Night sky a field guide to the constellations

CERN Document Server

Poppele, Jonathan

2009-01-01

Stargazing is among the most peaceful and inspiring outdoor activities. Night Sky, the award-winning book by Jonathan Poppele, makes it more fun than ever! Take a simple approach to finding 62 constellations by focusing on one constellation at a time, instead of attempting to study dizzying charts. Start with the easy-to-find constellations during each season and work toward the more difficult ones. Better yet, you'll learn how to locate any constellation in relation to the Big Dipper, the North Star and the top of the sky. With two ways to locate each constellation, you'll know where in the sky to look and what to look for! Along the way, you'll be introduced to mythology, facts and tidbits, as well as details about the planets, solar system and more! As an added bonus, the book comes with a red-light flashlight for night reading.

The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.

Science.gov (United States)

Falchi, Fabio; Cinzano, Pierantonio; Duriscoe, Dan; Kyba, Christopher C M; Elvidge, Christopher D; Baugh, Kimberly; Portnov, Boris A; Rybnikova, Nataliya A; Furgoni, Riccardo

2016-06-01

Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution-artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world's land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.

Day/night whole sky imagers for 24-h cloud and sky assessment: history and overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Janet E; Karr, Monette E; Johnson, Richard W; Burden, Art R

2013-03-10

A family of fully automated digital whole sky imagers (WSIs) has been developed at the Marine Physical Laboratory over many years, for a variety of research and military applications. The most advanced of these, the day/night whole sky imagers (D/N WSIs), acquire digital imagery of the full sky down to the horizon under all conditions from full sunlight to starlight. Cloud algorithms process the imagery to automatically detect the locations of cloud for both day and night. The instruments can provide absolute radiance distribution over the full radiance range from starlight through daylight. The WSIs were fielded in 1984, followed by the D/N WSIs in 1992. These many years of experience and development have resulted in very capable instruments and algorithms that remain unique. This article discusses the history of the development of the D/N WSIs, system design, algorithms, and data products. The paper cites many reports with more detailed technical documentation. Further details of calibration, day and night algorithms, and cloud free line-of-sight results will be discussed in future articles.

Night-sky brightness monitoring in Hong Kong: a city-wide light pollution assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pun, Chun Shing Jason; So, Chu Wing

2012-04-01

Results of the first comprehensive light pollution survey in Hong Kong are presented. The night-sky brightness was measured and monitored around the city using a portable light-sensing device called the Sky Quality Meter over a 15-month period beginning in March 2008. A total of 1,957 data sets were taken at 199 distinct locations, including urban and rural sites covering all 18 Administrative Districts of Hong Kong. The survey shows that the environmental light pollution problem in Hong Kong is severe-the urban night skies (sky brightness at 15.0 mag arcsec(- 2)) are on average ~ 100 times brighter than at the darkest rural sites (20.1 mag arcsec(- 2)), indicating that the high lighting densities in the densely populated residential and commercial areas lead to light pollution. In the worst polluted urban location studied, the night-sky at 13.2 mag arcsec(- 2) can be over 500 times brighter than the darkest sites in Hong Kong. The observed night-sky brightness is found to be affected by human factors such as land utilization and population density of the observation sites, together with meteorological and/or environmental factors. Moreover, earlier night skies (at 9:30 p.m. local time) are generally brighter than later time (at 11:30 p.m.), which can be attributed to some public and commercial lightings being turned off later at night. On the other hand, no concrete relationship between the observed sky brightness and air pollutant concentrations could be established with the limited survey sampling. Results from this survey will serve as an important database for the public to assess whether new rules and regulations are necessary to control the use of outdoor lightings in Hong Kong.

Sirius brightest diamond in the night sky

CERN Document Server

Holberg, Jay B

2007-01-01

This book describes why Sirius has been regarded as an important fixture of the night sky since the beginnings of history. It also examines the part that Sirius has played in how we came to achieve our current scientific understanding of stars.

Night time cooling by ventilation or night sky radiation combined with in-room radiant cooling panels including phase change materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bourdakis, Eleftherios; Olesen, Bjarne W.; Grossule, Fabio

Night sky radiative cooling technology using PhotoVoltaic/Thermal panels (PVT) and night time ventilation have been studied both by means of simulations and experiments to evaluate their potential and to validate the created simulation model used to describe it. An experimental setup has been...... depending on the sky clearness. This cooling power was enough to remove the stored heat and regenerate the ceiling panels. The validation simulation model results related to PCM were close to the corresponding results extracted from the experiment, while the results related to the production of cold water...... through the night sky radiative cooling differed significantly. The possibility of night time ventilation was studied through simulations for three different latitudes. It was concluded that for Danish climatic conditions night time ventilation would also be able to regenerate the panels while its...

SED16 autonomous star tracker night sky testing

Science.gov (United States)

Foisneau, Thierry; Piriou, Véronique; Perrimon, Nicolas; Jacob, Philippe; Blarre, Ludovic; Vilaire, Didier

2017-11-01

The SED16 is an autonomous multi-missions star tracker which delivers three axis satellite attitude in an inertial reference frame and the satellite angular velocity with no prior information. The qualification process of this star sensor includes five validation steps using optical star simulator, digitized image simulator and a night sky tests setup. The night sky testing was the final step of the qualification process during which all the functions of the star tracker were used in almost nominal conditions : Autonomous Acquisition of the attitude, Autonomous Tracking of ten stars. These tests were performed in Calern in the premises of the OCA (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur). The test set-up and the test results are described after a brief review of the sensor main characteristics and qualification process.

STARS4ALL Night Sky Brightness Photometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Zamorano

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We present the main features of TESS-W, the first version of a series of inexpensive but reliable photometers that will be used to measure night sky brightness. The bandpass is extended to the red with respect of that of the Sky Quality Meter (SQM. TESS-W connects to a router via WIFI and it sends automatically the brightness values to a data repository using Internet of Things protocols. The device includes an infrared sensor to estimate the cloud coverage. It is designed for fixed stations to monitor the evolution of the sky brightness. The photometer could also be used in local mode connected to a computer or tablet to gather data from a moving vehicle. The photometer is being developed within STARS4ALL project, a collective awareness platform for promoting dark skies in Europe, funded by the EU. We intend to extend the existing professional networks to a citizen-based network of photometers. 

Night sky luminance under clear sky conditions: Theory vs. experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocifaj, Miroslav

2014-01-01

Sky glow is caused by both natural phenomena and factors of anthropogenic origin, and of the latter ground-based light sources are the most important contributors for they emit the spatially linked spectral radiant intensity distribution of artificial light sources, which are further modulated by local atmospheric optics and perceived as the diffuse light of a night sky. In other words, sky glow is closely related to a city's shape and pattern of luminaire distribution, in practical effect an almost arbitrary deployment of random orientation of heterogeneous electrical light sources. Thus the luminance gradation function measured in a suburban zone or near the edges of a city is linked to the City Pattern or vice versa. It is shown that clear sky luminance/radiance data recorded in an urban area can be used to retrieve the bulk luminous/radiant intensity distribution if some a-priori information on atmospheric aerosols is available. For instance, the single scattering albedo of aerosol particles is required under low turbidity conditions, as demonstrated on a targeted experiment in the city of Frýdek-Mistek. One of the main advantages of the retrieval method presented in this paper is that the single scattering approximation is satisfactorily accurate in characterizing the light field near the ground because the dominant contribution to the sky glow has originated from beams propagated along short optical paths. - Highlights: • Urban sky glow is interpreted in terms of city emission function. • Luminance function in a suburban zone is linked to the City Pattern. • Single scattering approximation is applicable in modeling urban sky glow. • Information on aerosols represents valuable inputs to the retrieval procedure. • Sky glow patterns vary with light source distribution and spectral emission

Atmospheric extinction coefficients and night sky brightness at the Xuyi Observation Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Hui-Hua; Liu Xiao-Wei; Zhang Hua-Wei; Xiang Mao-Sheng; Yuan Hai-Bo; Zhao Hai-Bin; Yao Jin-Sheng

2013-01-01

We present measurements of the optical broadband atmospheric extinction coefficients and the night sky brightness at the Xuyi Observation Station of Purple Mountain Observatory. The measurements are based on CCD imaging data taken in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's g, r and i bands with the Xuyi 1.04/1.20 m Schmidt Telescope for the Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center (XSTPS-GAC), the photometric part of the Digital Sky Survey of the Galactic Anti-center (DSS-GAC). The data were collected during more than 140 winter nights from 2009 to 2011. We find that the atmospheric extinction coefficients for the g, r and i bands are 0.69, 0.55 and 0.38 mag/airmass, respectively, based on observations taken on several photometric nights. The night sky brightness determined from images with good quality has median values of 21.7, 20.8 and 20.0 mag arcsec −2 and reaches 22.1, 21.2 and 20.4 mag arcsec −2 under the best observing conditions for the g, r and i bands, respectively. The relatively large extinction coefficients compared with other good astronomical observing sites are mainly due to the relatively low elevation (i.e. 180 m) and high humidity at the station.

Teaching Astronomy Through Art: Under Southern Skies -- Aboriginal and Western Scientific Perspectives of the Australian Night Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Majewski, S. R.; Boles, M. S.; Patterson, R. J.

1999-12-01

We have created an exhibit, Under Southern Skies -- Aboriginal and Western Scientific Perspectives of the Australian Night Sky, which has shown since June, 1999 in newly refurbished exhibit space at the Leander McCormick Observatory. The University of Virginia has a long and continuing tradition of astrometry starting with early parallax work at the McCormick Observatory, extending to our own NSF CAREER Award-funded projects, and including a long-term, ongoing southern parallax program at Mt. Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatories in Australia. Recently, through a gift of Mr. John Kluge, the University of Virginia has obtained one of the most extensive collections of Australian Aboriginal art outside of Australia. The goal of our exhibit is to unite the University's scientific, artistic and cultural connections to Australia through an exhibit focusing on different perspectives of the Australian night sky. We have brought together Australian Aboriginal bark and canvas paintings that feature astronomical themes, e.g., Milky Way, Moon, Magellanic Cloud and Seven Sisters Dreamings, from the Kluge-Ruhe and private collections. These paintings, from the Central Desert and Arnhem Land regions of Australia, are intermingled with modern, large format, color astronomical images of the same scenes. Descriptive panels and a small gallery guide explain the cultural, artistic and scientific aspects of the various thematic groupings based on particular southern hemisphere night sky objects and associated Aboriginal traditions and stories. This unusual combination of art and science not only provides a unique avenue for educating the public about both astronomy and Australian Aboriginal culture, but highlights mankind's ancient and continuing connection to the night sky. We appreciate funding from NSF CAREER Award #AST-9702521, a Cottrell Scholar Award from The Research Corporation, and the Dept. of Astronomy and Ruhe-Kluge Collection at the University of Virginia.

Why Is the Sky Dark at Night?

Science.gov (United States)

Stinner, Arthur

2014-01-01

The puzzle as to just why the sky is dark at night, given that there are so many stars, has been around at least since Newton. This article summarizes six cosmological models that have been used to attempt to give an account of this puzzle including the Copernican universe, the Newton-Halley universe, the nineteenth century "one galaxy"…

Determining Light Pollution of the Global Sky: GLOBE at Night

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, S.; Meymaris, K.; Ward, D.; Walker, C.; Russell, R.; Pompea, S.; Salisbury, D.

2006-05-01

GLOBE at Night is an international science event designed to observe and record the visible stars as a means of measuring light pollution in a given location. Increased and robust understanding of our environment requires learning opportunities that take place outside of the conventional K-12 classroom and beyond the confines of the school day. This hands-on learning activity extended the traditional classroom and school day last March with a week of nighttime sky observations involving teachers, students and their families. The quality of the night sky for stellar observations is impacted by several factors including human activities. By observing cloud cover and locating specific constellations in the sky, students from around the world learned how the lights in their community contribute to light pollution, exploring the relationship between science, technology and their society. Students learned that light pollution impacts more than just the visibility of stars at night. Lights at night impact both the biology and ecology of many species in our environment. Students were able to participate in this global scientific campaign by submitting their observations through an online database, allowing for authentic worldwide research and analysis by participating scientists. Students and their families learned how latitude and longitude coordinates provide a location system to map and analyze the observation data submitted from around the globe. The collected data is available online for use by students, teachers and scientists worldwide to assess how the quality of the night sky varies around the world. This session will share how students and scientists across the globe can explore and analyze the results of this exciting campaign. GLOBE at Night is a collaborative effort sponsored by The GLOBE Program, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS), Windows to the Universe, and ESRI. The GLOBE Program is

Recent Characterization of the Night-Sky Irradiance in the Visible/Near-Infrared Spectral Band

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Carolynn; Wood, Michael; Bender, Edward; Hart, Steve

2018-01-01

The U.S. Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD has made numerous characterizations of the night sky over the past 45 years. Up until the last four years, the measurement devices were highly detector-limited, which led to low spectral resolution, marginal sensitivity in no-moon conditions, and the need for inferential analysis of the resulting data. In 2014, however, the PhotoResearch Model PR-745 spectro-radiometer established a new state of the art for measurement of the integrated night-sky irradiance over the Visible-to-Near-Infrared (VNIR) spectral band (400-1050nm). This has enabled characterization of no-moon night-sky irradiance with a spectral bandwidth less than 15 nanometers, even when this irradiance is attenuated by heavy clouds or forest canopy. Since 2014, we have conducted a series of night-sky data collections at remote sites across the United States. The resulting data has provided new insights into natural radiance variations, cultural lighting impacts, and the spectrally-varying attenuation caused by cloud cover and forest canopy. Several new metrics have also been developed to provide insight into these newly-found components and temporal variations. The observations, findings and conclusions of the above efforts will be presented, including planned near-term efforts to further characterize the night-sky irradiance in the Visible/Near-Infrared spectral band.

Stability of the nine sky quality meters in the Dutch night sky brightness monitoring network.

Science.gov (United States)

den Outer, Peter; Lolkema, Dorien; Haaima, Marty; van der Hoff, Rene; Spoelstra, Henk; Schmidt, Wim

2015-04-22

In the context of monitoring abundance of artificial light at night, the year-to-year stability of Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) is investigated by analysing intercalibrations derived from two measurement campaigns that were held in 2011 and 2012. An intercalibration comprises a light sensitivity factor and an offset for each SQM. The campaigns were concerned with monitoring measurements, each lasting one month. Nine SQMs, together forming the Night Sky Brightness Monitoring network (MHN) in The Netherlands, were involved in both campaigns. The stability of the intercalibration of these instruments leads to a year-to-year uncertainty (standard deviation) of 5% in the measured median luminance occurring at the MHN monitoring locations. For the 10-percentiles and 90-percentiles, we find 8% and 4%, respectively. This means that, for urban and industrial areas, changes in the sky brightness larger than 5% become detectable. Rural and nature areas require an 8%-9% change of the median luminance to be detectable. The light sensitivety agrees within 8% for the whole group of SQMs.

101 amazing sights of the night sky a guided tour for beginners

CERN Document Server

Moromisato, George

2017-01-01

Is there anything more wondrous and alluring than the night sky? You've seen the stars, and you know about the constellations--but there's so much more to discover! George Moromisato's magnificent full-color guide introduces you to 101 amazing sights, from Saturn's famous rings to the Andromeda Galaxy. Learn what to look for and when and where to find it! This astronomy book is perfect for beginners, so many objects can be seen with the unaided eye or binoculars, while others simply require a small telescope. Book Features: Guide to 101 phenomena and objects of the night sky, ranked by beauty, accessibility and historical importance Information about equipment needed, from binoculars to small telescopes Full-color photographs, including many from NASA Astrophotography tips on taking pictures of the night sky, such as snapping shots with a phone through a telescope Charts to know when to look for solar eclipses, meteor showers and other notable events.

Systematic measurements of the night sky brightness at 26 locations in Eastern Austria

Science.gov (United States)

Posch, Thomas; Binder, Franz; Puschnig, Johannes

2018-05-01

We present an analysis of the zenithal night sky brightness (henceforth: NSB) measurements at 26 locations in Eastern Austria focussing on the years 2015-2016, both during clear and cloudy to overcast nights. All measurements have been performed with 'Sky Quality Meters' (SQMs). For some of the locations, simultaneous aerosol content measurements are available, such that we were able to find a correlation between light pollution and air pollution at those stations. For all locations, we examined the circalunar periodicity of the NSB, seasonal variations as well as long-term trends in the recorded light pollution. The latter task proved difficult, however, due to varying meteorological conditions, potential detector 'aging' and other effects. For several remote locations, a darkening of the overcast night sky by up to 1 magnitude is recorded - indicating a very low level of light pollution -, while for the majority of the examined locations, a brightening of the night sky by up to a factor of 15 occurs due to clouds. We present suitable ways to plot and analyze huge long-term NSB datasets, such as mean-NSB histograms, circalunar, annual ('hourglass') and cumulative ('jellyfish') plots. We show that five of the examined locations reach sufficiently low levels of light pollution - with NSB values down to 21.8 magSQM/arcsec2 - as to allow the establishment of dark sky reserves, even to the point of reaching the 'gold tier' defined by the International Dark Sky Association. Based on the 'hourglass' plots, we find a strong circalunar periodicity of the NSB in small towns and villages ( < 5.000 inhabitants), with amplitudes of up to 5 magnitudes. Using the 'jellyfish' plots, on the other hand, we demonstrate that the examined city skies brighten by up to 3 magnitudes under cloudy conditions, which strongly dominate in those cumulative data representations. Nocturnal gradients of the NSB of 0.0-0.14 magSQM/arcsec2/h are found. The long-term development of the night sky

GLOBE at Night: a Worldwide Citizen-Science Program to Increase Awareness of Light Pollution by Measuring Night Sky Brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.

2011-12-01

The emphasis in the international citizen-science, star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few 100,000 citizen-scientists. What has contributed to its success? Foundational resources are available to facilitate the public's participation in promoting dark skies awareness. The GLOBE at Night website explains clearly the simple-to-participate-in 5 step program and offers background information and interactive games on key concepts. To promote the campaign via popular social media, GLOBE at Night created Facebook and Twitter pages. The program has been expanded to include trainings of the general public, but especially educators in schools, museums and science centers, in unique ways. Education kits for dark skies awareness have been distributed at the training workshops. The kit includes material for a light shielding demonstration, a digital Sky Quality Meter and "Dark Skies Rangers" activities. The activities are on how unshielded light wastes energy, how light pollution affects wildlife and how one can participate in a citizen-science star-hunt like GLOBE at Night. To increase participation in the 2011 campaign, children and adults submitted their sky brightness measurements in real time with smart phones or tablets using the web application at www.globeatnight.org/webapp/. With smart phones and tablets, the location, date and time register automatically. For those without smart mobile devices, user-friendly tools on the GLOBE at Night report page were reconfigured to determine latitude and longitude more easily and accurately. As a proto-type for taking multiple measurements, people in Tucson found it easy to adopt a street and take measurements every mile for the length of the street. The grid of measurements

``Dark Skies are a Universal Resource'' Programs Planned for the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Berglund, K.; Bueter, C.; Crelin, B.; Duriscoe, D.; Moore, C.; Gauthier, A.; Gay, P. L.; Foster, T.; Heatherly, S. A.; Maddalena, R.; Mann, T.; Patten, K.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R.; Schaaf, F.; Simmons, M.; Smith, C.; Smith, M.; Tafreshi, B.

2008-11-01

In an effort to help more people appreciate the ongoing loss of a dark night sky for much of the world's population and to raise public knowledge about diverse impacts of excess artificial lighting on local environments, the International Year of Astronomy's Dark Skies Working Group has established six ``Dark Skies'' programs and six ``Dark Skies'' resources. The Dark Skies programs include GLOBE at Night (with Earth Hour), Astronomy Nights in the [National] Parks, Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Quiet Skies, Good Neighbor Lighting, and a digital photography contest. Resources include the light education toolkit, the ``Let There Be Night'' DVD and planetarium program, the 6-minute video, online interactions like Second Life, podcasts, and traveling exhibits. The programs and resources are summarized here, as they were in a poster for the June 2008 ASP/AAS conference. For more information on these programs and resources, visit http://astronomy2009.us/darkskies/.

Artificial light alters natural regimes of night-time sky brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Thomas W.; Bennie, Jonathan; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

2013-01-01

Artificial light is globally one of the most widely distributed forms of anthropogenic pollution. However, while both the nature and ecological effects of direct artificial lighting are increasingly well documented, those of artificial sky glow have received little attention. We investigated how city lights alter natural regimes of lunar sky brightness using a novel ten month time series of measurements recorded across a gradient of increasing light pollution. In the city, artificial lights increased sky brightness to levels six times above those recorded in rural locations, nine and twenty kilometers away. Artificial lighting masked natural monthly and seasonal regimes of lunar sky brightness in the city, and increased the number and annual regime of full moon equivalent hours available to organisms during the night. The changes have potentially profound ecological consequences.

Educating for the Preservation of Dark Skies

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Sandra Lee; Cianciolo, Frank; Wetzel, Marc; Finkelstein, Keely; Wren, William; Nance, Craig

2015-08-01

The stars at night really are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. Each year 80,000 visitors from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the Observatory to attend one of the three-times-a-week star parties. Many experience, for the first time, the humbling, splendor of a truly dark night sky. Over the last several years, the Observatory has experienced dramatic increases in visitation demonstrating the public’s appetite for science education, in general, and interest in the night sky, in particular. This increasing interest in astronomy is, ironically, occurring at a time when most of humanity’s skies are becoming increasingly light-polluted frustrating this natural interest. Dark skies and knowledgeable education and outreach staff are an important resource in maintaining the public’s interest in astronomy, support for astronomical research, and local tourism.This year Observatory educators were inspired by the observance of the International Year of Light to promote healthy outdoor lighting through its popular Astronomy Day distance learning program. This program reaches tens of thousands of K-12 students in Texas and other states with a message of how they can take action to preserve dark skies. As well, more than a thousand Boy Scouts visiting during the summer months receive a special program, which includes activities focusing on good lighting practices, thereby earning them credits toward an astronomy badge.The Observatory also offers a half-a-dozen K-12 teacher professional development workshops onsite each year, which provide about 90 teachers with dark skies information, best-practice lighting demonstrations, and red flashlights. Multi-year workshops for National Park and State of Texas Parks personnel are offered on dark sky preservation and sky interpretation at McDonald and a Dark Skies fund for retrofitting lights in the surrounding area has been established. The Observatory also uses

The stargazer's guide to the night sky

CERN Document Server

Lisle, Jason, Dr

2012-01-01

Explore the night sky, identify stars, constellations, and even planets. Stargaze with a telescope, binoculars, or even your naked eye. Allow Dr. Jason Lisle, a research scientist with a masters and PhD in astrophysics, to guide you in examining the beauty of God's Creation with 150 full color star-charts. Learn the best ways and optimal times to observe planets and stars with easy to use illustrations. Create or expand the hobby of stargazing; an outdoor, educational hobby to enjoy with friends or family.

