transport is the transfer of liquid water capillary interstices of the yarns and depends on the wettability of fiber surfaces, as well as the structure of the yarn and fabric. Because of its good water absorption property, cotton is often used for next-to-skin wear such as t-shirts, underwear, socks. All these are known as ``moisture management`` which means the ability of a textile fabric to transport moisture away from the skin to the garment’s outer surface in multi-dimensions and it is one of the key performance criteria in today’s apparel industry since it has a significant effect on the human perception of moisture sensations. In order to study, plated knitted fabric for socks were knitted as plated single jersey in the same production conditions, from different types of yarns, produced in different yarn counts (Ne 20, Ne 24, Ne 30 and different raw material. (cotton, bamboo, soybean, polyester, viscose. Were chose two different density on circular knitting machine. The liquid moisture management of the samples was measured in order to determinate moisture transport index. Was study also the influence of raw material and fabric structure related to the moisture transport index. According to the obtained results, it was found that some of the knitted fabrics used in this study have goodmoisture management capability.

Tools for Performance Simulation of Heat, Air and Moisture Conditions of Whole Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Woloszyn, Monika; Rode, Carsten

2008-01-01

Humidity of indoor air is an important factor influencing the air quality and energy consumption of buildings as well as durability of building components. Indoor humidity depends on several factors, such as moisture sources, air change, sorption in materials and possible condensation. Since all...... and moisture transfer processes that take place in “whole buildings” by considering all relevant parts of its constituents. It is believed that full understanding of these processes for the whole building is absolutely crucial for future energy optimization of buildings, as this cannot take place without...

Moisture Content Monitoring of a Timber Footbridge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niclas Björngrim

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Construction of modern timber bridges has greatly increased during the last 20 years in Sweden. Wood as a construction material has several advantageous properties, e.g., it is renewable, sustainable, and aesthetically pleasing, but it is also susceptible to deterioration. To protect wood from deterioration and ensure the service life, the wood is either treated or somehow covered. This work evaluates a technology to monitor the moisture content in wood constructions. Monitoring the moisture content is important both to verify the constructive protection and for finding areas with elevated levels of moisture which might lead to a microbiological attack of the wood. In this work, a timber bridge was studied. The structure was equipped with six wireless sensors that measured the moisture content of the wood and the relative humidity every hour. Data for 744 days of the bridge are presented in this paper. Results show that the technology used to monitor the bridge generally works; however, there were issues due to communication problems and malfunction of sensors. This technology is promising for monitoring the state of wood constructions, but a more reliable sensor technology is warranted continuous remote monitoring of wood bridges over long periods of time.

Enhancing Noah Land Surface Model Prediction Skill over Indian Subcontinent by Assimilating SMOPS Blended Soil Moisture

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Akhilesh S. Nair

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In the present study, soil moisture assimilation is conducted over the Indian subcontinent, using the Noah Land Surface Model (LSM and the Soil Moisture Operational Products System (SMOPS observations by utilizing the Ensemble Kalman Filter. The study is conducted in two stages involving assimilation of soil moisture and simulation of brightness temperature (Tb using radiative transfer scheme. The results of data assimilation in the form of simulated Surface Soil Moisture (SSM maps are evaluated for the Indian summer monsoonal months of June, July, August, September (JJAS using the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM AMSR-E soil moisture as reference. Results of comparative analysis using the Global land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS SSM is also discussed over India. Data assimilation using SMOPS soil moisture shows improved prediction over the Indian subcontinent, with an average correlation of 0.96 and average root mean square difference (RMSD of 0.0303 m3/m3. The results are promising in comparison with the GLDAS SSM, which has an average correlation of 0.93 and average RMSD of 0.0481 m3/m3. In the second stage of the study, the assimilated soil moisture is used to simulate X-band brightness temperature (Tb at an incidence angle of 55° using the Community Microwave Emission Model (CMEM Radiative transfer Model (RTM. This is aimed to study the sensitivity of the parameterization scheme on Tb simulation over the Indian subcontinent. The result of Tb simulation shows that the CMEM parameterization scheme strongly influences the simulated top of atmosphere (TOA brightness temperature. Furthermore, the Tb simulations from Wang dielectric model and Kirdyashev vegetation model shows better similarity with the actual AMSR-E Tb over the study region.

Transfer Learning for Class Imbalance Problems with Inadequate Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Stouhi, Samir; Reddy, Chandan K

2016-07-01

A fundamental problem in data mining is to effectively build robust classifiers in the presence of skewed data distributions. Class imbalance classifiers are trained specifically for skewed distribution datasets. Existing methods assume an ample supply of training examples as a fundamental prerequisite for constructing an effective classifier. However, when sufficient data is not readily available, the development of a representative classification algorithm becomes even more difficult due to the unequal distribution between classes. We provide a unified framework that will potentially take advantage of auxiliary data using a transfer learning mechanism and simultaneously build a robust classifier to tackle this imbalance issue in the presence of few training samples in a particular target domain of interest. Transfer learning methods use auxiliary data to augment learning when training examples are not sufficient and in this paper we will develop a method that is optimized to simultaneously augment the training data and induce balance into skewed datasets. We propose a novel boosting based instance-transfer classifier with a label-dependent update mechanism that simultaneously compensates for class imbalance and incorporates samples from an auxiliary domain to improve classification. We provide theoretical and empirical validation of our method and apply to healthcare and text classification applications.

Moisture parameters and fungal communities associated with gypsum drywall in buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dedesko, Sandra; Siegel, Jeffrey A

2015-12-08

Uncontrolled excess moisture in buildings is a common problem that can lead to changes in fungal communities. In buildings, moisture parameters can be classified by location and include assessments of moisture in the air, at a surface, or within a material. These parameters are not equivalent in dynamic indoor environments, which makes moisture-induced fungal growth in buildings a complex occurrence. In order to determine the circumstances that lead to such growth, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of in situ moisture measurement, the influence of building factors on moisture parameters, and the levels of these moisture parameters that lead to indoor fungal growth. Currently, there are disagreements in the literature on this topic. A literature review was conducted specifically on moisture-induced fungal growth on gypsum drywall. This review revealed that there is no consistent measurement approach used to characterize moisture in laboratory and field studies, with relative humidity measurements being most common. Additionally, many studies identify a critical moisture value, below which fungal growth will not occur. The values defined by relative humidity encompassed the largest range, while those defined by moisture content exhibited the highest variation. Critical values defined by equilibrium relative humidity were most consistent, and this is likely due to equilibrium relative humidity being the most relevant moisture parameter to microbial growth, since it is a reasonable measure of moisture available at surfaces, where fungi often proliferate. Several sources concur that surface moisture, particularly liquid water, is the prominent factor influencing microbial changes and that moisture in the air and within a material are of lesser importance. However, even if surface moisture is assessed, a single critical moisture level to prevent fungal growth cannot be defined, due to a number of factors, including variations in fungal genera and

Semi-analog Monte Carlo (SMC) method for time-dependent non-linear three-dimensional heterogeneous radiative transfer problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Sung Hwan

2004-02-01

Radiative transfer is a complex phenomenon in which radiation field interacts with material. This thermal radiative transfer phenomenon is composed of two equations which are the balance equation of photons and the material energy balance equation. The two equations involve non-linearity due to the temperature and that makes the radiative transfer equation more difficult to solve. During the last several years, there have been many efforts to solve the non-linear radiative transfer problems by Monte Carlo method. Among them, it is known that Semi-Analog Monte Carlo (SMC) method developed by Ahrens and Larsen is accurate regard-less of the time step size in low temperature region. But their works are limited to one-dimensional, low temperature problems. In this thesis, we suggest some method to remove their limitations in the SMC method and apply to the more realistic problems. An initially cold problem was solved over entire temperature region by using piecewise linear interpolation of the heat capacity, while heat capacity is still fitted as a cubic curve within the lowest temperature region. If we assume the heat capacity to be linear in each temperature region, the non-linearity still remains in the radiative transfer equations. We then introduce the first-order Taylor expansion to linearize the non-linear radiative transfer equations. During the linearization procedure, absorption-reemission phenomena may be described by a conventional reemission time sampling scheme which is similar to the repetitive sampling scheme in particle transport Monte Carlo method. But this scheme causes significant stochastic errors, which necessitates many histories. Thus, we present a new reemission time sampling scheme which reduces stochastic errors by storing the information of absorption times. The results of the comparison of the two schemes show that the new scheme has less stochastic errors. Therefore, the improved SMC method is able to solve more realistic problems with

The solution of radiative transfer problems in molecular bands without the LTE assumption by accelerated lambda iteration methods

Science.gov (United States)

Kutepov, A. A.; Kunze, D.; Hummer, D. G.; Rybicki, G. B.

1991-01-01

An iterative method based on the use of approximate transfer operators, which was designed initially to solve multilevel NLTE line formation problems in stellar atmospheres, is adapted and applied to the solution of the NLTE molecular band radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres. The matrices to be constructed and inverted are much smaller than those used in the traditional Curtis matrix technique, which makes possible the treatment of more realistic problems using relatively small computers. This technique converges much more rapidly than straightforward iteration between the transfer equation and the equations of statistical equilibrium. A test application of this new technique to the solution of NLTE radiative transfer problems for optically thick and thin bands (the 4.3 micron CO2 band in the Venusian atmosphere and the 4.7 and 2.3 micron CO bands in the earth's atmosphere) is described.

Heat transfer problems in gas-cooled solid blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fillo, J.A.; Powell, J.R.

1976-01-01

In all fusion reactors using the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, a large fraction approximately 80 percent of the fusion energy will be released as approximately 14 MeV neutrons which must be slowed down in a relatively thick blanket surrounding the plasma, thereby, converting their kinetic energy to high temperature heat which can be continuously removed by a coolant stream and converted in part to electricity in a conventional power turbine. Because of the primary goal of achieving minimum radioactivity, to date Brookhaven blanket concepts have been restricted to the use of some form of solid lithium, with inert gas-cooling and in some design cases, water-cooling of the shell structure. Aluminum and graphite have been identified as very promising structural materials for fusion blankets, and conceptual designs based on these materials have been made. Depending on the thermal loading on the ''first'' wall which surrounds the plasma as well as blanket design, heat transfer problems may be noticeably different in gas-cooled solid blankets. Approaches to solution of heat removal problems as well as explanation of: (a) the after-heat problems in blankets; (b) tritium breeding in solids; and (c) materials selection for radiation shields relative to the minimum activity blanket efforts at Brookhaven are discussed

Validation of soil moisture ocean salinity (SMOS) satellite soil moisture products

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The surface soil moisture state controls the partitioning of precipitation into infiltration and runoff. High-resolution observations of soil moisture will lead to improved flood forecasts, especially for intermediate to large watersheds where most flood damage occurs. Soil moisture is also key in d...

The Effect of Using an Explicit General Problem Solving Teaching Approach on Elementary Pre-Service Teachers' Ability to Solve Heat Transfer Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Mataka, Lloyd M.; Cobern, William W.; Grunert, Megan L.; Mutambuki, Jacinta; Akom, George

2014-01-01

This study investigate the effectiveness of adding an "explicit general problem solving teaching strategy" (EGPS) to guided inquiry (GI) on pre-service elementary school teachers' ability to solve heat transfer problems. The pre-service elementary teachers in this study were enrolled in two sections of a chemistry course for pre-service…

Use of active and passive microwave remote sensing for soil moisture estimation through corn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Neill, P.E.; Chauhan, N.S.; Jackson, T.J.

1996-01-01

Over the past several years NASA, USDA, and Princeton University have collaborated to conduct hydrology field experiments in instrumented research watersheds in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma with a goal of characterizing the spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture using microwave sensors. As part of these experiments, L-band radar data from both truck and aircraft sensors were used to validate the performance of a vegetation scattering model in which discrete scatter random media techniques were employed to calculate vegetation transmissivity and scattering. These parameters were then used in a soil moisture prediction algorithm based on a radiative transfer approach utilizing aircraft passive microwave data from the L-band PBMR and ESTAR radiometers. Soil moisture was predicted in both experiments for several large corn fields which represented the densest vegetation canopies of all the test fields. Over the 20 per cent change in soil moisture encountered in the experiments, the match of predicted to measured soil moisture was excellent, with an average absolute error of about 0 · 02 cm 3 cm −3 . (author)

Uncertainty Assessment of Space-Borne Passive Soil Moisture Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Quets, Jan; De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Reichle, Rolf; Cosh, Michael; van der Schalie, Robin; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre

2017-01-01

The uncertainty associated with passive soil moisture retrieval is hard to quantify, and known to be underlain by various, diverse, and complex causes. Factors affecting space-borne retrieved soil moisture estimation include: (i) the optimization or inversion method applied to the radiative transfer model (RTM), such as e.g. the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA), or the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), (ii) the selection of the observed brightness temperatures (Tbs), e.g. polarization and incidence angle, (iii) the definition of the cost function and the impact of prior information in it, and (iv) the RTM parameterization (e.g. parameterizations officially used by the SMOS L2 and SMAP L2 retrieval products, ECMWF-based SMOS assimilation product, SMAP L4 assimilation product, and perturbations from those configurations). This study aims at disentangling the relative importance of the above-mentioned sources of uncertainty, by carrying out soil moisture retrieval experiments, using SMOS Tb observations in different settings, of which some are mentioned above. The ensemble uncertainties are evaluated at 11 reference CalVal sites, over a time period of more than 5 years. These experimental retrievals were inter-compared, and further confronted with in situ soil moisture measurements and operational SMOS L2 retrievals, using commonly used skill metrics to quantify the temporal uncertainty in the retrievals.

Mass transfer parameters of celeriac during vacuum drying

Science.gov (United States)

Beigi, Mohsen

2017-04-01

An accurate prediction of moisture transfer parameters is very important for efficient mass transfer analysis, accurate modelling of drying process, and better designing of new dryers and optimization of existing drying process. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of temperature (e.g., 55, 65 and 75 °C) and chamber pressure (e.g., 0.1, 3, 7, 10, 13 and 17 kPa) on effective diffusivity and convective mass transfer coefficient of celeriac slices during vacuum drying. The obtained Biot number indicated that the moisture transfer in the celeriac slices was controlled by both internal and external resistance. The effective diffusivity obtained to be in the ranges of 7.5231 × 10-10-3.8015 × 10-9 m2 s-1. The results showed that the diffusivity increased with increasing temperature and decreasing pressure. The mass transfer coefficient values varied from 4.6789 × 10-7 to 1.0059 × 10-6 m s-1, and any increment in drying temperature and pressure caused an increment in the coefficient.

Characterization of seeds with different moisture content by photoacoustic microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dominguez Pacheco, Arturo; Hernandez Aguilar, Claudia; Marinez Ortiz, Efrain [Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Sepi-Esime, Zacatenco. Unidad Profesional ' Adolfo Lopez Mateos' . Col. Lindavista. Mexico D.F., CP 07738 (Mexico); Cruz-Orea, Alfredo; Ayala-Maycotte, Esther, E-mail: fartur@hotmail.co [Departamento de Fisica, CINVESTAV - IPN, A. P. 14-740, Mexico D.F., C.P. 07360 (Mexico)

2010-03-01

Photoacoustic (PA) technique has important applications for material characterization and nondestructive evaluation of opaque solid materials. PA microscopy allows the acquisition of information of samples with inhomogeneous structures as agricultural seeds. A determining factor for seed safe storage is their moisture content. Seeds stored at high moisture content exhibit increased respiration, heating, and fungal invasion resulting in poor seed vigor and viability. Low moisture content, in the seed to be stored, is the best prevention for these problems. In this study, Photoacoustic Microscopy (PAM) was used to characterize seeds with different moisture content. In the PAM experimental setup the photoacoustic cell and its sensor, an electret microphone, are mounted on an x-y stage of mobile axes, with spatial resolution of 70 {mu}m. The excitation light source is a fiber coupled laser diode, at 650 nm wavelength, modulated in intensity at 1 Hz of frequency, by the reference oscillator of a lock-in amplifier. By using a microscope objective the laser beam was focused on the seed surface. The resolution was enough to obtain differences in the obtained images, which are dependent on the moisture content. This method, to study differences in the seed moisture content, is nondestructive and could be useful for a sustainable Agriculture.

RESEARCH OF MOISTURE MIGRATION DURING PARTIAL FREEZING OF GROUND BEEF

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V. M. Stefanovskiy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of «ideal product» is proposed for the study of mass transfer during partial freezing of food products by freezing plate. The ideal product is a product, in which number of factors affecting the «real product» (meat are excluded. These factors include chemical composition of meat, quality grade of raw material (NOR, DFD, PSE, cryoscopic temperature that determines the degree of water transformation into ice, the phenomenon of osmosis, rate of freezing, etc. By using the concept of «ideal product» and its implementation in a physical experiment, it is proved that the “piston effect” causing the migration of moisture is due to frozen crust formation during partial freezing of the body. During partial freezing of the product by freezing plate, «ideal» and «real» food environment is transformed from closed system into open one with inflow of moisture to unfrozen part of the body. In the «ideal product», there is an expulsion of unfrozen moisture from freezing front, so the water appears on the body surface. Thus, the displacement of moisture increases by the same law, according to which the thickness (weight of frozen layer increases. During partial freezing of ground meat, moisture does not appear on the surface of the product, but hydrates the unfrozen part of meat. The reason of this phenomenon is the expulsion of water during formation of frozen crust and water-binding capacity of meat.

Evaluation of the Influence of Wind-Driven Rain on Moisture in Cellular Concrete Wall Boards

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Alsabry A.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The non-stationary moisture level of a cellular concrete wall board in a heated utility building located in the northern part of the town of Brest (Belarus, depending on the climatic influence, was assessed in this work. The results were obtained both in a calculation experiment and a physical test. It was observed that the main reason for the high moisture levels in cellular concrete is wind-driven rain intensifying the process of free capillary moisture transfer. A comparative analysis of the results of the physical test and the calculation experiment showed that the THSS software elaborated by the authors was able to predict the actual moisture levels of the shielding structure under study accurately enough when precise data concerning the thermal and physical characteristics of the materials as well as the occurring climatic influences were submitted.

Evaluation of the Influence of Wind-Driven Rain on Moisture in Cellular Concrete Wall Boards

Science.gov (United States)

Alsabry, A.; Nikitsin, V. I.; Kofanov, V. A.; Backiel-Brzozowska, B.

2017-08-01

The non-stationary moisture level of a cellular concrete wall board in a heated utility building located in the northern part of the town of Brest (Belarus), depending on the climatic influence, was assessed in this work. The results were obtained both in a calculation experiment and a physical test. It was observed that the main reason for the high moisture levels in cellular concrete is wind-driven rain intensifying the process of free capillary moisture transfer. A comparative analysis of the results of the physical test and the calculation experiment showed that the THSS software elaborated by the authors was able to predict the actual moisture levels of the shielding structure under study accurately enough when precise data concerning the thermal and physical characteristics of the materials as well as the occurring climatic influences were submitted.

The method of predicting the process of condensation of moisture and hydrate formation in the gas pipeline

OpenAIRE

Хвостова, Олена Вікторівна

2014-01-01

The problem of ensuring the required value of one of the natural gas quality indicators during its transportation to the consumer - moisture content is considered in the paper. The method for predicting possible moisture condensation and hydrate formation processes in gas pipelines considering mixing gas flows with different moisture content was developed.Predicting the moisture condensation and hydrate formation in gas pipelines is an actual task since a timely prevention of these processes ...

Moisture content of PuO2 fuel used for the milliwatt generator heat source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zanotelli, W.A.

1980-01-01

The determination of the moisture content of 238 Pu dioxide fuel for use in Milliwatt Generator heat sources was studied in an attempt to more clearly define the production fuel preloading procedures. The study indicated that water was not present or being adsorbed at various steps of the process (or during storage) that could lead to compatibility problems during pretreatment or long-term storage. The moisture content of the plutonium dioxide was analyzed by a commercial moisture analyzer. The moisture content at all steps of the process including storage averaged from 0.002% to 0.005%. The moisture content of the plutonium dioxide exposed to moist atmosphere for 7 days was 0.001%. These values indicated that no significant amount of moisture was adsorbed by the plutonium dioxide fuel charges. The only significant moisture content found was an average of 3.47%, after self-calcination. This was expected since no additional steps, other than self-heating of the fuel, are taken to remove the water

Creating soil moisture maps based on radar satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Hnatushenko, Volodymyr; Garkusha, Igor; Vasyliev, Volodymyr

2017-10-01

The presented work is related to a study of mapping soil moisture basing on radar data from Sentinel-1 and a test of adequacy of the models constructed on the basis of data obtained from alternative sources. Radar signals are reflected from the ground differently, depending on its properties. In radar images obtained, for example, in the C band of the electromagnetic spectrum, soils saturated with moisture usually appear in dark tones. Although, at first glance, the problem of constructing moisture maps basing on radar data seems intuitively clear, its implementation on the basis of the Sentinel-1 data on an industrial scale and in the public domain is not yet available. In the process of mapping, for verification of the results, measurements of soil moisture obtained from logs of the network of climate stations NOAA US Climate Reference Network (USCRN) were used. This network covers almost the entire territory of the United States. The passive microwave radiometers of Aqua and SMAP satellites data are used for comparing processing. In addition, other supplementary cartographic materials were used, such as maps of soil types and ready moisture maps. The paper presents a comparison of the effect of the use of certain methods of roughening the quality of radar data on the result of mapping moisture. Regression models were constructed showing dependence of backscatter coefficient values Sigma0 for calibrated radar data of different spatial resolution obtained at different times on soil moisture values. The obtained soil moisture maps of the territories of research, as well as the conceptual solutions about automation of operations of constructing such digital maps, are presented. The comparative assessment of the time required for processing a given set of radar scenes with the developed tools and with the ESA SNAP product was carried out.

Soil moisture inversion from aircraft passive microwave observations during SMEX04 using a single-frequency algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, J Y; Li, Z; Chen, Q; Bi, H Y

2014-01-01

Soil moisture plays a key role in global water cycles. In the study, soil moisture retrievals from airborne microwave radiometer observations using a single-frequency algorithm were presented. The algorithm is based on a simplified radiative transfer (tau-omega) model and the influence of both the roughness and vegetation is combined into a single parameter in the algorithm. The microwave polarization difference index (MPDI) is used to eliminate the effects of temperature. Then soil moisture is obtained through a nonlinear iterative procedure by making the absolute value of the differences between the simulated and observed MPDI minimum. The algorithm was validated with aircraft passive microwave data from the Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) at the Arizona during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2004 (SMEX04). The results show that the soil moisture retrieved by the algorithm is in good agreement with ground measurements with a small bias and an overall accuracy of 0.037m 3 m −3

Measurement of moisture motion under a temperature gradient in a concrete for SNR-300 using thermal neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelinger, A.

1975-01-01

For describing the behavior of the moisture in the concrete of the containment of SNR-300 in a hypothetical accident parameters were determined experimentally. The method is based on transmission of thermal neutrons through a plate of concrete. When a temperature of 170 deg C was applied at one end of the plate migration of moisture and evaporation took place. This could be observed by neutron radiography giving a gross picture of moisture migration. Furthermore the intensity of the transmitted neutron beam was measured with a neutron counter. From these values profiles of the change of moisture concentration could be obtained with a spatial resolution of few millimeters. The method used is entirely different from the conventional moisture meters which use fast neutrons. From the experimental data the mass transfer coefficient of vapour, the diffusion coefficient of vapour in concrete and the porosity of the concrete could be determined

Assessing student expertise in introductory physics with isomorphic problems. II. Effect of some potential factors on problem solving and transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chandralekha Singh

2008-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we explore the use of isomorphic problem pairs (IPPs to assess introductory physics students’ ability to solve and successfully transfer problem-solving knowledge from one context to another in mechanics. We call the paired problems “isomorphic” because they require the same physics principle to solve them. We analyze written responses and individual discussions for a range of isomorphic problems. We examine potential factors that may help or hinder transfer of problem-solving skills from one problem in a pair to the other. For some paired isomorphic problems, one context often turned out to be easier for students in that it was more often correctly solved than the other. When quantitative and conceptual questions were paired and given back to back, students who answered both questions in the IPP often performed better on the conceptual questions than those who answered the corresponding conceptual questions only. Although students often took advantage of the quantitative counterpart to answer a conceptual question of an IPP correctly, when only given the conceptual question, students seldom tried to convert it into a quantitative question, solve it, and then reason about the solution conceptually. Even in individual interviews when students who were given only conceptual questions had difficulty and the interviewer explicitly encouraged them to convert the conceptual question into the corresponding quantitative problem by choosing appropriate variables, a majority of students were reluctant and preferred to guess the answer to the conceptual question based upon their gut feeling. Misconceptions associated with friction in some problems were so robust that pairing them with isomorphic problems not involving friction did not help students discern their underlying similarities. Alternatively, from the knowledge-in-pieces perspective, the activation of the knowledge resource related to friction was so strongly and automatically

On-line moisture analysis

CERN Document Server

Cutmore, N G

2002-01-01

Measurement of the moisture content of iron ore has become a key issue for controlling moisture additions for dust suppression. In most cases moisture content is still determined by manual or automatic sampling of the ore stream, followed by conventional laboratory analysis by oven drying. Although this procedure enables the moisture content to be routinely monitored, it is too slow for control purposes. This has generated renewed interest in on-line techniques for the accurate and rapid measurement of moisture in iron ore on conveyors. Microwave transmission techniques have emerged over the past 40 years as the dominant technology for on-line measurement of moisture in bulk materials, including iron ores. Alternative technologies have their limitations. Infra-red analysers are used in a variety of process industries, but rely on the measurement of absorption by moisture in a very thin surface layer. Consequently such probes may be compromised by particle size effects and biased presentation of the bulk mater...

Edible moisture barriers: how to assess of their potential and limits in food products shelf-life extension?

Science.gov (United States)

Bourlieu, C; Guillard, V; Vallès-Pamiès, B; Guilbert, S; Gontard, N

2009-05-01

Control of moisture transfer inside composite food products or between food and its environment remains today a major challenge in food preservation. A wide rage of film-forming compounds is now available and facilitates tailoring moisture barriers with optimized functional properties. Despite these huge potentials, a realistic assessment of the film or coating efficacy is still critical. Due to nonlinear water sorption isotherms, water-dependent diffusivities, and variations of physical state, modelling transport phenomena through edible barriers is complex. Water vapor permeability can hardly be considered as an inherent property of films and only gives a relative indication of the barrier efficacy. The formal or mechanistic models reported in literature that describe the influence of testing conditions on the barrier properties of edible films are reviewed and discussed. Most of these models have been validated on a narrow range of conditions. Conversely, few original predictive models based on Fick's Second Law have been developed to assess shelf-life extension of food products including barriers. These models, assuming complex and realistic hypothesis, have been validated in various model foods. The development of nondestructive methods of moisture content measurement should speed up model validation and allow a better comprehension of moisture transfer through edible films.

Inter-Annual Variability of Soil Moisture Stress Function in the Wheat Field

Science.gov (United States)

Akuraju, V. R.; Ryu, D.; George, B.; Ryu, Y.; Dassanayake, K. B.

2014-12-01

Root-zone soil moisture content is a key variable that controls the exchange of water and energy fluxes between land and atmosphere. In the soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer (SVAT) schemes, the influence of root-zone soil moisture on evapotranspiration (ET) is parameterized by the soil moisture stress function (SSF). Dependence of actual ET: potential ET (fPET) or evaporative fraction to the root-zone soil moisture via SSF can also be used inversely to estimate root-zone soil moisture when fPET is estimated by remotely sensed land surface states. In this work we present fPET versus available soil water (ASW) in the root zone observed in the experimental farm sites in Victoria, Australia in 2012-2013. In the wheat field site, fPET vs ASW exhibited distinct features for different soil depth, net radiation, and crop growth stages. Interestingly, SSF in the wheat field presented contrasting shapes for two cropping years of 2012 and 2013. We argue that different temporal patterns of rainfall (and resulting soil moisture) during the growing seasons in 2012 and 2013 are responsible for the distinctive SSFs. SSF of the wheat field was simulated by the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM). The APSIM was able to reproduce the observed fPET vs. ASW. We discuss implications of our findings for existing modeling and (inverse) remote sensing approaches relying on SSF and alternative growth-stage-dependent SSFs.

Comptonization in Ultra-Strong Magnetic Fields: Numerical Solution to the Radiative Transfer Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccobello, C.; Farinelli, R.; Titarchuk, L.

2014-01-01

We consider the radiative transfer problem in a plane-parallel slab of thermal electrons in the presence of an ultra-strong magnetic field (B approximately greater than B(sub c) approx. = 4.4 x 10(exp 13) G). Under these conditions, the magnetic field behaves like a birefringent medium for the propagating photons, and the electromagnetic radiation is split into two polarization modes, ordinary and extraordinary, that have different cross-sections. When the optical depth of the slab is large, the ordinary-mode photons are strongly Comptonized and the photon field is dominated by an isotropic component. Aims. The radiative transfer problem in strong magnetic fields presents many mathematical issues and analytical or numerical solutions can be obtained only under some given approximations. We investigate this problem both from the analytical and numerical point of view, provide a test of the previous analytical estimates, and extend these results with numerical techniques. Methods. We consider here the case of low temperature black-body photons propagating in a sub-relativistic temperature plasma, which allows us to deal with a semi-Fokker-Planck approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The problem can then be treated with the variable separation method, and we use a numerical technique to find solutions to the eigenvalue problem in the case of a singular kernel of the space operator. The singularity of the space kernel is the result of the strong angular dependence of the electron cross-section in the presence of a strong magnetic field. Results. We provide the numerical solution obtained for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the space operator, and the emerging Comptonization spectrum of the ordinary-mode photons for any eigenvalue of the space equation and for energies significantly lesser than the cyclotron energy, which is on the order of MeV for the intensity of the magnetic field here considered. Conclusions. We derived the specific intensity of the

The impacts of moisture transport on drifting snow sublimation in the saltation layer

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N. Huang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Drifting snow sublimation (DSS is an important physical process related to moisture and heat transfer that happens in the atmospheric boundary layer, which is of glaciological and hydrological importance. It is also essential in order to understand the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheets and the global climate system. Previous studies mainly focused on the DSS of suspended snow and ignored that in the saltation layer. Here, a drifting snow model combined with balance equations for heat and moisture is established to simulate the physical DSS process in the saltation layer. The simulated results show that DSS can strongly increase humidity and cooling effects, which in turn can significantly reduce DSS in the saltation layer. However, effective moisture transport can dramatically weaken the feedback effects. Due to moisture advection, DSS rate in the saltation layer can be several orders of magnitude greater than that of the suspended particles. Thus, DSS in the saltation layer has an important influence on the distribution and mass–energy balance of snow cover.

Enhanced Soil Moisture Initialization Using Blended Soil Moisture Product and Regional Optimization of LSM-RTM Coupled Land Data Assimilation System.

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, A. S.; Indu, J.

2017-12-01

Prediction of soil moisture dynamics is high priority research challenge because of the complex land-atmosphere interaction processes. Soil moisture (SM) plays a decisive role in governing water and energy balance of the terrestrial system. An accurate SM estimate is imperative for hydrological and weather prediction models. Though SM estimates are available from microwave remote sensing and land surface model (LSM) simulations, it is affected by uncertainties from several sources during estimation. Past studies have generally focused on land data assimilation (DA) for improving LSM predictions by assimilating soil moisture from single satellite sensor. This approach is limited by the large time gap between two consequent soil moisture observations due to satellite repeat cycle of more than three days at the equator. To overcome this, in the present study, we have performed DA using ensemble products from the soil moisture operational product system (SMOPS) blended soil moisture retrievals from different satellite sensors into Noah LSM. Before the assimilation period, the Noah LSM is initialized by cycling through seven multiple loops from 2008 to 2010 forcing with Global data assimilation system (GDAS) data over the Indian subcontinent. We assimilated SMOPS into Noah LSM for a period of two years from 2010 to 2011 using Ensemble Kalman Filter within NASA's land information system (LIS) framework. Results show that DA has improved Noah LSM prediction with a high correlation of 0.96 and low root mean square difference of 0.0303 m3/m3 (figure 1a). Further, this study has also investigated the notion of assimilating microwave brightness temperature (Tb) as a proxy for SM estimates owing to the close proximity of Tb and SM. Preliminary sensitivity analysis show a strong need for regional parameterization of radiative transfer models (RTMs) to improve Tb simulation. Towards this goal, we have optimized the forward RTM using swarm optimization technique for direct Tb

Moisture performance of building materials: From material characterization to building simulation using the Moisture Buffer Value concept

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abadie, Marc Olivier [Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUC-PR/CCET, Curitiba, PR 80215-901 (Brazil); LEPTAB, University of La Rochelle, La Rochelle, 17042 Cedex 1 (France); Mendonca, Katia Cordeiro [Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program, Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, PUC-PR/CCET, Curitiba, PR 80215-901 (Brazil)

2009-02-15

Predicting the indoor air relative humidity evolution is of great importance to evaluate people thermal comfort, perceived air quality and energy consumption. In building environments, porous materials of the envelope and furniture act on the indoor air humidity by reducing its variations. Solving the physical processes involved inside the porous materials requires the knowledge of the material hygrothermal properties that needs multiple and, for some of them, time-consuming experimental procedures. Recently, both the NORDTEST Project and Japanese Industrial Standard described a new Moisture Buffer Capacity index that accounts for surrounding air vapor concentration variation. The Moisture Buffer Value (MBV) indicates the amount of water vapor that is transported in or out of a material, during a certain period of time, when the vapor concentration of the surrounding air varies. The MBV evaluation requires only one experimental procedure and its value permits a direct comparison of the building materials moisture performance. However, two limitations can be distinguished: first, no relation between the MBV and the usual material hygrothermal properties has been clearly identified and second, no model has been proposed to actually use the MBV in building simulation. The present study aims to solve these two problems. First, the MBV fundamentals are introduced and discussed; followed by its relation with the usual material properties. Then, a lumped model for building simulation, whose parameters can be determined from the MBV experimental procedure, is described. To finish, examples of the use of this MBV-based lumped model for moisture prediction in buildings are presented. (author)

Articulation Works for Most Community College Transfer Students, But Some Problems Continue. OPPAGA Program Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Florida State Legislature, Tallahassee. Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.

The Florida legislature has passed several reforms designed to shorten the time it takes students to obtain their degrees. Although the reforms have produced benefits, some articulation problems continue. The problems include the following: (1) One in five (20%) AA transfer students take a semester or more of lower division courses at a…

Cryogenic heat transfer

CERN Document Server

Barron, Randall F

2016-01-01

Cryogenic Heat Transfer, Second Edition continues to address specific heat transfer problems that occur in the cryogenic temperature range where there are distinct differences from conventional heat transfer problems. This updated version examines the use of computer-aided design in cryogenic engineering and emphasizes commonly used computer programs to address modern cryogenic heat transfer problems. It introduces additional topics in cryogenic heat transfer that include latent heat expressions; lumped-capacity transient heat transfer; thermal stresses; Laplace transform solutions; oscillating flow heat transfer, and computer-aided heat exchanger design. It also includes new examples and homework problems throughout the book, and provides ample references for further study.

Effects of varying soil moisture contents and vegetation canopies on microwave emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, H.-H. K.; Schmugge, T. J.

1982-01-01

Results of NASA airborne passive microwave scans of bare and vegetated fields for comparison with ground truth tests are discussed and a model for atmospheric scattering of radiation by vegetation is detailed. On-board radiometers obtained data at 21, 2.8, and 1.67 cm during three passes over each of 46 fields, 28 of which were bare and the others having wheat or alfalfa. Ground-based sampling included moisture in five layers down to 15 cm in addition to soil temperature. The relationships among the brightness temperature and soil moisture, as well as the surface roughness and the vegetation canopy were examined. A model was developed for the dielectric coefficient and volume scattering for a vegetation medium. L- to C-band data were found useful for retrieving soil information directly. A surface moisture content of 5-35% yielded an emissivity of 0.9-0.7. The data agreed well with a combined multilayer radiative transfer model with simple roughness correction.

Effect of a mechanical damage on permeability and moisture diffusivity of concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Picandet, V.

2001-12-01

The effect of a mechanical damage on transfer parameters of concrete is an original point of view on the coupling between damage and durability. The studied transfer parameters, permeability and moisture diffusivity, allow to characterize the transport ability of a porous media to convey gases or water (liquid and vapour). The theoretical framework of the measurement of these parameters and its applications to concrete is pointed out. The experimental studies are carried on three types of concrete: ordinary concrete, high performance concrete, and high performance steel fiber reinforced concrete. Two kinds of damage are considered and generated in samples: - A continuous damage of the medium, obtained by cyclic uniaxial loading. It is characterized by a loss of stiffness and results in a diffuse microcracking.- A discrete or localised damage, obtained by a diametrical compression of cylindrical specimens. It is characterized by the presence of identifiable and measurable cracks. Measurements of gas permeability are taken using a constant head, Cembureau type, permeameter. For cracked samples, the procedure and analysis of the results are changed in order to make the evaluation of their gas and water permeability. The simple imbibition and positive head imbibition are the disturbances of the moisture equilibrium, which allow the evaluation of the material diffusivity. The local moisture contents of the specimen are measured using a gamma-ray attenuation method. The analysis of profiles using Boltzmann's transformation leads to the moisture diffusivity and then to the water permeability coefficients. Measurements of gas and water permeability are compared in both cases of considered damage. In the first case, a damage - permeability relationship dependent on the fluid of percolation but valid for all concrete types studied could be worked out. (author)

Analysis and optimal design of moisture sensor for rice grain moisture measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Sweety; Mishra, Pankaj Kumar; Thakare, Vandana Vikas

2018-04-01

The analysis and design of a microstrip sensor for accurate determination of moisture content (MC) in rice grains based on oven drying technique, this technique is easy, fast and less time-consuming to other techniques. The sensor is designed with low insertion loss, reflection coefficient and maximum gain is -35dB and 5.88dB at 2.68GHz as well as discussed all the parameters such as axial ratio, maximum gain, smith chart etc, which is helpful for analysis the moisture measurement. The variation in percentage of moisture measurement with magnitude and phase of transmission coefficient is investigated at selected frequencies. The microstrip moisture sensor consists of one layer: substrate FR4, thickness 1.638 is simulated by computer simulated technology microwave studio (CST MWS). It is concluded that the proposed sensor is suitable for development as a complete sensor and to estimate the optimum moisture content of rice grains with accurately, sensitivity, compact, versatile and suitable for determining the moisture content of other crops and agriculture products.

Moisture transport in coated wood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meel, P.A. van; Erich, S.J.F.; Huinink, H.P.; Kopinga, K.; Jong, J. DE; Adan, O.C.G.

2011-01-01

Moisture accumulation inside wood causes favorable conditions for decay. Application of a coating alters the moisture sorption of wood and prevents accumulation of moisture. This paper presents the results of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study on the influence of a coating on the moisture

Analysis of Joint Masonry Moisture Content Monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, Kohta [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-10-01

Adding insulation to the interior side of walls of masonry buildings in cold (and wet) climates may cause performance and durability problems. Some concerns, such as condensation and freeze-thaw, have known solutions, but wood members embedded in the masonry structure will be colder (and potentially wetter) after an interior insulation retrofit. Moisture content & relative humidity were monitored at joist ends in historic mass brick masonry walls retrofitted with interior insulation in a cold climate (Zone 5A); data were collected from 2012-2015. Eleven joist ends were monitored in all four orientations. One limitation of these results is that the renovation is still ongoing, with limited wintertime construction heating and no permanent occupancy to date. Measurements show that many joists ends remain at high moisture contents, especially at north- and east-facing orientations, with constant 100% RH conditions at the worst cases. These high moisture levels are not conducive for wood durability, but no evidence for actual structural damage has been observed. Insulated versus non-insulated joist pockets do not show large differences. South facing joists have safe (10-15%) moisture contents. Given the uncertainty pointed out by research, definitive guidance on the vulnerability of embedded wood members is difficult to formulate. In high-risk situations, or when a very conservative approach is warranted, the embedded wood member condition can be eliminated entirely, supporting the joist ends outside of the masonry pocket.

Large-Scale Studies on the Transferability of General Problem-Solving Skills and the Pedagogic Potential of Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Mashood, K. K.; Singh, Vijay A.

2013-01-01

Research suggests that problem-solving skills are transferable across domains. This claim, however, needs further empirical substantiation. We suggest correlation studies as a methodology for making preliminary inferences about transfer. The correlation of the physics performance of students with their performance in chemistry and mathematics in…

Measuring of moisture content in biofuel; Fukthaltsmaetning av biobraensle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eriksson, Lars; Njurell, Rolf; Ehleskog, Rickard [AaF Energikonsult AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

2002-04-01

Direct determination of the moisture content, i.e. analysis of the fuel, is the most dominating moisture measuring method of today, and is usually done manually by weighing and drying a sample. By measuring on the exhaust gases the moisture content is determined indirect. This method is based upon the fact that there is a relation between the moisture content in the fuel and in the exhaust gases. This is an alternative that is only considered briefly in this report. Acceptance test of the fuel today takes place in several ways. The methods vary from advanced automatic mechanical devices to manually taken tests made by the driver him self. In the simplest case when the plant only has one fuel supplier, deduction is maid against the amount of produced energy. There are no systems today that can automatically take tests for continuous measuring. This project aims to find methods that are practical for direct, automatic and continuous measurement of the moisture content for the following applications: Moisture determination of fuel supplies, acceptance test. Moisture determination for combustion control in furnaces and boilers. The possibilities to automate the sampling are discussed in detail, at which important background information concerning the handling problems associated with the point of measuring is illustrated. The measurement techniques that are described more in detail are NIR (Near Infra Red), radar technique, microwave technique, radio frequency scan, radioactive technique, double energy X-ray and some combinations of these techniques. In the report, suppliers of interesting instruments are presented. The fundamental technical demands and the basis that should be included in a specification of a measuring device are gathered. Our appraisal is that a sequel to this project should be concentrated on the following main issues: Automatic acceptance test: The measuring is suggested to be done with a test probe direct in the incoming batch. The most suited

Estimation of Soil Moisture Under Vegetation Cover at Multiple Frequencies

Science.gov (United States)

Jadghuber, Thomas; Hajnsek, Irena; Weiß, Thomas; Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P.

2015-04-01

Soil moisture under vegetation cover was estimated by a polarimetric, iterative, generalized, hybrid decomposition and inversion approach at multiple frequencies (X-, C- and L-band). Therefore the algorithm, originally designed for longer wavelength (L-band), was adapted to deal with the short wavelength scattering scenarios of X- and C-band. The Integral Equation Method (IEM) was incorporated together with a pedo-transfer function of Dobson et al. to account for the peculiarities of short wavelength scattering at X- and C-band. DLR's F-SAR system acquired fully polarimetric SAR data in X-, C- and L-band over the Wallerfing test site in Lower Bavaria, Germany in 2014. Simultaneously, soil and vegetation measurements were conducted on different agricultural test fields. The results indicate a spatially continuous inversion of soil moisture in all three frequencies (inversion rates >92%), mainly due to the careful adaption of the vegetation volume removal including a physical constraining of the decomposition algorithm. However, for X- and C-band the inversion results reveal moisture pattern inconsistencies and in some cases an incorrectly high inversion of soil moisture at X-band. The validation with in situ measurements states a stable performance of 2.1- 7.6vol.% at L-band for the entire growing period. At C- and X-band a reliable performance of 3.7-13.4vol.% in RMSE can only be achieved after distinct filtering (X- band) leading to a loss of almost 60% in spatial inversion rate. Hence, a robust inversion for soil moisture estimation under vegetation cover can only be conducted at L-band due to a constant availability of the soil signal in contrast to higher frequencies (X- and C-band).

Moisture Transport in Wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Astrup, Thomas; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard; Hoffmeyer, Preben

2005-01-01

Modelling of moisture transport in wood is of great importance as most mechanical and physical properties of wood depend on moisture content. Moisture transport in porous materials is often described by Ficks second law, but several observations indicate that this does not apply very well to wood....... Recently at the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Civil Engineering, a new model for moisture transport in wood has been developed. The model divides the transport into two phases, namely water vapour in the cell lumens and bound water in the cell walls....

SMOS/SMAP Synergy for SMAP Level 2 Soil Moisture Algorithm Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Bindlish, Rajat; Jackson, Thomas J.; Zhao, Tianjie; Cosh, Michael; Chan, Steven; O'Neill, Peggy; Njoku, Eni; Colliander, Andreas; Kerr, Yann

2011-01-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite has been proposed to provide global measurements of soil moisture and land freeze/thaw state at 10 km and 3 km resolutions, respectively. SMAP would also provide a radiometer-only soil moisture product at 40-km spatial resolution. This product and the supporting brightness temperature observations are common to both SMAP and European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. As a result, there are opportunities for synergies between the two missions. These include exploiting the data for calibration and validation and establishing longer term L-band brightness temperature and derived soil moisture products. In this investigation we will be using SMOS brightness temperature, ancillary data, and soil moisture products to develop and evaluate a candidate SMAP L2 passive soil moisture retrieval algorithm. This work will begin with evaluations based on the SMOS product grids and ancillary data sets and transition to those that will be used by SMAP. An important step in this analysis is reprocessing the multiple incidence angle observations provided by SMOS to a global brightness temperature product that simulates the constant 40 degree incidence angle observations that SMAP will provide. The reprocessed brightness temperature data provide a basis for evaluating different SMAP algorithm alternatives. Several algorithms are being considered for the SMAP radiometer-only soil moisture retrieval. In this first phase, we utilized only the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA), which is based on the radiative transfer equation and uses the channel that is most sensitive to soil moisture (H-pol). Brightness temperature is corrected sequentially for the effects of temperature, vegetation, roughness (dynamic ancillary data sets) and soil texture (static ancillary data set). European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) estimates of soil temperature for the top layer (as provided as part of the SMOS

The heat and moisture transport properties of wet porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, B.X.; Fang, Z.H.; Yu, W.P.

1989-01-01

Existing methods for determining heat and moisture transport properties in porous media are briefly reviewed, and their merits and deficiencies are discussed. Emphasis is placed on research in developing new transient methods undertaken in China during the recent years. An attempt has been made to relate the coefficients in the heat and mass transfer equations with inherent properties of the liquid and matrix and then to predict these coefficients based on limited measurements

Moisture removal of paddy by agricultural residues: basic physical parameters and drying kinetics modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saniso, E.

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this research were to study basic physical parameters of three agricultural residues that could be used for prediction of paddy drying kinetics using desiccants, to investigate a suitable methodfor moisture reduction of fresh paddy using 3 absorbents, and to modify the drying model of Inoue et al. for determining the evolution of moisture transfer during the drying period. Rice husk, sago palm rachis andcoconut husk were used as moisture desiccants in these experiments. From the results, it was concluded that the apparent density of all adsorbents was a linear function of moisture content whilst an equilibriummoisture content equation following Hendersonís model gave the best fit to the experimental results. From studying the relationship between moisture ratio and drying time under the condition of drying temperaturesof 30, 50 and 70oC, air flow rate of 1.6 m/s and initial moisture content of absorbents of 15, 20 and 27% dry-basis, it was shown that the moisture ratio decreased when drying time increased. In addition, thethin-layer desiccant drying equation following of the Page model can appropriately explain the evolution of moisture content of paddy over the drying time. The diffusion coefficient of all absorbents, which was in therange of 1x10-8 to 6x10-8 m2/h, was relatively dependent on drying temperature and inversely related to drying time. The diffusivity of coconut husk had the highest value compared to the other absorbents.The simulating modified mathematical model to determine drying kinetics of paddy using absorption technique and the simulated results had good relation to the experimental results for all adsorbents.

Discontinuous finite elements applied to solution of problems about heat transfer in heterogeneous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Monica Barcellos Jansen; Carmo, Eduardo Gomes Dutra do

2000-01-01

Heat transfer problems in heterogenous media with large variation of thermal conductivity are notorious for the difficulties in obtaining good numerical results. In this work it is proposed an application of a new mixed discontinuous finite element formulation to this class of problems, which produces good results without the need of high mesh refinement. Stability and consistency aspects are considered and numerical results are presented to show the efficacy of the method. (author)

Does Greenland need a guideline on how to deal with moisture in the construction phase?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place

2012-01-01

. As the requirements concerning moisture control are function-based, the construction client and the authorities are entrusted with interpreting requirements in a specific case, which caused the introduction of a guideline based on humidity risk classes. This paper presents the Danish requirements and guideline...... and gives examples of moisture-related problems in buildings in Greenland. Requirements and guidelines are needed in Greenland in order to deal with moisture in the construction phase, but as the conditions for constructing houses and the way that houses are used in Greenland are different from Denmark...

Developing a model for moisture in saltcake waste tanks: Progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simmons, C.S.; Aimo, N.; Fayer, M.J.; White, M.D.

1997-07-01

This report describes a modeling effort to provide a computer simulation capability for estimating the distribution and movement of moisture in the saltcake-type waste contained in Hanford's single-shell radioactive waste storage tanks. This moisture model goes beyond an earlier version because it describes water vapor movement as well as the interstitial liquid held in a saltcake waste. The work was performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to assist Duke Engineering and Services Hanford with the Organic Tank Safety Program. The Organic Tank Safety Program is concerned whether saltcake waste, when stabilized by jet pumping, will retain sufficient moisture near the surface to preclude any possibility of an accidental ignition and propagation of burning. The nitrate/nitrite saltcake, which might also potentially include combustible organic chemicals might not always retain enough moisture near the surface to preclude any such accident. Draining liquid from a tank by pumping, coupled with moisture evaporating into a tank's head space, may cause a dry waste surface that is not inherently safe. The moisture model was devised to help examine this safety question. The model accounts for water being continually cycled by evaporation into the head space and returned to the waste by condensation or partly lost through venting to the external atmosphere. Water evaporation occurs even in a closed tank, because it is driven by the transfer to the outside of the heat load generated by radioactivity within the waste. How dry a waste may become over time depends on the particular hydraulic properties of a saltcake, and the model uses those properties to describe the capillary flow of interstitial liquid as well as the water vapor flow caused by thermal differences within the porous waste

Buffer moisture protection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritola, J.; Peura, J.

2013-11-01

With the present knowledge, bentonite blocks have to be protected from the air relative humidity and from any moisture leakages in the environment that might cause swelling of the bentonite blocks during the 'open' installation phase before backfilling. The purpose of this work was to design the structural reference solution both for the bottom of the deposition hole and for the buffer moisture protection and dewatering system with their integrated equipment needed in the deposition hole. This report describes the Posiva's reference solution for the buffer moisture protection system and the bottom plate on basis of the demands and functional requirements set by long-term safety. The reference solution with structural details has been developed in research work made 2010-2011. The structural solution of the moisture protection system has not yet been tested in practice. On the bottom of the deposition hole a copper plate which protects the lowest bentonite block from the gathered water is installed straight to machined and even rock surface. The moisture protection sheet made of EPDM rubber is attached to the copper plate with an inflatable seal. The upper part of the moisture protection sheet is fixed to the collar structures of the lid which protects the deposition hole in the disposal tunnel. The main function of the moisture protection sheet is to protect bentonite blocks from the leaking water and from the influence of the air humidity at their installation stage. The leaking water is controlled by the dewatering and alarm system which has been integrated into the moisture protection liner. (orig.)

Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Model for Convective Drying of Building Material

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Ashwani; Chandramohan, V. P.

2018-04-01

A mathematical model of simultaneous heat and moisture transfer is developed for convective drying of building material. A rectangular brick is considered for sample object. Finite-difference method with semi-implicit scheme is used for solving the transient governing heat and mass transfer equation. Convective boundary condition is used, as the product is exposed in hot air. The heat and mass transfer equations are coupled through diffusion coefficient which is assumed as the function of temperature of the product. Set of algebraic equations are generated through space and time discretization. The discretized algebraic equations are solved by Gauss-Siedel method via iteration. Grid and time independent studies are performed for finding the optimum number of nodal points and time steps respectively. A MATLAB computer code is developed to solve the heat and mass transfer equations simultaneously. Transient heat and mass transfer simulations are performed to find the temperature and moisture distribution inside the brick.

Estimating surface turbulent heat fluxes from land surface temperature and soil moisture using the particle batch smoother

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yang; Dong, Jianzhi; Steele-Dunne, Susan; van de Giesen, Nick

2016-04-01

This study is focused on estimating surface sensible and latent heat fluxes from land surface temperature (LST) time series and soil moisture observations. Surface turbulent heat fluxes interact with the overlying atmosphere and play a crucial role in meteorology, hydrology and other climate-related fields, but in-situ measurements are costly and difficult. It has been demonstrated that the time series of LST contains information of energy partitioning and that surface turbulent heat fluxes can be determined from assimilation of LST. These studies are mainly based on two assumptions: (1) a monthly value of bulk heat transfer coefficient under neutral conditions (CHN) which scales the sum of the fluxes, and (2) an evaporation fraction (EF) which stays constant during the near-peak hours of the day. Previous studies have applied variational and ensemble approaches to this problem. Here the newly developed particle batch smoother (PBS) algorithm is adopted to test its capability in this application. The PBS can be seen as an extension of the standard particle filter (PF) in which the states and parameters within a fix window are updated in a batch using all observations in the window. The aim of this study is two-fold. First, the PBS is used to assimilate only LST time series into the force-restore model to estimate fluxes. Second, a simple soil water transfer scheme is introduced to evaluate the benefit of assimilating soil moisture observations simultaneously. The experiments are implemented using the First ISLSCP (International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project) (FIFE) data. It is shown that the restored LST time series using PBS agrees very well with observations, and that assimilating LST significantly improved the flux estimation at both daily and half-hourly time scales. When soil moisture is introduced to further constrain EF, the accuracy of estimated EF is greatly improved. Furthermore, the RMSEs of retrieved fluxes are effectively reduced at both

Microcomputerized neutron moisture gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shengkang; Mei Yu

1987-01-01

A microcomputerized neutron moisture gauge is introduced. This gauge consists of a neutron moisture sensor and instruments. It is developed from the neutron moisture gauge for concrete mixer. A TECH-81 single card microcomputer is used for count, computation and display. It has the function of computing compensated quantity of sand. It can acquire the data from several neutron sensors by the multichanneling sampling, therefore it can measure moisture values of sand in several hoppers simultaneously. The precision of the static state calibration curve is 0.24% wt. The error limits of the dynamic state check is < 0.50% wt

Effect of Initial Moisture on the Adsorption and Desorption Equilibrium Moisture Contents of Polished Rice

OpenAIRE

Murata, Satoshi; Amaratunga, K.S.P.; Tanaka, Fumihiko; Hori, Yoshiaki; 村田, 敏; 田中, 史彦; 堀, 善昭

1993-01-01

The moisture adsorption and desorption properties for polished rice have been measured using a dynamic ventilatory method. Air temperatures of 10,20,30 and 40℃, relative humidities of 50,60,70,80 and 90%, and five levels of initial moisture contents ranging approximately from 8% to 19% d.b. were used to obtain moisture content data. The value of equilibrium moisture content for each initial moisture content at the range of air condition was determined by a method of nonlinear least squares. R...

Moisture content measurement in paddy

Science.gov (United States)

Klomklao, P.; Kuntinugunetanon, S.; Wongkokua, W.

2017-09-01

Moisture content is an important quantity for agriculture product, especially in paddy. In principle, the moisture content can be measured by a gravimetric method which is a direct method. However, the gravimetric method is time-consuming. There are indirect methods such as resistance and capacitance methods. In this work, we developed an indirect method based on a 555 integrated circuit timer. The moisture content sensor was capacitive parallel plates using the dielectric constant property of the moisture. The instrument generated the output frequency that depended on the capacitance of the sensor. We fitted a linear relation between periods and moisture contents. The measurement results have a standard uncertainty of 1.23 % of the moisture content in the range of 14 % to 20 %.

Transfer of Problem Solving Skills from Touchscreen to 3D Model by 3- to 6-Year-Olds.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarasuik, Joanne; Demaria, Ana; Kaufman, Jordy

2017-01-01

Although much published research purports that young children struggle to solve problems from screen-based media and to transfer learning from a virtual to a physical modality, Huber et al. (2016)'s recent study on children solving the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) problem on a touchscreen app offers a clear counter example. Huber et al. (2016) reported that children transferred learning from media to the physical world. As this finding arguably differs from that of prior research in this area, the current study tests whether the Huber et al. (2016) results could be replicated. Additionally, we extended the scope of the Huber et al. (2016) work by testing a broader age range, including children as young as 3 years, and using a culturally distinct participant pool. The results of the current study verified Huber et al.'s (2016) conclusion that 4- to 6-year-old children are capable of transferring the ToH learning from touchscreen devices to the physical version of the puzzle. Children under 4 years of age, in contrast, showed little ability to improve at the ToH problem regardless of the practice modality-suggesting that a different problem-solving task is required to probe very young children's ability to learn from touchscreen apps.

Estimation of Soil Moisture in an Alpine Catchment with RADARSAT2 Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Pasolli

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Soil moisture retrieval is one of the most challenging problems in the context of biophysical parameter estimation from remotely sensed data. Typically, microwave signals are used thanks to their sensitivity to variations in the water content of soil. However, especially in the Alps, the presence of vegetation and the heterogeneity of topography may significantly affect the microwave signal, thus increasing the complexity of the retrieval. In this paper, the effectiveness of RADARSAT2 SAR images for the estimation of soil moisture in an alpine catchment is investigated. We first carry out a sensitivity analysis of the SAR signal to the moisture content of soil and other target properties (e.g., topography and vegetation. Then we propose a technique for estimating soil moisture based on the Support Vector Regression algorithm and the integration of ancillary data. Preliminary results are discussed both in terms of accuracy over point measurements and effectiveness in handling spatially distributed data.

Analysis of Joist Masonry Moisture Content Monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, Kohta [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-10-08

There are many existing buildings with load-bearing mass masonry walls, whose energy performance could be improved with the retrofit of insulation. However, adding insulation to the interior side of walls of such masonry buildings in cold (and wet) climates may cause performance and durability problems. Some concerns, such as condensation and freeze-thaw have known solutions. But wood members embedded in the masonry structure will be colder (and potentially wetter) after an interior insulation retrofit. Moisture content & relative humidity were monitored at joist ends in historic mass brick masonry walls retrofitted with interior insulation in a cold climate (Zone 5A); data were collected from 2012-2015. Eleven joist ends were monitored in all four orientations. One limitation of these results is that the renovation is still ongoing, with limited wintertime construction heating and no permanent occupancy to date. Measurements show that many joists ends remain at high moisture contents, especially at north- and east-facing orientations, with constant 100% RH conditions at the worst cases. These high moisture levels are not conducive for wood durability, but no evidence for actual structural damage has been observed. Insulated vs. non-insulated joist pockets do not show large differences. South facing joists have safe (10-15%) moisture contents. Given the uncertainty pointed out by research, definitive guidance on the vulnerability of embedded wood members is difficult to formulate. In high-risk situations, or when a very conservative approach is warranted, the embedded wood member condition can be eliminated entirely, supporting the joist ends outside of the masonry pocket.

Portable neutron moisture gage for the moisture determination of structure parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harnisch, M.

1985-01-01

For determining the moisture of structure parts during building or before repairing a portable neutron moisture gage consisting of a neutron probe and pulse analyzer has been developed. The measuring process, calibration, and prerequisites of application are briefly discussed

Moisture removal rate for air dehumidification by triethylene glycol in a structured packed column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsarrag, Esam

2007-01-01

In this investigation, a desiccant dehumidifier is tested for different ranges of liquid to air flow rate ratios to expand the validity range of the results. Theoretical and experimental studies of the simultaneous heat and mass transfer to evaluate the moisture removal rate are conducted. The model predictions are compared with experimental results with very good agreement. Through the experimental study, the important design variables that affect the moisture removal rate are defined and compared with previous studies. The correlation found in the literature is assessed, and the errors are reported. The parameters that are varied during the experiments included the air and liquid flow rates, the air humidity ratio, the desiccant equilibrium humidity and the packing height. It is found that the liquid flow rate has no significant effect on the moisture removal rate when the liquid to air flow ratio has exceeded the value of 2

Hydropedological parameters limiting soil moisture regime floodplain ecosystems of south Moravia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ladislav Kubík

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Soil moisture regime of floodplain ecosystems in southern Moravia is considerably influenced and greatly changed by human activities. It can be changed negatively by water management engineering or positively by landscape revitalizations. The paper deals with problems of hydropedological characteristics (hydrolimits limiting soil moisture regime and solves effect of hydrological factors on soil moisture regime in the floodplain ecosystems. Attention is paid especially to water retention curves and to hydrolimits – wilting point and field capacity. They can be acquired either directly by slow laboratory assessment, derivation from the water retention curves or indirectly by calculation using pedotransfer functions (PTF. This indirect assessment uses hydrolimit dependency on better available soil physical parameters namely soil granularity, bulk density and humus content. The aim is to calculate PTF for wilting point and field capacity and to compare them with measured values. The paper documents suitableness utilization of PTF for the region of interest. The results of correlation and regression analysis for soil moisture and groundwater table are furthermore presented.

Development of an instrument for measuring moisture deep into solid materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westin, R.; Walletun, H.

1993-01-01

It is of value in some applications to be able to detect humidity rather deep into a solid material, for example when determining the moisture content in the frame of buildings, in insulation or in biofuels. Common to these measurement problems is that it is difficult to measure moisture in the bulk of a solid, in contrast to the surface layers. In this report is described the principle and the functioning of an instrument to measure moisture at larger depths than other instruments that are available today. It is intended for use primarily on solid materials, not on gases or liquids. Field experience is also reported here. The principle of the measuring technique is nuclear: we have utilized the ability of hydrogen atoms to moderate (or brake) high energy neutrons. If there is hydrogen in the sample, fast neutrons will interact with the hydrogen atoms and one may detect and count low energy, so called thermal neutrons. The intensity of the slow neutron flux is proportional to the water content, if one assumes that hydrogen atoms are water, i.e. moisture

Soil Moisture Estimate under Forest using a Semi-empirical Model at P-Band

Science.gov (United States)

Truong-Loi, M.; Saatchi, S.; Jaruwatanadilok, S.

2013-12-01

In this paper we show the potential of a semi-empirical algorithm to retrieve soil moisture under forests using P-band polarimetric SAR data. In past decades, several remote sensing techniques have been developed to estimate the surface soil moisture. In most studies associated with radar sensing of soil moisture, the proposed algorithms are focused on bare or sparsely vegetated surfaces where the effect of vegetation can be ignored. At long wavelengths such as L-band, empirical or physical models such as the Small Perturbation Model (SPM) provide reasonable estimates of surface soil moisture at depths of 0-5cm. However for densely covered vegetated surfaces such as forests, the problem becomes more challenging because the vegetation canopy is a complex scattering environment. For this reason there have been only few studies focusing on retrieving soil moisture under vegetation canopy in the literature. Moghaddam et al. developed an algorithm to estimate soil moisture under a boreal forest using L- and P-band SAR data. For their studied area, double-bounce between trunks and ground appear to be the most important scattering mechanism. Thereby, they implemented parametric models of radar backscatter for double-bounce using simulations of a numerical forest scattering model. Hajnsek et al. showed the potential of estimating the soil moisture under agricultural vegetation using L-band polarimetric SAR data and using polarimetric-decomposition techniques to remove the vegetation layer. Here we use an approach based on physical formulation of dominant scattering mechanisms and three parameters that integrates the vegetation and soil effects at long wavelengths. The algorithm is a simplification of a 3-D coherent model of forest canopy based on the Distorted Born Approximation (DBA). The simplified model has three equations and three unknowns, preserving the three dominant scattering mechanisms of volume, double-bounce and surface for three polarized backscattering

An adaptive simplex cut-cell method for high-order discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of elliptic interface problems and conjugate heat transfer problems

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Huafei; Darmofal, David L.

2014-12-01

In this paper we propose a new high-order solution framework for interface problems on non-interface-conforming meshes. The framework consists of a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) discretization, a simplex cut-cell technique, and an output-based adaptive scheme. We first present a DG discretization with a dual-consistent output evaluation for elliptic interface problems on interface-conforming meshes, and then extend the method to handle multi-physics interface problems, in particular conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problems. The method is then applied to non-interface-conforming meshes using a cut-cell technique, where the interface definition is completely separate from the mesh generation process. No assumption is made on the interface shape (other than Lipschitz continuity). We then equip our strategy with an output-based adaptive scheme for an accurate output prediction. Through numerical examples, we demonstrate high-order convergence for elliptic interface problems and CHT problems with both smooth and non-smooth interface shapes.

Moisture damage with magnesium oxide boards in Danish facade structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten; Bunch-Nielsen, Tommy; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard

2017-01-01

Magnesium oxide boards have been widely used on facades in Denmark during 2010-2015. However, the magnesium salts absorb humidity from the ambient, and they begin to leak salty water, which is highly corrosive, and leads to moisture and mould problems in wooden members of the structures. Mg...

Solving transient conduction and radiation heat transfer problems using the lattice Boltzmann method and the finite volume method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, Subhash C.; Roy, Hillol K.

2007-01-01

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) was used to solve the energy equation of a transient conduction-radiation heat transfer problem. The finite volume method (FVM) was used to compute the radiative information. To study the compatibility of the LBM for the energy equation and the FVM for the radiative transfer equation, transient conduction and radiation heat transfer problems in 1-D planar and 2-D rectangular geometries were considered. In order to establish the suitability of the LBM, the energy equations of the two problems were also solved using the FVM of the computational fluid dynamics. The FVM used in the radiative heat transfer was employed to compute the radiative information required for the solution of the energy equation using the LBM or the FVM (of the CFD). To study the compatibility and suitability of the LBM for the solution of energy equation and the FVM for the radiative information, results were analyzed for the effects of various parameters such as the scattering albedo, the conduction-radiation parameter and the boundary emissivity. The results of the LBM-FVM combination were found to be in excellent agreement with the FVM-FVM combination. The number of iterations and CPU times in both the combinations were found comparable

Mapping Surface Heat Fluxes by Assimilating SMAP Soil Moisture and GOES Land Surface Temperature Data

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yang; Steele-Dunne, Susan C.; Farhadi, Leila; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-12-01

Surface heat fluxes play a crucial role in the surface energy and water balance. In situ measurements are costly and difficult, and large-scale flux mapping is hindered by surface heterogeneity. Previous studies have demonstrated that surface heat fluxes can be estimated by assimilating land surface temperature (LST) and soil moisture to determine two key parameters: a neutral bulk heat transfer coefficient (CHN) and an evaporative fraction (EF). Here a methodology is proposed to estimate surface heat fluxes by assimilating Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture data and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) LST data into a dual-source (DS) model using a hybrid particle assimilation strategy. SMAP soil moisture data are assimilated using a particle filter (PF), and GOES LST data are assimilated using an adaptive particle batch smoother (APBS) to account for the large gap in the spatial and temporal resolution. The methodology is implemented in an area in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Assessment against in situ observations suggests that soil moisture and LST estimates are in better agreement with observations after assimilation. The RMSD for 30 min (daytime) flux estimates is reduced by 6.3% (8.7%) and 31.6% (37%) for H and LE on average. Comparison against a LST-only and a soil moisture-only assimilation case suggests that despite the coarse resolution, assimilating SMAP soil moisture data is not only beneficial but also crucial for successful and robust flux estimation, particularly when the uncertainties in the model estimates are large.