Stars Above, Earth Below: Astronomy in the National Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Nordgren, Tyler E.

2011-01-01

The U.S. national parks that protect our enjoyment of the landscape around us by day, also protect our enjoyment of the sky above at night. With the growth of light pollution, the view of the stars and Milky Way overhead has become as rare as the views of glaciers, geysers, and grizzlies that bring millions of visitors to the parks every year. Through the pristine view of a starry sky at night park visitors are primed to learn about our planet, its place in the solar system, and the larger Universe in which we live. The national parks are therefore the largest informal educational setting for reaching millions of people from all over the world who might not otherwise encounter astronomical outreach. The material in this presentation has been field tested in national parks, campgrounds, lodges, and visitor centers over the last four years and is elaborated on in the just released book: "Stars Above, Earth Below: A Guide to Astronomy in the National Parks.” Funding for this project was provided by The Planetary Society.

A daytime measurement of the lunar contribution to the night sky brightness in LSST's ugrizy bands-initial results

Science.gov (United States)

Coughlin, Michael; Stubbs, Christopher; Claver, Chuck

2016-06-01

We report measurements from which we determine the spatial structure of the lunar contribution to night sky brightness, taken at the LSST site on Cerro Pachon in Chile. We use an array of six photodiodes with filters that approximate the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope's u, g, r, i, z, and y bands. We use the sun as a proxy for the moon, and measure sky brightness as a function of zenith angle of the point on sky, zenith angle of the sun, and angular distance between the sun and the point on sky. We make a correction for the difference between the illumination spectrum of the sun and the moon. Since scattered sunlight totally dominates the daytime sky brightness, this technique allows us to cleanly determine the contribution to the (cloudless) night sky from backscattered moonlight, without contamination from other sources of night sky brightness. We estimate our uncertainty in the relative lunar night sky brightness vs. zenith and lunar angle to be between 0.3-0.7 mags depending on the passband. This information is useful in planning the optimal execution of the LSST survey, and perhaps for other astronomical observations as well. Although our primary objective is to map out the angular structure and spectrum of the scattered light from the atmosphere and particulates, we also make an estimate of the expected number of scattered lunar photons per pixel per second in LSST, and find values that are in overall agreement with previous estimates.

Dark-Skies Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2009-05-01

The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's natural heritage. More than one fifth of the world population, two thirds of the United States population and one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a serious and growing issue that impacts astronomical research, the economy, ecology, energy conservation, human health, public safety and our shared ability to see the night sky. For this reason, "Dark Skies” is a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people worldwide involved in a variety of programs that: 1. Teach about dark skies using new technology (e.g., an activity-based planetarium show on DVD, podcasting, social networking on Facebook and MySpace, a Second Life presence) 2. Provide thematic events on light pollution at star parties and observatory open houses (Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy) 3. Organize events in the arts (e.g., a photography contest) 4. Involve citizen-scientists in naked-eye and digital-meter star hunting programs (e.g., GLOBE at Night, "How Many Stars?", the Great World Wide Star Count and the radio frequency interference equivalent: "Quiet Skies") and 5. Raise awareness about the link between light pollution and public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, and astronomy (e.g., The Starlight Initiative, World Night in Defense of Starlight, International Dark Sky Week, International Dark-Sky Communities, Earth Hour, The Great Switch Out, a traveling exhibit, downloadable posters and brochures). The presentation will provide an update, describe how people can become involved and take a look ahead at the program's sustainability. For more information, visit www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Cooling load reduction by means of night sky radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamaruddin Abdullah; Armansyah, H.T.; Dyah, W.; Gunadnya, I.B.P.

2006-01-01

Nocturnal cooling can work under clear sky condition of the humid tropical climate. Such effect had been observed in a cool storage facilities for potatoes and for temporary storage of fresh vegetables installed in highland area of Candi kuning village of Bali. Test results have shown that the rate of heat dissipation to the sky could reduce storage temperature to 15 o C had been achieved when the nocturnal cooling unit was combined with modified cooling tower and 1 kW cooling effect of an auxiliary cooling unit. Under such condition the facility could maintain better quality of stored vegetables, such as broccoli, shallot, and celery as compared to those stored in room without cooling facility. The estimated average cooling rate due to night sky radiation was 47.6 W/m 2 , on September 28, 1999 and 47.2 W/m 2 with the lowest water temperature of 14 o C under ambient temperature of 16 o C

Characterizing the zenithal night sky brightness in large territories: how many samples per square kilometre are needed?

Science.gov (United States)

Bará, Salvador

2018-01-01

A recurring question arises when trying to characterize, by means of measurements or theoretical calculations, the zenithal night sky brightness throughout a large territory: how many samples per square kilometre are needed? The optimum sampling distance should allow reconstructing, with sufficient accuracy, the continuous zenithal brightness map across the whole region, whilst at the same time avoiding unnecessary and redundant oversampling. This paper attempts to provide some tentative answers to this issue, using two complementary tools: the luminance structure function and the Nyquist-Shannon spatial sampling theorem. The analysis of several regions of the world, based on the data from the New world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, suggests that, as a rule of thumb, about one measurement per square kilometre could be sufficient for determining the zenithal night sky brightness of artificial origin at any point in a region to within ±0.1 magV arcsec-2 (in the root-mean-square sense) of its true value in the Johnson-Cousins V band. The exact reconstruction of the zenithal night sky brightness maps from samples taken at the Nyquist rate seems to be considerably more demanding.

SKYMONITOR: A Global Network for Sky Brightness Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Donald R.; Mckenna, D.; Pulvermacher, R.; Everett, M.

2010-01-01

We are implementing a global network to measure sky brightness at dark-sky critical sites with the goal of creating a multi-decade database. The heart of this project is the Night Sky Brightness Monitor (NSBM), an autonomous 2 channel photometer which measures night sky brightness in the visual wavelengths (Mckenna et al, AAS 2009). Sky brightness is measured every minute at two elevation angles typically zenith and 20 degrees to monitor brightness and transparency. The NSBM consists of two parts, a remote unit and a base station with an internet connection. Currently these devices use 2.4 Ghz transceivers with a range of 100 meters. The remote unit is battery powered with daytime recharging using a solar panel. Data received by the base unit is transmitted via email protocol to IDA offices in Tucson where it will be collected, archived and made available to the user community via a web interface. Two other versions of the NSBM are under development: one for radio sensitive areas using an optical fiber link and the second that reads data directly to a laptop for sites without internet access. NSBM units are currently undergoing field testing at two observatories. With support from the National Science Foundation, we will construct and install a total of 10 units at astronomical observatories. With additional funding, we will locate additional units at other sites such as National Parks, dark-sky preserves and other sites where dark sky preservation is crucial. We will present the current comparison with the National Park Service sky monitoring camera. We anticipate that the SKYMONITOR network will be functioning by the end of 2010.

Design and Modelling of Water Chilling Production System by the Combined Effects of Evaporation and Night Sky Radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Y. Taha Al-Zubaydi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The design and mathematical modelling of thermal radiator panel to be used primarily to measure night sky radiation wet coated surface is presented in this paper. The panel consists of an upper dry surface coated aluminium sheet laminated to an ethylene vinyl acetate foam backing block as an insulation. Water is sprayed onto the surface of the panel so that an evaporative cooling effect is gained in addition to the radiation effect; the surface of a panel then is wetted in order to study and measure the night sky radiation from the panel wet surface. In this case, the measuring water is circulated over the upper face of this panel during night time. Initial TRNSYS simulations for the performance of the system are presented and it is planned to use the panel as calibrated instruments for discriminating between the cooling effects of night sky radiation and evaporation.

The influence of night sky background on calibration and analysis in H.E.S.S

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leser, Eva [Potsdam University (Germany); Collaboration: H.E.S.S. Collaboration

2016-07-01

In some regions of the galactic plane, background light by stars (night sky background) poses a severe challenge for the detection of gamma-ray sources. Thorough tests are needed to ensure a good quality of the data analysis, especially in regions with both a strong and inhomogeneous background. Investigation of the influence on calibration and data analysis is started at an early stage in data processing. Different cleaning levels were tested and the event loss rate was evaluated. It is shown that for regions with strong and inhomogeneous night sky background and a powerful source an increased cleaning level is beneficial.

Openness to Experience and Night-Sky Watching Interest as Predictors of Reading for Pleasure: Path Analysis of a Mediation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, William E.

2010-01-01

The relation between reading for pleasure, night-sky watching interest, and openness to experience were examined in a sample of 129 college students. Results of a path analysis examining a mediation model indicated that the influence of night-sky interest on reading for pleasure was not mediated by the broad personality domain openness to…

Modal evaluation of the anthropogenic night sky brightness at arbitrary distances from a light source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bará, Salvador; Ribas, Salvador J; Kocifaj, Miroslav

2015-01-01

The artificial emissions of light contribute to a high extent to the observed brightness of the night sky in many places of the world. Determining the all-sky radiance of anthropogenic origin requires solving the radiative transfer equation for ground-level light sources, generally resorting to a double-scattering approximation in order to account for the observed radiance patterns with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Since the all-sky radiance distribution produced by an elementary light source depends on the distance to the observer in a way that is not immediately obvious, the contributions of sources located at different distances have to be computed on an individual basis, solving for each one the corresponding scattering integrals. In this paper we show that these calculations may be significantly alleviated by using a modal approach, whereby the hemispheric night-sky radiance is expanded in terms of a convenient basis of two-dimensional (2D) orthogonal functions. Since the modal coefficients of this expansion do vary smoothly with the distance to the observer, the all-sky brightness distributions produced by light sources located at arbitrary intermediate distances can be efficiently estimated by interpolation, provided that the coefficients at a discrete set of distances are accurately determined beforehand. (paper)

Can You See the Stars? Citizen-Science Programs to Measure Night Sky Brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2009-05-01

For the IYA2009 Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone Project, partners in dark-sky, astronomy and environmental education are promoting three citizen-scientist programs that measure light pollution at local levels worldwide. These programs take the form of "star hunts", providing people with fun and direct ways to acquire heightened awareness about light pollution through first-hand observations of the night sky. Together the programs are spanning the entire IYA, namely: GLOBE at Night in March, Great World Wide Star Count in October, and How Many Stars during the rest of the year. Citizen-scientists - students, educators, amateur astronomers and the general public - measure the darkness of their local skies and contribute observations online to a world map. Anyone anywhere anytime can look within particular constellations for the faintest stars and match them to one of seven star maps. For more precise measurements, digital sky-brightness meters can be used. Measurements, along with the measurement location, time, and date, are submitted online, and within a few days to weeks a world map showing results is available. These measurements can be compared with data from previous years, as well as with satellite data, population densities, and electrical power-usage maps. Measurements are available online via Google Earth or other tools and as downloadable datasets. Data from multiple locations in one city or region are especially interesting, and can be used as the basis of a class project or science fair experiment, or even to inform the development of public policy. In the last few years these programs successfully conducted campaigns in which more than 35,000 observations were submitted from over 100 countries. The presentation will provide an update, describe how people can become involved and take a look ahead at the program's sustainability. For further information about these and other Dark Skies Awareness programs, please visit www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Dark Skies are a Universal Resource. So are Quiet Skies!

Science.gov (United States)

Maddalena, Ronald J.; Heatherly, S.

2008-05-01

You've just purchased your first telescope. But where to set it up? Certainly not a WalMart parking lot. Too much light pollution! In the same way that man-made light obscures our night sky and blinds ground-based optical telescopes, man-made radio signals blind radio telescopes as well. NRAO developed the Quiet Skies project to increase awareness of radio frequency interference (RFI) and radio astronomy in general by engaging students in local studies of RFI. To do that we created a sensitive detector which measures RFI. We produced 20 of these, and assembled kits containing detectors and supplementary materials for loan to schools. Students conduct experiments to measure the properties of RFI in their area, and input their measurements into a web-based data base. The Quiet Skies project is a perfect complement to the IYA Dark Skies Awareness initiative. We hope to place 500 Quiet Skies detectors into the field through outreach to museums and schools around the world. Should we be successful, we will sustain this global initiative via a continuing loan program. One day we hope to have a publicly generated image of the Earth which shows RFI much as the Earth at Night image illustrates light pollution. The poster will present the components of the project in detail, including our plans for IYA, and various low-cost alternative strategies for introducing RFI and radio astronomy to the public. We will share the results of some of the experiments already being performed by high school students. Development of the Quiet Skies project was funded by a NASA IDEAS grant. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

The New Progress of the Starry Sky Project of China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaohua

2015-08-01

Since the 28th General Assembly of IAU, the SSPC team made new progress:1. Enhanced the function of the SSPC team-- Established the contact with IAU C50, IUCN Dark Skies Advisory Group, AWB and IDA,and undertakes the work of the IDA Beijing Chapter.-- Got supports from China’s National Astronomical Observatories, Beijing Planetarium, and Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.-- Signed cooperation agreements with Lighting Research Center, English Education Group and law Firm; formed the team force.2. Put forward a proposal to national top institutionThe SSPC submitted the first proposal about dark sky protection to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.3. Introduced the Criteria and Guideline of dark sky protectionThe SSPC team translated 8 documents of IDA, and provided a reference basis for Chinese dark sky protection.4. Actively establish dark sky places-- Plan a Dark Sky Reserve around Ali astronomical observatory (5,100m elevation) in Tibet. China’s Xinhua News Agency released the news.-- Combining with Hangcuo Lake, a National Natural Reserve and Scenic in Tibet, to plan and establish the Dark Sky Park.-- Cooperated with Shandong Longgang Tourism Group to construct the Dream Sky Theme Park in the suburbs of Jinan city.In the IYL 2015, the SSPC is getting further development:First, make dark sky protection enter National Ecological Strategy of “Beautiful China”. We call on: “Beautiful China” needs “Beautiful Night Sky” China should care the shared starry sky, and left this resource and heritage for children.Second, hold “Cosmic Light” exhibition in Shanghai Science and Technology Museum on August.Third, continue to establish Dark Sky Reserve, Park and Theme Park. We want to make these places become the bases of dark sky protection, astronomical education and ecological tourism, and develop into new cultural industry.Fourth, actively join international cooperation.Now, “Blue Sky, White Cloud and Starry Sky “have become

Scale Modelling of Nocturnal Cooling in Urban Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Spronken-Smith, R. A.; Oke, T. R.

Scale modelling is used to determine the relative contribution of heat transfer processes to the nocturnal cooling of urban parks and the characteristic temporal and spatial variation of surface temperature. Validation is achieved using a hardware model-to-numerical model-to-field observation chain of comparisons. For the calm case, modelling shows that urban-park differences of sky view factor (s) and thermal admittance () are the relevant properties governing the park cool island (PCI) effect. Reduction in sky view factor by buildings and trees decreases the drain of longwave radiation from the surface to the sky. Thus park areas near the perimeter where there may be a line of buildings or trees, or even sites within a park containing tree clumps or individual trees, generally cool less than open areas. The edge effect applies within distances of about 2.2 to 3.5 times the height of the border obstruction, i.e., to have any part of the park cooling at the maximum rate a square park must be at least twice these dimensions in width. Although the central areas of parks larger than this will experience greater cooling they will accumulate a larger volume of cold air that may make it possible for them to initiate a thermal circulation and extend the influence of the park into the surrounding city. Given real world values of s and it seems likely that radiation and conduction play almost equal roles in nocturnal PCI development. Evaporation is not a significant cooling mechanism in the nocturnal calm case but by day it is probably critical in establishing a PCI by sunset. It is likely that conditions that favour PCI by day (tree shade, soil wetness) retard PCI growth at night. The present work, which only deals with PCI growth, cannot predict which type of park will be coolest at night. Complete specification of nocturnal PCI magnitude requires knowledge of the PCI at sunset, and this depends on daytime energetics.

A Midsummer Night's Science

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

Last year, the first Science Night attracted nearly 1500 people. Dipping into history for the space of one night? This is the idea of Geneva's Museum of the History of Science, which is organizing its second Science Night, on 7 and 8 July, on the history of science. The first such event, held last year, was a considerable success with almost 15 000 visitors. The second Science Night, to be held in the magnificent setting of the Perle du Lac Park in Geneva, promises to be a winner too. By making science retell its own history, this major event is intended to show how every scientific and technical breakthrough is the culmination of a long period of growth that began hundreds of years in the past. Dozens of activities and events are included in this programme of time travel: visitors can study the night sky through telescopes and see what Galileo first observed, and then go to see a play on the life of the Italian scientist. Another play, commissioned specially for the occasion, will honour Geneva botanist De ...

Dark Skies Awareness Programs for the U.S. International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; U. S. IYA Dark Skies Working Group

2009-01-01

The loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource is a growing concern. It impacts not only astronomical research, but also our ecology, health, safety, economics and energy conservation. For this reason, "Dark Skies are a Universal Resource” is one of seven primary themes of the U.S. International Year of Astronomy program in 2009. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people involved in a variety of dark skies-related programs. To reach this goal, activities have been developed that: 1) Teach about dark skies using new technology (e.g., an activity-based planetarium show on DVD, podcasting, social networking, Second Life) 2) Provide thematic events on light pollution at star parties and observatory open houses (Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Astronomy Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy Nights) 3) Organize an event in the arts (e.g., a photography contest) 4) Involve citizen-scientists in unaided-eye and digital-meter star counting programs, as well as RFI monitoring (e.g., GLOBE at Night and Quiet Skies) and 5) Raise awareness about the link between light pollution and public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security (e.g., the Dark Skies Toolkit, Good Neighbor Lighting, Earth Hour, National Dark Skies Week, traveling exhibits and a 6-minute video tutorial). To deliver these programs, strategic networks have been established with astronomy clubs (ASP's Night Sky Network's astronomy clubs and the Astronomical League), science and nature centers (Astronomy from the Ground Up and the Association of Science and Technology), educational programs (Project ASTRO and GLOBE) and the International Dark-sky Association. The poster will describe the "know-how” and the means for people to become community advocates in promoting Dark Skies programs as public events at their home institutions. For more information, visit http://astronomy2009

Dark Skies are a Universal Resource: Programs Planned for the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; US IYA Dark Skies Working Group

2008-05-01

The dark night sky is a natural resource that is being lost by much of the world's population. This loss is a growing, serious issue that impacts not only astronomical research, but also human health, ecology, safety, economics and energy conservation. One of the themes of the US Node targeted for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) is "Dark Skies are a Universal Resource". The goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people involved locally in a variety of dark skies-related events. To reach this goal, activities are being developed that: 1) Teach about dark skies using new technology (e.g., an activity-based planetarium show on DVD, podcasting, social networking) 2) Provide thematic events on light pollution at star parties and observatory open houses (Dark Skies Teaching Sites, Astronomy Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy Nights) 3) Organize events in the arts (e.g., a photography contest) 4) Involve citizen-scientists in unaided-eye and digital-meter star counting programs (e.g., GLOBE at Night, "How Many Stars?” and the Great World Wide Star Count) and 5) Raise awareness about the link between light pollution and public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security (e.g., The Great Switch Out, Earth Hour, National Dark Skies Week, traveling exhibits and a 6-minute video tutorial on lighting issues). To deliver these programs, strategic networks have been established with the ASP's Night Sky Network's astronomy clubs, Astronomy from the Ground Up's science and nature centers and the Project and Family ASTRO programs, as well as the International Dark-Sky Association, GLOBE and the Astronomical League, among others. The poster presentation will outline the activities being developed, the plans for funding, implementation, marketing and the connections to the global cornerstone IYA project, "Dark Skies Awareness".

GASS: THE PARKES GALACTIC ALL-SKY SURVEY. I. SURVEY DESCRIPTION, GOALS, AND INITIAL DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Calabretta, M. R.; Ford, H. Alyson; Newton-McGee, K.

2009-01-01

The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS) is a survey of Galactic atomic hydrogen (H I) emission in the Southern sky covering declinations δ ≤ 1 0 using the Parkes Radio Telescope. The survey covers 2π steradians with an effective angular resolution of ∼16', at a velocity resolution of 1.0 km s -1 , and with an rms brightness temperature noise of 57 mK. GASS is the most sensitive, highest angular resolution survey of Galactic H I emission ever made in the Southern sky. In this paper, we outline the survey goals, describe the observations and data analysis, and present the first-stage data release. The data product is a single cube at full resolution, not corrected for stray radiation. Spectra from the survey and other data products are publicly available online.

The observer's guide to planetary motion explaining the cycles of the night sky

CERN Document Server

Ford, Dominic

2014-01-01

To the naked eye, the most evident defining feature of the planets is their motion across the night sky. It was this motion that allowed ancient civilizations to single them out as different from fixed stars. But how does the geometry of the Solar System give rise to the observed motions of the planets and their moons? Although the motions of the planets may be described as simple elliptical orbits around the Sun, they must be observed from a particular vantage point--the Earth, which spins daily on its axis and circles around the Sun each year, resulting in more complicated patterns. The Observer’s Guide to Planetary Motion provides accurate tables of the best time for observing each planet, together with other notable events in their orbits, helping amateur astronomers plan when and what to observe. Along the way, many questions are answered: Why does Mars take over two years between apparitions (the times when it is visible from Earth) in the night sky, while Uranus and Neptune take almost exactly a yea...

Dark Skies Awareness Programs for the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.