Monitoring hillslope moisture dynamics with surface ERT for enhancing spatial significance of hydrometric point measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Hübner, R.; Heller, K.; Günther, T.; Kleber, A.

2015-01-01

Besides floodplains, hillslopes are basic units that mainly control water movement and flow pathways within catchments of subdued mountain ranges. The structure of their shallow subsurface affects water balance, e.g. infiltration, retention, and runoff. Nevertheless, there is still a gap in the knowledge of the hydrological dynamics on hillslopes, notably due to the lack of generalization and transferability. This study presents a robust multi-method framework of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in addition to hydrometric point measurements, transferring hydrometric data into higher spatial scales to obtain additional patterns of distribution and dynamics of soil moisture on a hillslope. A geoelectrical monitoring in a small catchment in the eastern Ore Mountains was carried out at weekly intervals from May to December 2008 to image seasonal moisture dynamics on the hillslope scale. To link water content and electrical resistivity, the parameters of Archie's law were determined using different core samples. To optimize inversion parameters and methods, the derived spatial and temporal water content distribution was compared to tensiometer data. The results from ERT measurements show a strong correlation with the hydrometric data. The response is congruent to the soil tension data. Water content calculated from the ERT profile shows similar variations as that of water content from soil moisture sensors. Consequently, soil moisture dynamics on the hillslope scale may be determined not only by expensive invasive punctual hydrometric measurements, but also by minimally invasive time-lapse ERT, provided that pedo-/petrophysical relationships are known. Since ERT integrates larger spatial scales, a combination with hydrometric point measurements improves the understanding of the ongoing hydrological processes and better suits identification of heterogeneities.

Preventing performance drops of coal mills due to high moisture content

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob; Mataji, B.

2007-01-01

Coal mills pulverize and dry the coal dust before it is blown into the furnace in coal-fired power plants. The coal mills can only deliver the requested coal flow if certain conditions are fulfilled. These are normally considered as constraints on individual variables. However, combinations of more...... than one variable might cause problems even though these individually variables are in an acceptable region. This paper deals with such a problem. The combination of a high load of the power plant, a large load change and high moisture content in the coal, can force the coal mill into a state where...... coal is accumulated instead of being blown into the furnace. This paper suggests a simple method for preventing the accumulation of the coal in the mill, by limiting the requested coal flow considering the coal moisture content and the temperature outside the mill.  ...

Modeling of the process of moisture loss during the storage of dried apricots.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, G; Berna, A; Bon, J; Mulet, A

2011-10-01

Moisture content is a reference parameter for dried food because the growth of most microorganisms is inhibited below certain water activity levels. In addition, it has a determining influence on the evolution of important parameters, such as color and flavor, and on other properties and deterioration reactions, such as texture, oxidation processes and nutritional value. During the storage of some dried fruits, moisture is produced due to Maillard reactions and exchanged with the surrounding environment through the packaging. The evolution of dried foods during their shelf life depends on the storage conditions. The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution of the moisture content in dried apricots packaged in different types of containers, namely glass and thermosealed polypropylene trays. The samples were stored at constant temperatures: 5, 15, 25 and 35 °C and were analyzed periodically over a period of 12 months. The sorption isotherms of apricots used in this study were also determined. In order to model how the moisture evolved, an empirical kinetic model was tested. This model considers both water transfer from the fruit and also water production as a result of the Maillard processes. The explained variance was higher than 95% in the samples stored in trays, which were thermosealed with film.

Effects of moisture barrier and initial moisture content on the storage ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The two factors examined were moisture barrier at three levels namely: thick lining, thin lining and non-lining. The other factor included initial moisture content of the produce, namely, turgid and partially wilted. Partial wilting of the produce was achieved by exposing freshly harvested materials at ambient temperature to dry ...

Variability of worked examples and transfer of geometrical problem-solving skills : a cognitive-load approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paas, Fred G.W.C.; van Merrienboer, Jeroen J.G.; van Merrienboer, J.J.G.

1994-01-01

Four computer-based training strategies for geometrical problem solving in the domain of computer numerically controlled machinery programming were studied with regard to their effects on training performance, transfer performance, and cognitive load. A low- and a high-variability conventional

7 CFR 52.3185 - Moisture limits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Moisture limits. 52.3185 Section 52.3185 Agriculture... United States Standards for Grades of Dried Prunes Moisture, Uniformity of Size, Defects § 52.3185 Moisture limits. Dried prunes shall not exceed the moisture limits for the applicable grades and kind and...

7 CFR 868.258 - Moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Moisture. 868.258 Section 868.258 Agriculture... Governing Application of Standards § 868.258 Moisture. Water content in brown rice for processing as... purpose of this paragraph, “approved device” shall include the Motomco Moisture Meter and any other...

Self-Powered Wearable Electronics Based on Moisture Enabled Electricity Generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Daozhi; Xiao, Ming; Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei; Duley, Walter W; Zhou, Y Norman

2018-03-24

Most state-of-the-art electronic wearable sensors are powered by batteries that require regular charging and eventual replacement, which would cause environmental issues and complex management problems. Here, a device concept is reported that can break this paradigm in ambient moisture monitoring-a new class of simple sensors themselves can generate moisture-dependent voltage that can be used to determine the ambient humidity level directly. It is demonstrated that a moisture-driven electrical generator, based on the diffusive flow of water in titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanowire networks, can yield an output power density of up to 4 µW cm -2 when exposed to a highly moist environment. This performance is two orders of magnitude better than that reported for carbon-black generators. The output voltage is strongly dependent on humidity of ambient environment. As a big breakthrough, this new type of device is successfully used as self-powered wearable human-breathing monitors and touch pads, which is not achievable by any existing moisture-induced-electricity technology. The availability of high-output self-powered electrical generators will facilitate the design and application of a wide range of new innovative flexible electronic devices. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Soil hydraulic parameters and surface soil moisture of a tilled bare soil plot inversely derived from l-band brightness temperatures

KAUST Repository

Dimitrov, Marin

2014-01-01

We coupled a radiative transfer model and a soil hydrologic model (HYDRUS 1D) with an optimization routine to derive soil hydraulic parameters, surface roughness, and soil moisture of a tilled bare soil plot using measured brightness temperatures at 1.4 GHz (L-band), rainfall, and potential soil evaporation. The robustness of the approach was evaluated using five 28-d data sets representing different meteorological conditions. We considered two soil hydraulic property models: the unimodal Mualem-van Genuchten and the bimodal model of Durner. Microwave radiative transfer was modeled by three different approaches: the Fresnel equation with depth-averaged dielectric permittivity of either 2-or 5-cm-thick surface layers and a coherent radiative transfer model (CRTM) that accounts for vertical gradients in dielectric permittivity. Brightness temperatures simulated by the CRTM and the 2-cm-layer Fresnel model fitted well to the measured ones. L-band brightness temperatures are therefore related to the dielectric permittivity and soil moisture in a 2-cm-thick surface layer. The surface roughness parameter that was derived from brightness temperatures using inverse modeling was similar to direct estimates from laser profiler measurements. The laboratory-derived water retention curve was bimodal and could be retrieved consistently for the different periods from brightness temperatures using inverse modeling. A unimodal soil hydraulic property function underestimated the hydraulic conductivity near saturation. Surface soil moisture contents simulated using retrieved soil hydraulic parameters were compared with in situ measurements. Depth-specific calibration relations were essential to derive soil moisture from near-surface installed sensors. © Soil Science Society of America 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA.

Soil moisture variability across different scales in an Indian watershed for satellite soil moisture product validation

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gurjeet

2016-05-05

Strategic ground-based sampling of soil moisture across multiple scales is necessary to validate remotely sensed quantities such as NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) product. In the present study, in-situ soil moisture data were collected at two nested scale extents (0.5 km and 3 km) to understand the trend of soil moisture variability across these scales. This ground-based soil moisture sampling was conducted in the 500 km2 Rana watershed situated in eastern India. The study area is characterized as sub-humid, sub-tropical climate with average annual rainfall of about 1456 mm. Three 3x3 km square grids were sampled intensively once a day at 49 locations each, at a spacing of 0.5 km. These intensive sampling locations were selected on the basis of different topography, soil properties and vegetation characteristics. In addition, measurements were also made at 9 locations around each intensive sampling grid at 3 km spacing to cover a 9x9 km square grid. Intensive fine scale soil moisture sampling as well as coarser scale samplings were made using both impedance probes and gravimetric analyses in the study watershed. The ground-based soil moisture samplings were conducted during the day, concurrent with the SMAP descending overpass. Analysis of soil moisture spatial variability in terms of areal mean soil moisture and the statistics of higher-order moments, i.e., the standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation are presented. Results showed that the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of measured soil moisture decreased with extent scale by increasing mean soil moisture. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Moisture accumulation in a building envelope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forest, T.W.; Checkwitch, K.

1988-09-01

In a large number of cases, the failure of a building envelope can be traced to the accumulation of moisture. In a cold winter climate, characteristic of the Canadian prairies, moisture is deposited in the structure by the movement of warm, moist air through the envelope. Tests on the moisture accumulation in a building envelope were initiated in a test house at an Alberta research facility during the 1987/88 heating season. The indoor moisture generation rate was measured and compared with the value inferred from the measured air infiltration rate. With the flue open, the moisture generation rate was approximately 5.5 kg/d of which 0.7 kg/d entered the building envelope; the remainder was exhausted through the flue. With the flue blocked, the moisture generation rate decreased to 3.4 kg/d, while the amount of moisture migrating through the envelope increased to 4.0 kg/d. The moisture accumulation in wall panels located on the north and south face of the test house was also monitored. Moisture was allowed to enter the wall cavity via a hole in the drywall. The fiberglass insulation remained dry throughout the test period. The moisture content of the exterior sheathing of the north panel increased to a maximum of 18% wt in the vicinity of the hole, but quickly dried when the ambient temperatures increased towards the end of the season. The south panel showed very little moisture accumlation due to the effects of solar radiation. 14 refs., 9 figs.

Moisture Dynamics in Building Envelopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peuhkuri, Ruut Hannele

2003-01-01

The overall scope of this Thesis "Moisture dynamics in building envelopes" has been to characterise how the various porous insulation materials investigated performed hygrothermally under conditions similar to those in a typical building envelope. As a result of the changing temperature...... part of the Thesis consists of a theory and literature review on the moisture storage and transport processes (Chapter 2), on the non-Fickian moisture transport (Chapter 3)and on the methods for determining the moisture properties (Chapter 4). In the second part, the conducted experimental work...

Moisture dynamics in building envelopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peuhkuri, R.

2003-07-01

The overall scope of this Thesis 'Moisture dynamics in building envelopes' has been to characterise how the various porous insulation materials investigated performed hygro thermally under conditions similar to those in a typical building envelope. As a result of the changing temperature and moisture conditions in the exterior weather and indoor climate the materials dynamically absorb and release moisture. The complexity of the impact of these conditions on the resulting moisture transport and content of the materials has been studied in this Thesis with controlled laboratory tests. (au)

7 CFR 868.207 - Moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Moisture. 868.207 Section 868.207 Agriculture... Application of Standards § 868.207 Moisture. Water content in rough rice as determined by an approved device..., “approved device” shall include the Motomco Moisture Meter and any other equipment that is approved by the...

Heat and water transfer in a rotating drum containing solid substrate particles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schutyser, M.A.I.; Weber, F.J.; Briels, W.J.; Rinzema, A.; Boom, R.M.

2003-01-01

In previous work we reported on the simulation of mixing behavior of a slowly rotating drum for solid-state fermentation (SSF) using a discrete particle model. In this investigation the discrete particle model is extended with heat and moisture transfer. Heat transfer is implemented in the model via

The impact of non-isothermal soil moisture transport on evaporation fluxes in a maize cropland

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Wei; Coenders-Gerrits, Miriam; Judge, Jasmeet; Zeng, Yijian; Su, Ye

2018-06-01

The process of evaporation interacts with the soil, which has various comprehensive mechanisms. Multiphase flow models solve air, vapour, water, and heat transport equations to simulate non-isothermal soil moisture transport of both liquid water and vapor flow, but are only applied in non-vegetated soils. For (sparsely) vegetated soils often energy balance models are used, however these lack the detailed information on non-isothermal soil moisture transport. In this study we coupled a multiphase flow model with a two-layer energy balance model to study the impact of non-isothermal soil moisture transport on evaporation fluxes (i.e., interception, transpiration, and soil evaporation) for vegetated soils. The proposed model was implemented at an experimental agricultural site in Florida, US, covering an entire maize-growing season (67 days). As the crops grew, transpiration and interception became gradually dominated, while the fraction of soil evaporation dropped from 100% to less than 20%. The mechanisms of soil evaporation vary depending on the soil moisture content. After precipitation the soil moisture content increased, exfiltration of the liquid water flow could transport sufficient water to sustain evaporation from soil, and the soil vapor transport was not significant. However, after a sufficient dry-down period, the soil moisture content significantly reduced, and the soil vapour flow significantly contributed to the upward moisture transport in topmost soil. A sensitivity analysis found that the simulations of moisture content and temperature at the soil surface varied substantially when including the advective (i.e., advection and mechanical dispersion) vapour transport in simulation, including the mechanism of advective vapour transport decreased soil evaporation rate under wet condition, while vice versa under dry condition. The results showed that the formulation of advective soil vapor transport in a soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer continuum can

Transfer matrix in 1D Schroedinger problems with constant and position-dependent mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez-Alvarez, R.; Rodriguez-Coppola, H.

1987-10-01

We consider the transfer matrix method for obtaining properties of standard wells and barriers in one-dimensional Schroedinger problems with constant and position-dependent mass. We report the formulae for the energy levels of a well and the transmission coefficient of a barrier. We demonstrate the continuity between virtual bound states and bound states in a well of position-dependent mass and the relation between the zero energy gap states of a periodic potential problem with the corresponding energies of the non-periodic ones with transmission coefficient equal to one. The calculations were carried out for a wide class of potential profiles. (author). 30 refs, 2 figs

Soil moisture variability across different scales in an Indian watershed for satellite soil moisture product validation

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gurjeet; Panda, Rabindra K.; Mohanty, Binayak P.; Jana, Raghavendra Belur

2016-01-01

Strategic ground-based sampling of soil moisture across multiple scales is necessary to validate remotely sensed quantities such as NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) product. In the present study, in-situ soil moisture data were collected

Dry and wet heat transfer through clothing dependent on the clothing properties under cold conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richards, M.G.M.; Rossi, R.; Meinander, H.; Broede, P.; Candas, V.; Hartog, E.A. den; Holmér, I.; Nocker, W.; Havenith, G.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moisture on the heat transfer through clothing in relation to the water vapour resistance, type of underwear, location of the moisture and climate. This forms part of the work performed for work package 2 of the European Union THERMPROTECT

Global retrieval of soil moisture and vegetation properties using data-driven methods

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Fernandez, Nemesio; Richaume, Philippe; Kerr, Yann

2017-04-01

for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Finally, retrievals using radiative transfer models can also be used as a reference SM dataset for the training phase. This approach was used to retrieve soil moisture from ASMR-E, as mentioned above, and also to implement the official European Space Agency (ESA) SMOS soil moisture product in Near-Real-Time. We will finish with a discussion of the retrieval of vegetation parameters from SMOS observations using data-driven methods.

Validation of remotely-sensed soil moisture in the absence of in situ soil moisture: the case of the Yankin Basin, a tributary of the Niger River basin

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Badou, DF

2017-10-01

Full Text Available of remotely-sensed soil moisture is therefore promising. However, considering the limitations of remote sensing data, there is a need to check their validity prior to their utilization for impact studies. This in turn poses a problem in the absence of in situ...

A numerical solution to an inverse unsteady-state heat transfer problem involving the Trefftz functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maciejewska Beata

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper shows the results concerning flow boiling heat transfer in an asymmetrically heated vertical minichannel. The heated element for FC-72 Fluorinert flowing in that minichannel was a thin foil. The foil surface temperature was monitored continuously at 18 points by K-type thermocouples from the outer foil surface. Fluid temperature and pressure in the minichannel inlet and outlet, current supplied to the foil and voltage drop were also monitored. Measurements were carried out at 1 s intervals. The objective was to determine the heat transfer coefficient on the heated foil–fluid contact surface in the minichannel. It was obtained from the Robin boundary condition. The foil temperature was the result of solving the nonstationary two-dimensional inverse boundary problem in the heated foil. Using the FEM combined with Trefftz functions as basis functions solved the problem. The unknown temperature values at nodes were calculated by minimising the adequate functional. The values of local heat transfer coefficients were consistent with the results obtained by the authors in their previous studies when steady-state conditions were analysed. This time, however, these values were analysed as time dependent, which facilitated observation of coefficient changes that were impossible to observe under the steady-state conditions.

Solution of the conjugated heat transfer problem for the fuel elements assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golba, V.S.; Ivanenko, I.J.; Zinina, G.A.

1997-01-01

The paper presents the assemblies conjugated heat conductivity problem calculation and experimental method. The method is based on the temperature superposition modified concept and subchannel method and allows to predict the fuel elements surface temperatures with availability of fuel elements inside structure of any complication caused by technological and working defects and with availability of depositions with low heat conductivity on the fuel elements surfaces. According to the method developed the partial solutions of the heat conductivity equation at the heat removal boundaries (solid-liquid) are found separately for the fuel elements and for the liquid. The heat conductivity equation partial solutions for the fuel elements are predicted by calculations. The coolant heat conductivity equation partial solution ('influence functions') data massif is obtained in present work experimentally in the fuel assembly model consists of 7 tube bundle of fuel elements imitators placed in right grating with relative grating step equal to 1.1 and cooled by eutectic alloy Pb-Bi. It is shown that 'subchannel prediction method' decreases the crosswise heat transfer in comparison with crosswise heat transfer, when the fuel element inside structure is taken into account. Also in the paper it is shown that it is possible to realize the assembly temperature prediction method suggested without carrying out the experiments in the assembly's model in order to get the external problem influence functions'. (author)

Error characterization methods for surface soil moisture products from remote sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doubková, M.

2012-01-01

(AWRA-L) hydrological model, OzNET in-situ stations, and several other coarse resolution data sources were used. The results are combined to provide an exhaustive estimate of all qualities of the ASAR GM SSM product. The third objective is to provide guidance on appropriate evaluation methodology applicable to any SSM product. For this purpose the results of the ASAR GM evaluation analyzed are discussed from a general perspective and restructured to answer scientific questions identified in the introductory part of the thesis. These include: * Can we apply the evaluation requirements from comparable missions such as SMOS and SMAP to ASAR GM SSM? * How does spatial resolution influence error estimates? * Is there a single measure to describe the quality of SSM data? * What is the quality and what are the limitations of ASAR GM SSM? * Learning from ASAR GM SSM errors for Sentinel-1 The findings and suggestions originating from the discussion are transferable to other satellite-derived soil moisture data. Of special interest is its transfer to data from the planned Sentinel-1 SAR sensor that shares similar technical characteristics but has an improved retrieval error comparable to the ASAR GM sensor. The operationally available medium resolution soil moisture from Sentinel-1 with a well-characterized error is likely to yield benefits for modelling and monitoring of land surface-atmosphere fluxes, crop growth and water balance applications. (author) [de

MHD and heat transfer benchmark problems for liquid metal flow in rectangular ducts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidorenkov, S.I.; Hua, T.Q.; Araseki, H.

1994-01-01

Liquid metal cooling systems of a self-cooled blanket in a tokamak reactor will likely include channels of rectangular cross section where liquid metal is circulated in the presence of strong magnetic fields. MHD pressure drop, velocity distribution and heat transfer characteristics are important issues in the engineering design considerations. Computer codes for the reliable solution of three-dimensional MHD flow problems are needed for fusion relevant conditions. Argonne National Laboratory and The Efremov Institute have jointly defined several benchmark problems for code validation. The problems, described in this paper, are based on two series of rectangular duct experiments conducted at ANL; one of the series is a joint ANL/Efremov experiment. The geometries consist of variation of aspect ratio and wall thickness (thus wall conductance ratio). The transverse magnetic fields are uniform and nonuniform in the axial direction

Effect of soil-moisture stress on nitrogen uptake and fixation by plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitrosuhardjo, M.M.

1983-01-01

The effect of four levels of soil moisture, namely 25, 30, 35, and 40% (g/g) on nitrogen uptake and fixation by plants was studied in a greenhouse experiment. Soybean and wheat were used in this experiment. Both crops were grown in pots containing 7 kg loamy alluvial soil. Rhizobium japonicum was used as an inoculant for soybean, one week after planting. Nitrogen-15 labelled urea with 10% atom excess was applied to each pot with a dose rate of 70 mg N/pot (20 kg N/ha) two weeks after planting. Soil moisture was regularly controlled with porous-cup mercury tensiometers, and the amount of water consumed by plants was always recorded. Water was applied to each pot with a distribution pipe which was laid down in the centre of the soil depth, horizontally in a circular form, and was connected with a smaller pipe to the soil surface. The result obtained showed that the amount of water consumed by plants grown in a higher level of soil moisture was increased until soil aeration problems arose. A different amount of water consumption between soybean and wheat was observed at least until a certain period of growing time. Fertilizer nitrogen taken up by both crops varied with the different levels of soil moisture. Generally, greater fertilizer nitrogen was taken up by both crops grown in a higher level of soil moisture. The symbiotic fixation of nitrogen was reasonable, although no clarification has been found about the role of the four levels of soil-moisture treatment on it. A similar effect of soil-moisture stress on nodule dry matter and acetylene reduction was found. (author)

A Tilt, Soil Moisture, and Pore Water Pressure Sensor System for Slope Monitoring Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosanno de Dios

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the design, implementation and characterization of a sensor network intended for monitoring of slope deformation and potential failures. The sensor network system consists of a tilt and moisture sensor column, a pore water pressure sensor column and a personal computer for data storage and processing. The tilt sensor column consists of several pipe segments containing tri-axial accelerometers and signal processing electronics. Each segment is joined together by flexible joints to allow for the column to deform and subsequently track underground movement. Capacitive-type sensors for soil moisture measurement are also included in the sensor column, which are used to measure the soil moisture at different depths. The measurements at each segment are transferred via a Controller Area Network (CAN bus, where the CAN master node is located at the top of the column above ground. The CAN master node transmits the collected data from the slave nodes via a wireless connection to a personal computer that performs data storage, processing and display via a Python-based graphical user interface (GUI. The entire system was deployed and characterized on a small-scale slope model. Slope failure was induced via water seepage and the system was demonstrated to ably measure the inclination and soil moisture content throughout the landslide event.

The Transfer Pricing Problem in a Service Firm : A Case Study on a Swedish Multinational Enterprise

OpenAIRE

Husain, Shakir; Yilmaz, Emre

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to answer the research question of how a service company (ServiceCo) could achieve a transfer price of its services. This is of particular interest, due to the growth of service firms that have rapidly increased and surpassed the manufacturing firms, as well as the dominant logic shifting towards services. However, the problem with this field of study is that transfer pricing with regards to the service industry, is a rather unexplored phenomenon in which the guid...

Surface moisture estimation in urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yitong

Surface moisture is an important parameter because it modifies urban microclimate and surface layer meteorology. The primary objectives of this paper are: 1) to analyze the impact of surface roughness from buildings on surface moisture in urban areas; and 2) to quantify the impact of surface roughness resulting from urban trees on surface moisture. To achieve the objectives, two hypotheses were tested: 1) the distribution of surface moisture is associated with the structural complexity of buildings in urban areas; and 2) The distribution and change of surface moisture is associated with the distribution and vigor of urban trees. The study area is Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In the part of the morphology of urban trees, Warren Township was selected due to the limitation of tree inventory data. To test the hypotheses, the research design was made to extract the aerodynamic parameters, such as frontal areas, roughness length and displacement height of buildings and trees from Terrestrial and Airborne LiDAR data, then to input the aerodynamic parameters into the urban surface energy balance model. The methodology was developed for comparing the impact of aerodynamic parameters from LiDAR data with the parameters that were derived empirically from land use and land cover data. The analytical procedures are discussed below: 1) to capture the spatial and temporal variation of surface moisture, daily and hourly Land Surface Temperature (LST) were downscaled from 4 km to 1 km, and 960 m to 30 m, respectively, by regression between LST and various components that impact LST; 2) to estimate surface moisture, namely soil moisture and evapotranspiration (ET), land surfaces were classified into soil, vegetation, and impervious surfaces, using Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis (LSMA); 3) aerodynamic parameters of buildings and trees were extracted from Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR data; 4) the Temperature-Vegetation-Index (TVX) method, and the Two-Source-Energy-Balance (TSEB

Shallow soil moisture – ground thaw interactions and controls – Part 1: Spatiotemporal patterns and correlations over a subarctic landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. J. Guan

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Soil moisture and ground thaw state are both indicative of a hillslope's ability to transfer water. In cold regions, in particular, it is widely known that the depth of the active layer and wetness of surface soils are important for runoff generation, but the diversity of interactions between ground thaw and surface soil moisture themselves has not been studied. To fill this knowledge gap, detailed shallow soil moisture and thaw depth surveys were conducted along systematic grids at the Baker Creek Basin, Northwest Territories. Multiple hillslopes were studied to determine how the interactions differed along a spectrum of topological, typological and topographic situations across the landscape. Overall results did not show a simple link between soil moisture and ground thaw as was expected. Instead, correlation was a function of wetness. The interaction between soil moisture and ground thaw was more dependent at wetter sites. This indicates that interactive soil moisture and thaw depth behaviour on hillslopes in cold regions changes with location and cannot necessarily be lumped together in hydrological models. To explore further why these differences arise, a companion paper (Guan et al., 2010 will examine how the hydrological and energy fluxes influenced the patterns of moisture and thaw among the study sites.

Measurement of soil moisture using gypsum blocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis Dela, B.

the building. Consequently, measuring the moisture of the surrounding soil is of great importance for detecting the source of moisture in a building. Up till now, information has been needed to carry out individual calibrations for the different types of gypsum blocks available on the market and to account......For the past 50 years, gypsum blocks have been used to determine soil moisture content. This report describes a method for calibrating gypsum blocks for soil moisture measurements. Moisture conditions inside a building are strongly influenced by the moisture conditions in the soil surrounding...

Multiscale network model for simulating liquid water and water vapour transfer properties of porous materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carmeliet, J.; Descamps, F.; Houvenaghel, G.

1999-01-01

A multiscale network model is presented to model unsaturated moisture transfer in hygroscopic capillary-porous materials showing a broad pore-size distribution. Both capillary effects and water sorption phenomena, water vapour and liquid water transfer are considered. The multiscale approach is

Probing bias reduction to improve comparability of lint cotton water and moisture contents at moisture equilibrium

Science.gov (United States)

The Karl Fischer Titration (KFT) reference method is specific for water in lint cotton and was designed for samples conditioned to moisture equilibrium, thus limiting its biases. There is a standard method for moisture content – weight loss – by oven drying (OD), just not for equilibrium moisture c...

The LTAN solution for radiative transfer problems without azimuthal symmetry and high degree of anisotropy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardona, Augusto V.; Vilhena, Marco T. de; Segatto, Cynthia F.

2005-01-01

In this work we solve the radiative transfer problem without azimuthal symmetry with high degree of anisotropy using the LTAN method and the Laplace inverse transformation by the diagonalization of the large symbolic LTAN matrix. We report numerical simulations and comparisons with available results of the literature. (author)

Compact RFID Enabled Moisture Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. H. Khan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This research proposes a novel, low-cost RFID tag sensor antenna implemented using commercially available Kodak photo-paper. The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibility of stable, RFID centric communication under varying moisture levels. Variation in the frequency response of the RFID tag in presence of moisture is used to detect different moisture levels. Combination of unique jaw shaped contours and T-matching network is used for impedance matching which results in compact size and minimal ink consumption. Proposed tag is 1.4 × 9.4 cm2 in size and shows optimum results for various moisture levels upto 45% in FCC band with a bore sight read range of 12.1 m.

Neutron moisture monitoring (NMM) and moisture contents in the Green River, Utah, UMTRA disposal cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-06-01

This report provides the basis for the US Department of Energy's (DOE) request to discontinue neutron moisture monitoring (NMM) at the Green River, Utah, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) disposal cell and decommission the neutron access holes. After 3 years of monitoring the disposal cell, the DOE has determined that the NMM method is not suitable for determining changes in moisture content in the disposal cell. Existing tailings moisture contents in the disposal cell result in a low seepage flux. The combination of a low seepage flux and geochemical retardation by foundation materials underneath the disposal cell ensures that the proposed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) groundwater protection standards will not be exceeded within the design life of the disposal cell. To assess the effectiveness of the NMM method for monitoring moisture contents In the disposal cell at Green River, the DOE subsequently conducted a field study and a review of historical and new literature. The literature review allowed the DOE to identify performance criteria for the NMM method. Findings of these studies suggest that: The NMM method is not sensitive to the low moisture contents found in the disposal cell.; there is an insufficient range of moisture contents in the disposal cell to develop a field calibration curve relating moisture content to neutron counts; it is not possible to collect NMM data from the disposal cell that meet data quality objectives for precision and accuracy developed from performance criteria described in the literature

On-irrigator pasture soil moisture sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Adrian Eng-Choon; Richards, Sean; Platt, Ian; Woodhead, Ian

2017-01-01

In this paper, we presented the development of a proximal soil moisture sensor that measured the soil moisture content of dairy pasture directly from the boom of an irrigator. The proposed sensor was capable of soil moisture measurements at an accuracy of  ±5% volumetric moisture content, and at meter scale ground area resolutions. The sensor adopted techniques from the ultra-wideband radar to enable measurements of ground reflection at resolutions that are smaller than the antenna beamwidth of the sensor. An experimental prototype was developed for field measurements. Extensive field measurements using the developed prototype were conducted on grass pasture at different ground conditions to validate the accuracy of the sensor in performing soil moisture measurements. (paper)

Assimilation of a thermal remote sensing-based soil moisture proxy into a root-zone water balance model

Science.gov (United States)

Crow, W. T.; Kustas, W. P.

2006-05-01

Two types of Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) modeling approaches are commonly applied to monitoring root-zone soil water availability. Water and Energy Balance (WEB) SVAT modeling are based forcing a prognostic water balance model with precipitation observations. In constrast, thermal Remote Sensing (RS) observations of canopy radiometric temperatures can be integrated into purely diagnostic SVAT models to predict the onset of vegetation water stress due to low root-zone soil water availability. Unlike WEB-SVAT models, RS-SVAT models do not require observed precipitation. Using four growings seasons (2001 to 2004) of profile soil moisture, micro-meteorology, and surface radiometric temperature observations at the USDA's OPE3 site, root-zone soil moisture predictions made by both WEB- and RS-SVAT modeling approaches are intercompared with each other and availible root- zone soil moisture observations. Results indicate that root-zone soil moisture estimates derived from a WEB- SVAT model have slightly more skill in detecting soil moisture anomalies at the site than comporable predictions from a competing RS-SVAT modeling approach. However, the relative advantage of the WEB-SVAT model disappears when it is forced with lower-quality rainfall information typical of continental and global-scale rainfall data sets. Most critically, root-zone soil moisture errors associated with both modeling approaches are sufficiently independent such that the merger of both information from both proxies - using either simple linear averaging or an Ensemble Kalman filter - creates a merge soil moisture estimate that is more accurate than either of its parent components.

Development of a neutron moisture gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, A.S.

1979-01-01

A neutron moisture gauge fabricated for measuring the moisture content of coke is described. It has an americium-beryllium source placed beside a boron coated neutron counter which is a slow neutron detector. The fast neutrons emitted by the radioactive source are slowed down by the hydrogen nuclei present in the material either as bound hydrogen or as a hydrogen of the water. Measure of the slowed down i.e. thermal neutrons (their density) is proportional to the total hydrogen content of the material. The instrument is installed as an ''on-line'' measuring device to estimate the moisture content of coke at the weighing hopper feeding the skip car. The accuracy of measurement is dependent on the moisture content, i.e. higher accuracy is obtained for higher moisture content. At low moisture content, the effect of the bound hydrogen other than that of the water on low moisture readings is pronounced. Effect of bulk density on the accuracy of measurement is not very significant as long as the coke size is constant. The error is in the range of +- 1.1%. (M.G.B.)

Laser radiation in active amplifying media treated as a transport problem - Transfer equation derived and exactly solved

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, S. R. D.; Gupta, Santanu D.

1991-10-01

The flow of laser radiation in a plane-parallel cylindrical slab of active amplifying medium with axial symmetry is treated as a problem in radiative transfer. The appropriate one-dimensional transfer equation describing the transfer of laser radiation has been derived by an appeal to Einstein's A, B coefficients (describing the processes of stimulated line absorption, spontaneous line emission, and stimulated line emission sustained by population inversion in the medium) and considering the 'rate equations' to completely establish the rational of the transfer equation obtained. The equation is then exactly solved and the angular distribution of the emergent laser beam intensity is obtained; its numerically computed values are given in tables and plotted in graphs showing the nature of peaks of the emerging laser beam intensity about the axis of the laser cylinder.

Efficacy of Radiative Transfer Model Across Space, Time and Hydro-climates

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanty, B.; Neelam, M.

2017-12-01

The efficiency of radiative transfer model for better soil moisture retrievals is not yet clearly understood over natural systems with great variability and heterogeneity with respect to soil, land cover, topography, precipitation etc. However, this knowledge is important to direct and strategize future research direction and field campaigns. In this work, we present global sensitivity analysis (GSA) technique to study the influence of heterogeneity and uncertainties on radiative transfer model (RTM) and to quantify climate-soil-vegetation interactions. A framework is proposed to understand soil moisture mechanisms underlying these interactions, and influence of these interactions on soil moisture retrieval accuracy. Soil moisture dynamics is observed to play a key role in variability of these interactions, i.e., it enhances both mean and variance of soil-vegetation coupling. The analysis is conducted for different support scales (Point Scale, 800 m, 1.6 km, 3.2 km, 6.4 km, 12.8 km, and 36 km), seasonality (time), hydro-climates, aggregation (scaling) methods and across Level I and Level II ecoregions of contiguous USA (CONUS). For undisturbed natural environments such as SGP'97 (Oklahoma, USA) and SMEX04 (Arizona, USA), the sensitivity of TB to land surface variables remain nearly uniform and are not influenced by extent, support scales or averaging method. On the contrary, for anthropogenically-manipulated environments such as SMEX02 (Iowa, USA) and SMAPVEX12 (Winnipeg, Canada), the sensitivity to variables are highly influenced by the distribution of land surface heterogeneity and upscaling methods. The climate-soil-vegetation interactions analyzed across all ecoregions are presented through a probability distribution function (PDF). The intensity of these interactions are categorized accordingly to yield "hotspots", where the RTM model fails to retrieve soil moisture. A ecoregion specific scaling function is proposed for these hotspots to rectify RTM for

A non linear half space problem for radiative transfer equations. Application to the Rosseland approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sentis, R.

1984-07-01

The radiative transfer equations may be approximated by a non linear diffusion equation (called Rosseland equation) when the mean free paths of the photons are small with respect to the size of the medium. Some technical assomptions are made, namely about the initial conditions, to avoid any problem of initial layer terms

Multilayer moisture barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Pankow, Joel W; Jorgensen, Gary J; Terwilliger, Kent M; Glick, Stephen H; Isomaki, Nora; Harkonen, Kari; Turkulainen, Tommy

2015-04-21

A moisture barrier, device or product having a moisture barrier or a method of fabricating a moisture barrier having at least a polymer layer, and interfacial layer, and a barrier layer. The polymer layer may be fabricated from any suitable polymer including, but not limited to, fluoropolymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), or ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). The interfacial layer may be formed by atomic layer deposition (ALD). In embodiments featuring an ALD interfacial layer, the deposited interfacial substance may be, but is not limited to, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, AlSiO.sub.x, TiO.sub.2, and an Al.sub.2O.sub.3/TiO.sub.2 laminate. The barrier layer associated with the interfacial layer may be deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The barrier layer may be a SiO.sub.xN.sub.y film.

Contributions of Precipitation and Soil Moisture Observations to the Skill of Soil Moisture Estimates in a Land Data Assimilation System

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf H.; Liu, Qing; Bindlish, Rajat; Cosh, Michael H.; Crow, Wade T.; deJeu, Richard; DeLannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Huffman, George J.; Jackson, Thomas J.

2011-01-01

The contributions of precipitation and soil moisture observations to the skill of soil moisture estimates from a land data assimilation system are assessed. Relative to baseline estimates from the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), the study investigates soil moisture skill derived from (i) model forcing corrections based on large-scale, gauge- and satellite-based precipitation observations and (ii) assimilation of surface soil moisture retrievals from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). Soil moisture skill is measured against in situ observations in the continental United States at 44 single-profile sites within the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) for which skillful AMSR-E retrievals are available and at four CalVal watersheds with high-quality distributed sensor networks that measure soil moisture at the scale of land model and satellite estimates. The average skill (in terms of the anomaly time series correlation coefficient R) of AMSR-E retrievals is R=0.39 versus SCAN and R=0.53 versus CalVal measurements. The skill of MERRA surface and root-zone soil moisture is R=0.42 and R=0.46, respectively, versus SCAN measurements, and MERRA surface moisture skill is R=0.56 versus CalVal measurements. Adding information from either precipitation observations or soil moisture retrievals increases surface soil moisture skill levels by IDDeltaR=0.06-0.08, and root zone soil moisture skill levels by DeltaR=0.05-0.07. Adding information from both sources increases surface soil moisture skill levels by DeltaR=0.13, and root zone soil moisture skill by DeltaR=0.11, demonstrating that precipitation corrections and assimilation of satellite soil moisture retrievals contribute similar and largely independent amounts of information.

Absolute moisture sensing for cotton bales

Science.gov (United States)

With the recent prevalence of moisture restoration systems in cotton gins, more and more gins are putting moisture back into the bales immediately before the packaging operation. There are two main reasons for this recent trend, the first is that it has been found that added moisture at the bale pre...

TRIP: a finite element computer program for the solution of convection heat transfer problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slagter, W.; Roodbergen, H.A.

1976-01-01

The theory and use of the finite element code TRIP are described. The code calculates temperature distributions in three-dimensional continua subjected to convection heat transfer. A variational principle for transport phenomena is applied to solve the convection heat transfer problem with temperature and heat flux boundary conditions. The finite element discretization technique is used to reduce the continuous spatial solution into a finite number of unknowns. The method is developed in detail to determine temperature distributions in coolant passages of fuel rod bundles which are idealized by hexahedral elements. The development of the TRIP code is discussed and the listing of the program is given in FORTRAN IV. An example is given to illustrate the validity and practicality of the method

Solutions obtained to international heat transfer benchmarking problems for nuclear fuel casks using Q/TRAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, L.C.

1987-02-01

In 1985 Sandia National Laboratories participated in the Nuclear Energy Agency Committee on Reactor Physics (NEACRP) Specialists' Meeting on Heat Transfer Assessment of Transportation Packages. The objective of the meeting was to establish a set of model problems for use in comparing the performance of thermal analysis computer codes that may be used in the design of nuclear fuel shipping casks. The selected problems are to be used to compare code results for the thermal phenomena of conduction, convection, and radiation in cask-like problems. Two model problems were used in this study. The first problem required the determination of the steady-state temperatures of a 16 x 16 array of heated and unheated pins (representing fuel and control rod positions) of a simulated PWR fuel assembly. The second problem required the determination of transient temperatures of a finned surface (representing the external surface of a cask) subjected to an internal heat flux and to an external engulfing fire. Solutions to the problems were obtained with the code ''Q/TRAN.'' Solutions and descriptions of the necessary modeling techniques are given in this report

Temporal changes of spatial soil moisture patterns: controlling factors explained with a multidisciplinary approach

Science.gov (United States)

Martini, Edoardo; Wollschläger, Ute; Kögler, Simon; Behrens, Thorsten; Dietrich, Peter; Reinstorf, Frido; Schmidt, Karsten; Weiler, Markus; Werban, Ulrike; Zacharias, Steffen

2016-04-01

different hydrologic conditions and the factors controlling the temporal variability of the ECa-soil moisture relationship. The approach provided valuable insight into the time-varying contribution of local and nonlocal factors to the characteristic spatial patterns of soil moisture and the transition mechanisms. The spatial organization of soil moisture was controlled by different processes in different soil horizons, and the topsoil's moisture did not mirror processes that take place within the soil profile. Results show that, for the Schäfertal hillslope site which is presumed to be representative for non-intensively managed soils with moderate clay content, local soil properties (e.g., soil texture and porosity) are the major control on the spatial pattern of ECa. In contrast, the ECa-soil moisture relationship is small and varies over time indicating that ECa is not a good proxy for soil moisture estimation at the investigated site.Occasionally observed stronger correlations between ECa and soil moisture may be explained by background dependencies of ECa to other state variables such as pore water electrical conductivity. The results will help to improve conceptual understanding for hydrological model studies at similar or smaller scales, and to transfer observation concepts and process understanding to larger or less instrumented sites, as well as to constrain the use of EMI-based ECa data for hydrological applications.

Assimilation of SMOS-derived soil moisture in a fully integrated hydrological and soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model in Western Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridler, Marc-Etienne Francois; Madsen, Henrik; Stisen, Simon

2014-01-01

-derived soil moisture assimilation in a catchment scale model is typically restricted by two challenges: (1) passive microwave is too coarse for direct assimilation and (2) the data tend to be biased. The solution proposed in this study is to disaggregate the SMOS bias using a higher resolution land cover...... classification map that was derived from Landsat thermal images. Using known correlations between SMOS bias and vegetation type, the assimilation filter is adapted to calculate biases online, using an initial bias estimate. Real SMOS-derived soil moisture is assimilated in a precalibrated catchment model...

Influences of gas stream conditions on efficiency of tritiated moisture collection with P2O5-desiccant and isotope effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotoh, Kenji; Miura, Katsuya; Kashio, Yousuke; Nishikawa, Masabumi

1991-01-01

A method was proposed previously for collection and measurement of tritiated moisture in gas stream using P 2 O 5 -desiccant. Influences of the gas humidity, the gas flow rate and the distance between gas nozzle and P 2 O 5 -desiccant layer surface on the moisture collection efficiency have been examined through experiments, and the isotope effect on the collection has been investigated. The collection efficiency is the ratio of collected to supplied moisture, and the moisture supplying rate is in proportion to the humidity and flow rate of feed gas. The experiments show that; the collection efficiency dose not depend on the gas humidity, but is affected by the gas flow rate and by the nozzle-layer distance. The effects of the flow rate and the nozzle position are related to the mass transfer distance from the bulk of gas stream to the desiccant layer surface in the collection cell. The moisture collecting rate is promoted by the approach of the gas stream to the layer surface. An expression of effective separation factor has been derived to explain the isotope effect on the moisture collection. Experimental data distribution of the separation factor have been reasonably simulated by the analysis. (author)

Numerical and experimental determination of surface temperature and moisture evolution in a field soil

Science.gov (United States)

Akinyemi, Olukayode D.; Mendes, Nathan

2007-03-01

Knowledge about the dynamics of soil moisture and heat, especially at the surface, provides important insights into the physical processes governing their interactions with the atmosphere, thereby improving the understanding of patterns of climate dynamics. In this context the paper presents the numerical and field experimental results of temperature and moisture evolution, which were measured on the surface of a sandy soil at Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria. An unconditionally stable numerical method was used, which linearizes the vapour concentration driving-potential term giving the moisture exchanged at the boundaries in terms of temperature and moisture content, and simultaneously solves the governing equations for each time step. The model avoids stability problems and limitations to low moisture contents and the usual assumption of constant thermal conductivity. Instantaneous temperature measurements were made at the surface using a thermocouple, while the gravimetric method was employed to determine the volumetric water contents at some specific hours of the experimental period. The observed experimental data compared fairly well with the predicted values, with both having correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 and consequently following a common diurnal trend. The sensitivity of the model was very high to the choice of simulation parameters, especially grid size refinement and time step. While the model underestimated the soil moisture content at 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., the measured temperatures were however overestimated. When compared to moisture content, average errors for temperature were low resulting in a minimal absolute difference in amplitude of 0.81 °C.

Horizontal and vertical variability of soil moisture in savanna ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Caylor, K.; D'Odorico, P.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

2004-12-01

Soil moisture is a key hydrological variable that mediates the interactions between climate, soil, and vegetation dynamics in water-limited ecosystems. Because of the importance of water limitation in savannas, a number of theoretical models of tree-grass coexistence have been developed which differ in their underlying assumptions about the ways in which trees and grasses access and use soil moisture. However, clarification of the mechanisms that allow savanna vegetation to persist as a mixture of grasses and trees remains a vexing problem in both hydrological and vegetation science. A particular challenge is the fact that the spatial pattern of vegetation is both a cause and effect of variation in water availability in semiarid ecosystems. At landscape to regional scales, climatic and geologic constraints on soil moisture availability are primary determinants of vegetation structural pattern. However, at local to landscape scales the patchy vegetation structural mosaic serves to redistribute the availability of soil moisture in ways that have important consequences for structural dynamics and community composition. In this regard, the emerging field of ecohydrology is well suited to investigate questions concerning couplings between the patchy structural mosaic of savanna vegetation and the kinds self-organizing dynamics known to exist in other light and nutrient-limited vegetation systems. Here we address the role of patchy vegetation structure through the use of a lumped model of soil moisture dynamics that accounts for the effect of tree canopy on the lateral and vertical distribution of soil moisture. The model includes mechanisms for the drying of the ground surface due to soil evaporation in the sites with no tree cover, and for the lateral water uptake due to root invading areas with no canopy cover located in the proximity of trees. The model, when applied to a series of sites along a rainfall gradient in southern Africa, is able to explain the cover

MOISTURE-BUFFERING CHARACTERISTICS OF BUILDING MATERIALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young Cheol Choi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The humidity level of indoor air is an important factor influencing the air quality and energy consumption of buildings, as well as the durability of building components. Indoor humidity levels depend on several factors, such as moisture sources, air flow, and the adsorption/desorption properties of materials. The moisture-buffering characteristics of building materials that are in contact with indoor air may help moderate the variations of indoor humidity, especially in the summer and winter. In this study, the moisture adsorption/desorption properties of building materials were investigated experimentally and numerically. These properties can be used to characterize the ability of building materials to exchange moisture with the indoor environment. This study indicates that a building material surface resistivity was the main factor creating variations of moisture buffering.

Experimental Investigation of Moisture Driven Fracture in Solid Wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Finn; Ormarsson, Sigurdur; Olesen, John Forbes

2010-01-01

Solid timber products, containing both heartwood and sapwood, often have a high tendency to crack during the drying process. This can cause severe loss of material for the saw-mills, especially for products with large cross sectional dimensions. The cracks (e.g. end-cracks) arise, in some cases......, early in the drying process and close again later in the process. It can be difficult to see the closed cracks with visual grading. This may result in too high grading of the damaged material which may cause problems for customers such as building and furniture industries. Moisture content (MC) in green...... wood varies within the cross section of a timber log. The MC of heartwood, for example, is considerable lower than the MC of sapwood. Shrinkage starts at different times within different parts of the cross section, which results in a complex state of strains and stresses. The moisture related crack...

Interior moisture design loads for residences

Science.gov (United States)

Anton TenWolde; Iain S. Walker

2001-01-01

This paper outlines a methodology to obtain design values for indoor boundary conditions for moisture design calculations for residences. This is part of a larger effort by ASHRAE Standard Project Committee 160P, Design Criteria for Moisture Control in Buildings, to formulate criteria for moisture design loads, analysis techniques, and material and building performance...

Conductive and steam-diffuse constituents of thermotransfer in different soil moisture contents: case study of the Altai Region’s soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Makarychev

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to determine the conductive and steam-diffusive heat transfer constituents in the soil. Based on the solution of differential equation system of heat and mass transfer, the method to determine the conductive and steam-diffusive heat transfer constituents in wet soils was developed. To measure the thermophysical properties in laboratory setting, a pulse method of a two-dimensional heat source was used. The method takes into account the patterns of temperature field equalization in an unbounded medium after the heat source termination. A feature of this process is the occurrence of peak temperature at the investigated point of the medium at a given instant. In this experiment, the temperature was controlled not only at the investigated point of the medium, but also at the soil-heater interface. The proposed method was used to study the thermophysical indices of the chernozems of the Altai Region’s Priobye area (the Ob River area. The chernozem under study is of light-loamy particle-size composition; the illuvial horizon В is enriched by a sand fraction. It has been found that the soil conductive thermal diffusivity is reduced with increasing moisture content. The steam-diffusive thermal diffusivity has the extremum at the moisture close to the discontinuous capillary moisture. In humus horizons it plays a smaller role than in the mineral horizons. The thermal diffusivity determined by the steam molecule motion in the pore space of the soil exceeds the conductive thermal diffusivity two or three times. At the same time thermal steam diffusivity is more than ten time lower than the conductive constituent. Eventually, the stem molecules though dramatically accelerating the processes of heat transfer in the soil profile conduct a small amount of heat and make a weak contribution to soil thermal accumulation.

Australian Soil Moisture Field Experiments in Support of Soil Moisture Satellite Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Edward; Walker, Jeff; Rudiger, Christopher; Panciera, Rocco

2010-01-01

Large-scale field campaigns provide the critical fink between our understanding retrieval algorithms developed at the point scale, and algorithms suitable for satellite applications at vastly larger pixel scales. Retrievals of land parameters must deal with the substantial sub-pixel heterogeneity that is present in most regions. This is particularly the case for soil moisture remote sensing, because of the long microwave wavelengths (L-band) that are optimal. Yet, airborne L-band imagers have generally been large, heavy, and required heavy-lift aircraft resources that are expensive and difficult to schedule. Indeed, US soil moisture campaigns, have been constrained by these factors, and European campaigns have used non-imagers due to instrument and aircraft size constraints. Despite these factors, these campaigns established that large-scale soil moisture remote sensing was possible, laying the groundwork for satellite missions. Starting in 2005, a series of airborne field campaigns have been conducted in Australia: to improve our understanding of soil moisture remote sensing at large scales over heterogeneous areas. These field data have been used to test and refine retrieval algorithms for soil moisture satellite missions, and most recently with the launch of the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, to provide validation measurements over a multi-pixel area. The campaigns to date have included a preparatory campaign in 2005, two National Airborne Field Experiments (NAFE), (2005 and 2006), two campaigns to the Simpson Desert (2008 and 2009), and one Australian Airborne Cal/val Experiment for SMOS (AACES), just concluded in the austral spring of 2010. The primary airborne sensor for each campaign has been the Polarimetric L-band Microwave Radiometer (PLMR), a 6-beam pushbroom imager that is small enough to be compatible with light aircraft, greatly facilitating the execution of the series of campaigns, and a key to their success. An

Effectiveness of modified 1-hour air-oven moisture methods for determining popcorn moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Two of the most commonly used approved grain moisture air-oven reference methods are the air oven method ASAE S352.2, which requires long heating time (72-h) for unground samples, and the AACC 44-15.02 air-oven method, which dries a ground sample for 1 hr, but there is specific moisture measurement ...

Determination of drying kinetics and convective heat transfer coefficients of ginger slices

Science.gov (United States)

Akpinar, Ebru Kavak; Toraman, Seda

2016-10-01

In the present work, the effects of some parametric values on convective heat transfer coefficients and the thin layer drying process of ginger slices were investigated. Drying was done in the laboratory by using cyclone type convective dryer. The drying air temperature was varied as 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C and the air velocity is 0.8, 1.5 and 3 m/s. All drying experiments had only falling rate period. The drying data were fitted to the twelve mathematical models and performance of these models was investigated by comparing the determination of coefficient ( R 2), reduced Chi-square ( χ 2) and root mean square error between the observed and predicted moisture ratios. The effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy were calculated using an infinite series solution of Fick's diffusion equation. The average effective moisture diffusivity values and activation energy values varied from 2.807 × 10-10 to 6.977 × 10-10 m2/s and 19.313-22.722 kJ/mol over the drying air temperature and velocity range, respectively. Experimental data was used to evaluate the values of constants in Nusselt number expression by using linear regression analysis and consequently, convective heat transfer coefficients were determined in forced convection mode. Convective heat transfer coefficient of ginger slices showed changes in ranges 0.33-2.11 W/m2 °C.

A metabolic derivation of tritium transfer factors in animal products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galeriu, D.; Melintescu, A.; Crout, N. M. J.; Bersford, N. A.; Peterson, S. R.; Hess, M. van

2001-01-01

Tritium is a potentially important environmental contaminant arising from the nuclear industry. Because tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, its behaviour in the environment is controlled by the behaviour of hydrogen. Chronic releases of tritium to the atmosphere, in particular, will result in tritium-to-hydrogen (T/H) ratios in plants and animals that are more or less in equilibrium with T/H ratios in the air moisture. Tritium is thus a potentially important contaminant of plant and animal food products. The transfer of tritium from air moisture to plants is quite well understood. In contrast, although a number of regulatory agencies have published transfer coefficient values for diet tritium transfer for a limited number of animal products, a fresh evaluation of these transfers needs to be made In this paper we present an approach for the derivation of tritium transfer coefficients which is based on the metabolism of hydrogen in animals in conjunction with experimental data on tritium transfer. The derived transfer coefficients separately account for transfer to and from free (i.e. water) and organically bound tritium. The predicted transfer coefficients are compared to available data independent of model development. Agreement is good, with the exception of the transfer coefficient for transfer from tritiated water to organically bound tritium in ruminants, which may be attributable to the particular characteristics of ruminant digestion. We show that transfer coefficients will vary in response to the metabolic status of an animal (e.g. stage of lactation, digestibility of diet, etc.) and that the use of a single transfer coefficient from diet to animal product is not appropriate for tritium. It is possible to derive concentration ratio values which relate the concentration of tritiated water and organically bound tritium in an animal product to the corresponding concentrations in the animals diet. These concentration ratios are shown to be less subject to

Digital radioisotope moisture-density meter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bychvarov, N.; Vankov, I.; Dimitrov, L.

1982-01-01

The primary information from the detectors of a combined radioisotope moisture-density meter is obtained as pulses, their counting rate being functionally dependent on the humidity per unit volume and the wet density. However, most practical cases demand information on the moisture per unit weight and the mass density of the dry skeleton. The paper describes how the proposed electronic circuit processes the input primary information to obtain the moisture in weight % and the mass density of the dry skeleton in g/cm 3 . (authors)

Modeling soil moisture memory in savanna ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, S.; Miller, G. R.

2011-12-01

Antecedent soil conditions create an ecosystem's "memory" of past rainfall events. Such soil moisture memory effects may be observed over a range of timescales, from daily to yearly, and lead to feedbacks between hydrological and ecosystem processes. In this study, we modeled the soil moisture memory effect on savanna ecosystems in California, Arizona, and Africa, using a system dynamics model created to simulate the ecohydrological processes at the plot-scale. The model was carefully calibrated using soil moisture and evapotranspiration data collected at three study sites. The model was then used to simulate scenarios with various initial soil moisture conditions and antecedent precipitation regimes, in order to study the soil moisture memory effects on the evapotranspiration of understory and overstory species. Based on the model results, soil texture and antecedent precipitation regime impact the redistribution of water within soil layers, potentially causing deeper soil layers to influence the ecosystem for a longer time. Of all the study areas modeled, soil moisture memory of California savanna ecosystem site is replenished and dries out most rapidly. Thus soil moisture memory could not maintain the high rate evapotranspiration for more than a few days without incoming rainfall event. On the contrary, soil moisture memory of Arizona savanna ecosystem site lasts the longest time. The plants with different root depths respond to different memory effects; shallow-rooted species mainly respond to the soil moisture memory in the shallow soil. The growing season of grass is largely depended on the soil moisture memory of the top 25cm soil layer. Grass transpiration is sensitive to the antecedent precipitation events within daily to weekly timescale. Deep-rooted plants have different responses since these species can access to the deeper soil moisture memory with longer time duration Soil moisture memory does not have obvious impacts on the phenology of woody plants

Modeling studies of gas movement and moisture migration at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsang, Y.W.; Pruess, K. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)

1991-06-01

Modeling studies on moisture redistribution processes that are mediated by gas phase flow and diffusion have been carried out. The problem addressed is the effect of a lowered humidity of the soil gas at the land surface on moisture removal from Yucca Mountain, the potential site for a high-level nuclear waste repository. At the land surface, humid formation gas contacts much drier atmospheric air. Near this contact, the humidity of the soil gas may be considerably lower than at greater depth, where the authors expect equilibrium with the liquid phase and close to 100% humidity. The lower relative humidity of the soil gas may be modeled by imposing, at the land surface, an additional negative capillary suction corresponding to vapor pressure lowering according to Kelvin`s Equation, thus providing a driving force for the upward movement of moisture in both the vapor and liquid phases. Sensitivity studies show that moisture removal from Yucca Mountain arising from the lowered-relative-humidity boundary condition is controlled by vapor diffusion. There is much experimental evidence in the soil literature that diffusion of vapor is enhanced due to pore-level phase change effects by a few orders of magnitude. Modeling results presented here will account for this enhancement in vapor diffusion.

Problems of heat transfer within the containing vessel of high performance LMFBR spent fuel shipping casks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, R.B.; Gartling, D.K.; Schimmel, W.P. Jr.; Larson, D.W.

1976-01-01

A preliminary assessment of heat transfer problems internal to a LMFBR spent fuel shipping cask is reported. The assessment is based upon previous results obtained in full-scale, electrically heated mockups of an LMFBR assembly located in a containing pipe, and also upon analytical and empirical studies presented in this paper. It is shown that a liquid coolant will be required to adequately distribute the decay heat of short-cooled assemblies from the fuel region to the containing cask structure. Liquid sodium apparently provides the best heat transfer, and sufficient data are available to adequately model the heat transfer processes involved. Dowtherm A is the most efficient organic evaluated to date and presented in the open literature. Since the organic materials have high Prandtl and usually high Rayleigh numbers, natural convection is the predominant mode of heat transfer. It is shown that a more comprehensive understanding of the convective processes will be required before heat transfer with an organic coolant can be adequately modeled. However, in view of systems considerations, Dowtherm A should be further considered as an alternative to sodium for use as a LMFBR spent fuel shipping cask coolant

Basic heat transfer

CERN Document Server

Bacon, D H

2013-01-01

Basic Heat Transfer aims to help readers use a computer to solve heat transfer problems and to promote greater understanding by changing data values and observing the effects, which are necessary in design and optimization calculations.The book is concerned with applications including insulation and heating in buildings and pipes, temperature distributions in solids for steady state and transient conditions, the determination of surface heat transfer coefficients for convection in various situations, radiation heat transfer in grey body problems, the use of finned surfaces, and simple heat exc

Radiative heat transfer

CERN Document Server

Modest, Michael F

2013-01-01

The third edition of Radiative Heat Transfer describes the basic physics of radiation heat transfer. The book provides models, methodologies, and calculations essential in solving research problems in a variety of industries, including solar and nuclear energy, nanotechnology, biomedical, and environmental. Every chapter of Radiative Heat Transfer offers uncluttered nomenclature, numerous worked examples, and a large number of problems-many based on real world situations-making it ideal for classroom use as well as for self-study. The book's 24 chapters cover the four major areas in the field: surface properties; surface transport; properties of participating media; and transfer through participating media. Within each chapter, all analytical methods are developed in substantial detail, and a number of examples show how the developed relations may be applied to practical problems. It is an extensive solution manual for adopting instructors. Features: most complete text in the field of radiative heat transfer;...

SMOS validation of soil moisture and ocen salinity (SMOS) soil moisture over watershed networks in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Estimation of soil moisture at large scale has been performed using several satellite-based passive microwave sensors and a variety of retrieval methods. The most recent source of soil moisture is the European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. A thorough validation must b...

Studies and Application of Remote Sensing Retrieval Method of Soil Moisture Content in Land Parcel Units in Irrigation Area

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, H.; Zhao, H. L.; Jiang, Y. Z.; Zang, W. B.

2018-05-01

Soil moisture is one of the important hydrological elements. Obtaining soil moisture accurately and effectively is of great significance for water resource management in irrigation area. During the process of soil moisture content retrieval with multiremote sensing data, multi- remote sensing data always brings multi-spatial scale problems which results in inconformity of soil moisture content retrieved by remote sensing in different spatial scale. In addition, agricultural water use management has suitable spatial scale of soil moisture information so as to satisfy the demands of dynamic management of water use and water demand in certain unit. We have proposed to use land parcel unit as the minimum unit to do soil moisture content research in agricultural water using area, according to soil characteristics, vegetation coverage characteristics in underlying layer, and hydrological characteristic into the basis of study unit division. We have proposed division method of land parcel units. Based on multi thermal infrared and near infrared remote sensing data, we calculate the ndvi and tvdi index and make a statistical model between the tvdi index and soil moisture of ground monitoring station. Then we move forward to study soil moisture remote sensing retrieval method on land parcel unit scale. And the method has been applied in Hetao irrigation area. Results show that compared with pixel scale the soil moisture content in land parcel unit scale has displayed stronger correlation with true value. Hence, remote sensing retrieval method of soil moisture content in land parcel unit scale has shown good applicability in Hetao irrigation area. We converted the research unit into the scale of land parcel unit. Using the land parcel units with unified crops and soil attributes as the research units more complies with the characteristics of agricultural water areas, avoids the problems such as decomposition of mixed pixels and excessive dependence on high-resolution data

Soil moisture memory at sub-monthly time scales

Science.gov (United States)

Mccoll, K. A.; Entekhabi, D.

2017-12-01

For soil moisture-climate feedbacks to occur, the soil moisture storage must have `memory' of past atmospheric anomalies. Quantifying soil moisture memory is, therefore, essential for mapping and characterizing land-atmosphere interactions globally. Most previous studies estimate soil moisture memory using metrics based on the autocorrelation function of the soil moisture time series (e.g., the e-folding autocorrelation time scale). This approach was first justified by Delworth and Manabe (1988) on the assumption that monthly soil moisture time series can be modelled as red noise. While this is a reasonable model for monthly soil moisture averages, at sub-monthly scales, the model is insufficient due to the highly non-Gaussian behavior of the precipitation forcing. Recent studies have shown that significant soil moisture-climate feedbacks appear to occur at sub-monthly time scales. Therefore, alternative metrics are required for defining and estimating soil moisture memory at these shorter time scales. In this study, we introduce metrics, based on the positive and negative increments of the soil moisture time series, that can be used to estimate soil moisture memory at sub-monthly time scales. The positive increments metric corresponds to a rapid drainage time scale. The negative increments metric represents a slower drying time scale that is most relevant to the study of land-atmosphere interactions. We show that autocorrelation-based metrics mix the two time scales, confounding physical interpretation. The new metrics are used to estimate soil moisture memory at sub-monthly scales from in-situ and satellite observations of soil moisture. Reference: Delworth, Thomas L., and Syukuro Manabe. "The Influence of Potential Evaporation on the Variabilities of Simulated Soil Wetness and Climate." Journal of Climate 1, no. 5 (May 1, 1988): 523-47. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1988)0012.0.CO;2.

Moisture relationships in composting processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richard, T.L.; Veeken, A.H.M.

2002-01-01

Moisture is a key environmental factor that affects many aspects of the composting process. Biodegradation kinetics are affected by moisture through changes in oxygen diffusion, water potential and water activity, and microbial growth rates. These relationships are made more complex by the dynamic

Moisture measurement in wood, wood-based materials and building materials - a literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kober, A.; Mehlhorn, L.; Plinke, B.

1989-10-01

Methods of moisture measurement in solid substances, especially on wood, wood-based materials and building materials were examined and evaluated according to the literature available. The question was which methods of examining the moisture distribution in building elements at climate loading offer the best accuracy and spatial resolution as well as which methods are the most appropriate at present and in future for the solution of measurement problems in the wood and wood-based industry. The most common methods are electric measurement methods which are utilizing either the moisture-depending conductivity or the dielectric constant or the reflectivity of the material for infrared radiation but they offer only a limited accuracy. The same is valid for the rarely used microwave methods or X-ray and NMR tomography. Simple electric methods will further on play an important role in the industrial process measuring technique. For the examination of building elements, methods using nuclear radiation still offer possibilities for a further development. (orig.) With 207 refs., 13 figs [de

Some exact solutions of nonlinear fin problem for steady heat transfer in longitudinal fin with different profiles

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mhlongo, MD

2014-05-01

Full Text Available and heat transfer coefficient.This work has been extended in [11] whereby the introduction of the Kirchhoff transformation linearized the one-dimensional fin problem when heat transfer is a differential consequence of thermal conductivity. Symmetry methods... 𝑥 ( 𝜉 ) , 𝜁 𝑥𝑥 = 𝐷 𝑥 (𝜁 𝑥 ) − 𝜃 󸀠󸀠 𝐷 𝑥 ( 𝜉 ) , (46) 10 Advances in Mathematical Physics Table 10: Lie bracket of the admitted symmetry algebra for𝑚 ̸= 𝑛, 𝑛 ̸= − 1 and various 𝑓(𝑥). 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 𝑎 𝑎 = 0 𝑛 arbitrary 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥𝑎...

Two new designs of two-source soil-moisture gauges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christaller, G.; Thies, R.

1983-01-01

This paper discusses how to avoid the well-known disadvantages when measuring soil moisture by the established radiometric method. These disadvantages are: (1) To get absolute values of moisture it is mandatory to know the bulk density; (2) The detectors used have a strong temperature sensitivity; (3) Use of multi-point cables, especially for bore-hole probes, may produce problems with respect to water-tightness; (4) Interpretation of data by using calibration curves based on laboratory measurements does not allow adjustments during field measurements. To eliminate, or to compensate for, these disadvantages the following special features are introduced. (1) The use of two radiation sources - gamma+neutron or gamma+gamma; (2) Using on-line gain control in a closed-loop configuration; (3) Using only one coaxial cable for both signal and power supply; and (4) Using a CMOS-based intelligence data logger. This preliminary data shows how this works (CMOS=complementary metal-oxide silicon). (author)

Simulation of the heat and mass transfer processes during the vacuum frying of potato chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ram Yamsaengsung

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A fundamental two-dimensional model to predict the heat and mass transfer that occur during the vacuum frying of potato chips was solved using the Finite Element toolbox in MATLAB 6.1. The simulation of the heat transfer process included the convection of heat from the surface to the product, the conduction of heat into the product, and a loss of heat using the heat source term representing evaporation. The mass transfer process was divided into two periods: (1 water loss and (2 oil absorption. The first scenario included a diffusion term and a source term. The source term represented the convection and evaporation of water from the product. For the second period, the diffusion term represented the gradual absorption of oil through capillary diffusion.From the simulation, a good agreement between the experimental data and the predicted values was obtained. From the heat transfer model, the rapid increase in temperature of the product toward the boiling point of water (at the associated pressure followed by its steady increase toward the temperature of the oil was validated. Furthermore, by separating the rate of moisture loss into two parts to represent the constant rate and falling rate period of drying, the model was able to predict an initial period of rapid moisture loss followed by a decreasing rate of moisture loss. The simulation also demonstrated the formation of the crust and the gradual movement of the crust inward. Finally, using two sets of diffusion coefficients that correlated to the two schemes of moisture loss, the model predicted the rapid flux of oil into the product during the constant drying stage, followed by a small amount of oil absorption into its interior once the crust had been established.