2008-12-01

The loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource is a growing concern. It impacts not only astronomical research, but also our environment in terms of ecology, health, safety, economics and energy conservation. For this reason, "Dark Skies are a Universal Resource" is a cornerstone project for the U.S. International Year of Astronomy (IYA) program in 2009. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people involved in a variety of dark skies-related programs. These programs focus on citizen-scientist sky-brightness monitoring programs, a planetarium show, podcasting, social networking, a digital photography contest, the Good Neighbor Lighting Program, Earth Hour, National Dark Skies Week, a traveling exhibit, a video tutorial, Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Astronomy Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy, and a Quiet Skies program. Many similar programs are available internationally through the "Dark Skies Awareness" Global Cornerstone Project. Working groups for both the national and international dark skies cornerstone projects are being chaired by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). The presenters from NOAO will provide the "know-how" and the means for session participants to become community advocates in promoting Dark Skies programs as public events at their home institutions. Participants will be able to get information on jump-starting their education programs through the use of well-developed instructional materials and kits. For more information, visit http://astronomy2009.us/darkskies/ and http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/.

The "Ocean" and the Night-Sky: Relations Between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and Noctcaelador

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, William E.

2004-01-01

This study explored the relationship between noctcaelador, psychological attachment to the night-sky, and the Five-Factor Model of Personality. University students (N = 108) were administered the Noctcaelador Inventory and Saucier's Big-Five Mini-Markers of Personality. Noctcaelador was significantly positively related to Openness to Experience…

The Case of Curiosity and the Night Sky: Relationship between Noctcaelador and Three Forms of Curiosity

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, William E.; Daughtry, Don

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between noctcaelador (psychological attachment to the night sky) and curiosity. A measure of noctcaelador and three curiosity scales (perceptual curiosity, epistemic curiosity, and curiosity as a feeling of deprivation) were administered to 233 university students. Correlations indicated…

Dark Skies Awareness Programs for the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; US IYA Dark Skies Working Group

2009-05-01

The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's cultural and natural heritage. More than 1/5 of the world population, 2/3 of the United States population and 1/2 of the European Union population have already lost naked-eye visibility of the Milky Way. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a serious and growing issue that impacts astronomical research, the economy, ecology, energy conservation, human health, public safety and our shared ability to see the night sky. For this reason, "Dark Skies” is a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people worldwide involved in a variety of programs that: 1) Teach about dark skies using new technology (e.g., an activity-based planetarium show on DVD, podcasting, social networking on Facebook and MySpace, a Second Life presence) 2) Provide thematic events on light pollution at star parties and observatory open houses (Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy) 3) Organize events in the arts (e.g., a photography contest) 4) Involve citizen-scientists in naked-eye and digital-meter star hunting programs (e.g., GLOBE at Night, "How Many Stars?", the Great World Wide Star Count and the radio frequency interference equivalent: "Quiet Skies") and 5) Raise awareness about the link between light pollution and public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, and astronomy (e.g., The Starlight Initiative, World Night in Defense of Starlight, International Dark Sky Week, International Dark-Sky Communities, Earth Hour, The Great Switch Out, a traveling exhibit, downloadable posters and brochures). The poster will provide an update, describe how people can continue to participate, and take a look ahead at the program's sustainability. For more information, visit www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Dark Skies as a Universal Resource: Citizen Scientists Measuring Sky Brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Isbell, D.; Pompea, S. M.

2007-12-01

The international star-hunting event known as GLOBE at Night returned March 8-21, 2007 in two flavors: the classic GLOBE at Night activity incorporating unaided-eye observations which debuted last year, and a new effort to obtain precise measurements of urban dark skies using digital sky-brightness meters. Both flavors of the program were designed to aid in heightening the awareness about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments, and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much of the world's population. To make possible the digital GLOBE at Night program, NSF funded 135 low-cost, digital sky-quality meter (manufactured by Unihedron). With these, citizen-scientists took direct measurements of the integrated sky brightness across a wide swath of night sky. Along with related materials developed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the meters were distributed to citizen-scientists in 21 U.S. states plus Washington DC, and in 5 other countries, including Chile, where NOAO has a major observatory. The citizen- scientists were selected from teachers, their students, astronomers at mountain-top observatories, International Dark-Sky Association members and staff from 19 small science centers. Most sites had a coordinator, who instructed local educators in the proper use of the meters and develop a plan to share them as widely as possible during the 2-week window. The local teams pooled their data for regional analysis and in some cases shared the results with their schools and local policymakers. Building upon the worldwide participation sparked by the first GLOBE at Night campaign in March 2006, the observations this year approached 8500 (from 60 countries), 85% higher than the number from last year. The success of GLOBE at Night 2007 is a major step toward the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, when one goal is to make the digital data collection into a worldwide activity. In this presentation, we will outline

Measuring the color and brightness of artificial sky glow from cities using an all-sky imaging system calibrated with astronomical methods in the Johnson-Cousins B and V photometric systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pipkin, Ashley; Duriscoe, Dan M.; Lughinbuhl, Christian

2017-01-01

Artificial light at night, when observed at some distance from a city, results in a dome of sky glow, brightest at the horizon. The spectral power distribution of electric light utilized will determine its color of the light dome and the amount of light will determine its brightness. Recent outdoor lighting technologies have included blue-rich light emitting diode (LED) sources that may increase the relative amount of blue to green light in sky glow compared to typical high pressure sodium (HPS) sources with warmer spectra. Measuring and monitoring this effect is important to the preservation of night sky visual quality as seen from undeveloped areas outside the city, such as parks or other protected areas, since the dark-adapted human eye is more sensitive to blue and green. We present a method using a wide field CCD camera which images the entire sky in both Johnson V and B photometric bands. Standard stars within the images are used for calibration. The resulting all-sky brightness maps, and a derived B-V color index map, provide a means to assess and track the impact of specific outdoor lighting practices. We also present example data from several cities, including Las Vegas, Nevada, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Session 21.6: Preserving Dark Skies and Protecting Against Light Pollution in a World Heritage Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Malcolm G.

2016-10-01

This session opened with a crucial explanation by Michel Cotte of how astronomers first need to understand how to apply UNESCO World Heritage Criteria if they want to motivate their government(s) to make the case to UNESCO for World Heritage recognition. UNESCO World Heritage cannot be obtained just to protect dark skies. Much more detail of this and the other presentations in this session, along with many images, can be found at the session website: http://www.noao.edu/education/IAUGA2015FM21. The next speaker, John Hearnshaw, described the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve and the work it carries out . This was followed by a wide-ranging summary (by Dan Duriscoe and Nate Ament) of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) Night Skies Program. The abstract of Cipriano's Marin's paper, ``Developing Starlight connections with UNESCO sites through the Biosphere Smart" was shown in his absence. The final presentation (by Arkadiusz Berlicki, S. Kolomanksi and T. Mrozek) discussed the bi-national Izera Dark Sky Park.

Instrumentation for comparing night sky quality and atmospheric conditions of CTA site candidates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fruck, C.; Schweizer, T.; Häfner, D.; Lorentz, E.; Teshima, M.; Gaug, M.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Costantini, H.; Mandát, D.; Pech, M.; Bulik, T.; Cieslar, M.; Dominik, M.; Ebr, J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Pareschi, G.; Puerto-Giménez, I.

2015-01-01

Many atmospheric and climatic criteria have to be taken into account for the selection of a suitable site for the next generation of imaging air-shower Cherenkov telescopes, the ''Cherenkov Telescope Array'' CTA. Such data are not available with sufficient precision, thus a comparison of the proposed sites and final decision based on a comprehensive characterization is impossible. Identical cross-calibrated instruments have been developed which allow for precise comparison between sites, the cross-validation of existing data, and the ground-validation of satellite data. The site characterization work package of the CTA consortium opted to construct and deploy 9 copies of an autonomous multi-purpose weather sensor, incorporating an infrared cloud sensor, a newly developed sensor for measuring the light of the night sky, and an All-Sky-Camera, the whole referred to as Autonomous Tool for Measuring Observatory Site COnditions PrEcisely (ATMOSCOPE). We present here the hardware that was combined into the ATMOSCOPE and characterize its performance

ESO unveils an amazing, interactive, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire night sky

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

The first of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project - a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO's observing sites in Chile - has just been released online. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world. This 360-degree panoramic image, covering the entire celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet. This gorgeous starscape serves as the first of three extremely high-resolution images featured in the GigaGalaxy Zoom project, launched by ESO within the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). GigaGalaxy Zoom features a web tool that allows users to take a breathtaking dive into our Milky Way. With this tool users can learn more about many different and exciting objects in the image, such as multicoloured nebulae and exploding stars, just by clicking on them. In this way, the project seeks to link the sky we can all see with the deep, "hidden" cosmos that astronomers study on a daily basis. The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at ESO's sites in Chile, which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world. The plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, which we see edge-on from our perspective on Earth, cuts a luminous swath across the image. The projection used in GigaGalaxy Zoom place the viewer in front of our Galaxy with the Galactic Plane running horizontally through the image - almost as if we were looking at the Milky Way from the outside. From this vantage point, the general components of our spiral galaxy come clearly into view, including its disc, marbled with both dark and glowing nebulae, which harbours bright, young stars, as well as the Galaxy's central bulge and its satellite galaxies. The painstaking production of this image came about as a collaboration between ESO, the renowned

New features to the night sky radiance model illumina: Hyperspectral support, improved obstacles and cloud reflection

Science.gov (United States)

Aubé, M.; Simoneau, A.

2018-05-01

Illumina is one of the most physically detailed artificial night sky brightness model to date. It has been in continuous development since 2005 [1]. In 2016-17, many improvements were made to the Illumina code including an overhead cloud scheme, an improved blocking scheme for subgrid obstacles (trees and buildings), and most importantly, a full hyperspectral modeling approach. Code optimization resulted in significant reduction in execution time enabling users to run the model on standard personal computers for some applications. After describing the new schemes introduced in the model, we give some examples of applications for a peri-urban and a rural site both located inside the International Dark Sky reserve of Mont-Mégantic (QC, Canada).

Imaging and mapping the impact of clouds on skyglow with all-sky photometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Jechow, Andreas; Kolláth, Zoltán; Ribas, Salvador J; Spoelstra, Henk; Hölker, Franz; Kyba, Christopher C M

2017-07-27

Artificial skyglow is constantly growing on a global scale, with potential ecological consequences ranging up to affecting biodiversity. To understand these consequences, worldwide mapping of skyglow for all weather conditions is urgently required. In particular, the amplification of skyglow by clouds needs to be studied, as clouds can extend the reach of skyglow into remote areas not affected by light pollution on clear nights. Here we use commercial digital single lens reflex cameras with fisheye lenses for all-sky photometry. We track the reach of skyglow from a peri-urban into a remote area on a clear and a partly cloudy night by performing transects from the Spanish town of Balaguer towards Montsec Astronomical Park. From one single all-sky image, we extract zenith luminance, horizontal and scalar illuminance. While zenith luminance reaches near-natural levels at 5 km distance from the town on the clear night, similar levels are only reached at 27 km on the partly cloudy night. Our results show the dramatic increase of the reach of skyglow even for moderate cloud coverage at this site. The powerful and easy-to-use method promises to be widely applicable for studies of ecological light pollution on a global scale also by non-specialists in photometry.

The starlight night the sky in the writings of Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Hopkins

CERN Document Server

Levy, David H

2016-01-01

In this updated second edition renowned amateur comet-searcher David H. Levy expands on his work about the intricate relationship between the night sky and the works of English Literature. This revised and expanded text includes new sections on Alfred Lord Tennyson and Gerald Manley Hopkins (both amateur astronomers), extending the time period analyzed in the first edition from early modern literature to encompass the Victorian age. Although the sky enters into much of literature through the ages, British authors offer an especially fertile connection to the heavens, and Levy links the works of seminal authors from Shakespeare on to specific celestial events and scientific advances.  From the impact of comets and supernovae to eclipses, Levy’s ultimate goal in this book is to inspire his readers to do the same thing as their ancestors did so long ago—look up and appreciate the stars. His insights in this revised book spread farther and wider than ever before in this learned and enchanting tour of the ski...

FACT. Influence of night sky background photons and crosstalk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buss, Jens; Temme, Fabian [Experimentelle Physik 5b, TU Dortmund (Germany); Mueller, Sebastian [IPP, ETH Zuerich (Switzerland); Collaboration: FACT-Collaboration

2016-07-01

During the last four years, the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) established silicon-based photo detectors as a valid concept for the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique. These detectors, namely silicon photo multipliers (SiPMs), are more robust to bright light conditions than conventional photo multiplier tubes (PMTs). At the same time, SiPMs feature a high photon detection efficiency. As a consequence, this technology yields observations at bright light conditions where PMTs would be damaged. However, dark counts and night sky background light (NSB), in combination with optical crosstalk and after-pulses contribute to the extracted signal from Cherenkov photons. Therefore, they cause a bias on the photon charge extraction and any subsequent analysis steps. Consequently, it is necessary to understand their impact on the data of FACT. This presentation will show the influence of changing NSB and crosstalk conditions on the performance of FACT. Therefore, the influence on the analysis chain is investigated on basis of data that were taken at different NSB conditions as well as dedicated Monte Carlo simulations.

Dark Sky Education | CTIO

Science.gov (United States)

Calendar Activities NOAO-S EPO Programs CADIAS Astro Chile Hugo E. Schwarz Telescope Dark Sky Education ‹› You are here CTIO Home » Outreach » NOAO-S EPO Programs » Dark Sky Education Dark Sky Education Dark Sky Education (in progress) Is an EPO Program. It runs Globe at Night, an annual program to

Using NASA Earth Observations to Assist the National Park Service in Assessing Snow Cover Distribution and Persistence Changes in the Sky Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Bayat, F.; Barrow, C., III; Gonsoroski, E.; Dutta, S.; Lynn, T.; Harville, K.; Spruce, J.

2017-12-01

Saguaro National Park in southeastern Arizona occupies one of several unique mountain ranges known collectively as the Sky Islands or the Madrean Archipelago. The Sky Islands are biodiversity hotspots and host different ecosystems, ranging from arid deserts to temperate forests. Snowmelt provides a source of water during the dry season for various flora and fauna inhabiting the region. Climate change and its effect on snow cover is of growing concern by resource managers in this location. Currently, the National Park Service (NPS) monitors water presence via stream gauges, but a synoptic record of snow presence does not exist due to the remote and rugged topography of the region. As a result, it is difficult to study how climate change has affected water resources in the Sky Islands and what effect this has on wildlife and vegetation. This project used NASA Earth observations (e.g., Landsat data) and GIS technology to help the NPS in understanding the role of snow cover in the Sky Islands. Historical snow cover maps were compiled using a combination of snow detection indices to provide spatio-temporal information on snow presence and phenology. With a more complete understanding of snow cover trends in the park, the NPS can further analyze snow cover impacts to improve future land management decisions.

The Mythology of the Night Sky An Amateur Astronomer's Guide to the Ancient Greek and Roman Legends

CERN Document Server

Falkner, David E

2011-01-01

Every amateur astronomer can easily recognize most of the constellations, but how many of us know the story behind them? What myths did the Ancient Greeks weave around the mighty hunter Orion that places him so prominently in the sky? Did you know that this mythical being was said to have been killed by Diana, herself a hunter, while he was exhausted by his fight with Scorpius? The constellation of Scorpius, the giant scorpion, is dominated by the red supergiant Antares and hangs in the sky opposite Orion. Yet there is no constellation of Diana to be found! The Mythology of the Night Sky strikes a balance between backyard astronomy and ancient mythology. Organized by seasons, this book describes Ptolemy's 48 constellations with location and description in detail, while also telling the mythological tales in full. Along with the named constellations, this title also incorporates the lore behind the christening of the planets and their satellites. Readers discover the importance of the ancient characters, why...

The Consortium for Dark Sky Studies: A Transdisciplinary Institute for Understanding the Loss of the Night

Science.gov (United States)

Barentine, John; Kieda, David; Goldsmith, Stephen; Foott, Bettymaya; Muir, Janet

2018-01-01

Research into the effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) has grown from a niche speciality into a broad field touching on aspects of life science, physics, astronomy, social science, and more, reflecting the highly interconnected subjects whose common characteristic is the alteration of the natural nighttime environment by anthropogenic light pollution. Until recently, there was no focal point for these diverse efforts to foster connections between researchers and initiate new topics of study in ALAN research. In 2016, the Consortium for Dark Sky Studies (CDSS), the world’s first organization dedicated to the study of the night and the influence of human nighttime activities on the integrity of natural darkness, was founded at the University of Utah. We describe the motivations for establishing the Consortium, its early activities, and initial outcomes of the effort.

Light Pollution Awareness through Globe at Night & IYL2015

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2015-01-01

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) will be coordinating extensive activities to raise awareness of light pollution through running the Cosmic Light theme of the International Year of Light (IYL2015) and by partnering in particular with the popular Globe at Night program.Globe at Night (www.globeatnight.org) is an international campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by having people measure night-sky brightness and submit observations in real-time with smart phone or later with a computer. In 2015, Globe at Night will run for 10-nights each month, an hour after sunset til before the Moon rises. Students can use the data to monitor levels of light pollution around the world, as well as understand light pollution's effects on energy consumption, plants, wildlife, human health and our ability to enjoy a starry night sky.Since its inception in 2006, more than 115,000 measurements from 115 countries have been reported. The last 9 years of data can be explored with Globe at Night's interactive world map or with the 'map app' to view a particular area. A spreadsheet of the data is downloadable from any year. One can compare Globe at Night data with a variety of other databases to see, for example, how light pollution affects the foraging habits of bats.To encourage public participation in Globe at Night during IYL2015, each month will target an area of the world that habitually contributes during that time. Special concerns for how light pollution affects that area and solutions will be featured on the Globe at Night website (www.globeatnight.org), through its Facebook page, in its newsletter or in the 365DaysofAstronomy.org podcasts.Twice during IYL there will be a global Flash Mob event, one on Super Pi Day (March 14, 2015) and a second in mid-September, where the public will be invited to take night-sky brightness measurements en masse. In April, the International Dark-Sky Week hosted by the International Dark-Sky Association will be

An Innovative Collaboration on Dark Skies Education

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Mayer, M.; EPO Students, NOAO

2011-01-01

Dark night skies are being lost all over the globe, and hundreds of millions of dollars of energy are being wasted in the process.. Improper lighting is the main cause of light pollution. Light pollution is a concern on many fronts, affecting safety, energy conservation, cost, human health, and wildlife. It also robs us of the beauty of viewing the night sky. In the U.S. alone, over half of the population cannot see the Milky Way from where they live. To help address this, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory Education and Public Outreach (NOAO EPO) staff created two programs: Dark Skies Rangers and GLOBE at Night. Through the two programs, students learn about the importance of dark skies and experience activities that illustrate proper lighting, light pollution's effects on wildlife and how to measure the darkness of their skies. To disseminate the programs locally in an appropriate yet innovative venue, NOAO partnered with the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning in Tucson, Arizona. Operated by the largest school district in Tucson and the University of Arizona College of Education, the Cooper Center educates thousands of students and educators each year about ecology, science, and the beauty and wonders of the Sonoran Desert. During the first academic year (2009-2010), we achieved our goal of reaching nearly 20 teachers in 40 classrooms of 1000 students. We gave two 3-hour teacher-training sessions and provided nineteen 2.5-hour on-site evening sessions on dark skies activities for the students of the teachers trained. One outcome of the program was the contribution of 1000 "GLOBE at Night 2010” night-sky brightness measurements by Tucson students. Training sessions at similar levels are continuing this year. The partnership, planning, lesson learned, and outcomes of NOAO's collaboration with the environmental center will be presented.

Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone Project for the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Iya Dark Skies Awareness Working Group

2010-12-01

Programs that were part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Dark Skies Awareness (DSA) Cornerstone Project have been successfully implemented around the world to promote social awareness of the effects of light pollution on public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, nightscape aesthetics and especially astronomy. In developing the programs, DSA Cornerstone Project found that to influence cultural change effectively — to make people literally look up and see the light — we must make children a main focus, use approaches that offer involvement on many levels, from cursory to committed, and offer involvement via many venues. We must make the programs and resources as turn-key as possible, especially for educators — and provide ways to visualize the problem with simple, easily grasped demonstrations. The programs spanned a wide range; from new media technology for the younger generation, to an event in the arts, to various types of educational materials, to the promotion of dark skies communities, to national and international events and to global citizen science programs. The DSA Cornerstone Project is continuing most all of these programs beyond IYA2009. The International Dark-Sky Association as well as the Starlight Initiative is endorsing and helping to continue with some of the most successful programs from the DSA. The GLOBE at Night campaign is adding a research component that examines light pollution’s affects on wildlife. Dark Skies Rangers activities are being implemented in Europe through the Galileo Teacher Training Program. The new “One Star at a Time” will engage people to protect the night sky through personal pledges and registration of public stargazing areas or StarParks, like the newest one in Italy. The Starlight Initiative’s World Night in Defence of the Starlight will take place on the Vernal Equinox. DSA will again oversee the Dark Skies portion of Global

Night airglow in RGB mode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikhalev А.V.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available To study dynamics of the upper atmosphere, we consider results of the night sky photometry, using a color CCD camera and taking into account the night airglow and features of its spectral composition. We use night airglow observations for 2010–2015, which have been obtained at the ISTP SB RAS Geophysical Observatory (52° N, 103° E by the camera with KODAK KAI-11002 CCD sensor. We estimate average brightness of the night sky in R, G, B channels of the color camera for eastern Siberia with typical values ranging from ~0.008 to 0.01 erg·cm–2·s–1. Besides, we determine seasonal variations in the night sky luminosities in R, G, B channels of the color camera. In these channels, luminosities decrease in spring, increase in autumn, and have a pronounced summer maximum, which can be explained by scattered light and is associated with the location of the Geophysical Observatory. We consider geophysical phenomena with their optical effects in R, G, B channels of the color camera. For some geophysical phenomena (geomagnetic storms, sudden stratospheric warmings, we demonstrate the possibility of quantitative relationship between enhanced signals in R and G channels and increases in intensities of discrete 557.7 and 630 nm emissions, which are predominant in the airglow spectrum

Implementation of IAU Resolution 2009 B5, "in Defence of the night sky and the right to starlight"

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Richard F.; Walker, Constance Elaine

2015-08-01

IAU Resolution 2009 B5 calls on IAU members to protect the public`s right to an unpolluted night sky as well as the astronomical quality of the sky around major research observatories. The approach of Commission 50 - astronomical site protection - includes working with the lighting industry for appropriate products from rapidly evolving solid state technology, arming astronomers with training and materials for presentation, selective endorsement of key protection issues, cooperation with other IAU commissions for education and outreach with particular current attention to the International Year of Light, and provision of clear quantitative priorities for outdoor lighting standards. In 2012, these priorities were defined as full cut-off shielding, spectral management to minimize output shortward of 500 nm, and zone- and time-appropriate lighting levels. Revisiting the specifics of these priorities will be a topic for current discussion.