Historical precipitation predictably alters the shape and magnitude of microbial functional response to soil moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

Averill, Colin; Waring, Bonnie G; Hawkes, Christine V

2016-05-01

Soil moisture constrains the activity of decomposer soil microorganisms, and in turn the rate at which soil carbon returns to the atmosphere. While increases in soil moisture are generally associated with increased microbial activity, historical climate may constrain current microbial responses to moisture. However, it is not known if variation in the shape and magnitude of microbial functional responses to soil moisture can be predicted from historical climate at regional scales. To address this problem, we measured soil enzyme activity at 12 sites across a broad climate gradient spanning 442-887 mm mean annual precipitation. Measurements were made eight times over 21 months to maximize sampling during different moisture conditions. We then fit saturating functions of enzyme activity to soil moisture and extracted half saturation and maximum activity parameter values from model fits. We found that 50% of the variation in maximum activity parameters across sites could be predicted by 30-year mean annual precipitation, an indicator of historical climate, and that the effect is independent of variation in temperature, soil texture, or soil carbon concentration. Based on this finding, we suggest that variation in the shape and magnitude of soil microbial response to soil moisture due to historical climate may be remarkably predictable at regional scales, and this approach may extend to other systems. If historical contingencies on microbial activities prove to be persistent in the face of environmental change, this approach also provides a framework for incorporating historical climate effects into biogeochemical models simulating future global change scenarios. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fluid dynamics and mass transfer in variably saturated porous media: formulation and applications of a mathematical model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, D.

1982-01-01

This paper presents the formulation and applications of a mathematical model designed to predict the fluid dynamics and associated mass transfers in variably saturated porous media. Novelties in the formulation are emphasized and demonstrated to provide several computational advantages. The numerical procedure employed is of the integrated finite-difference variety which employs a hybrid differencing scheme. This procedure, while solving the coupled governing equations in conservative form, permits accommodation of substantial heterogeneities and anisotropies in material properties of the porous media. Accordingly, it is capable of making reliable predictions of steeply varying moisture and chemical-specie concentration fronts. The paper provides several examples of application of the model to the solution of practical problems. It is demonstrated that economical solutions to highly non-linear problems associated with solid and liquid waste disposal practices can be obtained

CPAC optical moisture monitoring: Characterization of composition and physical effects on moisture determination Task 2A report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veltkamp, D.J.

1994-01-01

The impact of particle size and chemical composition variations on determination of tank simulant moisture from near infrared (NIR) optical spectra are presented. This work shows particle size and chemical variations will impact moisture predictions from NIR spectra. However, the prediction errors can be minimized if calibration models are built with samples containing these variations as interferents. Prior work showed the NIR spectral region (1100 to 2500 nm) could be used to predict moisture content of BY-104 tank simulant with a standard error less of approximately 0.5 wt%. Particle size will increase moisture prediction error if calibration-models do not include the same particle size ranges as unknown samples. A combined particle size model with 0-420 x10 -6 m, 420-841 x 10 -6 m, and 841 x 10 -6 m-2 mm diameter particles predicted 0.59, 0.34 nd 0.23 wt% errors respectively for samples containing only these size ranges and 0.80 wt% error for a samples with all particle size ranges. Chemical composition would also increase moisture prediction error if calibration model samples chemically differ from unknown samples. For a BY-104 simulant, increases in NaOH, NaAlO 2 , Na 2 SiO 3 , and Na 3 PO 4 produced moisture predictions that were lower than the actual moisture levels while increases in FE(NO 3 ) 3 , Ca(NO 3 ) 2 , and Mg (NO 3 ) 2 resulted in a higher than actual moisture prediction. Systematic changes in the NIR spectra could be observed for these families of materials. When all of the composition variations were included in a single model, the model had a moisture prediction error of 1.41 wt% as compared to a 2.96 wt% error without model changes. This work shows a calibration model based on a single set of tightly controlled experimental conditions will tend to have somewhat larger prediction errors when applied to samples collected with variations outside of such conditions

Nematode survival in relation to soil moisture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Simons, W.R.

1973-01-01

Established nematode populations are very persistent in the soil. It is known that they need sufficient soil moisture for movement, feeding and reproduction (fig. 5), and that there are adverse soil moisture conditions which they cannot survive. The influence of soil moisture on survival

Assessment of SMOS Soil Moisture Retrieval Parameters Using Tau-Omega Algorithms for Soil Moisture Deficit Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Prashant K.; Han, Dawei; Rico-Ramirez, Miguel A.; O'Neill, Peggy; Islam, Tanvir; Gupta, Manika

2014-01-01

Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) is the latest mission which provides flow of coarse resolution soil moisture data for land applications. However, the efficient retrieval of soil moisture for hydrological applications depends on optimally choosing the soil and vegetation parameters. The first stage of this work involves the evaluation of SMOS Level 2 products and then several approaches for soil moisture retrieval from SMOS brightness temperature are performed to estimate Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD). The most widely applied algorithm i.e. Single channel algorithm (SCA), based on tau-omega is used in this study for the soil moisture retrieval. In tau-omega, the soil moisture is retrieved using the Horizontal (H) polarisation following Hallikainen dielectric model, roughness parameters, Fresnel's equation and estimated Vegetation Optical Depth (tau). The roughness parameters are empirically calibrated using the numerical optimization techniques. Further to explore the improvement in retrieval models, modifications have been incorporated in the algorithms with respect to the sources of the parameters, which include effective temperatures derived from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)-NOAH Land Surface Model and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) while the s is derived from MODIS Leaf Area Index (LAI). All the evaluations are performed against SMD, which is estimated using the Probability Distributed Model following a careful calibration and validation integrated with sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The performance obtained after all those changes indicate that SCA-H using WRF-NOAH LSM downscaled ECMWF LST produces an improved performance for SMD estimation at a catchment scale.

7 CFR 868.307 - Moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Moisture. 868.307 Section 868.307 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARD... Application of Standards § 868.307 Moisture. Water content in milled rice as determined by an FGIS approved...

Space-time modeling of soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zijuan; Mohanty, Binayak P.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

2017-11-01

A physically derived space-time mathematical representation of the soil moisture field is carried out via the soil moisture balance equation driven by stochastic rainfall forcing. The model incorporates spatial diffusion and in its original version, it is shown to be unable to reproduce the relative fast decay in the spatial correlation functions observed in empirical data. This decay resulting from variations in local topography as well as in local soil and vegetation conditions is well reproduced via a jitter process acting multiplicatively over the space-time soil moisture field. The jitter is a multiplicative noise acting on the soil moisture dynamics with the objective to deflate its correlation structure at small spatial scales which are not embedded in the probabilistic structure of the rainfall process that drives the dynamics. These scales of order of several meters to several hundred meters are of great importance in ecohydrologic dynamics. Properties of space-time correlation functions and spectral densities of the model with jitter are explored analytically, and the influence of the jitter parameters, reflecting variabilities of soil moisture at different spatial and temporal scales, is investigated. A case study fitting the derived model to a soil moisture dataset is presented in detail.

The Robin Hood method - A novel numerical method for electrostatic problems based on a non-local charge transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazic, Predrag; Stefancic, Hrvoje; Abraham, Hrvoje

2006-01-01

We introduce a novel numerical method, named the Robin Hood method, of solving electrostatic problems. The approach of the method is closest to the boundary element methods, although significant conceptual differences exist with respect to this class of methods. The method achieves equipotentiality of conducting surfaces by iterative non-local charge transfer. For each of the conducting surfaces, non-local charge transfers are performed between surface elements, which differ the most from the targeted equipotentiality of the surface. The method is tested against analytical solutions and its wide range of application is demonstrated. The method has appealing technical characteristics. For the problem with N surface elements, the computational complexity of the method essentially scales with N α , where α < 2, the required computer memory scales with N, while the error of the potential decreases exponentially with the number of iterations for many orders of magnitude of the error, without the presence of the Critical Slowing Down. The Robin Hood method could prove useful in other classical or even quantum problems. Some future development ideas for possible applications outside electrostatics are addressed

On the solution of fluid flow and heat transfer problem in a 2D channel with backward-facing step

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander A. Fomin

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The stable stationary solutions of the test problem of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in a plane channel with the backward-facing step have been considered in the work for extremely high Reynolds numbers and expansion ratio of the stream $ER$. The problem has been solved by numerical integration of the 2D Navier–Stokes equations in ‘velocity-pressure’ formulation and the heat equation in the range of Reynolds number $500 \\leqslant \\mathrm{ Re} \\leqslant 3000$ and expansion ratio $1.43 \\leqslant ER \\leqslant 10$ for Prandtl number $\\mathrm{ Pr} = 0.71$. Validity of the results has been confirmed by comparing them with literature data. Detailed flow patterns, fields of stream overheating, and profiles of horizontal component of velocity and relative overheating of flow in the cross section of the channel have been presented. Complex behaviors of the coefficients of friction, hydrodynamic resistance and heat transfer (Nusselt number along the channel depending on the problem parameters have been analyzed.

Optical transparency of paper as a function of moisture content with applications to moisture measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Forughi, A F; Green, S I; Stoeber, B

2016-02-01

Accurate measurement of the moisture content of paper is essential in papermaking and is also important in some paper-based microfluidic devices. Traditional measurement techniques provide very limited spatiotemporal resolution and working range. This article presents a novel method for moisture content measurement whose operating principle is the strong correlation between the optical transparency of paper and its moisture content. Spectrographic and microscopic measurement techniques were employed to characterize the relation of moisture content and relative transparency of four types of paper: hardwood chemi-thermomechanical pulp paper, Northern bleached softwood kraft paper, unbleached softwood kraft paper, and General Electric(®) Whatman™ grade 1 chromatography paper. It was found that for all paper types, the paper transparency increased monotonically with the moisture content (as the ratio of the mass-of-water to the mass-of-dry-paper increased from 0% to 120%). This significant increase in relative transparency occurred due to the refractive index matching role of water in wet paper. It is further shown that mechanical loading of the paper has little impact on the relative transparency, for loadings that would be typical on a paper machine. The results of two transient water absorption experiments are presented that show the utility and accuracy of the technique.

Estimation of bulk transfer coefficient for latent heat flux (Ce)

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sadhuram, Y.

The bulk transfer coefficient for latent heat flux (Ce) has been estimated over the Arabian Sea from the moisture budget during the pre-monsoon season of 1988. The computations have been made over two regions (A: 0-8 degrees N: 60-68 degrees E: B: 0...

7 CFR 51.2561 - Average moisture content.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Average moisture content. 51.2561 Section 51.2561... STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Pistachio Nuts § 51.2561 Average moisture content. (a) Determining average moisture content of the lot is not a requirement of the grades, except when...

Ground Albedo Neutron Sensing (GANS) method for measurements of soil moisture in cropped fields

Science.gov (United States)

Andres Rivera Villarreyes, Carlos; Baroni, Gabriele; Oswald, Sascha E.

2013-04-01

Measurement of soil moisture at the plot or hill-slope scale is an important link between local vadose zone hydrology and catchment hydrology. However, so far only few methods are on the way to close this gap between point measurements and remote sensing. This study evaluates the applicability of the Ground Albedo Neutron Sensing (GANS) for integral quantification of seasonal soil moisture in the root zone at the scale of a field or small watershed, making use of the crucial role of hydrogen as neutron moderator relative to other landscape materials. GANS measurements were performed at two locations in Germany under different vegetative situations and seasonal conditions. Ground albedo neutrons were measured at (i) a lowland Bornim farmland (Brandenburg) cropped with sunflower in 2011 and winter rye in 2012, and (ii) a mountainous farmland catchment (Schaefertal, Harz Mountains) since middle 2011. At both sites depth profiles of soil moisture were measured at several locations in parallel by frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) for comparison and calibration. Initially, calibration parameters derived from a previous study with corn cover were tested under sunflower and winter rye periods at the same farmland. GANS soil moisture based on these parameters showed a large discrepancy compared to classical soil moisture measurements. Therefore, two new calibration approaches and four different ways of integration the soil moisture profile to an integral value for GANS were evaluated in this study. This included different sets of calibration parameters based on different growing periods of sunflower. New calibration parameters showed a good agreement with FDR network during sunflower period (RMSE = 0.023 m3 m-3), but they underestimated soil moisture in the winter rye period. The GANS approach resulted to be highly affected by temporal changes of biomass and crop types which suggest the need of neutron corrections for long-term observations with crop rotation. Finally

Effect of moisture content on the flowability of crushed ores

OpenAIRE

Cabrejos Francisco

2017-01-01

In many mining and industrial processes where large quantities of non-degrading bulk materials such as crushed ores are handled, silos, hoppers, stockpiles and chutes are widely used because they are economical and reliable (if properly designed and operated). However, they are not free of trouble and may experience flow problems such as arching, ratholing, erratic flow, limited storage capacity, limited discharge flow rate, caking, segregation and/or flooding. Moisture content and fine parti...

More than skin deep: moisturizing body milk and Burkholderia cepacia.

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Amy E; Price, Connie Savor

2008-01-01

Alvarez-Lerma and colleagues observed over an 18-day period that five critically ill patients admitted to a multidisciplinary 18-bed intensive care unit contracted Burkholderia cepacia from unopened containers of moisturizing body milk, calling into question the use in critical care settings of cosmetic products that do not guarantee sterilization during the manufacturing process. Is this the answer to the problem, however, or should the use of lotions in such settings be re-examined?

More than skin deep: moisturizing body milk and Burkholderia cepacia

OpenAIRE

Irwin, Amy E; Price, Connie Savor

2008-01-01

Alvarez-Lerma and colleagues observed over an 18-day period that five critically ill patients admitted to a multidisciplinary 18-bed intensive care unit contracted Burkholderia cepacia from unopened containers of moisturizing body milk, calling into question the use in critical care settings of cosmetic products that do not guarantee sterilization during the manufacturing process. Is this the answer to the problem, however, or should the use of lotions in such settings be re-examined?

Moisture Management for High R-Value Walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Schumacher, C. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Lukachko, A. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-11-01

This report explains the moisture-related concerns for high R-value wall assemblies and discusses past Building America research work that informs this study. In this project, hygrothermal simulations were prepared for several common approaches to High R-value wall construction in six cities (Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, and International Falls) representing a range of climate zones. The modeling program assessed the moisture durability of the wall assemblies based on three primary sources of moisture: construction moisture, air leakage condensation, and bulk water leakage; the report presents results of the study.

Moisture monitoring and control system engineering study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpenter, K.E.; Fadeff, J.G.

1995-01-01

During the past 50 years, a wide variety of chemical compounds have been placed in the 149 single-shell tanks (SSTS) on the Hanford Site. A concern relating to chemical stability, chemical control, and safe storage of the waste is the potential for propagating reactions as a result of ferrocyanide-oxidizer and organic-oxidizer concentrations in the SSTS. Propagating reactions in fuel-nitrate mixtures are precluded if the amounts of fuel and moisture present in the waste are within specified limits. Because most credible ignition sources occur near the waste surface, the main emphasis of this study is toward monitoring and controlling moisture in the top 14 cm (5.5 in.) of waste. The purpose of this engineering study is to recommend a moisture monitoring and control system for use in SSTs containing sludge and saltcake. This study includes recommendations for: (1) monitoring and controlling moisture in SSTs; (2) the fundamental design criteria for a moisture monitoring and control system; and (3) criteria for the deployment of a moisture monitoring and control system in hanford Site SSTs. To support system recommendations, technical bases for selecting and using a moisture monitoring and control system are presented. Key functional requirements and a conceptual design are included to enhance system development and establish design criteria

Skin moisturization mechanisms: new data.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonté, F

2011-05-01

The main function of the skin is to protect the body against exogenous substances and excessive water loss. The skin barrier is located in the outermost layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum, which is composed of corneocytes, originating from the keratinocytes differentiation process, embedded in organized complex lipid domains. Moisturizing of the skin is recognized as the first anti-aging skin care. Skin moisturization is essential for its appearance, protection, complexion, softness and the reinforcement of its barrier properties against deleterious and exogenous environmental factors. The intrinsic water binding capacity of skin is not only due to the complex natural moisturizing factor present in corneocytes, but also to hyaluronic acid and a regulated water transport within the skin. Recent data shows that the water movements between the cells at the different levels of the epidermis are due to dedicated water and glycerol transport proteins named aquaporins. Their role in the skin moisturization is completed by corneodesmosomes and tight junctions. Water and pH are now shown to be of prime importance in the regulation of the epidermal enzymes linked to corneocytes desquamation and lipid synthesis. Furthermore, the level of moisturization of the skin is important in its protection against repeated exposure to various irritant agents or phenomena such as very frequent washing with strong tensioactive materials. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Prediction of moisture migration and pore pressure build-up in concrete at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Y.; England, G.L.

2004-01-01

Prediction of moisture migration and pore pressure build-up in non-uniformly heated concrete is important for safe operation of concrete containment vessels in nuclear power reactors and for assessing the behaviour of fire-exposed concrete structures. (1) Changes in moisture content distribution in a concrete containment vessel during long-term operation should be investigated, since the durability and radiation shielding ability of concrete are strongly influenced by its moisture content. (2) The pressure build-up in a concrete containment vessel in a postulated accident should be evaluated in order to determine whether a venting system is necessary between liner and concrete to relieve the pore pressure. (3) When concrete is subjected to rapid heating during a fire, the concrete can suffer from spalling due to pressure build-up in the concrete pores. This paper presents a mathematical and computational model for predicting changes in temperature, moisture content and pore pressure in concrete at elevated temperatures. A pair of differential equations for one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in concrete are derived from the conservation of energy and mass, and take into account the temperature-dependent release of gel water and chemically bound water due to dehydration. These equations are numerically solved by the finite difference method. In the numerical analysis, the pressure, density and dynamic viscosity of water in the concrete pores are calculated explicitly from a set of formulated equations. The numerical analysis results are compared with two different sets of experimental data: (a) long-term (531 days) moisture migration test under a steady-state temperature of 200 deg. C, and (b) short-term (114 min) pressure build-up test under transient heating. These experiments were performed to investigate the moisture migration and pressure build-up in the concrete wall of a reactor containment vessel at high temperatures. The former experiment simulated

Thickness determination in textile material design: dynamic modeling and numerical algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Dinghua; Ge, Meibao

2012-01-01

Textile material design is of paramount importance in the study of functional clothing design. It is therefore important to determine the dynamic heat and moisture transfer characteristics in the human body–clothing–environment system, which directly determine the heat–moisture comfort level of the human body. Based on a model of dynamic heat and moisture transfer with condensation in porous fabric at low temperature, this paper presents a new inverse problem of textile thickness determination (IPTTD). Adopting the idea of the least-squares method, we formulate the IPTTD into a function minimization problem. By means of the finite-difference method, quasi-solution method and direct search method for one-dimensional minimization problems, we construct iterative algorithms of the approximated solution for the IPTTD. Numerical simulation results validate the formulation of the IPTTD and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed numerical algorithms. (paper)

Convection heat transfer

CERN Document Server

Bejan, Adrian

2013-01-01

Written by an internationally recognized authority on heat transfer and thermodynamics, this second edition of Convection Heat Transfer contains new and updated problems and examples reflecting real-world research and applications, including heat exchanger design. Teaching not only structure but also technique, the book begins with the simplest problem solving method (scale analysis), and moves on to progressively more advanced and exact methods (integral method, self similarity, asymptotic behavior). A solutions manual is available for all problems and exercises.

Analysis of the Dynamic Wheel Loads in Railway Transition Zones Considering the Moisture Condition of the Ballast and Subballast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoyu Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Transition zones in railway tracks are the locations with considerable changes in vertical support structures, e.g., near bridges. Due to possible water flow constrictions in transition zone structures, there is frequently an increased moisture level in the ballast/subballast layers, which is a potential source of track degradation. This paper presents results of the moisture condition measured in three transition zones using ground penetrating radar, where the ballast/subballast are analyzed. The relationship between the moisture condition and track degradation in the transition zones is studied by comparing it to the longitudinal track level that is measured by the track inspection coaches. A strong connection is found between the high moisture condition and track degradation in the transition zones. The dynamic behavior of the transition zones with high moisture condition is analyzed using the Finite Element method. Differential stiffness and settlement are taken into consideration in the transition zone model, which is also coupled with a vehicle. The ballast/subballast layers are modelled as solid elements. Increased moisture conditions are considered as a reduction of elastic modulus, according to laboratory findings. Results show that high moisture leads to an increase of dynamic wheel loads in the transition zone, which explains the connection and confirms that the high moisture condition is a source of transition zone problems.

DYNAMICS MODEL OF MOISTURE IN PAPER INSULATION-TRANSFORMER OIL SYSTEM IN NON-STATIONARY THERMAL MODES OF THE POWER TRANSFORMER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.V. Vasilevskij

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction. An important problem in power transformers resource prognosis is the formation of moisture dynamics trends of transformer insulation. Purpose. Increasing the accuracy of power transformer insulation resource assessment based on accounting of moisture dynamics in interrelation with temperature dynamics. Working out of moisture dynamics model in paper insulation-transformer oil system in conjunction with thermodynamic model, load model and technical maintenance model. Methodology. The mathematical models used for describe the moisture dynamics are grounded on nonlinear differential equations. Interrelation moisture dynamics model with thermodynamic, load and technical maintenance models described by UML model. For confirming the adequacy of model used computer simulation. Results. We have implemented the model of moisture dynamics in power transformers insulation in interrelation with other models, which describe the state of power transformer in operation. The proposed model allows us to form detailed trends of moisture dynamics in power transformers insulation basing on monitoring data or power transformers operational factors simulation results. We have performed computer simulation of moisture exchange processes and calculation of transformer insulation resource for different moisture trends. Originality. The offered model takes into account moisture dynamics in power transformers insulation under the influence of changes of the power transformers thermal mode and operational factors. Practical value. The offered model can be used in power transformers monitoring systems for automation of resource assessment of oil-immersed power transformers paper insulation at different phase of lifecycle. Model also can be used for assessment of projected economic efficiency of power transformers exploitation in projected operating conditions.

Evaluate the accuracy of the numerical solution of hydrogeological problems of mass transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yevhrashkina G.P.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the hydrogeological task on quantifying pollution of aquifers the error are starting add up with moment organization of regime observation network as a source of information on the pollution of groundwater in order to evaluate migration options for future prognosis calculations. Optimum element regime observation network should consist of three drill holes on the groundwater flow at equal distances from one another and transversely to the flow of the three drill holes, and at equal distances. If the target of observation drill holes coincides with the stream line on which will then be decided by direct migration task, the error will be minimal. The theoretical basis and results of numerical experiments to assess the accuracy of direct predictive tasks planned migration of groundwater in the area of full water saturation. For the vadose zone, we consider problems of vertical salt transport moisture. All studies were performed by comparing the results of fundamental and approximate solutions in a wide range of characteristics of the processes, which are discussed in relation to ecological and hydrogeological conditions of mining regions on the example of the Western Donbass.

Use of midlatitude soil moisture and meteorological observations to validate soil moisture simulations with biosphere and bucket models

Science.gov (United States)

Robock, Alan; Vinnikov, Konstantin YA.; Schlosser, C. Adam; Speranskaya, Nina A.; Xue, Yongkang

1995-01-01

Soil moisture observations in sites with natural vegetation were made for several decades in the former Soviet Union at hundreds of stations. In this paper, the authors use data from six of these stations from different climatic regimes, along with ancillary meteorological and actinometric data, to demonstrate a method to validate soil moisture simulations with biosphere and bucket models. Some early and current general circulation models (GCMs) use bucket models for soil hydrology calculations. More recently, the Simple Biosphere Model (SiB) was developed to incorporate the effects of vegetation on fluxes of moisture, momentum, and energy at the earth's surface into soil hydrology models. Until now, the bucket and SiB have been verified by comparison with actual soil moisture data only on a limited basis. In this study, a Simplified SiB (SSiB) soil hydrology model and a 15-cm bucket model are forced by observed meteorological and actinometric data every 3 h for 6-yr simulations at the six stations. The model calculations of soil moisture are compared to observations of soil moisture, literally 'ground truth,' snow cover, surface albedo, and net radiation, and with each other. For three of the stations, the SSiB and 15-cm bucket models produce good simulations of seasonal cycles and interannual variations of soil moisture. For the other three stations, there are large errors in the simulations by both models. Inconsistencies in specification of field capacity may be partly responsible. There is no evidence that the SSiB simulations are superior in simulating soil moisture variations. In fact, the models are quite similar since SSiB implicitly has a bucket embedded in it. One of the main differences between the models is in the treatment of runoff due to melting snow in the spring -- SSiB incorrectly puts all the snowmelt into runoff. While producing similar soil moisture simulations, the models produce very different surface latent and sensible heat fluxes, which

Simple grain moisture content determination from microwave measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraszewski, A.W.; Trabelsi, S.; Nelson, S.O.

1998-01-01

Moisture content of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., is expressed as a function of the ratio of microwave attenuation and phase shift, measured at 16.8 GHz, and grain temperature. Validation of the calibration equation indicated that moisture content was obtained with an uncertainty less than +/- 0.45% moisture at the 95% confidence level, independent of density variation, at temperatures from -1 degree C to 42 degrees C, and moisture contents from 10% to 19%. Moisture determination does not depend on the layer thickness of the wheat norits bulk density. No differences between two wheat cultivars were observed in the measurement data

Heat and Moisture transport of socks

Science.gov (United States)

Komárková, P.; Glombíková, V.; Havelka, A.

2017-10-01

Investigating the liquid moisture transport and thermal properties is essential for understanding physiological comfort of clothes. This study reports on an experimental investigation of moisture management transport and thermal transport on the physiological comfort of commercially available socks. There are subjective evaluation and objective measurements. Subjective evaluation of the physiological comfort of socks is based on individual sensory perception of probands during and after physical exertion. Objective measurements were performed according to standardized methods using Moisture Management tester for measuring the humidity parameters and C-term TCi analyzer for thermal conductivity and thermal effusivity. The obtained values of liquid moisture transport and thermal properties were related to the material composition and structure of the tested socks. In summary, these results show that objective measurement corresponds with probands feelings.

Moisture relations and physical properties of wood

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel V. Glass; Samuel L. Zelinka

2010-01-01

Wood, like many natural materials, is hygroscopic; it takes on moisture from the surrounding environment. Moisture exchange between wood and air depends on the relative humidity and temperature of the air and the current amount of water in the wood. This moisture relationship has an important influence on wood properties and performance. Many of the challenges of using...

Moisture sorption isotherms of dehydrated whey proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzana Rimac Brnčić

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Moisture sorption isotherms describe the relation between the moisture content of the dry material (food and relative humidity of the surrounding environment. The data obtained are important in modelling of drying process conditions, packaging and shelf-life stability of food that will provide maximum retaining of aroma, colour and texture as well as nutritive and biological value. The objective of this research was to establish the equilibrium moisture content and water activity, as well as monolayer value of two commercial powdered whey protein isolates before and after tribomechanical micronisation and enzymatic hydrolysis, respectively. At the same time it was necessary to evaluate the best moisture sorption isotherm equation to fit the experimental data. The equilibrium moisture contents in investigated samples were determined using standard gravimetric method at 20 °C. The range of water activities was 0.11 to 0.75. The monolayer moisture content was estimated from sorption data using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET and Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB models. The results have shown that tribomechanically treated whey protein isolates as well as protein hydrolizates had lower monolayer moisture content values as well as higher corresponding water activity. Therefore, in spite of the fact that they have lower moisture content, they can be storage at higher relative humidity compared to untreated samples. BET model gave better fit to experimental sorption data for a water activity range from 0.11-0.54, while GAB model gave the closest fit for a water activity to 0.75.

Moisture Management for High R-Value Walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R.; Schumacher, C.; Lukachko, A.

2013-11-01

The following report explains the moisture-related concerns for High R-value wall assemblies and discusses past Building America research work that informs this study. Hygrothermal simulations were prepared for several common approaches to High R-value wall construction in six cities (Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, and International Falls) representing a range of climate zones (2, 3, 4C, 4, 5A, and 7, respectively). The simulations are informed by experience gained from past research in this area and validated by field measurement and forensic experience. The modeling program was developed to assess the moisture durability of the wall assemblies based on three primary sources of moisture: construction moisture, air leakage condensation, and bulk water leakage. The peak annual moisture content of the wood based exterior sheathing was used to comparatively analyze the response to the moisture loads for each of the walls in each given city. Walls which experienced sheathing moisture contents between 20% and 28% were identified as risky, whereas those exceeding 28% were identified as very high risk. All of the wall assemblies perform well under idealized conditions. However, only the walls with exterior insulation, or cavity insulation which provides a hygrothermal function similar to exterior insulation, perform adequately when exposed to moisture loads. Walls with only cavity insulation are particularly susceptible to air leakage condensation. None of the walls performed well when a precipitation based bulk water leak was introduced to the backside of the sheathing, emphasizing the importance of proper flashing details.

Investigating soil moisture-climate interactions with prescribed soil moisture experiments: an assessment with the Community Earth System Model (version 1.2)

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, René; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2017-04-01

Land surface hydrology is an important control of surface weather and climate. A valuable technique to investigate this link is the prescription of soil moisture in land surface models, which leads to a decoupling of the atmosphere and land processes. Diverse approaches to prescribe soil moisture, as well as different prescribed soil moisture conditions have been used in previous studies. Here, we compare and assess four methodologies to prescribe soil moisture and investigate the impact of two different estimates of the climatological seasonal cycle used to prescribe soil moisture. Our analysis shows that, though in appearance similar, the different approaches require substantially different long-term moisture inputs and lead to different temperature signals. The smallest influence on temperature and the water balance is found when prescribing the median seasonal cycle of deep soil liquid water, whereas the strongest signal is found when prescribing soil liquid and soil ice using the mean seasonal cycle. These results indicate that induced net water-balance perturbations in experiments investigating soil moisture-climate coupling are important contributors to the climate response, in addition to the intended impact of the decoupling. These results help to guide the set-up of future experiments prescribing soil moisture, as for instance planned within the Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison Project (LS3MIP).

Moisture Sorption in Porous Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lauge Fuglsang

2007-01-01

pressure and weight data can be "translated" to pore geometry by known physical relationships. In this context, analytical descriptions are important which can relate moisture condensation in pore structures to ambient vapor pressure. Such a description, the extended BET-relation, is presented...... physical parameters, the so-called BET-parameters: The heat property factor, C, and the pore surface, SBET (derived from the so-called uni-molecular moisture content uBET). A software ‘SORP07’ has been developed to handle any calculations made in the paper. For readers who have a special interest...... in the subject considered this software is available on request to the author. Keywords: Porous materials, moisture, adsorption, desorption, BET-parameters....

Study on the optimal moisture adding rate of brown rice during germination by using segmented moisture conditioning method.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yinping; Jia, Fuguo; Han, Yanlong; Liu, Yang; Zhang, Qiang

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to find out the optimal moisture adding rate of brown rice during the process of germination. The process of water addition in brown rice could be divided into three stages according to different water absorption speeds in soaking process. Water was added with three different speeds in three stages to get the optimal water adding rate in the whole process of germination. Thus, the technology of segmented moisture conditioning which is a method of adding water gradually was put forward. Germinated brown rice was produced by using segmented moisture conditioning method to reduce the loss of water-soluble nutrients and was beneficial to the accumulation of gamma aminobutyric acid. The effects of once moisture adding amount in three stages on the gamma aminobutyric acid content in germinated brown rice and germination rate of brown rice were investigated by using response surface methodology. The optimum process parameters were obtained as follows: once moisture adding amount of stage I with 1.06 %/h, once moisture adding amount of stage II with 1.42 %/h and once moisture adding amount of stage III with 1.31 %/h. The germination rate under the optimum parameters was 91.33 %, which was 7.45 % higher than that of germinated brown rice produced by soaking method (84.97 %). The content of gamma aminobutyric acid in germinated brown rice under the optimum parameters was 29.03 mg/100 g, which was more than two times higher than that of germinated brown rice produced by soaking method (12.81 mg/100 g). The technology of segmented moisture conditioning has potential applications for studying many other cereals.

Improving Soil Moisture Estimation with a Dual Ensemble Kalman Smoother by Jointly Assimilating AMSR-E Brightness Temperature and MODIS LST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijing Chen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Uncertainties in model parameters can easily result in systematic differences between model states and observations, which significantly affect the accuracy of soil moisture estimation in data assimilation systems. In this research, a soil moisture assimilation scheme is developed to jointly assimilate AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System brightness temperature (TB and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Land Surface Temperature (LST products, which also corrects model bias by simultaneously updating model states and parameters with a dual ensemble Kalman filter (DEnKS. Common Land Model (CoLM and a Radiative Transfer Model (RTM are adopted as model and observation operator, respectively. The assimilation experiment was conducted in Naqu on the Tibet Plateau from 31 May to 27 September 2011. The updated soil temperature at surface obtained by assimilating MODIS LST serving as inputs of RTM is to reduce the differences between the simulated and observed TB, then AMSR-E TB is assimilated to update soil moisture and model parameters. Compared with in situ measurements, the accuracy of soil moisture estimation derived from the assimilation experiment has been tremendously improved at a variety of scales. The updated parameters effectively reduce the states bias of CoLM. The results demonstrate the potential of assimilating AMSR-E TB and MODIS LST to improve the estimation of soil moisture and related parameters. Furthermore, this study indicates that the developed scheme is an effective way to retrieve downscaled soil moisture when assimilating the coarse-scale microwave TB.

Effective moisture diffusivity, moisture sorption, thermo-physical properties and infrared drying kinetics of germinated paddy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Supawan Tirawanichakul

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Temperature and relative humidity (RH dependence of moisture sorption phenomena for agricultural products provide valuable information related to the thermodynamics of the system. So the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC, effective moisture diffusivity (Deff and thermo-physical properties in terms of void fraction, specific heat capacity, and the apparent density of germinated non-waxy Suphanburi 1 paddy were evaluated. Five commonly cited EMC equations were fitted to the experimental data among temperatures of 40-60°C correlating with RH of 0-90%. The results showed that the modified GAB equation was the best function for describing experimental results while those evaluated thermo-physical properties depended on moisture content. To determine drying kinetics model, the simulated values using Midilli et al. (2002 model and Page’s model was the best fitting to exact drying kinetics values for infrared (IR and hot air (HA drying, respectively. Finally, the Deff value of paddy dried with IR and HA sources were also evaluated and the calculated Deff value of both HA and IR drying was in order of 10-9 m2/s.

Inverse atmospheric radiative transfer problems - A nonlinear minimization search method of solution. [aerosol pollution monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Fymat, A. L.

1976-01-01

The paper studies the inversion of the radiative transfer equation describing the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atmospheric aerosols. The interaction can be considered as the propagation in the aerosol medium of two light beams: the direct beam in the line-of-sight attenuated by absorption and scattering, and the diffuse beam arising from scattering into the viewing direction, which propagates more or less in random fashion. The latter beam has single scattering and multiple scattering contributions. In the former case and for single scattering, the problem is reducible to first-kind Fredholm equations, while for multiple scattering it is necessary to invert partial integrodifferential equations. A nonlinear minimization search method, applicable to the solution of both types of problems has been developed, and is applied here to the problem of monitoring aerosol pollution, namely the complex refractive index and size distribution of aerosol particles.

New method measures moisture and true dry mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, H.

The moisture content of wood can be determined by measuring the nuclear magnetic resonance of free water hydrogen atoms in wood. Nanassy studied NMR curves for six types of wood and obtained the calibration curve by reducing the moisture content in steps by 4% moisture down to ca. 1% moisture and then by gradually wetting the wood. The initial material was fresh wood. For each step he measured the intensity of the free water hydrogen signal. If the sample weight is known the dry matter content (dry weight) and moisture content of the sample can be derived from the measured NMR signal. (J.P.)

Structure of the urban moisture field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sisterson, D.L.; Dirks, R.A.

1975-01-01

In the 26 July 1974 case study in St. Louis as a part of Project METROMEX, aircraft and surface network stations were used to determine specific humidity and potential temperature patterns near the surface and at two levels within the mixing layer. From the data acquired at these three levels, three-dimensional analyses of the moisture fields in the mixing layer were constructed. The mesoscale dry regions observed throughout the mixing layer correspond to the more impervious surfaces of the urban area. From energy budget considerations, latent heat fluxes are small over these impervious surfaces owing to the large runoff of precipitation and the lack of moisture retention capabilities. Hence, urbanization obviously alters the local energy budget. Surface boundary layer conditions are determined by heat and moisture fluxes. A new internal boundary layer within the city is formed after the breakdown of the radiation inversion in order to compensate for the alteration of sensible heat and latent heat energies. Hence, isolated semistagnant urban air is replenished by moisture only as quickly as evapotranspiration from impervious surfaces will allow. The city surface, therefore, is not a sink of moisture, but rather a reduced source relative to rural areas

Drying and control of moisture content and dimensional changes

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Bergman

2010-01-01

The discussion in this chapter is concerned with moisture content determination, recommended moisture content values, drying methods, methods of calculating dimensional changes, design factors affecting such changes in structures, and moisture content control during transit, storage, and construction. Data on green moisture content, fiber saturation point, shrinkage,...

Digital neutron moisture meter for moisture determination in the cokes and building materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chibovski, R.; Igel'ski, A.; Kiyanya, K.; Kiyanya, S.; Mnikh, Eh.; Sledzevski, R.; Verba, V.

1979-01-01

Description is given of the digital neutron moisture gage for measuring water content in coke or in dry building materials. The device can work independently with indication of the results to personnel carrying out control operation and adjustment of the process or as a part of an automated control system with supplying the results of measurements in a form of analogous signals or electric pulses in the preselected code. The moisture gage described consists of two units: measuring probes with containers and the desk with power supply and the system for digital processing of a radiometric signal. The measuring probe consists of the asotopic fast neutrons source; helium proportional counter of slow neutrons and a pulse amplifier. The probe is mounted in the bunker with the material measured and is located inside the protective tube made of the weare-resistant material. To obtain high accuracy of measurements and to obtain the measuring instrument's reading immediately in the units of moisture measurement, the digizal converter circuit for radiometric signals processing is used. The The digital converter circuit cited, can be applied to any calibration dependence of linear type with initial value. The block diagram of the device is given. The device described permits to measure the moisture content in the metallurgy coks and in the building materials in one minute and with the error not more than 0.5% [ru

Passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, T.J.; Schmugge, T.J.

1986-01-01

Microwave remote sensing provides a unique capability for direct observation of soil moisture. Remote measurements from space afford the possibility of obtaining frequent, global sampling of soil moisture over a large fraction of the Earth's land surface. Microwave measurements have the benefit of being largely unaffected by cloud cover and variable surface solar illumination, but accurate soil moisture estimates are limited to regions that have either bare soil or low to moderate amounts of vegetation cover. A particular advantage of passive microwave sensors is that in the absence of significant vegetation cover soil moisture is the dominant effect on the received signal. The spatial resolutions of passive microwave soil moisture sensors currently considered for space operation are in the range 10–20 km. The most useful frequency range for soil moisture sensing is 1–5 GHz. System design considerations include optimum choice of frequencies, polarizations, and scanning configurations, based on trade-offs between requirements for high vegetation penetration capability, freedom from electromagnetic interference, manageable antenna size and complexity, and the requirement that a sufficient number of information channels be available to correct for perturbing geophysical effects. This paper outlines the basic principles of the passive microwave technique for soil moisture sensing, and reviews briefly the status of current retrieval methods. Particularly promising are methods for optimally assimilating passive microwave data into hydrologic models. Further studies are needed to investigate the effects on microwave observations of within-footprint spatial heterogeneity of vegetation cover and subsurface soil characteristics, and to assess the limitations imposed by heterogeneity on the retrievability of large-scale soil moisture information from remote observations

Analysis of soil moisture memory from observations in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, R.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2012-08-01

Soil moisture is known to show distinctive persistence characteristics compared to other quantities in the climate system. As soil moisture is governing land-atmosphere feedbacks to a large extent, its persistence can provide potential to improve seasonal climate predictions. So far, many modeling studies have investigated the nature of soil moisture memory, with consistent, but model-dependent results. This study investigates soil moisture memory in long-term observational records based on data from five stations across Europe. We investigate spatial and seasonal variations in soil moisture memory and identify their main climatic drivers. Also, we test an existing framework and introduce an extension thereof to approximate soil moisture memory and evaluate the contributions of its driving processes. At the analyzed five sites, we identify the variability of initial soil moisture divided by that of the accumulated forcing over the considered time frame as a main driver of soil moisture memory that reflects the impact of the precipitation regime and of soil and vegetation characteristics. Another important driver is found to be the correlation of initial soil moisture with subsequent forcing that captures forcing memory as it propagates to the soil and also land-atmosphere interactions. Thereby, the role of precipitation is found to be dominant for the forcing. In contrast to results from previous modeling studies, the runoff and evapotranspiration sensitivities to soil moisture are found to have only a minor influence on soil moisture persistence at the analyzed sites. For the central European sites, the seasonal cycles of soil moisture memory display a maximum in late summer and a minimum in spring. An opposite seasonal cycle is found at the analyzed site in Italy. High soil moisture memory is shown to last up to 40 days in some seasons at most sites. Extremely dry or wet states of the soil tend to increase soil moisture memory, suggesting enhanced prediction

Design of Moisture Content Detection System

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, W. C.; Wang, L.

In this paper, a method for measuring the moisture content of grain was presented based on single chip microcomputer and capacitive sensor. The working principle of measuring moisture content is introduced and a concentric cylinder type of capacitive sensor is designed, the signal processing circuits of system are described in details. System is tested in practice and discussions are made on the various factors affecting the capacitive measuring of grain moisture based on the practical experiments, experiment results showed that the system has high measuring accuracy and good controlling capacity.

Soil moisture content with global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinnikov, K.Ya.

1990-01-01

The potential greenhouse-gas-induced changes in soil moisture, particularly the desiccation of the Northern Hemisphere contents in summer, are discussed. To check the conclusions based on climate models the authors have used long-term measurements of contemporary soil moisture in the USSR and reconstructions of soil moisture for the last two epochs that were warmer than the present, namely, the Holocene optimum, 5,000-6,000 years ago, and the last interglacial, about 125,000 years ago. The analysis shows that there is a considerable disagreement between the model results and the empirical data

Effects of heat-moisture treatment reaction conditions on the physicochemical and structural properties of maize starch: moisture and length of heating.

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Zhongquan; Yao, Tianming; Zhao, Yue; Ye, Xiaoting; Kong, Xiangli; Ai, Lianzhong

2015-04-15

Changes in the properties of normal maize starch (NMS) and waxy maize starch (WMS) after heat-moisture treatment (HMT) under various reaction conditions were investigated. NMS and WMS were adjusted to moisture levels of 20%, 25% and 30% and heated at 100 °C for 2, 4, 8 and 16 h. The results showed that moisture content was the most important factor in determining pasting properties for NMS, whereas the heating length was more important for WMS. Swelling power decreased in NMS but increased in WMS, and while the solubility index decreased for both samples, the changes were largely determined by moisture content. The gelatinisation temperatures of both samples increased with increasing moisture content but remained unchanged with increasing heating length. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) absorbance ratio was affected to different extents by the moisture levels but remained constant with increasing the heating length. The X-ray intensities increased but relative crystallinity decreased to a greater extent with increasing moisture content. This study showed that the levels of moisture content and length of heating had significant impacts on the structural and physicochemical properties of normal and waxy maize starches but to different extents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nerve Transfers for Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury: Advantages and Problems

OpenAIRE

Hems, Tim

2011-01-01

In recent years nerve transfers have been increasingly used to broaden reconstructive options for brachial plexus reconstruction. Nerve transfer is a procedure where an expendable nerve is connected to a more important nerve in order to reinnervate that nerve. This article outlines the experience of the Scottish National Brachial Plexus Injury Service as our use of nerve transfers has increased. Outcomes have improved for reconstruction of the paralysed shoulder using transfer of the accessor...

Neutron moisture measurement in materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thony, J.L.

1985-01-01

This method is generally used for soil moisture determination but also for moisture in building materials. After a review of neutron interaction with matter (elastic and inelastic scattering, radiative capture and absorption with emission of charged particles) and of the equipment (source, detector and counting), gravimetric and chemical calibration are described and accuracy of measurement is discussed. 5 refs [fr

Two-dimensional model of coupled heat and moisture transport in frost-heaving soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guymon, G.L.; Berg, R.L.; Hromadka, T.V.

1984-01-01

A two-dimensional model of coupled heat and moisture flow in frost-heaving soils is developed based upon well known equations of heat and moisture flow in soils. Numerical solution is by the nodal domain integration method which includes the integrated finite difference and the Galerkin finite element methods. Solution of the phase change process is approximated by an isothermal approach and phenomenological equations are assumed for processes occurring in freezing or thawing zones. The model has been verified against experimental one-dimensional freezing soil column data and experimental two-dimensional soil thawing tank data as well as two-dimensional soil seepage data. The model has been applied to several simple but useful field problems such as roadway embankment freezing and frost heaving

Increased profitability in cellulose production through more accurate measurement of the moisture content

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1976-01-01

A general report on the project 'Dry Wood' is presented. In this project Noratom-Norcontrol A/S cooperate with the wood-pulp and paper factory Petersen and Soen in the application of Noratom's radiometric moisture gauge and their continuous weighing machine (densimeter) in the continuous measurement of the moisture content of wood chips in cellulose production. Conventional methods give an accuracy of π+ 2% and the objective of this method is an accuracy of π+ 1%. This would have a considerable economic significance. A test unit has been operating in the production line for a year and has attained the objective for short periods. Improved long term stability is the present problem. The system has process outputs which will facilitate future on-line computer process control. (JIW)

NASA's Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Kellogg, Kent; Njoku, Eni; Thurman, Sam; Edelstein, Wendy; Jai, Ben; Spencer, Mike; Chen, Gun-Shing; Entekhabi, Dara; O'Neill, Peggy; Piepmeier, Jeffrey;

Propagation of soil moisture memory into the climate system

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, R.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2012-04-01

Soil moisture is known for its integrative behaviour and resulting memory characteristics. Associated anomalies can persist for weeks or even months into the future, making initial soil moisture an important potential component in weather forecasting. This is particularly crucial given the role of soil moisture for land-atmosphere interactions and its impacts on the water and energy balances on continents. We present here an analysis of the characteristics of soil moisture memory and of its propagation into runoff and evapotranspiration in Europe, based on available measurements from several sites across the continent and expanding a previous analysis focused on soil moisture [1]. We identify the main drivers of soil moisture memory at the analysed sites, as well as their role for the propagation of soil moisture persistence into runoff and evapotranspiration memory characteristics. We focus on temporal and spatial variations in these relationships and identify seasonal and latitudinal differences in the persistence of soil moisture, evapotranspiration and runoff. Finally, we assess the role of these persistence characteristics for the development of agricultural and hydrological droughts. [1] Orth and Seneviratne: Analysis of soil moisture memory from observations in Europe; submitted to J. Geophysical Research.

40 CFR 75.37 - Missing data procedures for moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Missing data procedures for moisture... data procedures for moisture. (a) The owner or operator of a unit with a continuous moisture monitoring system shall substitute for missing moisture data using the procedures of this section. (b) Where no...

Sources of Sahelian-Sudan moisture: Insights from a moisture-tracing atmospheric model

Science.gov (United States)

Salih, Abubakr A. M.; Zhang, Qiong; Pausata, Francesco S. R.; Tjernström, Michael

2016-07-01

The summer rainfall across Sahelian-Sudan is one of the main sources of water for agriculture, human, and animal needs. However, the rainfall is characterized by large interannual variability, which has attracted extensive scientific efforts to understand it. This study attempts to identify the source regions that contribute to the Sahelian-Sudan moisture budget during July through September. We have used an atmospheric general circulation model with an embedded moisture-tracing module (Community Atmosphere Model version 3), forced by observed (1979-2013) sea-surface temperatures. The result suggests that about 40% of the moisture comes with the moisture flow associated with the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and originates from Guinea Coast, central Africa, and the Western Sahel. The Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Peninsula, and South Indian Ocean regions account for 10.2%, 8.1%, and 6.4%, respectively. Local evaporation and the rest of the globe supply the region with 20.3% and 13.2%, respectively. We also compared the result from this study to a previous analysis that used the Lagrangian model FLEXPART forced by ERA-Interim. The two approaches differ when comparing individual regions, but are in better agreement when neighboring regions of similar atmospheric flow features are grouped together. Interannual variability with the rainfall over the region is highly correlated with contributions from regions that are associated with the ITCZ movement, which is in turn linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Our result is expected to provide insights for the effort on seasonal forecasting of the rainy season over Sahelian Sudan.

Free-Tropospheric Moisture Convergence and Tropical Convective Regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Masunaga, H.

2014-12-01

It is known that quiescent periods with only shallow cumuli prevalent are frequently observed even in the deep Tropics, which is considered from the climatological perspectives as an area harboring vigorous deep convection. It is argued in this work that the free-tropospheric (FT) moisture convergence is a crucial factor for separating the stable maintenance of isolated shallow cumuli in the quiescent periods from the self-sustaining growth of organized convective systems in the dynamic periods over tropical oceans. The analysis is based on a variety of satellite measurements including Aqua AIRS T and q soundings and QuikSCAT surface wind, composited with reference to the time before or after the occurrence of precipitating clouds detected by TRMM PR. The FT moisture convergence and updraft moisture flux at cloud base are then derived from this dataset under large-scale moisture budget constraint (see Figure). Free-tropospheric precipitation efficiency (FTPE), or the ratio of precipitation to updraft moisture flux at cloud base, is introduced as a measure of convective intensity (rather than the population) over the large-scale domain. The following hypothesis is discussed in light of the analysis results. Isolated shallow cumuli would stay shallow when large-scale FT moisture is diverging (although moisture is weakly converging when integrated over the whole troposphere) since an increase in cumulus population would be counteracted by an additional moisture divergence in the FT. When large-scale FT convergence is positive, in contrast, developing clouds would induce a more moisture input and allow an unstable growth to a highly organized convective system. Zero FT moisture convergence may serve as the neutrality separating the negative feedback acting in the quiescent regime from the positive feedback instrumental for the dynamic regime.

Heat and mass transfer

CERN Document Server

Karwa, Rajendra

2017-01-01

This textbook presents the classical treatment of the problems of heat transfer in an exhaustive manner with due emphasis on understanding of the physics of the problems. This emphasis is especially visible in the chapters on convective heat transfer. Emphasis is laid on the solution of steady and unsteady two-dimensional heat conduction problems. Another special feature of the book is a chapter on introduction to design of heat exchangers and their illustrative design problems. A simple and understandable treatment of gaseous radiation has been presented. A special chapter on flat plate solar air heater has been incorporated that covers thermo-hydraulic modeling and simulation. The chapter on mass transfer has been written looking specifically at the needs of the students of mechanical engineering. The book includes a large number and variety of solved problems with supporting line diagrams. The author has avoided duplicating similar problems, while incorporating more application-based examples. All the end-...

Homogenization and two scales convergence of some stationary and non-stationary heat transfer problems, application to gas cooled nuclear rectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibi, Z.

2011-01-01

We are interested in the homogenization of heat transfer in periodic porous media modelling the geometry of a gas cooled nuclear reactor. This geometry is made of a solid media perforated by several long thin parallel cylinders, the diameter of which is of the same order than the period. The heat is transported by conduction in the solid part of the domain and by conduction, convection and radiative transfer in the fluid part (the cylinders). A non-local boundary condition models the radiative heat transfer on the cylinder walls. It is a stationary analysis corresponding to a nominal performance of the reactor core, and also non-stationary corresponding to a normal shut-down of the core. To obtain the homogenized problem we first use a formal two-scale asymptotic expansion method. The mathematical justification of our results is based on the notion of two-scale convergence. One feature of this work in dimension 3 is that it combines homogenization with a 3D to 2D asymptotic analysis since the radiative transfer in the limit cell problem is purely two-dimensional. A second feature of this work is the study of this heat transfer when it contains an oscillating thermal source at the microscopic level and a thermal exchange with the perforations. In this context, our numerical analysis shows a non-negligible contribution of the second order corrector which helps us to model the gradients appearing between the source area and the perforations. (author) [fr

Influence of Surface Roughness Spatial Variability and Temporal Dynamics on the Retrieval of Soil Moisture from SAR Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús Álvarez-Mozos

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Radar-based surface soil moisture retrieval has been subject of intense research during the last decades. However, several difficulties hamper the operational estimation of soil moisture based on currently available spaceborne sensors. The main difficulty experienced so far results from the strong influence of other surface characteristics, mainly roughness, on the backscattering coefficient, which hinders the soil moisture inversion. This is especially true for single configuration observations where the solution to the surface backscattering problem is ill-posed. Over agricultural areas cultivated with winter cereal crops, roughness can be assumed to remain constant along the growing cycle allowing the use of simplified approaches that facilitate the estimation of the moisture content of soils. However, the field scale spatial variability and temporal variations of roughness can introduce errors in the estimation of soil moisture that are difficult to evaluate. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of roughness spatial variability and roughness temporal variations on the retrieval of soil moisture from radar observations. A series of laser profilometer measurements were performed over several fields in an experimental watershed from September 2004 to March 2005. The influence of the observed roughness variability and its temporal variations on the retrieval of soil moisture is studied using simulations performed with the Integral Equation Model, considering different sensor configurations. Results show that both field scale roughness spatial variability and its temporal variations are aspects that need to be taken into account, since they can introduce large errors on the retrieved soil moisture values.

Guidelines on the prevention of built-in moisture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place; Møller, Eva B.

2014-01-01

As a result of built-in-moisture, a number of buildings in Denmark were attacked by moulds even before the users moved in. Therefore, the Danish Building Regulations have since 2008 stipulated that building structures and materials must not, on moving in, have a moisture content that is liable...... the execution phase and the building’s capacity to withstand moisture. It also specifies how moisture should be dealt with in the general quality assurance system of the building industry. The Danish guideline is compared with similar guidelines and tools in other Nordic countries. The education of moisture...... specialists is emphasised and it is questioned whether a voluntary guideline will have the desired effect....

Intercomparison of AMSR2 and AMSR-E Soil Moisture Retrievals with MERRA-L data set over Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, E.; Choi, M.; Su, C. H.; Ryu, D.; Kim, H.; Jacobs, J. M.

2015-12-01

Soil moisture is an important variable in the hydrological cycle on the land surface and plays an essential role in hydrological and meteorological processes. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sensor on board the Aqua satellite offered valuable soil moisture data set from June 2002 and October 2011 and has been used in a wide range of applications. However, the AMSR-E sensor stopped operation from 4 October 2011 due to a problem with its antenna. AMSR-E was replaced by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) on the Global Climate Change Observation Mission 1 - Water (GCOM-W1) satellite in May 2012. Assessment of AMSR2 soil moisture retrievals as compared to AMSR-E has not yet been extensively evaluated. This task is critical if AMSR2 soil moisture products are used as a continuous dataset continuing the legacy of AMSR-E. The purpose of this study is to inter-compare AMSR2 and AMSR-E microwave based soil moisture over Australia, mediated by using model-based soil moisture data set to determine statistically similar inter-comparison periods from time periods of the individual sensors. This work use NASA-VUA AMSR2 and AMSR-E based soil moisture products derived by the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) and the modelled soil moisture from NASA's MERRA-L (Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications-Land) re-analysis. The satellite soil moisture products are compared against the MERRA-L using traditional metrics, and the random errors in individual products are estimated using lagged instrumental variable regression analysis. Generally, the results demonstrate that the two satellite-based soil moisture retrievals have reasonable agreement with MERRA-L soil moisture data set. The error differences are notable, with the zonal error statistics are higher for AMSR2 in all climate zones, though the error maps of AMSR2 and AMSR-E are spatially similar over the Australia regions. This study leads

Moisture Buffer Value of Building Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten; Peuhkuri, Ruut; Time, Berit

2007-01-01

When building materials are in contact with indoor air they have some effect to moderate the variations of indoor humidity in occupied buildings. But so far there has been a lack of a standardized quantity to characterize the moisture buffering capability of materials. It has been the objective o...... is a test protocol which expresses how materials should be tested for determination of their Moisture Buffer Value. Finally, the paper presents some of the results of a Round Robin Test on various typical building materials that has been carried out in the project....... of a recent Nordic project to define such a quantity, and to declare it in the form of a NORDTEST method. The Moisture Buffer Value is the figure that has been developed in the project as a way to appraise the moisture buffer effect of materials, and the value is described in the paper. Also explained...

Moisture sorption of Thai red curry powder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudathip Inchuen

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Moisture sorption study was conducted on Thai red curry powder prepared by two different drying methods, viz. microwave and hot-air drying. Moisture sorption isotherms of the red curry powder at 30 C and water activity in the range of 0.113-0.970 were determined by a static gravimetric method. The isotherms exhibited Type III behaviour. The moisture sorption data were fitted to several sorption models and a non-linear regression analysis method was used to evaluate the constants of the sorption equations. The fit was evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2, the reduced chi-square (2 and the root mean square error (RMSE. The GAB model followed by the Lewiski-3 model gave the best fit to the experimental data. The monolayer moisture content, taken as the safe minimum moisture level in the red curry powder, was determined using the BET equation and was found to range between 0.080 - 0.085 gram water per gram dry matter.

Magnitude and reactivity consequences of moisture ingress into the modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, O.L.

1992-12-01

Inadvertent admission of moisture into the primary system of a modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor has been identified in US Department of Energy-sponsored studies as an important safety concern. The work described here develops an analytical methodology to quantify the pressure and reactivity consequences of steam-generator tube rupture and other moisture-ingress-related incidents. Important neutronic and thermohydraulic processes are coupled with reactivity feedback and safety and control system responses. The rate and magnitude of steam buildup are found to be dominated by major system features such as break size compared with safety valve capacity and reliability and less sensitive to factors such as heat transfer coefficients. The results indicate that ingress transients progress at a slower pace than previously predicted by bounding analyses, with milder power overshoots and more time for operator or automatic corrective actions

Enhancement of problem solving ability of high school students through learning with real engagement in active problem solving (REAPS) model on the concept of heat transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Yulindar, A.; Setiawan, A.; Liliawati, W.

2018-05-01

This study aims to influence the enhancement of problem solving ability before and after learning using Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS) model on the concept of heat transfer. The research method used is quantitative method with 35 high school students in Pontianak as sample. The result of problem solving ability of students is obtained through the test in the form of 3 description questions. The instrument has tested the validity by the expert judgment and field testing that obtained the validity value of 0.84. Based on data analysis, the value of N-Gain is 0.43 and the enhancement of students’ problem solving ability is in medium category. This was caused of students who are less accurate in calculating the results of answers and they also have limited time in doing the questions given.

Moisture diagnostic of a failured roof drainage situated behind a parapet wall and a subsequent condensate influence to a wooden construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remeš Josef

2017-01-01

increase in a layout of the building and an installation of a rainwater drainage core is not necessary in such cases. In case more of negative effects accumulate, such as an improper thermal insulation quality or insufficient thickness of the thermal insulation, significant problems may appear hand in hand with using of the building. These problems are generally represented by a moisture appearance in the inflow area. What more, this is not always detected and a major cause can be determined very hardly. This article deals with possible solutions for the wooden construction failure caused by the moisture that may emerge as an improper inflow layout consequence.

COSMOS: the COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Zreda

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The newly-developed cosmic-ray method for measuring area-average soil moisture at the hectometer horizontal scale is being implemented in the COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (or the COSMOS. The stationary cosmic-ray soil moisture probe measures the neutrons that are generated by cosmic rays within air and soil and other materials, moderated by mainly hydrogen atoms located primarily in soil water, and emitted to the atmosphere where they mix instantaneously at a scale of hundreds of meters and whose density is inversely correlated with soil moisture. The COSMOS has already deployed more than 50 of the eventual 500 cosmic-ray probes, distributed mainly in the USA, each generating a time series of average soil moisture over its horizontal footprint, with similar networks coming into existence around the world. This paper is written to serve a community need to better understand this novel method and the COSMOS project. We describe the cosmic-ray soil moisture measurement method, the instrument and its calibration, the design, data processing and dissemination used in the COSMOS project, and give example time series of soil moisture obtained from COSMOS probes.

Spatio-temporal Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimation for Indo - Gangetic Basin from Satellite Derived (AMSR-2 and SMOS) Surface Soil Moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Sure, A.; Dikshit, O.

2017-12-01

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is an important element in hydrology and agriculture. The estimation of RZSM provides insight in selecting the appropriate crops for specific soil conditions (soil type, bulk density, etc.). RZSM governs various vadose zone phenomena and subsequently affects the groundwater processes. With various satellite sensors dedicated to estimating surface soil moisture at different spatial and temporal resolutions, estimation of soil moisture at root zone level for Indo - Gangetic basin which inherits complex heterogeneous environment, is quite challenging. This study aims at estimating RZSM and understand its variation at the level of Indo - Gangetic basin with changing land use/land cover, topography, crop cycles, soil properties, temperature and precipitation patterns using two satellite derived soil moisture datasets operating at distinct frequencies with different principles of acquisition. Two surface soil moisture datasets are derived from AMSR-2 (6.9 GHz - `C' Band) and SMOS (1.4 GHz - `L' band) passive microwave sensors with coarse spatial resolution. The Soil Water Index (SWI), accounting for soil moisture from the surface, is derived by considering a theoretical two-layered water balance model and contributes in ascertaining soil moisture at the vadose zone. This index is evaluated against the widely used modelled soil moisture dataset of GLDAS - NOAH, version 2.1. This research enhances the domain of utilising the modelled soil moisture dataset, wherever the ground dataset is unavailable. The coupling between the surface soil moisture and RZSM is analysed for two years (2015-16), by defining a parameter T, the characteristic time length. The study demonstrates that deriving an optimal value of T for estimating SWI at a certain location is a function of various factors such as land, meteorological, and agricultural characteristics.

Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Ent, R.J.; Savenije, H.H.G.; Schaefli, B.; Steele-Dunne, S.C.

2010-01-01

There has been a long debate on the extent to which precipitation relies on terrestrial evaporation (moisture recycling). In the past, most research focused on moisture recycling within a certain region only. This study makes use of new definitions of moisture recycling to study the complete process

Implementation of sorption hysteresis in multi-Fickian moisture transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Henrik Lund; Svensson, Staffan

2007-01-01

In the cellular structure of wood, bound-water diffusion and water-vapor diffusion interact via sorption in a complex moisture-transportation system. At low relative humidities, moisture transport may be modeled by a Fickian diffusion equation with a good approximation. At higher relative......-35% in moisture content. Hence, for a precise moisture content computation, sorption hysteresis must be taken into account. The present paper explains the relation between sorption hysteresis and multi-Fickian moisture transport, and clarifies how models for the two phenomena are coupled. To illustrate...

Quantitative identification of moisture sources over the Tibetan Plateau and the relationship between thermal forcing and moisture transport

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Chen; Zhu, Bin; Gao, Jinhui; Kang, Hanqing; Zhu, Tong

2018-02-01

Despite the importance of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) to the surrounding water cycle, the moisture sources of the TP remain uncertain. In this study, the moisture sources of the TP are quantitatively identified based on a 33-year simulation with a horizontal resolution of 1.9° × 2.5° using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.1 (CAM5.1), in which atmospheric water tracer technology is incorporated. Results demonstrate that the major moisture sources differ over the southern TP (STP) and northern TP (NTP). During the winter, Africa, the TP, and India are the dominant source regions, contributing nearly half of the water vapour over the STP. During the summer, the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) supplies 28.5 ± 3.6% of the water vapour over the STP and becomes the dominant source region. The dominant moisture source regions of the water vapour over the NTP are Africa (19.0 ± 2.8%) during the winter and the TP (25.8 ± 2.4%) during the summer. The overall relative contribution of each source region to the precipitation is similar to the contribution to the water vapour over the TP. Like most models, CAM5.1 generally overestimates the precipitation over the TP, yielding uncertainty in the absolute contributions to the precipitation. Composite analyses exhibit significant variations in the TIO-supplied moisture transport and precipitation over the STP during the summer alongside anomalous TP heating. This relationship between moisture transport from the TIO and the TP heating primarily involves the dynamic change in the TIO-supplied moisture flux, which further controls the variation in the TIO-contributed precipitation over the STP.

Moisture sorption isotherms and thermodynamic properties of bovine leather

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhfakh, Rihab; Mihoubi, Daoued; Kechaou, Nabil

2018-04-01

This study was aimed at the determination of bovine leather moisture sorption characteristics using a static gravimetric method at 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C. The curves exhibit type II behaviour according to the BET classification. The sorption isotherms fitting by seven equations shows that GAB model is able to reproduce the equilibrium moisture content evolution with water activity for moisture range varying from 0.02 to 0.83 kg/kg d.b (0.9898 thermodynamic properties such as isosteric heat of sorption, sorption entropy, spreading pressure, net integral enthalpy and entropy. Net isosteric heat of sorption and differential entropy were evaluated through direct use of moisture isotherms by applying the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and used to investigate the enthalpy-entropy compensation theory. Both sorption enthalpy and entropy for desorption increase to a maximum with increasing moisture content, and then decrease sharply with rising moisture content. Adsorption enthalpy decreases with increasing moisture content. Whereas, adsorption entropy increases smoothly with increasing moisture content to a maximum of 6.29 J/K.mol. Spreading pressure increases with rising water activity. The net integral enthalpy seemed to decrease and then increase to become asymptotic. The net integral entropy decreased with moisture content increase.

Exploiting Soil Moisture, Precipitation, and Streamflow Observations to Evaluate Soil Moisture/Runoff Coupling in Land Surface Models

Science.gov (United States)

Crow, W. T.; Chen, F.; Reichle, R. H.; Xia, Y.; Liu, Q.

2018-05-01

Accurate partitioning of precipitation into infiltration and runoff is a fundamental objective of land surface models tasked with characterizing the surface water and energy balance. Temporal variability in this partitioning is due, in part, to changes in prestorm soil moisture, which determine soil infiltration capacity and unsaturated storage. Utilizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Soil Moisture Active Passive Level-4 soil moisture product in combination with streamflow and precipitation observations, we demonstrate that land surface models (LSMs) generally underestimate the strength of the positive rank correlation between prestorm soil moisture and event runoff coefficients (i.e., the fraction of rainfall accumulation volume converted into stormflow runoff during a storm event). Underestimation is largest for LSMs employing an infiltration-excess approach for stormflow runoff generation. More accurate coupling strength is found in LSMs that explicitly represent subsurface stormflow or saturation-excess runoff generation processes.