Study of the photon flux from the night sky at La Palma and Namibia, in the wavelength region relevant for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preuss, S.; Hermann, G.; Hofmann, W.; Kohnle, A.

2002-01-01

The level of the night-sky background light at La Palma and Namibia was determined, with emphasis on the wavelength region and solid angle coverage relevant for the operation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The dependence of the night-sky background light both on celestial coordinates (alt,az) and on galactic coordinates (b,l) was measured, with an angular resolution of about 1 deg. Average light levels near the zenith are similar in both locations -2.2x10 12 -2.6x10 12 photons sr -1 s -1 m -2 for 300 nm<λ<650 nm. With increasing zenith angle the level of background light increases at La Palma, whereas a constant level is measured in Namibia. Near the center of the Milky Way, background light levels are increased by a factor up to 4 and more. Also the level of light backscattered from the ground has been studied

Interference Control in Preschoolers: Factors Influencing Performance on the Day-Night Task

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Derek E.; Anderson, Maren; Uhl, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Two experiments investigated preschoolers' interference control in variants of the day-night task. The day-night task involves instructing children across 16 trials to say the word "day" when viewing a card depicting a nighttime sky and to say "night" when shown a picture of the daytime sky. The purpose of the experiments was to investigate…

Infrared Sky Imager (IRSI) Instrument Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morris, Victor R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-04-01

The Infrared Sky Imager (IRSI) deployed at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility is a Solmirus Corp. All Sky Infrared Visible Analyzer. The IRSI is an automatic, continuously operating, digital imaging and software system designed to capture hemispheric sky images and provide time series retrievals of fractional sky cover during both the day and night. The instrument provides diurnal, radiometrically calibrated sky imagery in the mid-infrared atmospheric window and imagery in the visible wavelengths for cloud retrievals during daylight hours. The software automatically identifies cloudy and clear regions at user-defined intervals and calculates fractional sky cover, providing a real-time display of sky conditions.

Promoting Dark Skies Awareness Programs Beyond the International Year of Astronomy 2009

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Dark Skies Working Group

2010-01-01

The preservation of dark skies is a growing global concern, yet it is one of the easiest environmental problems people can address on local levels. For this reason, the goal of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone Project is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people worldwide involved in a variety of programs. These programs provide resources on light pollution for new technologies like a presence in Second Life and podcasts, for local thematic events at national parks and observatory open houses, for international thematic events like International Dark Skies Week and Earth Hour, for a program in the arts like an international photo contest, for global citizen-science programs that measure night sky brightness worldwide, and for educational materials like a kit with a light shielding demonstration. These programs have been successfully used around the world during IYA2009 to raise awareness of the effects of light pollution on public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, and astronomy. The poster will provide an update, take a look ahead at the project's sustainability, and describe how people can be involved in the future. Information about the programs is at www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Globe at Night Citizen Science: Reaching for the Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.

2017-12-01

Citizen-science is a rewardingly inclusive way to bring awareness to the public on the disappearance of the starry night sky, its cause and solutions. Globe at Night (GaN) encourages citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of the night sky. During ten-days per month of moonless evenings, children and adults match the appearance of a specific constellation with 7 star maps of progressively fainter stars found at www.globeatnight.org. They then submit their choice of star map in-situ using the "webapp" on a smart device. In eleven years of the program, over 160,000 observations from 180 countries have been contributed to a light pollution map. The GaN (open) database is a source of research projects. For example, students conducted research to understand the lesser long-nosed bats' avoidance of city center at night. With its analytical tools, Fieldscope will be a conduit for comparing GaN to other databases. On-the-fly mapping enables citizen-scientists to see observations immediately. There are 4 ways of taking measurements. The online app for data reporting is in 26 languages. STEM activities for young children and problem-based learning activities for older students were created to experience real-life scenarios: role-playing sea turtles hatching (misdirected by lights on shore) or analyzing an ISS image of Houston to estimate the wasted energy, cost and carbon footprint. In-situ and on-line workshops have been given on using GaN, as well as the activities. Our Facebook page exists to encourage dialogue and bring cutting edge news. To entice interest, we had monthly newsletters and serial podcasts starring the Dark Skies Crusader. GaN has been part of special campaigns like with the National Park Service, the National Geographic BioBlitz and Tucson in 2011. We have built a community of practitioners in various ways worldwide and have metrics on behavioral changes. To maintain the community and create new partnerships, we have teamed with Sci

2014 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2013-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly astronomy maps, viewing tips and highlights, and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to estimate local rise and set times for the Sun, Moon and planets. The 2014 Australasian Sky Guide also provides information on the solar system, updated with the latest findings from space probes. Published annually since 1991, the Sky Guide continues to be a favourite with photographers,

Dark Skies Awareness Programs for the International Year of Astronomy: Involvement, Outcomes and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2010-01-01

The preservation of dark skies is a growing global concern, yet it is one of the easiest environmental problems people can address on local levels. For this reason, the goal of the IYA Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone Project is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people worldwide involved in a variety of programs. These programs provide resources on light pollution for new technologies like a presence in Second Life and podcasts, for local thematic events at national parks and observatory open houses, for international thematic events like International Dark Skies Week and Earth Hour, for a program in the arts like an international photo contest, for global citizen-science programs that measure night sky brightness worldwide, and for educational materials like a kit with a light shielding demonstration. These programs have been successfully used around the world during IYA to raise awareness of the effects of light pollution on public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, and astronomy. The presentation will provide an update, take a look ahead at the project's sustainability, and describe how people can be involved in the future. Information about the programs is at www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Minimizing the Threat of Light Pollution on Observatories through Education: Globe at Night Citizen-Science

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; M, Pompea, Stephen

2018-01-01

Citizen-science is a rewardingly inclusive way to bring awareness to the public on the disappearance of the starry night sky, its cause and solutions. Globe at Night (GaN) encourages citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of the night sky. During ten-days per month of moonless evenings, children and adults match the appearance of a specified constellation with 7 star maps of progressively fainter stars found at www.globeatnight.org. They then submit their choice of star map in-situ with the “webapp” by smart device to add to a light pollution map worldwide. In the eleven years of the program, over 170,000 observations from 180 countries have been contributed to the campaign.The Globe at Night (open) database is a source of research projects, even with other disciplines. For example, students conducted research to understand the lesser long-nosed bats’ avoidance of city center at night. On-the-fly mapping enables citizen-scientists to see contributed observations immediately. The 12 campaigns per year offer 4 ways of taking measurements. The online app for data submission is in 28 languages. STEM activities for young children and problem-based learning activities for older students were created to experience real-life scenarios: role-playing sea turtles hatching (misdirected by lights on shore) or analyzing an ISS image of Houston to estimate the wasted energy, cost and carbon footprint. In-situ and on-line workshops have been given on using GaN in all its capacities, as well as for the activities. Our Facebook page exists to encourage dialogue and bring cutting edge news. To entice interest, we had monthly newsletters and serial podcasts starring the Dark Skies Crusader. GaN has been part of special campaigns like with the National Park Service, the National Geographic BioBlitz and Tucson in 2011. Partnerships also include SciStarter (working with participants), Fieldscope (working with data analysis), and STARS4ALL (working with other light

The Night Sky, The Forgotten Nature: Uncovering the Impact of One Television Programme on Astronomy Communication in Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Nazemi, P.

2017-09-01

In 2001, two brothers known as the Saffarianpour brothers started a television programme on Iranian state television called Aseman-e-shab (The Night Sky). The programme, which explores astronomy and space science, became one of the longest-running television shows in the history of Iranian television and played a major role in the public communication of science and astronomy. It inspired many of the next generation of Iranian scientists and astronomers and played a key role in the advancement of science journalism and science communication in Iranian media. This article outlines a brief history of the show and its producer and describes the role they played in Iranian society.

AURORA on MEGSAT 1: a photon counting observatory for the Earth UV night-sky background and Aurora emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monfardini, A.; Trampus, P.; Stalio, R.; Mahne, N.; Battiston, R.; Menichelli, M.; Mazzinghi, P.

2001-01-01

A low-mass, low-cost photon-counting scientific payload has been developed and launched on a commercial microsatellite in order to study the near-UV night-sky background emission with a telescope nicknamed 'Notte' and the Aurora emission with 'Alba'. AURORA, this is the name of the experiment, will determine, with the 'Notte' channel, the overall night-side photon background in the 300-400 nm spectral range, together with a particular 2 + N 2 line (λ c =337 nm). The 'Alba' channel, on the other hand, will study the Aurora emissions in four different spectral bands (FWHM=8.4-9.6 nm) centered on: 367 nm (continuum evaluation), 391 nm (1 - N + 2 ), 535 nm (continuum evaluation), 560 nm (OI). The instrument has been launched on the 26 September, 2000 from the Baikonur cosmodrome on a modified SS18 Dnepr-1 'Satan' rocket. The satellite orbit is nearly circular (h apogee =648 km, e=0.0022), and the inclination of the orbital plane is 64.56 deg. An overview of the techniques adopted is given in this paper

GLOBE at Night: Raising Public Awareness and Involvement through Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T.

2010-12-01

With half of the world’s population now living in cities, many urban dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies and maybe never will. Light pollution is obscuring people’s long-standing natural heritage to view stars. The GLOBE at Night program (www.globeatnight.org) is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by encouraging everyone everywhere to measure local levels of night sky brightness and contribute observations online to a world map. In the last 5 years, GLOBE at Night has been the most productive public light pollution monitoring campaign, collecting over 52,000 observations in a two-week period annually. This year, during the moonless two weeks in March, the campaign set a record high of over 17,800 measurements from people in 86 countries. Foundational resources are available to facilitate the public’s participation in promoting dark skies awareness. The GLOBE at Night website explains clearly the simple-to-participate-in 5 step program and offers background information and interactive games on key concepts. The program has been expanded to include trainings of the general public, but especially educators in schools, museums and science centers, in unique ways. Education kits for dark skies awareness have been distributed at the training workshops. The kit includes material for a light shielding demonstration, a digital Sky Quality Meter and “Dark Skies Rangers” activities. The activities are on how unshielded light wastes energy, how light pollution affects wildlife and how you can participate in a citizen-science star-hunt like GLOBE at Night. In addition, projects are being developed for what to do with the data once it is taken. The GLOBE at Night data from different years can be compared to look for trends over time or with population density maps. The data can also be used to search for dark sky oases or to monitor lighting ordinance compliance. Most

AURORA on MEGSAT 1 a photon counting observatory for the Earth UV night-sky background and Aurora emission

CERN Document Server

Monfardini, A; Stalio, R; Mahne, N; Battiston, R; Menichelli, M; Mazzinghi, P

2001-01-01

A low-mass, low-cost photon-counting scientific payload has been developed and launched on a commercial microsatellite in order to study the near-UV night-sky background emission with a telescope nicknamed 'Notte' and the Aurora emission with 'Alba'. AURORA, this is the name of the experiment, will determine, with the 'Notte' channel, the overall night-side photon background in the 300-400 nm spectral range, together with a particular 2 sup + N sub 2 line (lambda sub c =337 nm). The 'Alba' channel, on the other hand, will study the Aurora emissions in four different spectral bands (FWHM=8.4-9.6 nm) centered on: 367 nm (continuum evaluation), 391 nm (1 sup - N sup + sub 2), 535 nm (continuum evaluation), 560 nm (OI). The instrument has been launched on the 26 September, 2000 from the Baikonur cosmodrome on a modified SS18 Dnepr-1 'Satan' rocket. The satellite orbit is nearly circular (h sub a sub p sub o sub g sub e sub e =648 km, e=0.0022), and the inclination of the orbital plane is 64.56 deg. An overview of...

Astronomy Meets the Environmental Sciences: Using GLOBE at Night Data

Science.gov (United States)

Barringer, D.; Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T.

2011-09-01

The GLOBE at Night database now contains over 52,000 observations from the five annual two-week campaigns. It can be used as a resource to explore various issues related to light pollution and our environment. Students can compare data over time to look for changes and trends. For example, they can compare the data to population density or with nighttime photography and spectroscopy of lights. The data can be used in a lighting survey, to search for dark sky oases or to monitor ordinance compliance. Students can study effects of light pollution on animals, plants, human health, safety, security, energy consumption, and cost. As an example, we used data from the GLOBE at Night project and telemetry tracking data of lesser long-nosed bats obtained by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to study the effects of light pollution on the flight paths of the bats between their day roosts and night foraging areas around the city of Tucson, AZ. With the visual limiting magnitude data from GLOBE at Night, we ran a compositional analysis with respect to the bats' flight paths to determine whether the bats were selecting for or against flight through regions of particular night sky brightness levels. We found that the bats selected for the regions in which the limiting sky magnitudes fell between the ranges of 2.8-3.0 to 3.6-3.8 and 4.4-4.6 to 5.0-5.2, suggesting that the lesser long-nosed bat can tolerate a fair degree of urbanization. We also compared this result to contour maps created with digital Sky Quality Meter (http://www.unihedron.com) data.

The Citizen-Scientist as Data Collector: GLOBE at Night, Part 2

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Ward, D.; Henderson, S.; Meymaris, K.; Gallagher, S.; Salisbury, D.

2006-12-01

An innovative program to realize light pollution education on two continents via Internet 2-based videoconferencing was begun 4 years ago by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Bilingual science teachers and their students in Arizona and Chile recorded the brightness of the night sky by matching its appearance toward the constellation Orion with one of 6 stellar maps of limiting magnitude. Students from both hemispheres would report their findings via videoconferences. In the last year the program has evolved in collaboration with UCAR and other partners into an international, user-friendly, web-based science event open to anyone in the world, known as GLOBE at Night. GLOBE at Night uses the same design to observe and record the visible stars toward Orion, as a means of measuring light pollution in a given location. The inaugural event occurred over 11 nights last March, when 18,000 citizen- scientists made over 4,500 observations from 96 countries. Analysis of the GLOBE at Night data set found that the brighter skies corresponded to areas with higher population density, and that most observations were taken in a location with some light pollution. The data also tended to confirm that satellite data is reliable in assessing light pollution. This session will describe our program to incorporate more technology into the GLOBE at Night program. Citizen-scientists will use sky quality meters (visible light photometers), calibrated digital photography, and GPS as a means to measure and map more accurately the brightness of the sky at selected urban and rural sites. This extension of the program is designed to aid further in teaching about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource. We will also describe how detailed maps of selected urban areas can be used to assess lighting design, safety considerations and energy usage. Given the widespread interest in the inaugural GLOBE at Night

A night with good vibrations

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

Next week-end, the Geneva Science History Museum invites you to a Science Night under the banner of waves and vibrations. Scientists, artists and storytellers from more than forty institutes and local or regional associations will show that waves and vibrations form an integral part of our environment. You will be able to get in contact with the nature of waves through interactive exhibitions on sound and light and through hands-on demonstrations arranged in the Park of the Perle du Lac. On the CERN stand, you will be able to measure the speed of light with a bar of chocolate, and understand the scattering of waves with plastic ducks. Amazing, no? In addition to the stands, the Night will offer many other activities: reconstructions of experiments, a play, a concert of crystal glasses, an illuminated fountain, a house of spirits. More information Science Night, 6 and 7 July, Park of the Perle du Lac, Geneva

2015 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2014-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide has been providing star gazers with everything they need to know about the southern night sky for the past 25 years. The 2015 guide will celebrate this landmark with highlights from the past as well as monthly astronomy maps, viewing tips and highlights, and details of the year's exciting celestial events.Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to estimate local rise and set times for the Sun, Moon and planets. The 2015 Australasian Sky Guide also provides information on the solar system, updated with the l

2013 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2012-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly star maps, diagrams and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to determine when the Sun, Moon and planets will rise and set throughout the year. Also included is information on the latest astronomical findings from space probes and telescopes around the world. The Sky guide has been published annually by the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, since 1991. It is recommended for photogr

Session 21.2 - Measurement of Light at Night

Science.gov (United States)

Wainscoat, Richard J.

2016-10-01

The introduction of the mercury vapor lamp for general lighting in the 1930s probably marked the beginning of significant light pollution. Lighting levels have increased slowly, year-to-year, with sky brightness levels increasing only slowly on timescales of a year; no measurement protocols or instruments existed to quantify this increase. However, on timescales of 10-20 years, or on generational timescales, the increases in night sky levels, particularly in urban areas, have been dramatic. Younger people speak with their parents or grandparents who remark how beautiful the sky used to be, and how many stars they could see when they when they were younger. Older people can themselves remember how many stars were visible in the sky when they were younger. Whole generations of children now grow up without ever seeing the Milky Way. Society has not had tools to easily measure sky brightness, and monitoring from space has only recently become available. A subtle increase of 10% sky brightness per year, for example, is not noticeable to the human eye on the time scale of a year, and has been tolerated by society. But such an increase compounds to an increase of a factor 2.6 in 10 years, 6.7 in 20 years, and a factor 45 in 40 years, corresponding to a dramatic increase in sky brightness, an almost complete loss in ability to see faint objects in the night sky, and rendering the sky unusable for most forms of astronomy. The most striking examples are the urban observatories found in many major cities that can no longer be used. Session 2 was primarily focused on measurement of light at night, with an emphasis on measurement of light pollution. It comprised of 6 papers that are summarized below. Over the last decade, our ability to measure light pollution has grown tremendously, and the instrumentation needed to produce reliable quantitative measurements has become much more affordable, and now includes consumer grade digital cameras and even smart phones. During this same

Intercomparisons of nine sky brightness detectors.

Science.gov (United States)

den Outer, Peter; Lolkema, Dorien; Haaima, Marty; van der Hoff, Rene; Spoelstra, Henk; Schmidt, Wim

2011-01-01

Nine Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) have been intercompared during a night time measurement campaign held in the Netherlands in April 2011. Since then the nine SQMs have been distributed across The Netherlands and form the Dutch network for monitoring night sky brightness. The goal of the intercomparison was to infer mutual calibration factors and obtain insight into the variability of the SQMs under different meteorological situations. An ensemble average is built from the individual measurements and used as a reference to infer the mutual calibration factors. Data required additional synchronization prior to the calibration determination, because the effect of moving clouds combined with small misalignments emerges as time jitter in the measurements. Initial scatter of the individual instruments lies between ±14%. Individual night time sums range from -16% to +20%. Intercalibration reduces this to 0.5%, and -7% to +9%, respectively. During the campaign the smallest luminance measured was 0.657 ± 0.003 mcd/m(2) on 12 April, and the largest value was 5.94 ± 0.03 mcd/m(2) on 2 April. During both occurrences interfering circumstances like snow cover or moonlight were absent.

Intercomparisons of Nine Sky Brightness Detectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henk Spoelstra

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Nine Sky Quality Meters (SQMs have been intercompared during a night time measurement campaign held in the Netherlands in April 2011. Since then the nine SQMs have been distributed across the Netherlands and form the Dutch network for monitoring night sky brightness. The goal of the intercomparison was to infer mutual calibration factors and obtain insight into the variability of the SQMs under different meteorological situations. An ensemble average is built from the individual measurements and used as a reference to infer the mutual calibration factors. Data required additional synchronization prior to the calibration determination, because the effect of moving clouds combined with small misalignments emerges as time jitter in the measurements. Initial scatter of the individual instruments lies between ±14%. Individual night time sums range from −16% to +20%. Intercalibration reduces this to 0.5%, and −7% to +9%, respectively. During the campaign the smallest luminance measured was 0.657 ± 0.003 mcd/m2 on 12 April, and the largest value was 5.94 ± 0.03 mcd/m2 on 2 April. During both occurrences interfering circumstances like snow cover or moonlight were absent.

Dark Skies Awareness through the GLOBE at Night Citizen-Science Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.

2011-10-01

The emphasis in the international citizen-science, star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few hundred thousand citizen-scientists during the annual 2-week campaign over the past 6 years. Provided is an overview, update and discussion of what steps can be taken to improve programs like GLOBE at Night.

The International Globe at Night Citizen-Science Campaign: Shedding Light on Light Pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.

2013-12-01

For 8 years now, the Globe at Night campaign has invited citizen-scientists worldwide to measure and record the brightness of their night sky by hunting for the faintest stars in a particular constellation. Students for science projects and scientists for research use the data to monitor levels of brightness or 'light pollution' around the world. They also use the Globe at Night data to understand light pollution's effects on energy consumption, plants, wildlife and human health, as well as our ability to enjoy a starry night sky. The dates of the campaign for 2014 have been extended to every month during the year. Ten days each month (when the Moon is not up between 8pm and 10pm) are the recommended times to take measurements for the campaign. However, one can participate at other times and dates, as long as the Moon is not in the night sky and it is more than an hour after sunset or more than an hour before sunrise. New in 2014 will be an Android app that will allow you to input visual measurements anytime the Moon is not up. Also possibly included will be an iPhone app that will take sky brightness measurements. The campaign dates and the 5 easy steps to participating in the campaign are listed at www.globeatnight.org. You do not need to register. Once on the report page, you enter your location, date and time (automatic for a smart device). You find the constellation of the month in the night sky. (Help is on the website.) Then you choose which chart looks most like what you see toward the constellation. Choose the icon for how clear or cloudy it is and hit the submit button and you are done! The fifth step is returning later to the website to compare your observations on the world map to others from around the globe. Included on the Globe at Night website are many helpful resources and tools from finding the constellations used in the campaign, to understanding concepts like light pollution, to games that test your expertise in choosing 'limiting magnitudes

Finding a million-star hotel an astro-tourist’s guide to dark sky places

CERN Document Server

Mizon, Bob

2016-01-01

Finding a Million-Star Hotel explores the modern phenomenon of astro-tourism, the efforts by increasing numbers of people to find nearby and distant locations where they can see the real night sky so often hidden by light pollution. Astronomer Bob Mizon directs readers to dark sky sites in the United Kingdom, the United States, and a few further afield. This is more than just a hotel guide with links for accommodation at or near the locations. There are chapters on choosing telescopes and binoculars, on celestial objects astro-tourists can look for in the night sky, and an investigation into the causes of the skyglow that veils our view of the stars. Most of those who go seeking the stars are not professional astronomers. This book is aimed at those observers with limited knowledge of the night sky who are eager to explore and enjoy it. Even those contemplating setting up astro-themed hotels, campsites, or astronomy events can benefit from reading this book and from the advice included on how to equip such pl...

Dark Skies Ahead? Activities to Raise Awareness during the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Isbell, D.; Pompea, S.

2007-12-01

"Dark Skies as a Universal Resource” is one of 7 themes targeted for the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. The theme's goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much of the world's population. To reach this goal, activities are being developed which highlight dark skies preservation issues 1) through new technology (e.g., programs at planetaria, blogging, podcasting); 2) at events such as star parties and observatory open houses; 3) in arts, entertainment and storytelling (e.g., art competitions, documentaries, lectures, native American traditions); 4) through unaided-eye and digital-meter star count programs involving citizen-scientists; and 5) by relating them to public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security. A centerpiece of the Dark Skies theme is the unaided-eye and digital-meter versions of the GLOBE at Night program. The unaided-eye version directs citizen-scientists on how to observe and record the brightness of the night sky by matching its appearance toward the constellation of Orion with one of 7 stellar maps of different limiting magnitudes. For the "digital” version, low-cost meters are used by citizen-scientists to measure the integrated sky brightness. Data sets and maps of both versions are supplied on-line for further capstone activities. In the presentation, we will outline the activities being developed as well as plans for funding, implementation, marketing and the connections to the global cornerstone IYA project, "Dark Skies Awareness".

Seeing Stars: A GLOBE at Night Campaign Update

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T.; Newhouse, M.

2012-01-01

The emphasis in the international citizen-science, star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few 100,000 citizen-scientists. What has done in the last year to contribute to its success? • To promote the campaign via popular social media, GLOBE at Night created Facebook and Twitter pages. • Videos have been created for 4 out of 8 Dark Skies Rangers activities. • Sky brightness measurements can be submitted in real time with smart phones or tablets using the new Web application at www.globeatnight.org/webapp/. The location, date and time register automatically. • As a proto-type, an adopt-a-street program had people in Tucson take measurements every mile for the length of the street. Grid measurements canvassed the town, allowing for comparisons of light levels over time. • The increase to 2 campaigns in 2011 re-enforces these studies. In 2012, the campaign will be offered 4 times for 10 days a month: January 14-23, February 12-21, March 13-22 and April 11-20. • A new Web application (www.globeatnight.org/mapapp/) allows for mapping GLOBE at Night data points within a specified distance around a city or area of choice. The resulting maps are bookmarkable and shareable. • NOAO and Arizona Game and Fish Department started a project with GLOBE at Night data and bat telemetry to examine a dark skies corridor in Tucson where endangered bats fly. While providing these updates to the GLOBE at Night program, the presentation will highlight the education and outreach value of the program's resources and outcomes, lessons learned, successes and pitfalls in communicating awareness with the public and attracting young people to study science.

SkyProbeBV: dual-color absolute sky transparency monitor to optimize science operations

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, Jean-Charles; Magnier, Eugene; Sabin, Dan; Mahoney, Billy

2008-07-01

Mauna Kea (4200 m elevation, Hawaii) is known for its pristine seeing conditions, but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations: 25% of the nights are not photometric, a cloud coverage mostly due to high-altitude thin cirrus. The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is upgrading its real-time sky transparency monitor in the optical domain (V-band) into a dual-color system by adding a B-band channel and redesigning the entire optical and mechanical assembly. Since 2000, the original single-channel SkyProbe has gathered one exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera with a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (30 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tychos catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). A key advantage of SkyProbe over direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds, is that it allows an accurate absolute measurement, within 5%, of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument. This system has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO), representing today 95% of the telescope time: science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for being re-observed later on (at 1/10th of the original exposure time per pointing in the observed filters) to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. If the absorption is too high, exposures can be repeated, or the observing can be done for a lower ranked science program. The new dual color system (simultaneous B & V bands) will allow a better characterization of the sky properties above Mauna Kea and should enable a better detection of the thinner cirrus (absorption down to 0.02 mag., i.e. 2%). SkyProbe is operated within the Elixir pipeline, a collection of tools

Effect of the position of the visible sky in determining the sky view factor on micrometeorological and human thermal comfort conditions in urban street canyons

Science.gov (United States)

Qaid, Adeb; Lamit, Hasanuddin Bin; Ossen, Dilshan Remaz; Rasidi, Mohd Hisyam

2018-02-01

Poor daytime and night-time micrometeorological conditions are issues that influence the quality of environmental conditions and can undermine a comfortable human lifestyle. The sky view factor (SVF) is one of the essential physical parameters used to assess the micrometeorological conditions and thermal comfort levels within city streets. The position of the visible sky relative to the path of the sun, in the cardinal and ordinal directions, has not been widely discerned as a parameter that could have an impact on the micrometeorological conditions of urban streets. To investigate this parameter, different urban streets that have a similar SVF value but diverse positions of visible sky were proposed in different street directions intersecting with the path of the sun, namely N-S, NE-SW and NW-SE. The effects of daytime and night-time micrometeorological variables and human thermal comfort variables on the street were investigated by applying ENVI-met V3.1 Beta software. The results show that the position of the visible sky has a greater influence on the street's meteorological and human thermal comfort conditions than the SVF value. It has the ability to maximise or minimise the mean radiation temperature (Tmrt, °C) and the physiological equivalent temperature (PET, °C) at street level. However, the visible sky positioned to the zenith in a NE-SW or N-S street direction and to the SW of a NW-SE street direction achieves the best daytime micrometeorological and thermal comfort conditions. Alternatively, the visible sky positioned to the NE for a NW-SE street direction, to the NW and the zenith for a NE-SW street direction and to the zenith for a N-S street direction reduces the night-time air temperature (Ta, °C). Therefore, SVF and the position of the visible sky relative to the sun's trajectory, in the cardinal and ordinal directions, must be considered during urban street planning to better understand the resultant micrometeorological and human thermal

The Inwood Astronomy Project: 100 Nights in Manhattan---An Outreach Initiative to Underserved Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, J. S.

2008-11-01

Observing the night sky in New York City is a challenge. However, there is a popular, and even club-going, interest in science in New York City. On the edges of that interest, most people that live in New York City have never had the opportunity to look through a telescope, particularly in underserved areas such as Northern Manhattan. The presenter discusses plans for frequent observing sessions utilizing the parks in New York City combined with public classes at the New York Public Library. Both observing sessions and classes will be held in the ethnically, racially and economically diverse Bronx and Manhattan neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Marble Hill and Inwood. Integration with area middle, elementary and high schools is also discussed. Particular issues surrounding publicity and the need for showmanship in an image-driven community with numerous entertainment opportunities are also discussed.

Globe at Night: From IYA2009 to the International Year of Light 2015 and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance Elaine; Pompea, Stephen M.; Sparks, Robert T.

2015-08-01

Citizen-science is a rewardingly inclusive way to bring awareness to the public on important issues like the disappearing starry night sky, its cause and solutions. Citizen-science can also provide meaningful, hands-on “science process” experiences for students. One program that does both is Globe at Night (www.globeatnight.org), an international campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by having people measure night-sky brightness and submit observations via a “web app” on any smart device or computer. Additionally, 2 native mobile apps - Loss of the Night for iPhone & Android, and Dark Sky Meter for iPhone - support Globe at Night.Since 2006, more than 125,000 vetted measurements from 115 countries have been reported. For 2015 the campaign is offered as a 10-day observation window each month when the Moon is not up. To facilitate Globe at Night as an international project, the web app and other materials are in many languages. (See www.globeatnight.org/downloads.)Students and the general public can use the data to monitor levels of light pollution around the world, as well as understand light pollution’s effects on energy consumption, plants, wildlife, human health and our ability to enjoy a starry night sky. Projects have compared Globe at Night data with ground-truthing using meters for energy audits as well as with data on birds and bats, population density, satellite data and trends over time. Globe at Night tackles grand challenges and everyday problems. It provides resources for formal and informal educators to engage learners of all ages. It has 9 years of experience in best practices for data management, design, collection, visualization, interpretation, etc. It has externally evaluated its program, workshops, lesson plans and accompanying kit to explore reasons for participation, skills developed, impact of experiences and perceived outcomes. Three recent papers (Birriel et al. 2014; Kyba et al. 2013; 2015) verify the

Engaging the Public in the Citizen Science GLOBE at Night Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Sparks, R. T.; Pompea, S. M.

2011-05-01

The emphasis in the international star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few 100,000 citizen-scientists. What steps can be taken to improve it? To promote the campaign via popular social media, GLOBE at Night created Facebook and Twitter pages. To increase participation in the 2011 campaign, children and adults submitted their sky brightness measurements in real time with smart phones or tablets using the web application at www.globeatnight.org/webapp/. With smart phones and tablets, the location, date and time register automatically. For those without smart mobile devices, user-friendly tools on the GLOBE at Night report page were reconfigured to determine latitude and longitude more easily and accurately. To increase the robustness of the data, 2 new approaches were taken. GLOBE at Night prototyped an "Adopt a Street” program in Tucson. The aim was for people to adopt different major or semi-major streets and take measurements every mile or so for the length of the street. The grid of measurements would canvas the town, allowing for comparisons of light levels over time (hours, days, years) or search for dark sky oases or light polluted areas. The increase to 2 campaigns in 2011 re-enforces these studies. The intent is to offer the program year-round for seasonal studies. The data can also be used to compare with datasets on wildlife, health, and energy consumption. Recently, NOAO and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have started a project with GLOBE at Night data and bat telemetry to examine a dark skies corridor in Tucson where the endangered bats fly. In our presentation, results of our efforts are discussed.

The great canoes in the sky starlore and astronomy of the South Pacific

CERN Document Server

Chadwick, Stephen Robert

2017-01-01

Presenting spectacular photographs of astronomical objects of the southern sky, all taken by author Stephen Chadwick, this book explores what peoples of the South Pacific see when they look up at the heavens and what they have done with this knowledge. From wives killing brothers to emus rising out of the desert and great canoes in the sky, this book offers the perfect blend of science, tradition and mythology to bring to life the most famous sights in the heavens above the southern hemisphere. The authors place this starlore in the context of contemporary understandings of astronomy. The night sky of southern societies is as rich in culture as it is in stars. Stories, myths and legends based on constellations, heavenly bodies and other night sky phenomena have played a fundamental role in shaping the culture of pre-modern civilizations throughout the world. Such starlore continues to influence societies throughout the Pacific to this day, with cultures throughout the region – from Australia and New Zealand...

Travelers In The Night

Science.gov (United States)

Grauer, Albert D.

2014-11-01

Travelers In The Night is an engaging and informative series of two minute radio programs about asteroids, comets, spacecraft, and other objects in space. The pieces are evergreen in that they are current but not dated. They are published on the Public Radio Exchange and carried by a number of radio stations. For teachers, students, and kids of all ages, the script for each piece and the start of a path for further inquiry can be found on the website travelersinthenight.org . The Travelers InThe Night Pieces are written and produced by an observing member of the Catalina Sky Survey Team at the University of Arizona. DPS members are encouraged to submit program ideas which can be developed to feature their research efforts.

Weather and atmosphere observation with the ATOM all-sky camera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jankowsky Felix

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Automatic Telescope for Optical Monitoring (ATOM for H.E.S.S. is an 75 cm optical telescope which operates fully automated. As there is no observer present during observation, an auxiliary all-sky camera serves as weather monitoring system. This device takes an all-sky image of the whole sky every three minutes. The gathered data then undergoes live-analysis by performing astrometric comparison with a theoretical night sky model, interpreting the absence of stars as cloud coverage. The sky monitor also serves as tool for a meteorological analysis of the observation site of the the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array. This overview covers design and benefits of the all-sky camera and additionally gives an introduction into current efforts to integrate the device into the atmosphere analysis programme of H.E.S.S.

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: The Nevada Test Site Development Corporations's Desert Rock Sky Park at the Nevada Test Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

2000-03-01

The United States Department of Energy has prepared an Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-1300) (EA) which analyzes the potential environmental effects of developing operating and maintaining a commercial/industrial park in Area 22 of the Nevada Test Site, between Mercury Camp and U.S. Highway 95 and east of Desert Rock Airport. The EA evaluates the potential impacts of infrastructure improvements necessary to support fill build out of the 512-acre Desert Rock Sky Park. Two alternative actions were evaluated: (1) Develop, operate and maintain a commercial/industrial park in Area 22 of the Nevada Test Site, and (2) taking no action. The purpose and need for the commercial industrial park are addressed in Section 1.0 of the EA. A detailed description of the proposed action and alternatives is in section 2.0. Section 3.0 describes the affected environment. Section 4.0 the environmental consequences of the proposed action and alternative. Cumulative effects are addressed in Section 5.0. Mitigation measures are addressed in Section 6.0. The Department of Energy determined that the proposed action of developing, operating and maintaining a commercial/industrial park in Area 22 of the Nevada Test Site would best meet the needs of the agency.

Building on the International Year of Astronomy: The Dark Skies Awareness Program

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Sparks, R. T.; Pompea, S. M.

2010-08-01

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) offered opportunities to create exemplary educational programs in astronomy, such as those through the cornerstone project, Dark Skies Awareness (DSA). The preservation of dark skies is important for many reasons including astronomy, energy conservation, wildlife conservation, and even human health. Light pollution is a growing concern, yet it is one of the easiest global environmental problems citizen scientists can address on a local level. The Dark Skies workshop imparted the skills necessary for participants to lead activities at their home institution for conserving dark skies. Workshop participants experienced the hands-on activities, which are suitable for use in a variety of settings including museums, science centers, planetariums, schools, university outreach efforts, and astronomy club events. Participants were immersed in activities that illustrate proper lighting, light pollution's effects on wildlife, and how to measure the darkness of your skies. Several citizen science projects were highlighted, including GLOBE at Night, the Great World Wide Star Count, and How Many Stars. These programs enlist the help of students and the general public to collect data on the night sky conditions in their community and contribute to a worldwide database on light pollution. The data can be analyzed using various online tools. A CD of activities, a light shielding demonstration, a book, a two DVD set with a planetarium show, and many other resources are included in a Dark Skies Education Kit, which workshop participants received at the close of the workshop.

A Comprehensive Approach to Dark Skies Research and Education at NOAO

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T.

2013-01-01

NOAO and its Education and Public Outreach group play an important role locally, nationally, and internationally in raising dark skies awareness. For the past 3 years NOAO has co-hosted the international “Earth and Sky” photo contest. In 2012 there were over 600 entries contributed within 3 weeks. NOAO also created a series of audio podcasts based on serial-type skits featuring a caped dark-skies hero who typically “saves the night” by mitigating upward directed lights with shields, thereby saving sea turtles, minimizing health effects, conserving energy, or keeping the public safe. To help understand the effects of light pollution, a citizen-science campaign called GLOBE at Night was started seven years ago. The worldwide campaign involves the public in recording night sky brightness data by matching the view of a constellation like Orion with maps of progressively fainter stars. Every year, NOAO adds more opportunities for participation: more campaigns during the year, Web applications for smart phones, objective measurements with sky brightness meters, and a GLOBE at Night Facebook page. Campaigns will run roughly the first 10 days of January through May in 2013. The EPO group created “Dark Skies Rangers”, a suite of well-tested and evaluated hands-on, minds-on activities that have children building star-brightness “readers,” creating glow-in-the-dark tracings to visualize constellations, and role-playing confused sea turtles. They also created a model city with shielded lights to stop upward light, examine different kinds of bulbs for energy efficiency, and perform an outdoor lighting audit of their school or neighborhood to determine ways to save energy. In the REU program at NOAO North, the undergraduate students have been doing research over the last 3 summers on effect of light pollution on endangered bats and characterizing the behavior of sky brightness over time across Tucson and on nearby astronomical mountaintops. For more information

2012 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2011-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly star maps, diagrams and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to determine when the Sun, Moon and planets will rise and set throughout the year. Also included is information on the latest astronomical findings from space probes and telescopes around the world.

Go-To Telescopes Under Suburban Skies

CERN Document Server

Monks, Neale

2010-01-01

For the last four centuries stargazers have turned their telescopes to the night skies to look at its wonders, but only in this age of computers has it become possible to let the telescope find for you the object you are looking for! So-called “go-to” telescopes are programmed with the locations of thousands of objects, including dazzling distant Suns, stunning neighboring galaxies, globular and open star clusters, the remnants of past supernovae, and many other breathtaking sights. This book does not tell you how to use your Go-to telescope. Your manual will help you do that. It tells you what to look for in the deep sky and why, and what equipment to best see it with. Organized broadly by what is best for viewing in the northern hemisphere in different seasons, Monks further divides the sights of each season into groupings such as “Showpiece Objects,” “Interesting Deep Sky Objects,” and “Obscure and Challenging Deep Sky Objects.” He also tells what objects are visible even in light-polluted ...

Sky Glow from Cities: The Army Illumination Model v2

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

corresponding to one 10th magnitude star per square degree and will not be pursued further here). Benn and Ellison find that the sky brightness at La Palma ...not have electricity, liquid and pressurized lamps are 23 included. For these latter two, liquid Citronella, lamp oil , liquid paraffin and...Properties; AFGL-TR-79-0214; Air Force Geophysics Laboratory: Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, 1979. 19. Benn, C. R. and Ellison, S. L. La Palma Night-Sky

A New Sky Brightness Monitor

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, David L.; McKenna, D.

2006-12-01

A good estimate of sky brightness and its variations throughout the night, the months, and even the years is an essential bit of knowledge both for good observing and especially as a tool in efforts to minimize sky brightness through local action. Hence a stable and accurate monitor can be a valuable and necessary tool. We have developed such a monitor, with the financial help of Vatican Observatory and Walker Management. The device is now undergoing its Beta test in preparation for production. It is simple, accurate, well calibrated, and automatic, sending its data directly to IDA over the internet via E-mail . Approximately 50 such monitors will be ready soon for deployment worldwide including most major observatories. Those interested in having one should enquire of IDA about details.

Fireballs in the Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Day, B. H.; Bland, P.

2016-12-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly app. To date, more than 23,000 people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in planetary science. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000×36Megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million km^2. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

Characterizing Sky Spectra Using SDSS BOSS Data

Science.gov (United States)

Florez, Lina Maria; Strauss, Michael A.

2018-01-01

In the optical/near-infrared spectra gathered by a ground-based telescope observing very faint sources, the strengths of the emission lines due to the Earth’s atmosphere can be many times larger than the fluxes of the sources we are interested in. Thus the limiting factor in faint-object spectroscopy is the degree to which systematics in the sky subtraction can be minimized. Longwards of 6000 Angstroms, the night-sky spectrum is dominated by multiple vibrational/rotational transitions of the OH radical from our upper atmosphere. While the wavelengths of these lines are the same in each sky spectrum, their relative strengths vary considerably as a function of time and position on the sky. The better we can model their strengths, the better we can hope to subtract them off. We expect that the strength of lines from common upper energy levels will be correlated with one another. We used flux-calibrated sky spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS BOSS) to explore these correlations. Our aim is to use these correlations for creating improved sky subtraction algorithms for the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope. When PFS starts gathering data in 2019, it will be the most powerful multi-object spectrograph in the world. Since PFS will be gathering data on sources as faint as 24th magnitude and fainter, it's of upmost importance to be able to accurately measure and subtract sky spectra from the data that we receive.

Effects of the wind profile at night on wind turbine sound

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, GP

2004-01-01

Since the start of the operation of a 30 MW, 17 turbine wind park, residents living 500 in and more from the park have reacted strongly to the noise; residents up to 1900 in distance expressed annoyance. To assess actual sound immission, long term measurements (a total of over 400 night hours in 4

Using All-Sky Imaging to Improve Telescope Scheduling (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, G. M.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) Automated scheduling makes it possible for a small telescope to observe a large number of targets in a single night. But when used in areas which have less-than-perfect sky conditions such automation can lead to large numbers of observations of clouds and haze. This paper describes the development of a "sky-aware" telescope automation system that integrates the data flow from an SBIG AllSky340c camera with an enhanced dispatch scheduler to make optimum use of the available observing conditions for two highly instrumented backyard telescopes. Using the minute-by-minute time series image stream and a self-maintained reference database, the software maintains a file of sky brightness, transparency, stability, and forecasted visibility at several hundred grid positions. The scheduling software uses this information in real time to exclude targets obscured by clouds and select the best observing task, taking into account the requirements and limits of each instrument.

Secrets to Successful Earth and Sky Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Tafreshi, Babak A.

In the absolute silence of a desert night, surrounded by an arena of celestial beauties, a gentle breeze shifts the tiny grains of sand around me. There is a patchy glow of light visible all across the eastern horizon. It is gradually ascending over the sand dunes. The glow represents billions of stars in our home galaxy rising above the horizon of our planet. I have seen such dream-like starry scenes from many locations; from the boundless dark skies of the African Sahara when the summer Milky Way was arching over giant sandstones, to the shimmering beauty of the Grand Canyon under moonlight, and the transparent skies of the Himalayas when the bright stars of winter were rising above where the highest peak on Earth (Mt. Everest) meets the sky. These are forever-engraved moments in my memory. Astrophotography is not only about recording the celestial world. It can lead you to a life of adventure and discovery (Fig. 1).