MULTIFREQUENCY ALGORITHMS FOR DETERMINING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF LIQUID EMULSIONS BY THE METHOD OF RESONANCE DIELCOMETRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Korobko

2017-06-01

obtained. The value of the volumetric moisture in the transformer oil was measured. Originality. New multifrequency algorithms for determining the moisture content by the resonance dielcometric method have been proposed, investigated and practically realized. A generalized metrological characteristic for an algorithm with four frequencies is obtained. Metrological characteristics of algorithms for three and two frequencies are obtained. The problem of «uncertainty of varieties» was solved. Recommendations for increasing the sensitivity of dielcometric resonance moisture meters are developed and implemented. Practical value. The results of this work allow to solve the problem of «variability of varieties», increase sensitivity and accurately determine the moisture content in most nonpolar liquid dielectrics to a value of 10-5. This is applicable in a large field of electrical engineering, machine building, oil refining and the chemical industry.

Hazards and operability study for the surface moisture monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Board, B.D.

1996-01-01

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tank Farms' underground waste tanks have been used to store liquid radioactive waste from defense materials production since the 1940's. Waste in certain of the tanks may contain material in the form of ferrocyanide or various organic compounds which could potentially be susceptible to condensed phase chemical reactions. Because of the presence of oxidizing materials (nitrate compounds) and heat sources (radioactive decay and chemical reactions), the ferrocyanide or organic material could potentially fuel a propagating exothermic reaction with undesirable consequences. Analysis and experiments indicate that the reaction propagation and/or initiation may be prevented by the presence of sufficient moisture in the waste. Because the reaction would probably be initiated at the surface of the waste, evidence of sufficient moisture concentration would help provide evidence that the tank waste can continue to be safely stored. The Surface Moisture Measurement System (SMMS) was developed to collect data on the surface moisture in the waste by inserting two types of probes (singly) into a waste tank-a neutron probe and an electromagnetic inductance (EMI) probe. The sensor probes will be placed on the surface of the waste utilizing a moveable deployment arm to lower them through an available riser. The movement of the SMMS within the tank will be monitored by a camera lowered through an adjacent riser. The SMMS equipment is the subject of this study. Hazards and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) is a systematic technique for assessing potential hazards and/or operability problems for a new activity. It utilizes a multidiscipline team of knowledgeable individuals in a systematic brainstorming effort. The results of this study will be used as input to an Unreviewed Safety Question determination

Moisture sorption isotherms of dehydrated whey proteins

OpenAIRE

Suzana Rimac Brnčić; Vesna Lelas; Zoran Herceg; Marija Badanjak

2010-01-01

Moisture sorption isotherms describe the relation between the moisture content of the dry material (food) and relative humidity of the surrounding environment. The data obtained are important in modelling of drying process conditions, packaging and shelf-life stability of food that will provide maximum retaining of aroma, colour and texture as well as nutritive and biological value. The objective of this research was to establish the equilibrium moisture content and water activity, as well as...

Moisture Conditions in Passive House Wall Constructions

OpenAIRE

Gullbrekken, Lars; Geving, Stig; Time, Berit; Andresen, Inger

2015-01-01

Buildings for the future, i.e zero emission buildings and passive houses, will need well insulated building envelopes, which includes increased insulation thicknesses for roof, wall and floor constructions. Increased insulation thicknesses may cause an increase in moisture levels and thereby increased risk of mold growth. There is need for increased knowledge about moisture levels in wood constructions of well insulated houses, to ensure robust and moisture safe solutions. Monitoring of w...

Conjugate heat and mass transfer in heat mass exchanger ducts

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Li-Zhi

2013-01-01

Conjugate Heat and Mass Transfer in Heat Mass Exchanger Ducts bridges the gap between fundamentals and recent discoveries, making it a valuable tool for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of heat exchangers. The first book on the market to cover conjugate heat and mass transfer in heat exchangers, author Li-Zhi Zhang goes beyond the basics to cover recent advancements in equipment for energy use and environmental control (such as heat and moisture recovery ventilators, hollow fiber membrane modules for humidification/dehumidification, membrane modules for air purification, desi

Experiments on moisture form of concrete and adhesion of paints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kita, Daizo; Sumino, Masahiro

1975-01-01

It is necessary for radiation-resisting paints to adhere tightly to concrete in order to exhibit superior effects. As adhesion of paints to concrete is greatly affected by moisture content of concrete, this content is checked severely in the field. However, it may be considered that adhesion will be affected by the form of the moisture in the concrete also. Therefore, experiments were conducted with mortar to investigate the interrelations between pF-moisture content, moisture form and adhesion of paint. The following results were obtained: 1) Adhesion of paint becomes stronger as moisture content falls. 2) Adhesion strength of paint rises sharply until moisture content falls to a pF-value of 5.5 after which the strength is increased gradually until moisture content reaches pF of 7.0. 3) The pF-moisture content of 5.5 varies greatly depending on the mix proportions of mortar, but the form of moisture in such cases remains fixed and unchanged. (auth.)

Microwave bale moisture sensing: Field trial

Science.gov (United States)

A microwave moisture measurement technique was developed for moisture sensing of cotton bales after the bale press. The technique measures the propagation delay of a microwave signal that is transmitted through the cotton bale. This research conducted a field trial to test the sensor in a commercial...

Moisture Buffer Effect and its Impact on Indoor Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Mingjie; Qin, Menghao; Chen, Zhi

2017-01-01

The moisture buffer effect of building materials may have great influence on indoor hygrothermal environment. In order to characterize the moisture buffering ability of materials, the basic concept of moisture buffer value (MBV) is adopted. Firstly, a theoretical correction factor is introduced...... in this paper. The moisture uptake/release by hygroscopic materials can be calculated with the factor and the basic MBV. Furthermore, the validation of the correction factor is carried out. The impact of moisture buffering on indoor environment is assessed by using numerical simulations. The results show...

State of the Art in Large-Scale Soil Moisture Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Ochsner, Tyson E.; Cosh, Michael Harold; Cuenca, Richard H.; Dorigo, Wouter; Draper, Clara S.; Hagimoto, Yutaka; Kerr, Yan H.; Larson, Kristine M.; Njoku, Eni Gerald; Small, Eric E.;

Moisture Metrics Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schuchmann, Mark

2011-08-31

the goal of this project was to determine the optimum moisture levels for biomass processing for pellets commercially, by correlating data taken from numerous points in the process, and across several different feedstock materials produced and harvested using a variety of different management practices. This was to be done by correlating energy consumption and material through put rates with the moisture content of incoming biomass ( corn & wheat stubble, native grasses, weeds, & grass straws), and the quality of the final pellet product.This project disseminated the data through a public website, and answering questions form universities across Missouri that are engaged in biomass conversion technologies. Student interns from a local university were employed to help collect data, which enabled them to learn firsthand about biomass processing.

On Nonlinear Inverse Problems of Heat Transfer with Radiation Boundary Conditions: Application to Dehydration of Gypsum Plasterboards Exposed to Fire

OpenAIRE

Belmiloudi, A.; Mahé, F.

2014-01-01

International audience; The paper investigates boundary optimal controls and parameter estimates to the well-posedness nonlinear model of dehydration of thermic problems. We summarize the general formulations for the boundary control for initial-boundary value problem for nonlinear partial differential equations modeling the heat transfer and derive necessary optimality conditions, including the adjoint equation, for the optimal set of parameters minimizing objective functions J. Numerical si...

Evaluating ESA CCI Soil Moisture in East Africa

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, Amy; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Arsenault, Kristi R.; Wang, Shugong; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Verdin, James P.

2016-01-01

To assess growing season conditions where ground based observations are limited or unavailable, food security and agricultural drought monitoring analysts rely on publicly available remotely sensed rainfall and vegetation greenness. There are also remotely sensed soil moisture observations from missions like the European Space Agency (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and NASAs Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), however these time series are still too short to conduct studies that demonstrate the utility of these data for operational applications, or to provide historical context for extreme wet or dry events. To promote the use of remotely sensed soil moisture in agricultural drought and food security monitoring, we use East Africa as a case study to evaluate the quality of a 30+ year time series of merged active-passive microwave soil moisture from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI-SM). Compared to the Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) and modeled soil moisture products, we found substantial spatial and temporal gaps in the early part of the CCI-SM record, with adequate data coverage beginning in 1992. From this point forward, growing season CCI-SM anomalies were well correlated (R greater than 0.5) with modeled, seasonal soil moisture, and in some regions, NDVI. We use correlation analysis and qualitative comparisons at seasonal time scales to show that remotely sensed soil moisture can add information to a convergence of evidence framework that traditionally relies on rainfall and NDVI in moderately vegetated regions.

development and testing of a capacitive digital soil moisture metre

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

soil moisture meter using the NE555 timer and micro controller as a major electronic component ... relationship between the moisture content process and the digital soil moisture meter. ..... the moisture contents showing that the infiltration of.

Heat and Mass Transfer Measurements for Tray-Fermented Fungal Products

Science.gov (United States)

Jou, R.-Y.; Lo, C.-T.

2011-01-01

In this study, heat and mass transfer in static tray fermentation, which is widely used in solid-state fermentation (SSF) to produce fungal products, such as enzymes or koji, is investigated. Specifically, kinetic models of transport phenomena in the whole-tray chamber are emphasized. The effects of temperature, moisture, and humidity on microbial growth in large-scale static tray fermentation are essential to scale-up SSF and achieve uniform fermentation. In addition, heat and mass transfer of static tray fermentation of Trichoderma fungi with two tray setups—traditional linen coverings and stacks in a temperature-humidity chamber is examined. In both these setups, the following factors of fermentation were measured: air velocity, air temperature, illumination, pH, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, and substrate temperature, and the effects of bed height, moisture of substrate, and relative humidity of air are studied. A thin (1 cm) bed at 28 °C and 95 % relative humidity is found to be optimum. Furthermore, mixing was essential for achieving uniform fermentation of Trichoderma fungi. This study has important applications in large-scale static tray fermentation of fungi.

Determining seed moisture in Quercus

Science.gov (United States)

F. T. Bonner

1974-01-01

The air-oven method with drying times 7 to 8 hours shorter than those now prescribed in the ISTA rules proved adequate for determining moisture contents in acorns of several North American oaks. Schedules of 8 hours at 105°C for Quercus muehlenbergii and 9 hours at 105°C for Q.shumardii and Q.nigra gave moisture contents within three percentage points of those obtained...

46 CFR 154.1715 - Moisture control.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Moisture control. 154.1715 Section 154.1715 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SAFETY STANDARDS... § 154.1715 Moisture control. When a vessel is carrying sulfur dioxide, the master shall ensure that: (a...

NOAA Soil Moisture Products System (SMOPS) Daily Blended Products

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Soil Moisture Operational Products System (SMOPS) combines soil moisture retrievals from multiple satellite sensors to provide a global soil moisture map with...

Importance of moisture determination in studies of infiltration and surface runoff for long periods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabian Fulginiti

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The determination of the natural soil moisture is essential to solve problems related to irrigation water requirements, environmental considerations, and determination of surplus water. For the determination of runoff one can adopt models that consider exclusively the infiltration as a loss or one could use computational models of infiltration to model the infiltrated water. Models based on the infiltration calculation consider well the interaction between infiltration - runoff processes and provide additional information on the phenomenon of infiltration which establishes the existing conditions of moisture in the soil before the occurrence of a new event (simulation for long periods. These models require solving Richards’s equation and for this purpose it is necessary to determine the relation between the soil moisture - suction and hydraulic conductivity - suction which require the determination of the hydraulic properties that can be obtained by measuring the water content by moisture profiles. The aim of this study was the verification of these moisture curves in loessic soils in the south of the city of Cordoba, Argentina. To do this, measurements were done and compared with results of infiltration models based on the determined hydraulic functions. The measurements were done using three probes installed at different depths. The results showed that the values obtained with NETRAIN adequately represent the behavior of wetting and drying conditions of the studied soil.The determination of these curves provided a basis for future studies that include the advancement of agricultural chemicals in the soil and its potential capacity to pollute groundwater, fundamental issue to define environmental management policies.

The importance of binder moisture content in Metformin HCL high-dose formulations prepared by moist aqueous granulation (MAG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroshi Takasaki

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate binders to improve the flowability of granulates and compactibility of Metformin HCL (Met using the moist aqueous granulation (MAG process. The effect of the binder moisture content on granulate and tablet quality was also evaluated. Vinylpyrrolidone–vinyl acetate copolymer (Kollidon VA64 fine: VA64, polyvidone (Povidone K12: PVP, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC SSL SF: HPC and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Methocel E5 LV: HPMC were evaluated as binders. These granulates, except for HPMC, had a lower yield pressure than Met active pharmaceutical ingredient (API. HPMC Met was not sufficiently granulated with low water volume. No problems were observed with the VA64 Met granulates during the tableting process. However, HPC Met granulates had a bowl-forming tendency, and PVP Met granulates had the tendency to stick during the tableting process. These bowl-forming and sticking tendencies may have been due to the low moisture absorbency of HPC and the high volume of bound water of PVP, respectively. VA64 Met granulates had the highest ambient moisture content (bulk water, bound water and moisture absorbency. It was concluded that the type of binder used for the Met MAG process has an impact on granulate flow and compactibility, as well as moisture absorbency and maintenance of moisture balance.

The study of high precision neutron moisture gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shengkang; Bao Guanxiong; Sang Hai; Zhu Yuzhen

1993-01-01

The principle, structure and calibration experiment of the high precision neutron moisture gauge (insertion type) are described. The gauge has been appraised. The precision of the measuring moisture of coke is lower than 0.5%, and the range of the measuring moisture is 2%-12%. The economic benefit of the gauge application is good

Graphene-based stretchable and transparent moisture barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Sejeong; Van Lam, Do; Lee, Jin Young; Jung, Hyun-June; Hur, Min; Kim, Kwang-Seop; Lee, Hak-Joo; Kim, Jae-Hyun

2018-03-01

We propose an alumina-deposited double-layer graphene (2LG) as a transparent, scalable, and stretchable barrier against moisture; this barrier is indispensable for foldable or stretchable organic displays and electronics. Both the barrier property and stretchability were significantly enhanced through the introduction of 2LG between alumina and a polymeric substrate. 2LG with negligible polymeric residues was coated on the polymeric substrate via a scalable dry transfer method in a roll-to-roll manner; an alumina layer was deposited on the graphene via atomic layer deposition. The effect of the graphene layer on crack generation in the alumina layer was systematically studied under external strain using an in situ micro-tensile tester, and correlations between the deformation-induced defects and water vapor transmission rate were quantitatively analyzed. The enhanced stretchability of alumina-deposited 2LG originated from the interlayer sliding between the graphene layers, which resulted in the crack density of the alumina layer being reduced under external strain.

High moisture airtight storage of barley and triticale: Effect of moisture level and grain processing on nitrogen and phosphorus solubility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ton Nu, Mai Anh; Blaabjerg, Karoline; Labouriau, Rodrigo

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of storage time, grain processing (whole vs. rolled) and the combination of phytase, xylanase, β-glucanase and protease on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) solubility during high moisture airtight (HMA) storage of barley and triticale at various...... moisture levels (20, 23, 26 and 29% moisture) and to compare HMA storage of cereals with dry storage for 49 days. Dry stored barley and triticale (10 and 13% moisture, respectively) were kept in 10 L plastic buckets for 0 and 49 days. HMA stored cereals were kept in airtight bags (400 g per bag) at 15 °C......) in HMA storage at 29% moisture to a greater extent compared with dry storage (P levels increased P solubility (rolled barley, whole and rolled triticale) and N solubility (whole and rolled triticale) linearly and decreased Phytate P:Total P (rolled barley) linearly...

Diffusion and mass transfer

CERN Document Server

Vrentas, James S

2013-01-01

The book first covers the five elements necessary to formulate and solve mass transfer problems, that is, conservation laws and field equations, boundary conditions, constitutive equations, parameters in constitutive equations, and mathematical methods that can be used to solve the partial differential equations commonly encountered in mass transfer problems. Jump balances, Green’s function solution methods, and the free-volume theory for the prediction of self-diffusion coefficients for polymer–solvent systems are among the topics covered. The authors then use those elements to analyze a wide variety of mass transfer problems, including bubble dissolution, polymer sorption and desorption, dispersion, impurity migration in plastic containers, and utilization of polymers in drug delivery. The text offers detailed solutions, along with some theoretical aspects, for numerous processes including viscoelastic diffusion, moving boundary problems, diffusion and reaction, membrane transport, wave behavior, sedime...

Numerical solution of fully developed heat transfer problem with constant wall temperature and application to isosceles triangle and parabolic ducts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karabulut, Halit; Ipci, Duygu; Cinar, Can

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A numerical method has been developed for fully developed flows with constant wall temperature. • The governing equations were transformed to boundary fitted coordinates. • The Nusselt number of parabolic duct has been investigated. • Validation of the numerical method has been made by comparing published data. - Abstract: In motor-vehicles the use of more compact radiators have several advantages such as; improving the aerodynamic form of cars, reducing the weight and volume of the cars, reducing the material consumption and environmental pollutions, and enabling faster increase of the engine coolant temperature after starting to run and thereby improving the thermal efficiency. For the design of efficient and compact radiators, the robust determination of the heat transfer coefficient becomes imperative. In this study the external heat transfer coefficient of the radiator has been investigated for hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed flows in channels with constant wall temperature. In such situation the numerical treatment of the problem results in a trivial solution. To find a non-trivial solution the problem is treated either as an eigenvalue problem or as a thermally developing flow problem. In this study a numerical solution procedure has been developed and the heat transfer coefficients of the fully developed flow in triangular and parabolic air channels were investigated. The governing equations were transformed to boundary fitted coordinates and numerically solved. The non-trivial solution was obtained by means of guessing the temperature of any grid point within the solution domain. The correction of the guessed temperature was performed via smoothing the temperature profile on a line passing through the mentioned grid point. Results were compared with literature data and found to be consistent.

Monitoramento de umidade do solo em videira utilizando tensiômetria | Soil moisture monitoring using vine tensiometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jucicléia Soares da Silva

2016-04-01

Knowledge of the factors related to the development of the vine is very important because it has implications for the production. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the moisture, using the monitoring technique tensiometry fingerstick. The experiment was conducted in the agricultural area of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology Pernambucano Hinterland on the campus located in Petrolina Rural Zone - PE and a privately owned table grape. They were carried out in the areas of collecting undisturbed soil samples to obtain the retention curve of water through the soil. Three batteries tensiometers were installed at depths of 0-0.3 and 0.3-0.6 m in the IF field and 0-0, 2, 0.2-0.4 and 0.4-0.6 m the privately owned area for table grapes and three batteries in the depth of 0-0.3 and 0.3-0.6 m in the IF area for wine grape. It was concluded that the moisture in the upper layers in the table grape and wine IF always stood above the field capacity, indicating problems of surface leaching. The moisture in the lower layers in the table grape on private property stood close and slightly above the field capacity, indicating deep leaching problems.

Correlation between laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy signal and moisture content

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yuan; Gigant, Lionel; Baudelet, Matthieu; Richardson, Martin

2012-01-01

The possibility of using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for measuring the moisture content of fresh food samples is studied. The normalized line emission of oxygen is highly correlated with the moisture content of the sample, cheese in our case, and can be used as a moisture marker in situations where oxygen interference from the matrix is not a critical issue. The linear correlation between the oxygen signal and the moisture content in the sample shows great potential for using LIBS as an alternative spectroscopic method for moisture monitoring. - Highlights: ► Quantitative moisture measurement by LIBS. ► Use of matrix effects and normalization for physical information on the sample. ► Use of signal from oxygen and CN radical in air background for moisture measurement.

Soil moisture in sessile oak forest gaps

Science.gov (United States)

Zagyvainé Kiss, Katalin Anita; Vastag, Viktor; Gribovszki, Zoltán; Kalicz, Péter

2015-04-01

By social demands are being promoted the aspects of the natural forest management. In forestry the concept of continuous forest has been an accepted principle also in Hungary since the last decades. The first step from even-aged stand to continuous forest can be the forest regeneration based on gap cutting, so small openings are formed in a forest due to forestry interventions. This new stand structure modifies the hydrological conditions for the regrowth. Without canopy and due to the decreasing amounts of forest litter the interception is less significant so higher amount of precipitation reaching the soil. This research focuses on soil moisture patterns caused by gaps. The spatio-temporal variability of soil water content is measured in gaps and in surrounding sessile oak (Quercus petraea) forest stand. Soil moisture was determined with manual soil moisture meter which use Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technology. The three different sizes gaps (G1: 10m, G2: 20m, G3: 30m) was opened next to Sopron on the Dalos Hill in Hungary. First, it was determined that there is difference in soil moisture between forest stand and gaps. Second, it was defined that how the gap size influences the soil moisture content. To explore the short term variability of soil moisture, two 24-hour (in growing season) and a 48-hour (in dormant season) field campaign were also performed in case of the medium-sized G2 gap along two/four transects. Subdaily changes of soil moisture were performed. The measured soil moisture pattern was compared with the radiation pattern. It was found that the non-illuminated areas were wetter and in the dormant season the subdaily changes cease. According to our measurements, in the gap there is more available water than under the forest stand due to the less evaporation and interception loss. Acknowledgements: The research was supported by TÁMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV-2012-0004 and AGRARKLIMA.2 VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034.

Irrigation scheduling using soil moisture sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Soil moisture sensors were evaluated and used for irrigation scheduling in humid region. Soil moisture sensors were installed in soil at depths of 15cm, 30cm, and 61cm belowground. Soil volumetric water content was automatically measured by the sensors in a time interval of an hour during the crop g...

Moisture separator reheaters for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyoshi, Michizo; Yonemura, Katsutoshi

1974-01-01

In the light water reactor plants using BWRS or PWRS, the pressure and temperature of steam at the inlet of turbines are low, and the steam is moist, as compared with the case of thermal power plants. Therefore, moisture separator/reheaters are used between high and low pressure turbines. The steam from a high pressure turbine enters a manifold, and goes zigzag through vertical plate separator elements, its moisture is removed from the steam. Then, after being reheated with the steam bled from the high pressure turbine and directly from a reactor, the steam is fed into a low pressure turbine. The development and test made on the components of a moisture separaotr/reheater and the overall model experiment are described together with the mechanism of moisture separation and reheating. (Mori, K.)

The global distribution and dynamics of surface soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

McColl, Kaighin A.; Alemohammad, Seyed Hamed; Akbar, Ruzbeh; Konings, Alexandra G.; Yueh, Simon; Entekhabi, Dara

2017-01-01

Surface soil moisture has a direct impact on food security, human health and ecosystem function. It also plays a key role in the climate system, and the development and persistence of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves. However, sparse and uneven observations have made it difficult to quantify the global distribution and dynamics of surface soil moisture. Here we introduce a metric of soil moisture memory and use a full year of global observations from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission to show that surface soil moisture--a storage believed to make up less than 0.001% of the global freshwater budget by volume, and equivalent to an, on average, 8-mm thin layer of water covering all land surfaces--plays a significant role in the water cycle. Specifically, we find that surface soil moisture retains a median 14% of precipitation falling on land after three days. Furthermore, the retained fraction of the surface soil moisture storage after three days is highest over arid regions, and in regions where drainage to groundwater storage is lowest. We conclude that lower groundwater storage in these regions is due not only to lower precipitation, but also to the complex partitioning of the water cycle by the surface soil moisture storage layer at the land surface.

Moisture distribution in sludges based on different testing methods

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wenyi Deng; Xiaodong Li; Jianhua Yan; Fei Wang; Yong Chi; Kefa Cen

2011-01-01

Moisture distributions in municipal sewage sludge, printing and dyeing sludge and paper mill sludge were experimentally studied based on four different methods, i.e., drying test, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) test, thermogravimetricdifferential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) test and water activity test. The results indicated that the moistures in the mechanically dewatered sludges were interstitial water, surface water and bound water. The interstitial water accounted for more than 50％ wet basis (wb) of the total moisture content. The bond strength of sludge moisture increased with decreasing moisture content, especially when the moisture content was lower than 50％ wb. Furthermore, the comparison among the four different testing methods was presented.The drying test was advantaged by its ability to quantify free water, interstitial water, surface water and bound water; while TG-DSC test, TG-DTA test and water activity test were capable of determining the bond strength of moisture in sludge. It was found that the results from TG-DSC and TG-DTA test are more persuasive than water activity test.

Moisture dependence of positron annihilation rates in molecular substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.J.; Holt, W.H.

1982-01-01

Positron annihilation rates have been studied in polymers and graphite-polymer composites as a function of their moisture content. The annihilation rates have been found to increase linearly with increasing moisture content in epoxies and polyamides, whereas no definite trends have been observed in polyimides. These experimental results have been used as the basis for the calculation of moisture content of several polymeric test specimens. For example, the directly measured moisture content of a Kevlar specimen was 45.5 + or - 5.0% of saturation value, whereas the moisture content on the basis of the decrease in positron lifetime was calculated to be 46.5 + or - 3.5%. Similarly, the directly measured moisture content of a graphite-epoxy composite (55 v/o fiber) was 19.2 + or - 0.6% of saturation value as opposed to a calculated value of 16.0 + or - 5.0%

Space-based passive microwave soil moisture retrievals and the correction for a dynamic open water fraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. T. Gouweleeuw

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The large observation footprint of low-frequency satellite microwave emissions complicates the interpretation of near-surface soil moisture retrievals. While the effect of sub-footprint lateral heterogeneity is relatively limited under unsaturated conditions, open water bodies (if not accounted for cause a strong positive bias in the satellite-derived soil moisture retrieval. This bias is generally assumed static and associated with large, continental lakes and coastal areas. Temporal changes in the extent of smaller water bodies as small as a few percent of the sensor footprint size, however, can cause significant and dynamic biases. We analysed the influence of such small open water bodies on near-surface soil moisture products derived from actual (non-synthetic data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E for three areas in Oklahoma, USA. Differences between on-ground observations, model estimates and AMSR-E retrievals were related to dynamic estimates of open water fraction, one retrieved from a global daily record based on higher frequency AMSR-E data, a second derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS and a third through inversion of the radiative transfer model, used to retrieve soil moisture. The comparison demonstrates the presence of relatively small areas (<0.05 of open water in or near the sensor footprint, possibly in combination with increased, below-critical vegetation density conditions (optical density <0.8, which contribute to seasonally varying biases in excess of 0.2 (m³ m⁻³ soil water content. These errors need to be addressed, either through elimination or accurate characterisation, if the soil moisture retrievals are to be used effectively in a data assimilation scheme.

Response of bacteria in wastewater sludge to moisture loss by evaporation and effect of moisture content on bacterial inactivation by ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, R.L.; Yeager, J.G.; Ashley, C.S.

1981-01-01

Two studies were carried out to determine the influence of moisture content on the survival of bacteria in raw wastewater sludge. The first study involved the effect of water loss by evaporation on the bacterial population. The second used these dewatered samples to measure the effects of moisture content on the inactivation of bacteria in sludge by ionizing radiation. Both studies involved survival measurements of six representative fecally associated bacteria grown separately in sterilized sludge as well as survival data on bacteria indigenous to sludge. Growth of bacteria was stimulated in sludge during the initial phase of moisture removal by evaporation, but the reduction of moisture content below about 50% by weight caused a proportional decrease in bacterial numbers. The rates of inactivation of bacteria by ionizing radiation in sludge were usually modified to some degree by variations in moisture content. Most bacteria were found to be somewhat protected from ionizing radiation at reduced moisture levels

Correlation between laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy signal and moisture content

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Yuan [Townes Laser Institute, CREOL - The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States); Gigant, Lionel [Townes Laser Institute, CREOL - The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States); Universite Bordeaux 1, 351 cours de la Liberation 33405 Talence Cedex (France); Baudelet, Matthieu, E-mail: baudelet@creol.ucf.edu [Townes Laser Institute, CREOL - The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States); Richardson, Martin [Townes Laser Institute, CREOL - The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States)

2012-07-15

The possibility of using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for measuring the moisture content of fresh food samples is studied. The normalized line emission of oxygen is highly correlated with the moisture content of the sample, cheese in our case, and can be used as a moisture marker in situations where oxygen interference from the matrix is not a critical issue. The linear correlation between the oxygen signal and the moisture content in the sample shows great potential for using LIBS as an alternative spectroscopic method for moisture monitoring. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Quantitative moisture measurement by LIBS. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Use of matrix effects and normalization for physical information on the sample. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Use of signal from oxygen and CN radical in air background for moisture measurement.

CPC Soil Moisture

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The monthly data set consists of a file containing 1/2 degree monthly averaged soil moisture water height equivalents for the globe from 1948 onwards. Values are...

The use of iteration factors in the solution of the NLTE line transfer problem-II. Multilevel atom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzmanovska-Barandovska, O.; Atanackovic, O.

2010-01-01

The iteration factors method (IFM) developed in Paper I (Atanackovic-Vukmanovic and Simonneau, 1994) to solve the NLTE line transfer problem for a two-level atom model, is extended here to deal with a multilevel atom case. At the beginning of each iteration step, for each line transition, angle and frequency averaged depth-dependent iteration factors are computed from the formal solution of radiative transfer (RT) equation and used to close the system of the RT equation moments, non-linearly coupled with the statistical equilibrium (SE) equations. Non-linear coupling of the atomic level populations and the corresponding line radiation field intensities is tackled in two ways. One is based on the linearization of the equations with respect to the relevant variables, and the other on the use of the old (known from the previous iteration) level populations in the line-opacity-like terms of the SE equations. In both cases the use of quasi-invariant iteration factors provided very fast and accurate solution. The properties of the proposed procedures are investigated in detail by applying them to the solution of the prototype multilevel RT problem of Avrett and Loeser , and compared with the properties of some other methods.

[Bare Soil Moisture Inversion Model Based on Visible-Shortwave Infrared Reflectance].

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Xiao-po; Sun, Yue-jun; Qin, Qi-ming; Ren, Hua-zhong; Gao, Zhong-ling; Wu, Ling; Meng, Qing-ye; Wang, Jin-liang; Wang, Jian-hua

2015-08-01

Soil is the loose solum of land surface that can support plants. It consists of minerals, organics, atmosphere, moisture, microbes, et al. Among its complex compositions, soil moisture varies greatly. Therefore, the fast and accurate inversion of soil moisture by using remote sensing is very crucial. In order to reduce the influence of soil type on the retrieval of soil moisture, this paper proposed a normalized spectral slope and absorption index named NSSAI to estimate soil moisture. The modeling of the new index contains several key steps: Firstly, soil samples with different moisture level were artificially prepared, and soil reflectance spectra was consequently measured using spectroradiometer produced by ASD Company. Secondly, the moisture absorption spectral feature located at shortwave wavelengths and the spectral slope of visible wavelengths were calculated after analyzing the regular spectral feature change patterns of different soil at different moisture conditions. Then advantages of the two features at reducing soil types' effects was synthesized to build the NSSAI. Thirdly, a linear relationship between NSSAI and soil moisture was established. The result showed that NSSAI worked better (correlation coefficient is 0.93) than most of other traditional methods in soil moisture extraction. It can weaken the influences caused by soil types at different moisture levels and improve the bare soil moisture inversion accuracy.

Use a microwave oven to determine the moisture content of sunflower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Backer, L.F.; Walz, A.W.

1987-01-01

Much of the sunflower crop in the major producing areas of the United States requires artificial drying because of late crop maturity. Plant growth regulators permit earlier harvest by accelerating the maturation rate of the plant; research indicates that use of the growth regulator would result in approximately 10-14 days earlier maturation. Effectiveness of the chemical is dependent on timely application at relatively high moisture contents (50 to 55 percent). A rapid means of determining seed moisture content is required so the chemical can be applied at the proper growth stage . Additionally, sunflower is often harvested at moisture contents of more than 17 percent. Most electronic moisture meters are not calibrated for moisture contents this high and the accuracy of most moisture meters decreases with increasing moisture content. A recent study has shown that a conventional microwave oven can successfully be used to very rapidly determine the moisture content of high moisture sunflower seeds to indicate proper growth stage for the application of plant growth regulators. The microwave oven could also be used with reasonable accuracy to check harvest moisture content down to about 15 percent. At lower moisture contents, it would be advisable to use a calibrated electronic moisture meter

Modeling of heat and mass transfer in lateritic building envelopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meukam, Pierre

2004-10-01

The aim of the present work is to investigate the behavior of building envelopes made of local lateritic soil bricks subjected to different climatic conditions. The analysis is developed for the prediction of the temperature, relative humidity and water content behavior within the walls. The building envelopes studied in this work consist of lateritic soil bricks with incorporation of natural pozzolan or sawdust in order to obtain small thermal conductivity and low-density materials, and limit the heat transfer between the atmospheric climate and the inside environment. In order to describe coupled heat and moisture transfer in wet porous materials, the coupled equations were solved by the introduction of diffusion coefficients. A numerical model HMtrans, developed for prediction of beat and moisture transfer in multi-layered building components, was used to simulate the temperature, water content and relative humidity profiles within the building envelopes. The results allow the prediction of the duration of the exposed building walls to the local weather conditions. They show that for any of three climatic conditions considered, relative humidity and water content do not exceed 87% and 5% respectively. There is therefore minimum possibility of water condensation in the materials studied. The durability of building envelopes made of lateritic soil bricks with incorporation of natural pozzolan or sawdust is not strongly affected by the climatic conditions in tropical and equatorial regions. (author)

Three dimensional modeling on airflow, heat and mass transfer in partially impermeable enclosure containing agricultural produce during natural convective cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chourasia, M.K.; Goswami, T.K.