SKY BRIGHTNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE i-BAND AT DOME A, ANTARCTICA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Hu; Zhou Xu; Jiang Zhaoji; Hu Jingyao; Ma Jun; Ashley, M. C. B.; Luong-Van, D. M.; Storey, J. W. V.; Cui Xiangqun; Feng Longlong; Gong Xuefei; Kulesa, C. A.; Lawrence, J. S.; Liu Genrong; Moore, A. M.; Pennypacker, C. R.; Travouillon, T.; Qin Weijia; Sun Bo; Shang Zhaohui

2010-01-01

The i-band observing conditions at Dome A on the Antarctic plateau have been investigated using data acquired during 2008 with the Chinese Small Telescope Array. The sky brightness, variations in atmospheric transparency, cloud cover, and the presence of aurorae are obtained from these images. The median sky brightness of moonless clear nights is 20.5 mag arcsec -2 in the SDSS i band at the south celestial pole (which includes a contribution of about 0.06 mag from diffuse Galactic light). The median over all Moon phases in the Antarctic winter is about 19.8 mag arcsec -2 . There were no thick clouds in 2008. We model contributions of the Sun and the Moon to the sky background to obtain the relationship between the sky brightness and transparency. Aurorae are identified by comparing the observed sky brightness to the sky brightness expected from this model. About 2% of the images are affected by relatively strong aurorae.

A night with good vibrations

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

For its third edition, the Museum d'histoire des sciences invites you to a Science Night under the banner of waves and undulations. Scientists, artists and storytellers from more than forty institutes and local or regional associations will show in only one weekend that waves and undulations form an integral part of our daily environment. Telephones, televisions, radios, irons, lighting, music, sun rays, stars, rainbows, earthquakes and other natural phenomena - all produce, emit or receive waves or undulations. The visitors attending the Night will be able to get in contact with the nature of waves through interactive exhibitions on sound and light and through hands-on demonstrations arranged around the Bartholoni villa and in the Park of the Perle du lac. An amusing and distracting way to familiarize yourself with the concepts of wavelength, frequency and interference lengths... In addition to the stands, the Night will offer many other activities: reconstructions of critical experiments, scientific consu...

SkyProbe, monitoring the absolute atmospheric transmission in the optical

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, Jean-charles; Magnier, Eugene; Mahoney, William

2011-03-01

Mauna Kea is known for its pristine seeing conditions, but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations since 25% of the night are not photometric, mostly due to high-altitude cirrus. Since 2001, the original single-channel SkyProbe has gathered one exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera with a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (40 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tychos catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). A key advantage of SkyProbe over direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds, is that it allows an accurate absolute measurement, within 5%, of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument. This system has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO), representing today 80% of the telescope time: science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for being re-observed later on (at 1/10th of the original exposure time per pointing in the observed filters) to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. The new dual color system (simultaneous B&V bands) will allow a better characterization of the sky properties atop Mauna Kea and will enable a better detection of the thinner cirrus (absorption down to 0.02 mag., i.e. 2%). SkyProbe is operated within the Elixir pipeline, a collection of tools used for handling the CFHT CCD mosaics (CFH12K and MegaCam), from data pre-processing to astrometric and photometric calibration.

Visual astronomy under dark skies a new approach to observing deep space

CERN Document Server

Cooke, Antony

2005-01-01

Modern astronomical telescopes, along with other advances in technology, have brought the deep sky - star clusters, nebulae and the galaxies - within reach of amateur astronomers. And it isn't even necessary to image many of these deep-sky objects in order to see them; they are within reach of visual observers using modern techniques and enhancement technology. The first requirement is truly dark skies; if you are observing from a light-polluted environment you need Tony Cooke's book, Visual Astronomy in the Suburbs. Given a site with clear, dark night skies everything else follows… this book will provide the reader with everything he needs to know about what to observe, and using some of today's state-of-the-art technique and commercial equipment, how to get superb views of faint and distant astronomical objects.

The interactive sky: a browsable allsky image

Science.gov (United States)

Tancredi, Gonzalo; Da Rosa, Fernando; Roland, Santiago; Almenares, Luciano; Gomez, Fernando

2015-08-01

We are conducting a project to make available panoramas of the night sky of the southern hemisphere, based on a mosaic of hundred of photographs. Each allsky panorama is a giant image composed by hundreds of high-resolution photos taken in the course of one night. The panoramas are accessible with a web-browser and the public is able to zoom on them and to see the sky with better quality than the naked eye. We are preparing 4 sets of panoramas corresponding to the four seasons.The individual images are taken with a 16 Mpixels DLSR camera with a 50 mm lens mounted on a Gigapan EPIC robotic camera mounts. These devices and a autoguiding telescope are mounted in a equatorial telescope mount, which allows us to have exposure of several tens seconds. The images are then processed and stitched to create the gigantic panorama, with typical weight of several GBytes.The limiting magnitude is V~8. The panoramas include more than 50 times more stars those detected with the naked eye.In addition to the allsky panoramas, we embedded higher resolution images of specific regions of interest such as: emission nebulae and dark, open and globular clusters and galaxies; which can be zoomed.The photographs have been acquiring since December 2014 in a dark place with low light pollution in the countryside of Uruguay; which allows us to achieve deep sky objects.These panoramas will be available on a website and can be accessed with any browser.This tool will be available for teaching purposes, astronomy popularization or introductory research. Teacher guides will be developed for educational activities at different educational levels.While there are similar projects like Google Sky, the methodology used to generate the giant panoramas allows a much more realistic view, with a background of continuous sky without sharp edges. Furthermore, while the planetarium software is based on drawings of the stars, our panoramas are based on real images.This is the first project with these

All-sky brightness monitoring of light pollution with astronomical methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabaza, O; Galadí-Enríquez, D; Estrella, A Espín; Dols, F Aznar

2010-06-01

This paper describes a mobile prototype and a protocol to measure light pollution based on astronomical methods. The prototype takes three all-sky images using BVR filters of the Johnson-Cousins astronomical photometric system. The stars are then identified in the images of the Hipparcos and General Catalogue of Photometric Data II astronomical catalogues, and are used as calibration sources. This method permits the measurement of night-sky brightness and facilitates an estimate of which fraction is due to the light up-scattered in the atmosphere by a wide variety of man-made sources. This is achieved by our software, which compares the sky background flux to that of many stars of known brightness. The reduced weight and dimensions of the prototype allow the user to make measurements from virtually any location. This prototype is capable of measuring the sky distribution of light pollution, and also provides an accurate estimate of the background flux at each photometric band. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inferences from the dark sky: Olbers' paradox revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arpino, Mauro; Scardigli, Fabio

2003-01-01

The classical formulation of 'Olbers' paradox' consists in looking for an explanation of the fact that the sky at night is dark. We use the experimental datum of the nocturnal darkness in order to put constraints on a Newtonian cosmological model. We infer then that the stellar system in such a model should have had an origin at a finite time in the past

Traces on sky. Unexpected results of regular observations

Science.gov (United States)

Churyumov, K. I.; Steklov, A. F.; Vidmachenko, A. P.; Dashkiev, N. G.; Steklov, E. A.

2016-08-01

If the fireball's track has noticeable angular size, it can be seen even in the daytime. After the flight, bolide remains a noticeable trace of a dust, dark against the light sky. If such a dust trail illuminated by the rays of the Sun, which had just hid behind the horizon (or even in the moonlight), it is visible as bright lanes in the night sky or in twilight. That's why we call it the twilight bolides. Usually, astronomical observations using of meteor patrols, carried out at night after the evening astronomical twilight. But from March 2013 to October 2015, the authors have obtained several thousands of different tracks in the sky over Kiev. Therefore, we have identified a special class of twilight observations of fireballs. We register the traces of invading to atmosphere of meteoroids of natural and artificial origin. At the same time, observe the traces of fireballs at the day-time are also possible. But they are less effective than in the twilight. Night observations of bright meteoric tracks can usually observe some seconds. While traces of the twilight bolides we observed from some minutes up to two hours, before they be scattered by atmospheric currents. It opens the great prospects for low-cost direct experiments probing of these tracks by using, for example, the astronomical aviation. We propose the twilight tracks are classified into the following types: AMT - aero-meteorological tracks, AST - aero-space, ATT - aero-technical, and NST - not yet classified tracks of unknown nature. During the short period of our observations (from March 2013 to 2016), was fixed falling at least a dozen fragments of cometary nuclei, at least five of sufficiently large and dozens of smaller fragments of meteoroids. The results of our observations also showed that during the morning and evening twilight over Kiev clearly visible the plume of aerosols of technical nature from the plants, factories and other production facilities.

Dark Skies: Local Success, Global Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, G. W.

2009-01-01

The Flagstaff, Arizona 1987 lighting code reduced the growth rate of man-made sky glow by a third. Components of the code include requirements for full cutoff lighting, lumens per acre limits in radial zones around observatories, and use of low-pressure sodium monochromatic lighting for roadways and parking lots. Broad public acceptance of Flagstaff's lighting code demonstrates that dark sky preservation has significant appeal and few visibility or public safety negatives. An inventory by C. Luginbuhl et al. of the light output and shielding of a sampling of various zoning categories (municipal, commercial, apartments, single-family residences, roadways, sports facilities, industrial, etc.), extrapolated over the entire city, yields a total output of 139 million lumens. Commercial and industrial sources account for 62% of the total. Outdoor sports lighting increases the total by 24% on summer evenings. Flagstaff's per capita lumen output is 2.5 times greater than the nominal 1,000 lumens per capita assumed by R. Garstang in his early sky glow modeling work. We resolved the discrepancy with respect to Flagstaff's measured sky glow using an improved model that includes substantial near ground attenuation by foliage and structures. A 2008 university study shows that astronomy contributes $250M annually to Arizona's economy. Another study showed that the application of lighting codes throughout Arizona could reduce energy consumption significantly. An ongoing effort led by observatory directors statewide will encourage lighting controls in currently unregulated metropolitan areas whose growing sky glow threatens observatory facilities more than 100 miles away. The national press (New York Times, the New Yorker, the Economist, USA Today, etc.) have publicized dark sky issues but frequent repetition of the essential message and vigorous action will be required to steer society toward darker skies and less egregious waste.

Artificial light at night confounds broad-scale habitat use by migrating birds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McLaren, J.D.; Buler, J.J.; Schreckengost, T.; Smolinsky, J.A.; Boone, M.; van Loon, E.E.; Dawson, D.K.; Walters, E.L.

With many of the world's migratory bird populations in alarming decline, broad-scale assessments of responses to migratory hazards may prove crucial to successful conservation efforts. Most birds migrate at night through increasingly light-polluted skies. Bright light sources can attract airborne

Light pollution: measuring and modelling skyglow. An application in two Portuguese reserves

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Raul Cerveira Pinto Sousa

Outdoors human-made lighting at night causes sky glow, one of the effects of light pollution. Sky glow is rising with the growth of world population. Urban inhabitants are increasingly deprived from a starry sky. However, since light propagates to regions far from where it is produced, light pollution spreads to places where few or none artificial light at night existed, disturbing the quality of the night sky. In this work we assess for the first time the sky brightness of two regions in Portugal, the Peneda-Geres National Park, and the recently created Starlight Reserve Dark Sky® Alqueva. We used a portable unit, a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter-L (SQM-L), to measure the luminance of the night sky. We also tested the SQM-L in a laboratory to a more thorough analysis of the device, and to check the effect of polarization on the unit, suggested by our observations and other users. Our results suggest that the SQM-L is not affected by any measurable effect of polarization, but some guidelines to use the SQM-L in the field are provided based on our work. The data from the field measurement was used to compare to one light pollution propagation model (Kocifaj, 2007), using VIIRS DNB satellite upwards radiance as input to the model. The results obtained from the model are favourably compared to the field measurements. We proceeded to a set of tests with the model to find the best fit. Our best results were achieved by analysing the data by night rather than the global set of data. Our first results were used to apply to the classification of the region of Alqueva to a Starlight Tourism Destination. That classification was attained during the course of this work (December 2011). A guideline on the Peneda-Geres National Park was also implemented after our first results were provided. We believe we have achieved a set of results in a set of parallel issues all related to light pollution that we hope may contribute to the current knowledge on this area of research.

Implementation of ergonomics in the management of parking increasing the quality of living parking park in mall Robinson Denpasar city

Science.gov (United States)

Sutapa, I. K.; Sudiarsa, I. M.

2018-01-01

The problems that often arise in the area of Denpasar City mostly caused by parking problems at the centers of activities such as shopping centers. The problems that occur not only because of the large number of vehicles that parked but also the result of the condition of parking officers who have not received attention, there is no concern about the physical condition of parking attendants because doing night guard duty. To improve the quality of parking officer, ergonomic parking lot is improved through the application of appropriate technology with systemic, holistic, interdisciplinary and participatory approach. The general objective of the research is to know the implementation of ergonomics in parking management on the improvement of the quality of parking officer in Robinson shopping center. The indicator of the quality of the parking officer work is the decrease of musculoskeletal complaints, fatigue, workload, boredom and increasing work motivation. The study was conducted using the same subject design, involving 10 subjects as a simple random sample. Intervention is done by arrangement of ergonomic basement motorcycle parking. Measurements done before and after repair. Washing out (WO) for 14 days. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively, tested normality (shapirowilk) and homogeneity (Levene Test). For normal and homogeneous distribution data, different test with One Way Anova, different test between Period with Post Hoc. Normally distributed and non-homogeneous data, different test with Friedman Test, different test between periods using Wilcoxon test. Data were analyzed with significance level of 5%. The results showed that the implementation of ergonomic in the management of parking area of the court decreased musculoskeletal complaints by 15.10% (p management of the parking lot improves the quality of the parking officer work from: (1) decrease of musculoskeletal complaints, (2) decrease of melting rate, (3) decrease of parking workload

PB-Piedmont: A numerical model for predicting the movement of biological material near the ground at night.

Science.gov (United States)

Gary L. Achtemeier

2000-01-01

PB-Piedmont is a numerical model designed to simulate near-ground smoke movement at night under clear skies and near calm winds over irregular terrain characterized by ridge/valley elevation differences of the order of 50 m. Although the model was developed for monitoring smoke at night, the model is equally suitable for monitoring movement of agricultural odors and...

Uncertainties of parameterized surface downward clear-sky shortwave and all-sky longwave radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gubler, S.; Gruber, S.; Purves, R. S.

2012-06-01

As many environmental models rely on simulating the energy balance at the Earth's surface based on parameterized radiative fluxes, knowledge of the inherent model uncertainties is important. In this study we evaluate one parameterization of clear-sky direct, diffuse and global shortwave downward radiation (SDR) and diverse parameterizations of clear-sky and all-sky longwave downward radiation (LDR). In a first step, SDR is estimated based on measured input variables and estimated atmospheric parameters for hourly time steps during the years 1996 to 2008. Model behaviour is validated using the high quality measurements of six Alpine Surface Radiation Budget (ASRB) stations in Switzerland covering different elevations, and measurements of the Swiss Alpine Climate Radiation Monitoring network (SACRaM) in Payerne. In a next step, twelve clear-sky LDR parameterizations are calibrated using the ASRB measurements. One of the best performing parameterizations is elected to estimate all-sky LDR, where cloud transmissivity is estimated using measured and modeled global SDR during daytime. In a last step, the performance of several interpolation methods is evaluated to determine the cloud transmissivity in the night. We show that clear-sky direct, diffuse and global SDR is adequately represented by the model when using measurements of the atmospheric parameters precipitable water and aerosol content at Payerne. If the atmospheric parameters are estimated and used as a fix value, the relative mean bias deviance (MBD) and the relative root mean squared deviance (RMSD) of the clear-sky global SDR scatter between between -2 and 5%, and 7 and 13% within the six locations. The small errors in clear-sky global SDR can be attributed to compensating effects of modeled direct and diffuse SDR since an overestimation of aerosol content in the atmosphere results in underestimating the direct, but overestimating the diffuse SDR. Calibration of LDR parameterizations to local conditions

Uncertainties of parameterized surface downward clear-sky shortwave and all-sky longwave radiation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Gubler

2012-06-01

Full Text Available As many environmental models rely on simulating the energy balance at the Earth's surface based on parameterized radiative fluxes, knowledge of the inherent model uncertainties is important. In this study we evaluate one parameterization of clear-sky direct, diffuse and global shortwave downward radiation (SDR and diverse parameterizations of clear-sky and all-sky longwave downward radiation (LDR. In a first step, SDR is estimated based on measured input variables and estimated atmospheric parameters for hourly time steps during the years 1996 to 2008. Model behaviour is validated using the high quality measurements of six Alpine Surface Radiation Budget (ASRB stations in Switzerland covering different elevations, and measurements of the Swiss Alpine Climate Radiation Monitoring network (SACRaM in Payerne. In a next step, twelve clear-sky LDR parameterizations are calibrated using the ASRB measurements. One of the best performing parameterizations is elected to estimate all-sky LDR, where cloud transmissivity is estimated using measured and modeled global SDR during daytime. In a last step, the performance of several interpolation methods is evaluated to determine the cloud transmissivity in the night.

We show that clear-sky direct, diffuse and global SDR is adequately represented by the model when using measurements of the atmospheric parameters precipitable water and aerosol content at Payerne. If the atmospheric parameters are estimated and used as a fix value, the relative mean bias deviance (MBD and the relative root mean squared deviance (RMSD of the clear-sky global SDR scatter between between −2 and 5%, and 7 and 13% within the six locations. The small errors in clear-sky global SDR can be attributed to compensating effects of modeled direct and diffuse SDR since an overestimation of aerosol content in the atmosphere results in underestimating the direct, but overestimating the diffuse SDR. Calibration of LDR parameterizations

Optical Sky Brightness and Transparency during the Winter Season at Dome A Antarctica from the Gattini-All-Sky Camera

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yi; Moore, Anna M.; Krisciunas, Kevin; Wang, Lifan; Ashley, Michael C. B.; Fu, Jianning; Brown, Peter J.; Cui, Xiangqun; Feng, Long-Long; Gong, Xuefei; Hu, Zhongwen; Lawrence, Jon S.; Luong-Van, Daniel; Riddle, Reed L.; Shang, Zhaohui; Sims, Geoff; Storey, John W. V.; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Tothill, Nick; Travouillon, Tony; Yang, Huigen; Yang, Ji; Zhou, Xu; Zhu, Zhenxi

2017-07-01

The summit of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A, is proving to be an excellent site for optical, near-infrared, and terahertz astronomical observations. Gattini is a wide-field camera installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to Dome A in 2009 January. We present here the measurements of sky brightness with the Gattini ultra-large field of view (90^\\circ × 90^\\circ ) in the photometric B-, V-, and R-bands; cloud cover statistics measured during the 2009 winter season; and an estimate of the sky transparency. A cumulative probability distribution indicates that the darkest 10% of the nights at Dome A have sky brightness of S B = 22.98, S V = 21.86, and S R = 21.68 mag arcsec-2. These values were obtained during the year 2009 with minimum aurora, and they are comparable to the faintest sky brightness at Maunakea and the best sites of northern Chile. Since every filter includes strong auroral lines that effectively contaminate the sky brightness measurements, for instruments working around the auroral lines, either with custom filters or with high spectral resolution instruments, these values could be easily obtained on a more routine basis. In addition, we present example light curves for bright targets to emphasize the unprecedented observational window function available from this ground-based site. These light curves will be published in a future paper.

Results from the Prototype GLOBE at Night Worldwide Light Pollution Observation Program

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Pompea, S. M.; Isbell, D.; Orellana, D.; Blurton, C.; Henderson, S.

2006-06-01

Students, families, and educators worldwide participated in GLOBE at Night - an international event designed to observe and record the visible stars as a means of measuring light pollution in a given location. Participation was open to anyone - anywhere in the world - who could get outside and look skyward during the week of March 22-29, 2006. Our goal was 5000 observations from around the world in this prototype program.The hands-on learning activities associated with the program were designed to extend the traditional classroom and school day with a week of nighttime observations involving teachers, students and their families. By locating specific constellations in the sky, students from around the world learned how the lights in their community contribute to light pollution. Students explored the different light sources in their community learning the relationship between science, technology and society, and they reported their observations online through a central database allowing for authentic worldwide research and analysis. The observations made during GLOBE at Night helped students and scientists together assess how the quality of the night sky varies around the world as well as the level of energy wastage associated with poorly-shielded lights.For more information, visit http://www.globe.gov/globeatnight.GLOBE at Night is a collaboration between The GLOBE Program, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS) in Chile , Windows to the Universe, and Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI).

Sky brightness and twilight measurements at Jogyakarta city, Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herdiwijaya, Dhani

2016-01-01

The sky brightness measurements were performed using a portable photometer. A pocket-sized and low-cost photometer has 20 degree area measurement, and spectral ranges between 320-720 nm with output directly in magnitudes per arc second square (mass) unit. The sky brightness with 3 seconds temporal resolutions was recorded at Jogyakarta city (110° 25’ E; 70° 52’ S; elevation 100 m) within 136 days in years from 2014 to 2016. The darkest night could reach 22.61 mpass only in several seconds, with mean value 18.8±0.7 mpass and temperature variation 23.1±1.2 C. The difference of mean sky brightness between before and after midnight was about -0.76 mpass or 2.0 times brighter. Moreover, the sky brightness and temperature fluctuations were more stable in after midnight than in before midnight. It is suggested that city light pollution affects those variations, and subsequently duration of twilight. By comparing twilight brightness for several places, we also suggest a 17° solar dip or about 66 minutes before sunrise for new time of Fajr prayer. (paper)

Van Gogh's Starry Nights, Lincoln's Moon, Shakespeare's Stars, and More: Tales of Astronomy in Art, History, and Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Donald

2009-10-01

How do astronomical methods make it possible to calculate dates and times for Vincent van Gogh's night-sky paintings? Why is there a blood-red sky in Edvard Munch's The Scream? On what dates did Ansel Adams create his moonrise photographs in Yosemite? How can the 18.6-year cycle of the lunar nodes and the Moon's declination on the night of August 29-30, 1857, explain a long-standing mystery about Abraham Lincoln's honesty in the murder case known as the almanac trial? Why is a bright star described in Act 1, Scene 1, of Hamlet? To answer questions like these, our Texas State group has published a series of articles over the last two decades, applying astronomy to art, history, and literature.