2007-01-01

A three dimensional model was developed to simulate the transport phenomena in heat and mass generating porous medium cooled under natural convective environment. Unlike the previous works on this aspect, the present model was aimed for bulk stored agricultural produce contained in a permeable package placed on a hard surface. This situation made the bottom of the package impermeable to fluid flow as well as moisture transfer and adiabatic to heat transfer. The velocity vectors, isotherms and contours of rate of moisture loss were presented during transient cooling as well as at steady state using the commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code based on the finite volume technique. The CFD model was validated using the experimental data on the time-temperature history as well as weight loss obtained from a bag of potatoes kept in a cold store. The simulated and experimental values on temperature and moisture loss of the product were found to be in good agreement

Microwave moisture sensing of wet bales

Science.gov (United States)

Sensing of moisture in very wet lint bales is unique due to the fact that moisture distribution is typically non-uniform and can in some instances be highly localized. This issue is even further complicated by the use of a sensor that reads only a portion of the bale and/or with a sensor that provid...

Logging effects on soil moisture losses

Science.gov (United States)

Robert R. Ziemer

1978-01-01

Abstract - The depletion of soil moisture within the surface 15 feet by an isolated mature sugar pine and an adjacent uncut forest in the California Sierra Nevada was measured by the neutron method every 2 weeks for 5 consecutive summers. Soil moisture recharge was measured periodically during the intervening winters. Groundwater fluctuations within the surface 50...

Using Lie Symmetry Analysis to Solve a Problem That Models Mass Transfer from a Horizontal Flat Plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Sinkala

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We use Lie symmetry analysis to solve a boundary value problem that arises in chemical engineering, namely, mass transfer during the contact of a solid slab with an overhead flowing fluid. This problem was earlier tackled using Adomian decomposition method (Fatoorehchi and Abolghasemi 2011, leading to the Adomian series form of solution. It turns out that the application of Lie group analysis yields an elegant form of the solution. After introducing the governing mathematical model and some preliminaries of Lie symmetry analysis, we compute the Lie point symmetries admitted by the governing equation and use these to construct the desired solution as an invariant solution.

A biomimic thermal fabric with high moisture permeability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Jie

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Moisture comfort is an essential factor for functional property of thermal cloth, especially for thick thermal cloth, since thick cloth may hinder effective moisture permeation, and high moisture concentration in the micro-climate between skin and fabric would cause cold feeling. Here, we report a biomimic thermal fabric with excellent warm retention and moisture management properties. In this fabric, the warp yarn system constructs many tree-shaped channel nets in the thickness direction of the fabric. Experimental result indicates that the special hierarchic configuration of warp yarns endows the biomimic thermal fabric with a better warm retention and water vapor management properties compared with the traditional fabrics.

Non-isothermal Moisture Transport Through Insulation Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peuhkuri, Ruut Hannele; Rode, Carsten; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard

2008-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted in order to draw some conclusions on the magnitude of moisture transport due to temperature gradient on a range of porous light-weight building materials. A special constructed non-isothermal set-up allowed the creation of a temperature gradient of 10K...... and given humidity gradient over the sample. The resulting moisture ux as well as the hygrothermal states around and within the material were monitored. The hypothesis of relative humidity being a driving force for non-isothermal moisture transport already in the hygroscopic range could not be confirmed....... On the contrary, indications exist that the temperature gradient itself is driving the moisture from the warm side towards the cold side. An attempt to identify and quantify the single contributions of the different transport forms involved is also presented. The diferent results gave, however, diverging...

Moisture dependence of positron annihilation rates in molecular substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.J.; Holt, W.H.; Mock, W. Jr.

1982-01-01

Positron annihilation rates have been studied in polymers and graphite-polymer composites as a function of their moisture content. The annihilation rates have been found to increase linearly with increasing moisture content in epoxies and polyamides, whereas no definite trends have been observed in the polymides. These experimental results have been used as the basis for the calculation of moisture content of several polymeric test specimens. For example, the directly measured moisture content of a Kevlar/epoxy specimen (55 v/o fiber) was 45.5 +- 5.0% of saturation value, whereas the moisture content on the basis of the decrease in positron lifetime was calculated to be 46.5 +- 3.5%. Similarly, the directly measured moisture content of a graphite/epoxy composite (55 v/o fiber) was 19.2 +- 0.6% of saturation value as opposed to a calculated value of 16.0 +- 5.0%. (orig.)

A conjugate gradient method for solving the non-LTE line radiation transfer problem

Science.gov (United States)

Paletou, F.; Anterrieu, E.

2009-12-01

This study concerns the fast and accurate solution of the line radiation transfer problem, under non-LTE conditions. We propose and evaluate an alternative iterative scheme to the classical ALI-Jacobi method, and to the more recently proposed Gauss-Seidel and successive over-relaxation (GS/SOR) schemes. Our study is indeed based on applying a preconditioned bi-conjugate gradient method (BiCG-P). Standard tests, in 1D plane parallel geometry and in the frame of the two-level atom model with monochromatic scattering are discussed. Rates of convergence between the previously mentioned iterative schemes are compared, as are their respective timing properties. The smoothing capability of the BiCG-P method is also demonstrated.

Surface Moisture Measurement System Operation and Maintenance Manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritter, G.A.; Pearce, K.L.; Stokes, T.L.

1995-12-01

This operations and maintenance manual addresses deployment, equipment and field hazards, operating instructions, calibration verification, removal, maintenance, and other pertinent information necessary to safely operate and store the Surface Moisture Measurement System (SMMS) and Liquid Observation Well Moisture Measurement System (LOWMMS). These systems were developed primarily in support of Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Safety Programs for moisture measurement in organic and ferrocyanide watch list tanks

Cone penetrometer moisture probe acceptance test report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, G.A.

1996-01-01

This Acceptance Test Report (ATR) documents the results of WHC-SD-WM-ATP-146 (Prototype Cone Penetrometer Moisture Probe Acceptance Test Procedure) and WHC-SD-WM-ATP-145 (Cone Penetrometer Moisture Probe Acceptance Test Procedure). The master copy of WHC-SD-WM-ATP-145 can be found in Appendix A and the master copy of WHC-SD-WM-ATP-146 can be found in Appendix B. Also included with this report is a matrix showing design criteria of the cone penetrometer moisture probe and the verification method used (Appendix C)

Propagation of soil moisture memory to runoff and evapotranspiration

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, R.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2012-10-01

As a key variable of the land-climate system soil moisture is a main driver of runoff and evapotranspiration under certain conditions. Soil moisture furthermore exhibits outstanding memory (persistence) characteristics. Also for runoff many studies report distinct low frequency variations that represent a memory. Using data from over 100 near-natural catchments located across Europe we investigate in this study the connection between soil moisture memory and the respective memory of runoff and evapotranspiration on different time scales. For this purpose we use a simple water balance model in which dependencies of runoff (normalized by precipitation) and evapotranspiration (normalized by radiation) on soil moisture are fitted using runoff observations. The model therefore allows to compute memory of soil moisture, runoff and evapotranspiration on catchment scale. We find considerable memory in soil moisture and runoff in many parts of the continent, and evapotranspiration also displays some memory on a monthly time scale in some catchments. We show that the memory of runoff and evapotranspiration jointly depend on soil moisture memory and on the strength of the coupling of runoff and evapotranspiration to soil moisture. Furthermore we find that the coupling strengths of runoff and evapotranspiration to soil moisture depend on the shape of the fitted dependencies and on the variance of the meteorological forcing. To better interpret the magnitude of the respective memories across Europe we finally provide a new perspective on hydrological memory by relating it to the mean duration required to recover from anomalies exceeding a certain threshold.

Microwave radiometric measurements of soil moisture in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Macelloni

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Within the framework of the MAP and RAPHAEL projects, airborne experimental campaigns were carried out by the IFAC group in 1999 and 2000, using a multifrequency microwave radiometer at L, C and X bands (1.4, 6.8 and 10 GHz. The aim of the experiments was to collect soil moisture and vegetation biomass information on agricultural areas to give reliable inputs to the hydrological models. It is well known that microwave emission from soil, mainly at L-band (1.4 GHz, is very well correlated to its moisture content. Two experimental areas in Italy were selected for this project: one was the Toce Valley, Domodossola, in 1999, and the other, the agricultural area of Cerbaia, close to Florence, where flights were performed in 2000. Measurements were carried out on bare soils, corn and wheat fields in different growth stages and on meadows. Ground data of soil moisture (SMC were collected by other research teams involved in the experiments. From the analysis of the data sets, it has been confirmed that L-band is well related to the SMC of a rather deep soil layer, whereas C-band is sensitive to the surface SMC and is more affected by the presence of surface roughness and vegetation, especially at high incidence angles. An algorithm for the retrieval of soil moisture, based on the sensitivity to moisture of the brightness temperature at C-band, has been tested using the collected data set. The results of the algorithm, which is able to correct for the effect of vegetation by means of the polarisation index at X-band, have been compared with soil moisture data measured on the ground. Finally, the sensitivity of emission at different frequencies to the soil moisture profile was investigated. Experimental data sets were interpreted by using the Integral Equation Model (IEM and the outputs of the model were used to train an artificial neural network to reproduce the soil moisture content at different depths. Keywords: microwave radiometry, soil moisture

The SMAP Level 4 Surface and Root-zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) Product

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf; Crow, Wade; Koster, Randal; Kimball, John

2010-01-01

that are informed by and consistent with SMAP observations. Such estimates are obtained by merging SMAP observations with estimates from a land surface model in a soil moisture data assimilation system. The land surface model component of the assimilation system is driven with observations-based surface meteorological forcing data, including precipitation, which is the most important driver for soil moisture. The model also encapsulates knowledge of key land surface processes, including the vertical transfer of soil moisture between the surface and root zone reservoirs. Finally, the model interpolates and extrapolates SMAP observations in time and in space. The L4_SM product thus provides a comprehensive and consistent picture of land surface hydrological conditions based on SMAP observations and complementary information from a variety of sources. The assimilation algorithm considers the respective uncertainties of each component and yields a product that is superior to satellite or model data alone. Error estimates for the L4_SM product are generated as a by-product of the data assimilation system.

Automated Quality Control of in Situ Soil Moisture from the North American Soil Moisture Database Using NLDAS-2 Products

Science.gov (United States)

Ek, M. B.; Xia, Y.; Ford, T.; Wu, Y.; Quiring, S. M.

2015-12-01

The North American Soil Moisture Database (NASMD) was initiated in 2011 to provide support for developing climate forecasting tools, calibrating land surface models and validating satellite-derived soil moisture algorithms. The NASMD has collected data from over 30 soil moisture observation networks providing millions of in situ soil moisture observations in all 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico. It is recognized that the quality of measured soil moisture in NASMD is highly variable due to the diversity of climatological conditions, land cover, soil texture, and topographies of the stations and differences in measurement devices (e.g., sensors) and installation. It is also recognized that error, inaccuracy and imprecision in the data set can have significant impacts on practical operations and scientific studies. Therefore, developing an appropriate quality control procedure is essential to ensure the data is of the best quality. In this study, an automated quality control approach is developed using the North American Land Data Assimilation System phase 2 (NLDAS-2) Noah soil porosity, soil temperature, and fraction of liquid and total soil moisture to flag erroneous and/or spurious measurements. Overall results show that this approach is able to flag unreasonable values when the soil is partially frozen. A validation example using NLDAS-2 multiple model soil moisture products at the 20 cm soil layer showed that the quality control procedure had a significant positive impact in Alabama, North Carolina, and West Texas. It had a greater impact in colder regions, particularly during spring and autumn. Over 433 NASMD stations have been quality controlled using the methodology proposed in this study, and the algorithm will be implemented to control data quality from the other ~1,200 NASMD stations in the near future.

Moisture damage and asthma: a birth cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Karvonen, Anne M; Hyvärinen, Anne; Korppi, Matti; Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Ulla; Renz, Harald; Pfefferle, Petra I; Remes, Sami; Genuneit, Jon; Pekkanen, Juha

2015-03-01

Excess moisture and visible mold are associated with increased risk of asthma. Only a few studies have performed detailed home visits to characterize the extent and location of moisture damage and mold growth. Structured home inspections were performed in a birth cohort study when the children were 5 months old (on average). Children (N = 398) were followed up to the age of 6 years. Specific immunoglobulin E concentrations were determined at 6 years. Moisture damage and mold at an early age in the child's main living areas (but not in bathrooms or other interior spaces) were associated with the risk of developing physician-diagnosed asthma ever, persistent asthma, and respiratory symptoms during the first 6 years. Associations with asthma ever were strongest for moisture damage with visible mold in the child's bedroom (adjusted odds ratio: 4.82 [95% confidence interval: 1.29-18.02]) and in the living room (adjusted odds ratio: 7.51 [95% confidence interval: 1.49-37.83]). Associations with asthma ever were stronger in the earlier part of the follow-up and among atopic children. No consistent associations were found between moisture damage with or without visible mold and atopic sensitization. Moisture damage and mold in early infancy in the child's main living areas were associated with asthma development. Atopic children may be more susceptible to the effects of moisture damage and mold. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Engineering heat transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Welty, J.R.

1974-01-01

The basic concepts of heat transfer are covered with special emphasis on up-to-date techniques for formulating and solving problems in the field. The discussion progresses logically from phenomenology to problem solving, and treats numerical, integral, and graphical methods as well as traditional analytical ones. The book is unique in its thorough coverage of the fundamentals of numerical analysis appropriate to solving heat transfer problems. This coverage includes several complete and readable examples of numerical solutions, with discussions and interpretations of results. The book also contains an appendix that provides students with physical data for often-encountered materials. An index is included. (U.S.)

A combined ANN-GA and experimental based technique for the estimation of the unknown heat flux for a conjugate heat transfer problem

Science.gov (United States)

M K, Harsha Kumar; P S, Vishweshwara; N, Gnanasekaran; C, Balaji

2018-05-01

The major objectives in the design of thermal systems are obtaining the information about thermophysical, transport and boundary properties. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the unknown heat flux at the surface of a solid body. A constant area mild steel fin is considered and the base is subjected to constant heat flux. During heating, natural convection heat transfer occurs from the fin to ambient. The direct solution, which is the forward problem, is developed as a conjugate heat transfer problem from the fin and the steady state temperature distribution is recorded for any assumed heat flux. In order to model the natural convection heat transfer from the fin, an extended domain is created near the fin geometry and air is specified as a fluid medium and Navier Stokes equation is solved by incorporating the Boussinesq approximation. The computational time involved in executing the forward model is then reduced by developing a neural network (NN) between heat flux values and temperatures based on back propagation algorithm. The conjugate heat transfer NN model is now coupled with Genetic algorithm (GA) for the solution of the inverse problem. Initially, GA is applied to the pure surrogate data, the results are then used as input to the Levenberg- Marquardt method and such hybridization is proven to result in accurate estimation of the unknown heat flux. The hybrid method is then applied for the experimental temperature to estimate the unknown heat flux. A satisfactory agreement between the estimated and actual heat flux is achieved by incorporating the hybrid method.

Moisture-induced caking of beverage powders.

Science.gov (United States)

Chávez Montes, Edgar; Santamaría, Nadia Ardila; Gumy, Jean-Claude; Marchal, Philippe

2011-11-01

Beverage powders can exhibit caking during storage due to high temperature and moisture conditions, leading to consumer dissatisfaction. Caking problems can be aggravated by the presence of sensitive ingredients. The caking behaviour of cocoa beverage powders, with varying amounts of a carbohydrate sensitive ingredient, as affected by climate conditions was studied in this work. Sorption isotherms of beverage powders were determined at water activities (a(w) ) ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 in a moisture sorption analyser by gravimetry and fitted to the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) or the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) equation. Glass transition temperatures (T(g) ) at several a(w) were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry and fitted to the Gordon-Taylor equation. Deduced T(g) = f(a(w) ) functions helped to identify stability or caking zones. Specific experimental methods, based on the analysis of mechanical properties of powder cakes formed under compression, were used to quantify the degree of caking. Pantry tests complemented this study to put in evidence the visual perception of powder caking with increasing a(w) . The glass transition approach was useful to predict the risks of caking but was limited to products where T(g) can be measured. On the other hand, quantification of the caking degree by analysis of mechanical properties allowed estimation of the extent of degradation for each product. This work demonstrated that increasing amounts of a carbohydrate sensitive ingredient in cocoa beverages negatively affected their storage stability. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Radiation and combined heat transfer in channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamonis, M.

1986-01-01

This book presents numerical methods of calculation of radiative and combined heat transfer in channel flows of radiating as well as nonradiating media. Results obtained in calculations for flow conditions of combustion products from organic fuel products are given and methods used in determining the spectral optical properties of molecular gases are analyzed. The book presents applications of heat transfer in solving problems. Topic covered are as follows: optical properties of molecular gases; transfer equations for combined heat transfer; experimental technique; convective heat transfer in heated gas flows; radiative heat transfer in gaseous media; combined heat transfer; and radiative and combined heat transfer in applied problems

Collective impacts of soil moisture and orography on deep convective thunderstorms

Science.gov (United States)

Imamovic, Adel; Schlemmer, Linda; Schär, Christoph

2017-04-01

Thunderstorm activity in many land regions peaks in summer, when surface heat fluxes and the atmospheric moisture content reach an annual maximum. Studies using satellite and ground-based observations have shown that the timing and vigor of summer thunderstorms are influenced by the presence of triggering mechanisms such as soil-moisture heterogeneity or orography. In the current process-based study we aim to dissect the combined impact of soil-moisture and orography on moist convection by using convection-resolving climate simulations with idealized landsurface and orographic conditions. First we systematically investigate the sensitivity of moist convection in absence of orography to a mesoscale soil-moisture anomaly, i.e. a region with drier or moister soil. Consistent with previous studies, a high sensitivity of total rain to soil-moisture anomalies over flat terrain is found. The total rain in the presence of a dry soil-moisture anomaly increases linearly if the soil-moisture anomaly is dried: an anomaly that is 50 % dryer than the reference case with a homogeneous soil-moisture distribution produces up to 40 % more rain. The amplitude of this negative response to the dry soil-moisture anomaly cannot be reproduced by either drying or moistening the soil in the whole domain, even when using unrealistic soil-moisture values. A moist soil anomaly showed little impact on total rain. The triggering effects of the soil-moisture anomalies can be reproduced by an isolated mountain of 250 m height. In order to test to what extent the impact of the soil-moisture anomaly and the mountain are additive, the soil-moisture perturbation method is applied to soil-moisture over the isolated mountain. A 250 m high mountain with drier (moister) soil than its surrounding is found to enhance (suppress) rain amounts. However, the sensitivity of rain amount to the soil-moisture anomaly decreases with the mountain height: A 500 m high mountain is already sufficient to eliminate the

Moisture Durability Assessment of Selected Well-insulated Wall Assemblies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pallin, Simon B. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Boudreaux, Philip R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Kehrer, Manfred [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hun, Diana E. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Jackson, Roderick K. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Desjarlais, Andre Omer [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-12-01

This report presents the results from studying the hygrothermal performance of two well-insulated wall assemblies, both complying with and exceeding international building codes (IECC 2015 2014, IRC 2015). The hygrothermal performance of walls is affected by a large number of influential parameters (e.g., outdoor and indoor climates, workmanship, material properties). This study was based on a probabilistic risk assessment in which a number of these influential parameters were simulated with their natural variability. The purpose of this approach was to generate simulation results based on laboratory chamber measurements that represent a variety of performances and thus better mimic realistic conditions. In total, laboratory measurements and 6,000 simulations were completed for five different US climate zones. A mold growth indicator (MGI) was used to estimate the risk of mold which potentially can cause moisture durability problems in the selected wall assemblies. Analyzing the possible impact on the indoor climate due to mold was not part of this study. The following conclusions can be reached from analyzing the simulation results. In a hot-humid climate, a higher R-value increases the importance of the airtightness because interior wall materials are at lower temperatures. In a cold climate, indoor humidity levels increase with increased airtightness. Air leakage must be considered in a hygrothermal risk assessment, since air efficiently brings moisture into buildings from either the interior or exterior environment. The sensitivity analysis of this study identifies mitigation strategies. Again, it is important to remark that MGI is an indicator of mold, not an indicator of indoor air quality and that mold is the most conservative indicator for moisture durability issues.

Global characterization of surface soil moisture drydowns

Science.gov (United States)

McColl, Kaighin A.; Wang, Wei; Peng, Bin; Akbar, Ruzbeh; Short Gianotti, Daniel J.; Lu, Hui; Pan, Ming; Entekhabi, Dara

2017-04-01

Loss terms in the land water budget (including drainage, runoff, and evapotranspiration) are encoded in the shape of soil moisture "drydowns": the soil moisture time series directly following a precipitation event, during which the infiltration input is zero. The rate at which drydowns occur—here characterized by the exponential decay time scale τ—is directly related to the shape of the loss function and is a key characteristic of global weather and climate models. In this study, we use 1 year of surface soil moisture observations from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission to characterize τ globally. Consistent with physical reasoning, the observations show that τ is lower in regions with sandier soils, and in regions that are more arid. To our knowledge, these are the first global estimates of τ—based on observations alone—at scales relevant to weather and climate models.

Molecular Sensors for Moisture Detection by Moessbauer Spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renz, F.; Souza, P. A. de; Klingelhoefer, G.; Goodwin, H. A.

2002-01-01

A parameter of importance in various industrial and commercial applications is sensitivity to moisture. A new class of molecular sensors which enable the qualitative and quantitative determination of air moisture (high selectivity and sensitivity) by application of Moessbauer spectroscopy as the probe technique has been investigated. The electronic properties of the iron-containing sensor depend upon the presence of moisture which is taken up by it and this process is accompanied by a change in electronic spin ground state which can be detected by Moessbauer spectroscopy. The sensor is suitable for in-field and industrial application using the recently developed Moessbauer spectrometer MIMOS II. Possible suitability for the detection of moisture in extraterrestrial environments is considered.

On-line determination of moisture in coal and coke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutmore, N.G.; Sowerby, B.D.

1987-01-01

The CSIRO Division of Mineral Engineering is developing various techniques for the on-line determination of moisture in coal and coke, and some instruments are now commercially available. These techniques permit accurate and rapid determination of moisture in materials directly on conveyor belts or in bins. The most promising techniques for direct on-belt measurement of moisture in coal are capacitance and microwave transmission. A non-contacting under-belt capacitance and gamma-ray backscatter technique has determined moisture in coal to better than 0.5 wt% in field tests. CSIRO is developing a fast neutron and gamma-ray transmission technique, which is proving very accurate in laboratory tests. This technique overcomes many of the limitations of thermal neutrons moisture gauges

Initializing numerical weather prediction models with satellite-derived surface soil moisture: Data assimilation experiments with ECMWF's Integrated Forecast System and the TMI soil moisture data set

Science.gov (United States)

Drusch, M.

2007-02-01

Satellite-derived surface soil moisture data sets are readily available and have been used successfully in hydrological applications. In many operational numerical weather prediction systems the initial soil moisture conditions are analyzed from the modeled background and 2 m temperature and relative humidity. This approach has proven its efficiency to improve surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and consequently the forecast on large geographical domains. However, since soil moisture is not always related to screen level variables, model errors and uncertainties in the forcing data can accumulate in root zone soil moisture. Remotely sensed surface soil moisture is directly linked to the model's uppermost soil layer and therefore is a stronger constraint for the soil moisture analysis. For this study, three data assimilation experiments with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have been performed for the 2-month period of June and July 2002: a control run based on the operational soil moisture analysis, an open loop run with freely evolving soil moisture, and an experimental run incorporating TMI (TRMM Microwave Imager) derived soil moisture over the southern United States. In this experimental run the satellite-derived soil moisture product is introduced through a nudging scheme using 6-hourly increments. Apart from the soil moisture analysis, the system setup reflects the operational forecast configuration including the atmospheric 4D-Var analysis. Soil moisture analyzed in the nudging experiment is the most accurate estimate when compared against in situ observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. The corresponding forecast for 2 m temperature and relative humidity is almost as accurate as in the control experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that the soil moisture analysis influences local weather parameters including the planetary boundary layer height and cloud coverage.

Development of the neutron technology for measuring the moisture content in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jingwu; Liu Shengkang; Zhang Zhiping

2011-01-01

According to measuring mode (in-hopper, surface, sampling neutron moisture gauge), the development and application of neutron moisture gauge in china were introduced, which include the following course from only measuring moisture content of soil to monitoring moisture content of farmland and saving water for irrigating farmland, from measuring moisture content of pellet to coke and coal material, from only measuring moisture content to computerized neutron moisture gauges with density compensation and o f high precision. (authors)

Crop yield monitoring in the Sahel using root zone soil moisture anomalies derived from SMOS soil moisture data assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Gibon, François; Pellarin, Thierry; Alhassane, Agali; Traoré, Seydou; Baron, Christian

2017-04-01

West Africa is greatly vulnerable, especially in terms of food sustainability. Mainly based on rainfed agriculture, the high variability of the rainy season strongly impacts the crop production driven by the soil water availability in the soil. To monitor this water availability, classical methods are based on daily precipitation measurements. However, the raingauge network suffers from the poor network density in Africa (1/10000km2). Alternatively, real-time satellite-derived precipitations can be used, but they are known to suffer from large uncertainties which produce significant error on crop yield estimations. The present study proposes to use root soil moisture rather than precipitation to evaluate crop yield variations. First, a local analysis of the spatiotemporal impact of water deficit on millet crop production in Niger was done, from in-situ soil moisture measurements (AMMA-CATCH/OZCAR (French Critical Zone exploration network)) and in-situ millet yield survey. Crop yield measurements were obtained for 10 villages located in the Niamey region from 2005 to 2012. The mean production (over 8 years) is 690 kg/ha, and ranges from 381 to 872 kg/ha during this period. Various statistical relationships based on soil moisture estimates were tested, and the most promising one (R>0.9) linked the 30-cm soil moisture anomalies from mid-August to mid-September (grain filling period) to the crop yield anomalies. Based on this local study, it was proposed to derive regional statistical relationships using 30-cm soil moisture maps over West Africa. The selected approach was to use a simple hydrological model, the Antecedent Precipitation Index (API), forced by real-time satellite-based precipitation (CMORPH, PERSIANN, TRMM3B42). To reduce uncertainties related to the quality of real-time rainfall satellite products, SMOS soil moisture measurements were assimilated into the API model through a Particular Filter algorithm. Then, obtained soil moisture anomalies were

CPAC moisture study: Phase 1 report on the study of optical spectra calibration for moisture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veltkamp, D.

1993-01-01

This report discusses work done to investigate the feasibility of using optical spectroscopic methods, combined with multivariate Partial Least Squares (PLS) calibration modeling, to quantitatively predict the moisture content of the crust material in Hanford's waste tank materials. Experiments were conducted with BY-104 simulant material for the 400--1100 nm (VIS), 1100--2500 (NIR), and 400-4000 cm -1 (IR) optical regions. The test data indicated that the NIR optical region, with a single PLS calibration factor, provided the highest accuracy response (better than 0.5 wt %) over a 0--25 wt % moisture range. Issues relating to the preparation of moisture samples with the BY-104 materials and the potential implementation within hot cell and waste tanks are also discussed. The investigation of potential material interferences, including physical and chemical properties, and the scaled demonstration of fiber optic and camera types of applications with simulated waste tanks are outlined as future work tasks

Moisture related test protocols for HVS testing

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Denneman, E

2008-10-01

Full Text Available outcomes of HVS tests where the moisture condition of the pavement or specific layers in the pavement is under investigation for a specific test. Practical guidance is then provided on the potential systems (how to manage the moisture – hardware) as well...

Microwave moisture meter for in-shell almonds.

Science.gov (United States)

Determining almond kernel moisture content while still in the shell is important for both almond growers and processors. A dielectric method was developed for almond kernel moisture determination from dielectric measurements on in-shell almonds at a single microwave frequency. A sample holder was fi...

Headspace Moisture Mapping and the Information That Can Be Gained about Freeze-Dried Materials and Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Isobel A; Ward, Kevin R

2011-01-01

Regulatory authorities require proof that lyophilization (freeze drying) cycles have been developed logically and demonstrate uniformity. One measure of uniformity can be consistency of residual water content throughout a batch. In primary drying, heat transfer is effected by gaseous convection and conduction as well as the degree of shelf contact and evenness of heat applied; therefore residual water can be affected by container location, degree of container/tray/shelf contact, radiative heating, packing density, product formulation, and the cycle conditions themselves. In this study we have used frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) to create a map of headspace moisture (HSM) for 100% of vials within a number of freeze-dried batches. Karl Fischer (KF)/HSM correlations were investigated in parallel with the moisture mapping studies. A clear, linear relationship was observed between HSM and KF values for vials containing freeze-dried sucrose, implying a relatively straightforward interaction between water and the lyophilized cake for this material. Mannitol demonstrated a more complex correlation, with the interaction of different crystalline forms giving important information on the uniformity of the material produced. It was observed that annealing had a significant impact on the importance of heat transfer by conduction for vials in direct and non-direct contact with the shelf. Moisture mapping of all vials within the freeze dryer enabled further information to be obtained on the relationship of the formulation, process conditions, and equipment geometry on the intra-batch variability in HSM level. The ability of FMS to allow 100% inspection could mean that this method could play an important part in process validation and quality assurance. Lyophilization, also known as freeze drying, is a relatively old technique that has been used in its most basic form for thousands of years (e.g., preservation of fish and meat products). In its more advanced form it is

Coal Moisture Estimation in Power Plant Mills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Palle; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; Pedersen, Tom S.

2009-01-01

Knowledge of moisture content in raw coal feed to a power plant coal mill is of importance for efficient operation of the mill. The moisture is commonly measured approximately once a day using offline chemical analysis methods; however, it would be advantageous for the dynamic operation...... of the plant if an on-line estimate were available. In this paper we such propose an on-line estimator (an extended Kalman filter) that uses only existing measurements. The scheme is tested on actual coal mill data collected during a one-month operating period, and it is found that the daily measured moisture...

Effects of moisture content of food waste on residue separation, larval growth and larval survival in black soldier fly bioconversion.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jack Y K; Chiu, Sam L H; Lo, Irene M C

2017-09-01

In order to foster sustainable management of food waste, innovations in food waste valorization technologies are crucial. Black soldier fly (BSF) bioconversion is an emerging technology that can turn food waste into high-protein fish feed through the use of BSF larvae. The conventional method of BSF bioconversion is to feed BSF larvae with food waste directly without any moisture adjustment. However, it was reported that difficulty has been experienced in the separation of the residue (larval excreta and undigested material) from the insect biomass due to excessive moisture. In addition to the residue separation problem, the moisture content of the food waste may also affect the growth and survival aspects of BSF larvae. This study aims to determine the most suitable moisture content of food waste that can improve residue separation as well as evaluate the effects of the moisture content of food waste on larval growth and survival. In this study, pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste with different moisture content (70%, 75% and 80%) was fed to BSF larvae in a temperature-controlled rotary drum reactor. The results show that the residue can be effectively separated from the insect biomass by sieving using a 2.36mm sieve, for both types of food waste at 70% and 75% moisture content. However, sieving of the residue was not feasible for food waste at 80% moisture content. On the other hand, reduced moisture content of food waste was found to slow down larval growth. Hence, there is a trade-off between the sieving efficiency of the residue and the larval growth rate. Furthermore, the larval survival rate was not affected by the moisture content of food waste. A high larval survival rate of at least 95% was achieved using a temperature-controlled rotary drum reactor for all treatment groups. The study provides valuable insights for the waste management industry on understanding the effects of moisture content when employing BSF bioconversion for food waste recycling

Estimation of Moisture Content in Coal in Coal Mills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Mataji, B.

the moisture content of the coal is proposed based on a simple dynamic energy model of a coal mill, which pulverizes and dries the coal before it is burned in the boiler. An optimal unknown input observer is designed to estimate the moisture content based on an energy balance model. The designed moisture...

Estimation of Moisture Content in Coal in Coal Mills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Mataji, Babak

2006-01-01

the moisture content of the coal is proposed based on a simple dynamic energy model of a coal mill, which pulverizes and dries the coal before it is burned in the boiler. An optimal unknown input observer is designed to estimate the moisture content based on an energy balance model. The designed moisture...

Revealing Invisible Water: Moisture Recycling as an Ecosystem Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Keys, Patrick W; Wang-Erlandsson, Lan; Gordon, Line J

2016-01-01

An ecosystem service is a benefit derived by humanity that can be traced back to an ecological process. Although ecosystem services related to surface water have been thoroughly described, the relationship between atmospheric water and ecosystem services has been mostly neglected, and perhaps misunderstood. Recent advances in land-atmosphere modeling have revealed the importance of terrestrial ecosystems for moisture recycling. In this paper, we analyze the extent to which vegetation sustains the supply of atmospheric moisture and precipitation for downwind beneficiaries, globally. We simulate land-surface evaporation with a global hydrology model and track changes to moisture recycling using an atmospheric moisture budget model, and we define vegetation-regulated moisture recycling as the difference in moisture recycling between current vegetation and a hypothetical desert world. Our results show that nearly a fifth of annual average precipitation falling on land is from vegetation-regulated moisture recycling, but the global variability is large, with many places receiving nearly half their precipitation from this ecosystem service. The largest potential impacts for changes to this ecosystem service are land-use changes across temperate regions in North America and Russia. Likewise, in semi-arid regions reliant on rainfed agricultural production, land-use change that even modestly reduces evaporation and subsequent precipitation, could significantly affect human well-being. We also present a regional case study in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, where we identify the specific moisture recycling ecosystem services associated with the vegetation in Mato Grosso. We find that Mato Grosso vegetation regulates some internal precipitation, with a diffuse region of benefit downwind, primarily to the south and east, including the La Plata River basin and the megacities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. We synthesize our global and regional results into a generalized

A soil moisture-rainfall feedback mechanism. 1. Theory and observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)