Grass plants crop water consumption model in urban parks located ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use

2011-12-14

Dec 14, 2011 ... parks located in three different climate zones of Turkey. E. Bayramoğlu1* and Ö. .... Many factors influence evapotranspiration. The most important ... sky is not covered in clouds) and daytime hours until sunset increase, both ...

ROTSE All-Sky Surveys for Variable Stars. I. Test Fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akerlof, C.; Amrose, S.; Balsano, R.; Bloch, J.; Casperson, D.; Fletcher, S.; Gisler, G.; Hills, J.; Kehoe, R.; Lee, B.

2000-01-01

The Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment I (ROTSE-I) experiment has generated CCD photometry for the entire northern sky in two epochs nightly since 1998 March. These sky patrol data are a powerful resource for studies of astrophysical transients. As a demonstration project, we present first results of a search for periodic variable stars derived from ROTSE-I observations. Variable identification, period determination, and type classification are conducted via automatic algorithms. In a set of nine ROTSE-I sky patrol fields covering roughly 2000 deg2, we identify 1781 periodic variable stars with mean magnitudes between m v = 10.0 and m v = 15.5. About 90% of these objects are newly identified as variable. Examples of many familiar types are presented. All classifications for this study have been manually confirmed. The selection criteria for this analysis have been conservatively defined and are known to be biased against some variable classes. This preliminary study includes only 5.6% of the total ROTSE-I sky coverage, suggesting that the full ROTSE-I variable catalog will include more than 32,000 periodic variable stars. (c) (c) 2000. The American Astronomical Society

Utah Valley University Field Station at Capitol Reef National Park: A Venue for Improved Student Learning and Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, K.; Schultz, M.; Williams, B.; Gay, J.; Johnson, S.; Dunn, P.

2015-12-01

The unique geo-environment offered in Capitol Reef National Park and its surrounding areas has a long-standing history of inspiring geological scientific exploration. The Capitol Reef Field Station was established in 2008 as part of collaboration between the National Park and Utah Valley University in order to support teaching and research of the natural environment found within the park and on the Colorado Plateau. The facility itself situated deep within the park, well off any public road system offers state of the art alternative energy and sustainable construction and makes extensive use of passive heating and cooling, in order to maintain its status of being "off-grid." The field station is a 6200 square foot complex of classrooms and dormitories supporting university level education and field studies of the Colorado Plateau. The complex includes a classroom and dining area, professional kitchen, and two separate dormitories, which can sleep up to 24 overnight visitors, while the daytime usage can accommodate up to 40 visitors. The vision of the facility is to support teaching and research toward responsible, respectful, and sustainable stewardship of the natural world - including Interdisciplinary learning between arts and sciences Student internships and service learning in collaboration with the National Park Service Field-based scientific research (as well as inventorying and assessing Park ecosystems changes) Field training in scientific research Collaboration between National Park Service scientists and local, regional, and national institutions The park is situated at 38°N 249°E at elevations greater than 2000 m in Southern Utah. In contrast to the more famous neighboring sister parks such as Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, which are in relatively close proximity to large road systems and cities, Capitol Reef offers what is believed to be the darkest night sky in the US. The culmination of features creates an ideal location for studies of the

"Dark Skies, Bright Kids" - First Year Of Outreach In Rural Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Ries, Paul; Johnson, K.; Zasowski, G.; Beaton, R.; Carlberg, J.; Czekala, I.; de Messieres, G.; Drosback, M.; Gugliucci, N.; Jackson, L.; Lynch, R.; Romero, C.; Sivakoff, G.; Whelan, D.; Wong, A.

2010-10-01

Dark Skies, Bright Kids (DSBK) is an educational/public outreach program at the University of Virginia directed primarily towards rural elementary school students in grades 3-5. The program, which is run by a diverse community of volunteers (faculty, postdocs, grad students, and undergrads), targets schools in the rural areas surrounding UVa in southern Albemarle County. While these schools are privileged with remarkably dark skies, these same schools are also home to an economically under-privileged and educationally under-served population. DSBK seeks to use those dark skies, among other resources, to create excitement and interest in science and engineering as part of a weekly after-school program. A typical afternoon consists of 1.5-2.5 hours of science activities specifically centered around space and astronomy. Each week has a theme (e.g., rockets, invisible light) and we incorporate a mix of activities on that theme, such as hands-on experiments, stories, games, and creative play. We also encourage family involvement, so that the parents are actively involved in their children's education. Every other week, we hold a family observing night, so both the students and their parents can learn about the night sky together. The program lasts for one semester at each school, and we have just completed our second semester of work. Each new semester brings on new challenges, but also new lessons to make our program better in future semesters. Our group actively writes and then rewrites our own lesson plans as we learn what works best with the students. We are now in the process of putting our lesson plans online so other groups can take advantage of what we have learned and apply this program at other schools. On the web: http://www.astro.virginia.edu/dsbk/

Differential temperature preferences and thresholds among summer campers in Ontario's southern provincial parks: a Canadian case study in tourism climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Hewer, Micah J.; Scott, Daniel J.; Gough, William A.

2017-08-01

Weather and climate are important factors in relation to outdoor recreation and tourism. Camping and park visitation are weather sensitive activities very likely to be impacted by projected climate change. Temperature is the weather variable that has received the greatest attention within the tourism climatology literature and was the greatest predictor of park visitation within previous assessments. This study uses a stated climate preferences approach, relying on survey-based data, to explore differences for temperature preferences and thresholds among campers in Ontario parks. Statistically significant differences (at the 95% confidence level) in mean values for temperature preferences and thresholds were recorded based on various camper characteristics, such as the following: activity selection, age, gender, distance travelled, length of stay, life cycle stage, camping experience, and camping equipment. Swimmers preferred warmer day-time temperatures. Older campers preferred cooler temperatures and were more sensitive to heat stress, in the day and night time. Females preferred warmer temperatures and were less sensitive to heat stress during the night time. Campers who had travelled further distances to reach the park or planned to stay for longer periods were less sensitive to heat stress. Campers with children in their group preferred warmer temperatures and were less sensitive to heat stress, in the day and at night. Respondents with higher levels of camping experience preferred warmer temperatures at night. Tent campers were less sensitive to heat stress, in the day and at night. The results of this study have direct implications for previous and future climate change impact assessments on park visitation.

An Investigation of LED Street Lighting's Impact on Sky Glow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinzey, Bruce R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Perrin, Tess E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Miller, Naomi J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Kocifaj, Miroslav [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Aube, Martin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lamphar, Hector A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2017-04-25

A significant amount of public attention has recently focused on perceived impacts of converting street lighting from incumbent lamp-based products to LED technology. Much of this attention pertains to the higher content of short wavelength light (commonly referred to as "blue light") of LEDs and its attendant influences on sky glow (a brightening of the night sky that can interfere with astronomical observation and may be associated with a host of other issues). The complexity of this topic leads to common misunderstandings and misperceptions among the public, and for this reason the U.S. Department of Energy Solid-State Lighting Program embarked on a study of sky glow using a well-established astronomical model to investigate some of the primary factors influencing sky glow. This report details the results of the investigation and attempts to present those results in terms accessible to the general lighting community. The report also strives to put the results into a larger context, and help educate interested readers on various topics relevant to the issues being discussed.

Noctilucent cloud particle size determination based on multi-wavelength all-sky analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ugolnikov, Oleg S.; Galkin, Alexey A.; Pilgaev, Sergey V.; Roldugin, Alexey V.

2017-10-01

The article deals with the analysis of color distribution in noctilucent clouds (NLC) in the sky based on multi-wavelength (RGB) CCD-photometry provided with the all-sky camera in Lovozero in the north of Russia (68.0°N, 35.1°E) during the bright expanded NLC performance in the night of August 12, 2016. Small changes in the NLC color across the sky are interpreted as the atmospheric absorption and extinction effects combined with the difference in the Mie scattering functions of NLC particles for the three color channels of the camera. The method described in this paper is used to find the effective monodisperse radius of particles about 55 nm. The result of these simple and cost-effective measurements is in good agreement with previous estimations of comparable accuracy. Non-spherical particles, Gaussian and lognormal distribution of the particle size are also considered.

Multi-channel automotive night vision system

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Gang; Wang, Li-jun; Zhang, Yi

2013-09-01

A four-channel automotive night vision system is designed and developed .It is consist of the four active near-infrared cameras and an Mulit-channel image processing display unit,cameras were placed in the automobile front, left, right and rear of the system .The system uses near-infrared laser light source，the laser light beam is collimated, the light source contains a thermoelectric cooler (TEC),It can be synchronized with the camera focusing, also has an automatic light intensity adjustment, and thus can ensure the image quality. The principle of composition of the system is description in detail,on this basis, beam collimation,the LD driving and LD temperature control of near-infrared laser light source,four-channel image processing display are discussed.The system can be used in driver assistance, car BLIS, car parking assist system and car alarm system in day and night.

Alaskan Auroral All-Sky Images on the World Wide Web

Science.gov (United States)

Stenbaek-Nielsen, H. C.

1997-01-01

In response to a 1995 NASA SPDS announcement of support for preservation and distribution of important data sets online, the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, proposed to provide World Wide Web access to the Poker Flat Auroral All-sky Camera images in real time. The Poker auroral all-sky camera is located in the Davis Science Operation Center at Poker Flat Rocket Range about 30 miles north-east of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is connected, through a microwave link, with the Geophysical Institute where we maintain the data base linked to the Web. To protect the low light-level all-sky TV camera from damage due to excessive light, we only operate during the winter season when the moon is down. The camera and data acquisition is now fully computer controlled. Digital images are transmitted each minute to the Web linked data base where the data are available in a number of different presentations: (1) Individual JPEG compressed images (1 minute resolution); (2) Time lapse MPEG movie of the stored images; and (3) A meridional plot of the entire night activity.

Observation of GEO Satellite Above Thailand’s Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Kasonsuwan, K.; Wannawichian, S.; Kirdkao, T.

2017-09-01

The direct observations of Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites above Thailand’s sky by 0.7-meters telescope were proceeded at Inthanon Mt., Chiang Mai, Thailand. The observation took place at night with Sidereal Stare Mode (SSM). With this observing mode, the moving object will appear as a streak. The star identification for image calibration is based on (1) a star catalogue, (2) the streak detection of the satellite using the software and (3) the extraction of the celestial coordinate of the satellite as a predicted position. Finally, the orbital elements for GEO satellites were calculated.

A Regional, Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Dark-Sky Protection in Flagstaff, Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Jeffrey C.

2018-01-01

Flagstaff, Arizona is home to almost $200M in astronomical assets, including Lowell Observatory's 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope and the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer, a partnership of Lowell, the U. S. Naval Observatory, and the Naval Research Laboratory. The City of Flagstaff and surrounding Coconino County have comprehensive and effective dark-sky ordinances, but continued regional growth has the potential to degrade the area's dark skies to a level at which observatory missions could be compromised. As a result, a wide array of stakeholders (the observatories, the City, the County, local dark-sky advocates, the business and tourism communities, the national parks and monuments, the Navajo Nation, the U. S. Navy, and others) have engaged in three complementary efforts to ensure that Flagstaff and Coconino County protect the area's dark skies while meeting the needs of the various communities and providing for continued growth and development. In this poster, I will present the status of Flagstaff's conversion to LED outdoor lighting, the Mission Compatibility Study carried out by the Navy to evaluate the dark-sky effects of buildout in Flagstaff, and the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) presently underway among all the aforementioned stakeholders. Taken in sum, the efforts represent a comprehensive and constructive approach to dark-sky preservation region-wide, and they show what can be achieved when a culture of dark-sky protection is present and deliberate efforts are undertaken to maintain it for decades to come.

Light pollution in Valencian Natural Parks: where light not only annoys astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Marco, E.; Morales Rubio, A.; Bullón, J. M.

2013-05-01

Street lighting of the city of Valencia produces a yellowish halo that prevents astronomical observation. Moreover, within the metropolitan area, there are three natural parks: the Parc Natural de l'Albufera, the Parc Natural del Túria and the Parc Natural de la Calderona. The light pollution affects the nighttime wildlife parks. Therefore, since 2010, a campaign is being carried out in order to collect data but also to raise awareness and reporting of the harmful effects of excessive and incorrect installation of existing luminaires. Since 2012 this study has been extended to other Valencian natural parks far from Valencia. Their sky darkness is a value to preserve.

1,001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers

CERN Document Server

Bakich, Michael E

2010-01-01

Many deep-sky objects that can appear quite wonderful in photographs can be hard to observe in the telescope. This book is your guide to the more interesting nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies, objects that will bring gasps when you see them through a telescope. Author Michael E. Bakich shows you how to spot constellations you’ve heard of but haven’t been able to find. He gives you lists of bright deep-sky objects to target on clear nights. And he guides your search for the famous named splendors you’ve heard of — and perhaps seen a picture of — and would like to see through your own telescope. Bakich, an observer since he was in third grade, knows the sky better than most. In his current position as senior editor and also photo editor for the highly regarded Astronomy magazine, he has the technical expertise and finely honed communication skills to help you easily locate the best sites in the sky. His more than 250 astroimages help you identify the detail in these sky wonders. Bakich organizes hi...

Lighting up the sky for CERN's anniversary

CERN Document Server

2004-01-01

For CERN's Golden Jubilee, the Canton of Geneva, supported by the Pays de Gex local authorities, lit up eight points around the LHC ring. On the date of CERN's fiftieth anniversary, 29 September 2004, the Organization's Host State authorities gave the Laboratory a gift of light. As night fell, twenty-four powerful floodlights blazed into the night sky from the eight access points to the future LHC. For the many spectators gathered at a special vantage point above the village of Crozet, these beams emanating from the valley floor marked out the locations of the access shafts around the 27-km of the LHC tunnel.The event was organised by the Department of Justice, Police and Security of the Canton of Geneva, with the participation of the Crozet local council and support of local councils in the Canton of Geneva, the Communauté des communes of the Pays de Gex, and the Ain Préfecture. This joint gift from the local authorities on both sides of the French-Swiss border has great symbolic value for an organisatio...

Fireballs in the Sky: An Augmented Reality Citizen Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Brian

2017-01-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly augmented reality mobile app. Tens of thousands of people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in the science of meteoritics. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000 by 36 megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million square kilometers. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

Fireballs in the Sky: an Augmented Reality Citizen Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Day, B. H.; Bland, P.; Sayers, R.

2017-12-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly augmented reality mobile app. Tens of thousands of people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in the science of meteoritics. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000×36Megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million km^2. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

The perception of visitors towards the level of satisfaction on park (Case study: Singha Merjosari Park Malang)

Science.gov (United States)

Priadaniswari, R.

2017-06-01

Park is one of the public spaces which is used by people to get happiness and comfort. Singha Merjosari Park is one of the parks in Malang that is functioned as a recreational and educational park for the citizen. In weekends and national holidays Singha Merjosari park get visited by so many visitors. But if we see the reality, there are still some problems regarding visitor satisfaction. Also, there are attributes that has performance levels decrease that will become another new problem. The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of visitors about the level of visitor satisfaction and what attributes that need to be improved and developed by managers in the future. The approach method in this research is descriptive quantitative. Primary data is based on measurement and observation. The number of samples used is 100 respondents referring to the number of samples determination by Slovin formula with the sample selection used is accidental sampling technique. The analysis technique used is Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) and Costumer Satisfaction Index (CSI). Based on the results of IPA analysis, the things that should get important attention and should be improved is the aesthetics of lighting, cleanliness of parking area and toilet, shade in park area, and availability of clean water. While the result of CSI value analysis is 65,30%. This means visitors are satisfied, but visitors are still not satisfied overall. Implications or changes that should be given is the aesthetics of lighting should be more creative and become the identity of the park (for example, lamp lanterns should be suitable with the concept of the park). Also, the change of toilet look so that visitors can enjoy the look and it can be iconic (toilet concept according to local culture of Malang) and the prevalence of lighting in the park area at night.

ATLAS: A High-cadence All-sky Survey System

Science.gov (United States)

Tonry, J. L.; Denneau, L.; Heinze, A. N.; Stalder, B.; Smith, K. W.; Smartt, S. J.; Stubbs, C. W.; Weiland, H. J.; Rest, A.

2018-06-01

Technology has advanced to the point that it is possible to image the entire sky every night and process the data in real time. The sky is hardly static: many interesting phenomena occur, including variable stationary objects such as stars or QSOs, transient stationary objects such as supernovae or M dwarf flares, and moving objects such as asteroids and the stars themselves. Funded by NASA, we have designed and built a sky survey system for the purpose of finding dangerous near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). This system, the “Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System” (ATLAS), has been optimized to produce the best survey capability per unit cost, and therefore is an efficient and competitive system for finding potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) but also for tracking variables and finding transients. While carrying out its NASA mission, ATLAS now discovers more bright (m day cadence. ATLAS discovered the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst independent of the high energy trigger and has released a variable star catalog of 5 × 106 sources. This is the first of a series of articles describing ATLAS, devoted to the design and performance of the ATLAS system. Subsequent articles will describe in more detail the software, the survey strategy, ATLAS-derived NEA population statistics, transient detections, and the first data release of variable stars and transient light curves.

Equatorial All Sky Imager Images from the Seychelles during the March 17th, 2015 geomagnetic storm.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, B.

2015-12-01

An all sky imager was installed in the Seychelles earlier this year. The Seychelles islands are located northeast of Madagascar and east of Somalia in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The all sky imager is located on the island of Mahe (4.6667°S, 55.4667°E geographic), (10.55°S, 127.07°E geomagnetic), with filters of 557.7, 620.0, 630.0, 765.0 and 777.4 nm. Images with a 90 second exposure from Seychelles in 777.4nm and 630.0nm from the night before and night of the March 17th geomagnetic storm are discussed in comparison to solar wind measurements at ACE and the disturbance storm time (Dst) index. These images show line-of-sight intensities of photons received dependent on each filters wavelength. A time series of these images sometimes will show the movement of relatively dark areas, or depletions, in each emission. The depletion regions are known to cause scintillation in GPS signals. The direction and speed of movement of these depletions are related to changes observed in the solar wind.

Long Baseline Stereovision for Automatic Detection and Ranging of Moving Objects in the Night Sky

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlad Turcu

2012-09-01

Full Text Available As the number of objects in Earth’s atmosphere and in low Earth orbit is continuously increasing; accurate surveillance of these objects has become important. This paper presents a generic, low cost sky surveillance system based on stereovision. Two cameras are placed 37 km apart and synchronized by a GPS-controlled external signal. The intrinsic camera parameters are calibrated before setup in the observation position, the translation vectors are determined from the GPS coordinates and the rotation matrices are continuously estimated using an original automatic calibration methodology based on following known stars. The moving objects in the sky are recognized as line segments in the long exposure images, using an automatic detection and classification algorithm based on image processing. The stereo correspondence is based on the epipolar geometry and is performed automatically using the image detection results. The resulting experimental system is able to automatically detect moving objects such as planes, meteors and Low Earth Orbit satellites, and measure their 3D position in an Earth-bound coordinate system.

Sky Compass Orientation in Desert Locusts-Evidence from Field and Laboratory Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Homberg, Uwe

2015-01-01

Locusts are long-range migratory insects. At high population density, immature animals form marching hopper bands while adults take off and form huge swarms of millions of animals. At low population densities animals are solitarious, but likewise migrate, mostly during the night. Numerous studies aimed at predicting locust infestations showed that migrations both as hopper bands and as adults are largely downwind following seasonal shifts of the tropical convergence zone taking the animals to areas of rainfall. Only a few studies provided evidence for active orientation mechanisms, including the involvement of a sun compass. This scarcity of evidence stands in contrast to recent neurobiological data showing sophisticated neuronal adaptations suited for sky compass navigation. These include a special dorsal eye region with photoreceptors suited to analyze the polarization pattern of the sky and a system of topographically arranged sky compass neurons in the central complex of the brain. Laboratory experiments, moreover, demonstrated polarotaxis in tethered flying animals. The discrepancy of these findings call for more rigorous field studies on active orientation mechanisms in locusts. It remains to be shown how locusts use their internal sky compass during mass migrations and what role it plays to guide solitarious locusts in their natural habitat.

Flying Drosophila orient to sky polarization.

Science.gov (United States)

Weir, Peter T; Dickinson, Michael H

2012-01-10

Insects maintain a constant bearing across a wide range of spatial scales. Monarch butterflies and locusts traverse continents [1, 2], and foraging bees and ants travel hundreds of meters to return to their nests [1, 3, 4], whereas many other insects fly straight for only a few centimeters before changing direction. Despite this variation in spatial scale, the brain region thought to underlie long-distance navigation is remarkably conserved [5, 6], suggesting that the use of a celestial compass is a general and perhaps ancient capability of insects. Laboratory studies of Drosophila have identified a local search mode in which short, straight segments are interspersed with rapid turns [7, 8]. However, this flight mode is inconsistent with measured gene flow between geographically separated populations [9-11], and individual Drosophila can travel 10 km across desert terrain in a single night [9, 12, 13]-a feat that would be impossible without prolonged periods of straight flight. To directly examine orientation behavior under outdoor conditions, we built a portable flight arena in which a fly viewed the natural sky through a liquid crystal device that could experimentally rotate the polarization angle. Our findings indicate that Drosophila actively orient using the sky's natural polarization pattern. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eco-Tourism Potential and Development within Lake Nakuru National Park and its Catchment.

OpenAIRE

2004-01-01

This report summarises the eco-tourism potentials within Lake Nakuru National Park and its catchment to promote environmental conservation and socio-economic development that involves community participation for poverty alleviation. The area is of immense importance both nationally and internationally with tremendous potential for eco-tourism development. Currently, the Park receives about 200,000 visitors per year, most of whom on average stay only for two nights. In the recent past minimal ...

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkelman, J.E.

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. In this report data on the number of birds passing the wind park at night and the flight behavior of these birds during their passage are presented and discussed. The numbers were determined in the period 1985-1988 by using a search approach radar, two passive image intensifiers in combination with infrared spot lights, and a thermal image intensifier. Illumination of the wind turbines to avoid collisions is not believed to be necessary, because birds seem to be quite good at spotting the wind turbines, even during conditions of moderate visibility at night. 30 figs., 23 tabs., 18 app., 109 refs

Sky compass orientation in desert locusts – evidence from field and laboratory studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uwe eHomberg

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Locusts are long-range migratory insects. At high population density, immature animals form marching hopper bands while adults take off and form huge swarms of millions of animals. At low population densities animals are solitarious, but likewise migrate, mostly during the night. Numerous studies aimed at predicting locust infestations showed that migrations both as hopper bands and as adults are largely downwind following seasonal shifts of the tropical convergence zone taking the animals to areas of rainfall. Only a few studies provided evidence for active orientation mechanisms, including the involvement of a sun compass. This scarcity of evidence stands in contrast to recent neurobiological data showing sophisticated neuronal adaptations suited for sky compass navigation. These include a special dorsal eye region with photoreceptors suited to analyze the polarization pattern of the sky and a system of topographically arranged sky compass neurons in the central complex of the brain. Laboratory experiments, moreover, demonstrated polarotaxis in tethered flying animals. The discrepancy of these findings call for more rigorous field studies on active orientation mechanisms in locusts. It remains to be shown how locusts use their internal sky compass during mass migrations and what role it plays to guide solitarious locusts in their natural habitat.

Student Project and Curriculum Based on Light at Night Data Collection

Science.gov (United States)

Craine, Erin M.; DeBenedetti, Jennifer C.

2012-05-01

There is a growing movement in the educational field to promote science, technology, engineering and math studies, stemming from a concern about waning understanding and interest among K-12 students in these topics. STEM Laboratory, Inc. (STEM) has developed a Sky Brightness Meter (SBM) that can be used with ease yet produces complex information relating to light at night monitoring. STEM sees the SBM and its corresponding data archive as a means to involve students in projects that relate to scientific method exploration, makes science more accessible, and encourages a life long appreciation and understanding of scientific endeavors. In this paper we present an example of a project template that could be used by students studying effects of artificial light on sky brightness. STEM has developed several outreach lessons aligned with the National Common Core Curriculum, Systems Thinking concepts and local standards to be implemented in classrooms or independent youth organizations.

Radon mitigation in a typical underground car park in Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leung, J.K.C.; Tso, M.-Y.W.; Ho, C.W.; Hung, L.C.

1997-01-01

Experiments were conducted to investigate the equivalent dose to the lung (lung dose) due to radon in an underground car park with four levels. Size distribution of aerosols and activity size distribution of radon progeny loaded aerosols from 9 nm to 10 μm were measured and their relations to car movement and emission were investigated. Unattached fraction, equilibrium factor and PAEC of radon progeny were monitored and were used to predict the lung dose by adopting the ICRP Human Respiratory Tract Model. The mean annual (i.e. 2000 h) lung doses at the four levels, B1, B2, B3 and B4 during daytime were 1.5 , 2.4, 2.0 and 2.8 mSv respectively. The lung dose for each car park level at night were 2 times higher. Mitigation methods were investigated and it was found that increasing the ventilation rate only resulted in a few per cent reduction in the lung dose rate during daytime though a larger reduction in PAEC (50% at B1 and 38% at B4) was observed at night. Cleaning the fresh air filters and washing the car park floor with water also resulted in a 21% and 12% reduction in the lung dose rate respectively during daytime. (Author)

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) Light Curve Server v1.0

Science.gov (United States)

Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Stanek, K. Z.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Thompson, Todd A.; Prieto, J. L.; Dong, Subo; Shields, J. V.; Will, D.; Britt, C.; Perzanowski, D.; Pojmański, G.

2017-10-01

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) is working toward imaging the entire visible sky every night to a depth of V˜ 17 mag. The present data covers the sky and spans ˜2-5 years with ˜100-400 epochs of observation. The data should contain some ˜1 million variable sources, and the ultimate goal is to have a database of these observations publicly accessible. We describe here a first step, a simple but unprecedented web interface https://asas-sn.osu.edu/ that provides an up to date aperture photometry light curve for any user-selected sky coordinate. The V band photometry is obtained using a two-pixel (16.″0) radius aperture and is calibrated against the APASS catalog. Because the light curves are produced in real time, this web tool is relatively slow and can only be used for small samples of objects. However, it also imposes no selection bias on the part of the ASAS-SN team, allowing the user to obtain a light curve for any point on the celestial sphere. We present the tool, describe its capabilities, limitations, and known issues, and provide a few illustrative examples.

Time-dependent effects of dim light at night on re-entrainment and masking of hamster activity rhythms.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David W; Evans, Jennifer A; Gorman, Michael R

2010-04-01

Bright light has been established as the most ubiquitous environmental cue that entrains circadian timing systems under natural conditions. Light equivalent in intensity to moonlight (dim nighttime illumination accelerated re-entrainment of hamster activity rhythms to 4-hour phase advances and delays of an otherwise standard laboratory photocycle. The purpose of this study was to determine if a sensitive period existed in the night during which dim illumination had a robust influence on speed of re-entrainment. Male Siberian hamsters were either exposed to dim light throughout the night, for half of the night, or not at all. Compared to dark nights, dim illumination throughout the entire night decreased by 29% the time for the midpoint of the active phase to re-entrain to a 4-hour phase advance and by 26% for a 4-hour delay. Acceleration of advances and delays were also achieved with 5 hours of dim light per night, but effects depended on whether dim light was present in the first half, second half, or first and last quarters of the night. Both during phase shifting and steady-state entrainment, partially lit nights also produced strong positive and negative masking effects, as well as entrainment aftereffects in constant darkness. Thus, even in the presence of a strong zeitgeber, light that might be encountered under a natural nighttime sky potently modulates the circadian timing system of hamsters.

Proto-Typing Research Aimed for Secondary School Students and Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Fersch, A.; Barringer, D.; Pompea, S. M.

2011-12-01

In workshops on GLOBE at Night, teacher professional development has begun on using night sky brightness data and bat telemetry data to do scientific research in the classroom. The study looks at the effects of light pollution on the flight paths of threatened and endangered (T&E) bats between their day roosts and night foraging areas. A jump-start in getting secondary school students involved was the BioBlitz event in Tucson, Arizona in October 2011. During the 24-hour event, night Sky Quality Meter (SQM) data was taken across the Saguaro National Park West, through Tucson and across the Saguaro National Park East. The program had its beginning with a pair of Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) students and their advisor. Through the collaboration of the National Science Foundation's REU program, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's GLOBE at Night program and the U.S. Arizona Game and Fish Department (AzGFD), two REU students along with their advisor used data from the GLOBE at Night project and telemetry tracking data of lesser long-nosed bats to study the effects of light pollution on the flight paths of the bats between their day roosts and night foraging areas around the city of Tucson, AZ. During the summer of 2010, the first REU student used the visual limiting magnitude data from GLOBE at Night and, with the assistance of the AzGFD, ran compositional analyses with respect to the bats' flight paths to determine whether the bats were selecting for or against flight through regions of particular night sky brightness levels. The bats selected for the regions in which the limiting sky magnitudes fell between the ranges of 2.8-3.0 to 3.6-3.8 and 4.4-4.6 to 5.0-5.2, suggesting that the lesser long-nosed bat can tolerate a fair degree of urbanization. Three areas of systematic uncertainty were identified of which 2 could be addressed the following summer. Due to a relatively large uncertainty in each individually measured visual limiting magnitude

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkelman, J.E.

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. This report deals with the results of searches for dead birds killed as a consequence of collisions with obstacles in the wind park in the spring of 1986-1991 and in the autumn of 1986-1988 and 1991. During the six spring periods and four autumn periods searches were made on 642 different days during which 2907 times an obstacle was searched for dead birds. During these days 76 birds were found (25 species), of which 36% were certainly or very probably killed as a result from a collision with a wind turbine, and 22% were possibly so. Of 34% the cause of death was unknown, and 7% died from other causes. Of the 76 birds found 17% were wounded but still alive. There were no nights with large kills. Also attention is paid to the distribution of the bird victims over the wind park area, their individual positions with regard to the obstacles, and the weather conditions in relation to the number of victims at a certain day. On average less than 0.1% of the birds passing the wind park during the night collided with an obstacle in the wind park, and less than 0.01% did so when the diurnal migration is included. When all resting and feeding birds are also added less than 0.008% collided in autumn (in spring less than 0.06%, breeding birds included). When the possible collisions are included these figures are 0.2%, 0.02%, 0.01% and 0.1% respectively. 9 figs., 22 tabs., 19 app., 83 refs

Design of a Day/Night Star Camera System

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Cheryl; Swift, Wesley; Ghosh, Kajal; Ramsey, Brian

1999-01-01

This paper describes the design of a camera system capable of acquiring stars during both the day and night cycles of a high altitude balloon flight (35-42 km). The camera system will be filtered to operate in the R band (590-810 nm). Simulations have been run using MODTRAN atmospheric code to determine the worse case sky brightness at 35 km. With a daytime sky brightness of 2(exp -05) W/sq cm/str/um in the R band, the sensitivity of the camera system will allow acquisition of at least 1-2 stars/sq degree at star magnitude limits of 8.25-9.00. The system will have an F2.8, 64.3 mm diameter lens and a 1340X1037 CCD array digitized to 12 bits. The CCD array is comprised of 6.8 X 6.8 micron pixels with a well depth of 45,000 electrons and a quantum efficiency of 0.525 at 700 nm. The camera's field of view will be 6.33 sq degree and provide attitude knowledge to 8 arcsec or better. A test flight of the system is scheduled for fall 1999.

Climate Change Education in Protected Areas: Highlights from the Earth to Sky NASA-NPS-USFWS Partnership

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, A.; Morris, J.; Paglierani, R.

2009-12-01

National Parks, Hatcheries, Refuges, and other protected lands provide ideal settings for communicating the immediate and obvious effects of climate change, from rapidly melting glaciers, increased intensity and length of fire seasons, to flooding of archeological and historical treasures. Our nation's protected areas demonstrate clearly that climate change is happening now, and the impacts are affecting us all. Highlights of interpretive, educational and informational products presented in these sites, and developed through the Earth to Sky (ETS) partnership are described. The visiting public in our nation's parks, refuges, cultural sites and other protected lands wants to learn more about climate change, and is asking questions—often, complex questions. A broad array of educational programs and media are delivered in these unique settings, to diverse audiences. To be good "honest brokers" of the best information, staff needs access to accurate, up-to-date data, descriptions, analysis, and imagery that make the issues understandable. Pairing real world experiences of climate effects such as glacial retreat or beetle infestations, with NASA’s unique planetary perspective provides opportunities to link local, regional, and global effects in the minds and hearts of the public and students. The perspective afforded by such linkages can create powerful and long lasting impressions, and will likely provoke further learning about this topic. About Earth to Sky Earth to Sky is a partnership between NASA's Space and Earth Science disciplines, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the National Park Service (NPS). The partnership actively fosters collaborative work between the science and interpretation/education communities of NPS, USFWS, and NASA, centering around a series of professional development workshops aimed at informal educators. The workshops weave NASA content with NPS and USFWS interpretation and environmental education methodology, and use best

The all-sky 408 MHz survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haslam, C.G.T.; Salter, C.J.; Stoffel, H.

1981-01-01

A brief outline of the results of this survey is presented. The 408 MHz All-sky Survey has been made from four radio continuum surveys observed between 1965 and 1978, using the Jodrell Bank MKI telescope (Haslam et al., 1970), the Effelsberg 100 metre telescope (Haslam et al., 1974) and the Parkes 64 metre telescope (Haslam et al., 1975). A detailed description of the survey data reduction and calibration methods, with preliminary astronomical results will soon be published (Haslam et al., 1980a) and a second paper will give an atlas of maps at the full survey resolution of 51' arc between half power points (Haslam et al., 1980b). A map, smoothed to a gaussian beam with resolution between half power poitns of 3 0 , is presented. (Auth.)

Scattering of Light by Colloidal Aluminosilicate Particles Produces the Unusual Sky-Blue Color of R?o Celeste (Tenorio Volcano Complex, Costa Rica)

OpenAIRE

Castell?n, Erick; Mart?nez, Mar?a; Madrigal-Carballo, Sergio; Arias, Mar?a Laura; Vargas, William E.; Chavarr?a, Max

2013-01-01

Río Celeste (Sky-Blue River) in Tenorio National Park (Costa Rica), a river that derives from the confluence and mixing of two colorless streams--Río Buenavista (Buenavista River) and Quebrada Agria (Sour Creek)--is renowned in Costa Rica because it presents an atypical intense sky-blue color. Although various explanations have been proposed for this unusual hue of Río Celeste, no exhaustive tests have been undertaken; the reasons hence remain unclear. To understand this color phenomenon, we ...

In The Night Sky: Sky Lore.

Science.gov (United States)

Judge, April

1997-01-01

Presents picture books, collections of star stories, poetry, magazines, radio programs, biographies, nonfiction, and activities to help young students (preschool-grade 8) understand what celestial objects meant to ancient civilizations and to provide insights into the customs and attitudes of other cultures; alternative literary experiences; and…

SkyProbe: Real-Time Precision Monitoring in the Optical of the Absolute Atmospheric Absorption on the Telescope Science and Calibration Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, J.-C.; Magnier, E.; Sabin, D.; Mahoney, B.

2016-05-01

Mauna Kea is known for its pristine seeing conditions but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations since at least 25% of the observable (i.e. open dome) nights are not photometric, an effect mostly due to high-altitude cirrus. Since 2001, the original single channel SkyProbe mounted in parallel on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) has gathered one V-band exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera offering a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (40 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tycho catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). The measurement of the true atmospheric absorption is achieved within 2%, a key advantage over all-sky direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds. The absolute measurement of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds and particulates affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO) representing today all of the telescope time. Also, science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for a new observation at a later date at 1/10th of the original exposure time in photometric conditions to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. Photometric standards are observed only when conditions are reported as being perfectly stable by SkyProbe. The more recent dual color system (simultaneous B & V bands) will offer a better characterization of the sky properties above Mauna Kea and should enable a better detection of the thinnest cirrus (absorption down to 0.01 mag., or 1%).

Digital all-sky polarization imaging of partly cloudy skies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pust, Nathan J; Shaw, Joseph A

2008-12-01

Clouds reduce the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) of skylight relative to that of a clear sky. Even thin subvisual clouds in the "twilight zone" between clouds and aerosols produce a drop in skylight DOLP long before clouds become visible in the sky. In contrast, the angle of polarization (AOP) of light scattered by a cloud in a partly cloudy sky remains the same as in the clear sky for most cases. In unique instances, though, select clouds display AOP signatures that are oriented 90 degrees from the clear-sky AOP. For these clouds, scattered light oriented parallel to the scattering plane dominates the perpendicularly polarized Rayleigh-scattered light between the instrument and the cloud. For liquid clouds, this effect may assist cloud particle size identification because it occurs only over a relatively limited range of particle radii that will scatter parallel polarized light. Images are shown from a digital all-sky-polarization imager to illustrate these effects. Images are also shown that provide validation of previously published theories for weak (approximately 2%) polarization parallel to the scattering plane for a 22 degrees halo.

Automated Meteor Detection by All-Sky Digital Camera Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Suk, Tomáš; Šimberová, Stanislava

2017-12-01

We have developed a set of methods to detect meteor light traces captured by all-sky CCD cameras. Operating at small automatic observatories (stations), these cameras create a network spread over a large territory. Image data coming from these stations are merged in one central node. Since a vast amount of data is collected by the stations in a single night, robotic storage and analysis are essential to processing. The proposed methodology is adapted to data from a network of automatic stations equipped with digital fish-eye cameras and includes data capturing, preparation, pre-processing, analysis, and finally recognition of objects in time sequences. In our experiments we utilized real observed data from two stations.

An Enhanced Method for Scheduling Observations of Large Sky Error Regions for Finding Optical Counterparts to Transients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rana, Javed; Singhal, Akshat; Gadre, Bhooshan; Bhalerao, Varun; Bose, Sukanta, E-mail: javed@iucaa.in [Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Post Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007 (India)

2017-04-01

The discovery and subsequent study of optical counterparts to transient sources is crucial for their complete astrophysical understanding. Various gamma-ray burst (GRB) detectors, and more notably the ground-based gravitational wave detectors, typically have large uncertainties in the sky positions of detected sources. Searching these large sky regions spanning hundreds of square degrees is a formidable challenge for most ground-based optical telescopes, which can usually image less than tens of square degrees of the sky in a single night. We present algorithms for better scheduling of such follow-up observations in order to maximize the probability of imaging the optical counterpart, based on the all-sky probability distribution of the source position. We incorporate realistic observing constraints such as the diurnal cycle, telescope pointing limitations, available observing time, and the rising/setting of the target at the observatory’s location. We use simulations to demonstrate that our proposed algorithms outperform the default greedy observing schedule used by many observatories. Our algorithms are applicable for follow-up of other transient sources with large positional uncertainties, such as Fermi -detected GRBs, and can easily be adapted for scheduling radio or space-based X-ray follow-up.

Sky camera imagery processing based on a sky classification using radiometric data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alonso, J.; Batlles, F.J.; López, G.; Ternero, A.

2014-01-01

As part of the development and expansion of CSP (concentrated solar power) technology, one of the most important operational requirements is to have complete control of all factors which may affect the quantity and quality of the solar power produced. New developments and tools in this field are focused on weather forecasting improving both operational security and electricity production. Such is the case with sky cameras, devices which are currently in use in some CSP plants and whose use is expanding in the new technology sector. Their application is mainly focused on cloud detection, estimating their movement as well as their influence on solar radiation attenuation indeed, the presence of clouds is the greatest factor involved in solar radiation attenuation. The aim of this work is the detection and analysis of clouds from images taken by a TSI-880 model sky. In order to obtain accurate image processing, three different models were created, based on a previous sky classification using radiometric data and representative sky conditions parameters. As a consequence, the sky can be classified as cloudless, partially-cloudy or overcast, delivering an average success rate of 92% in sky classification and cloud detection. - Highlights: • We developed a methodology for detection of clouds in total sky imagery (TSI-880). • A classification of sky is presented according to radiometric data and sky parameters. • The sky can be classified as cloudless, partially cloudy and overcast. • The images processing is based on the sky classification for the detection of clouds. • The average success of the developed model is around 92%

International Observe the Moon Night: Eight Years of Engaging Scientists, Educators, and Citizen Enthusiasts in NASA Science

Science.gov (United States)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Jones, Andrea; Bleacher, Lora; Wasser, Molly; Day, Brian; Bakerman, Maya; Shaner, Andrew; Joseph, Emily; International Observe the Moon Night Coordinating Committee

2018-01-01

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual worldwide event, held in the fall, that celebrates lunar and planetary science and exploration. InOMN is sponsored by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in collaboration with NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), the NASA’s Heliophysics Education Consortium, CosmoQuest, Night Sky Network, and Science Festival Alliance. Other key partners include the NASA Museum Alliance, Night Sky Network, and NASA Solar System Ambassadors.In 2017 InOMN will be held on October 28th, and will engage thousands of people across the globe to observe and learn about the Moon and its connection to planetary science. This year, we have partnered with the NASA Science Mission Directorate total solar eclipse team to highlight InOMN as an opportunity to harness and sustain the interest and momentum in space science and observation following the August 21st eclipse. Since 2010, over 3,800 InOMN events have been registered engaging over 550,000 visitors worldwide. Most InOMN events are held in the United States, with strong representation from many other countries. We will present current results from the 2017 InOMN evaluation.Through InOMN, we annually provide resources such as event-specific Moon maps, presentations, advertising materials, and certificates of participation. Additionally, InOMN highlights partner resources such as online interfaces including Moon Trek (https://moontrek.jpl.nasa.gov) and CosmoQuest (https://cosmoquest.org/x/) to provide further opportunities to engage with NASA science.Learn more about InOMN at http://observethemoonnight.org.

Assessment of capabilities of lidar systems in day-and night-time under different atmospheric and internal-noise conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Agishev, Ravil; Comerón, Adolfo

2018-04-01

As an application of the dimensionless parameterization concept proposed earlier for the characterization of lidar systems, the universal assessment of lidar capabilities in day and night conditions is considered. The dimensionless parameters encapsulate the atmospheric conditions, the lidar optical and optoelectronic characteristics, including the photodetector internal noise, and the sky background radiation. Approaches to ensure immunity of the lidar system to external background radiation are discussed.

Retrieval of Garstang's emission function from all-sky camera images

Science.gov (United States)

Kocifaj, Miroslav; Solano Lamphar, Héctor Antonio; Kundracik, František

2015-10-01

The emission function from ground-based light sources predetermines the skyglow features to a large extent, while most mathematical models that are used to predict the night sky brightness require the information on this function. The radiant intensity distribution on a clear sky is experimentally determined as a function of zenith angle using the theoretical approach published only recently in MNRAS, 439, 3405-3413. We have made the experiments in two localities in Slovakia and Mexico by means of two digital single lens reflex professional cameras operating with different lenses that limit the system's field-of-view to either 180º or 167º. The purpose of using two cameras was to identify variances between two different apertures. Images are taken at different distances from an artificial light source (a city) with intention to determine the ratio of zenith radiance relative to horizontal irradiance. Subsequently, the information on the fraction of the light radiated directly into the upward hemisphere (F) is extracted. The results show that inexpensive devices can properly identify the upward emissions with adequate reliability as long as the clear sky radiance distribution is dominated by a largest ground-based light source. Highly unstable turbidity conditions can also make the parameter F difficult to find or even impossible to retrieve. The measurements at low elevation angles should be avoided due to a potentially parasitic effect of direct light emissions from luminaires surrounding the measuring site.

WINDII airglow observations of wave superposition and the possible association with historical "bright nights"

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, G. G.; Cho, Y.-M.

2017-07-01

Longitudinal variations of airglow emission rate are prominent in all midlatitude nighttime O(1S) lower thermospheric data obtained with the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The pattern generally appears as a combination of zonal waves 1, 2, 3, and 4 whose phases propagate at different rates. Sudden localized enhancements of 2 to 4 days duration are sometimes evident, reaching vertically integrated emission rates of 400 R, a factor of 10 higher than minimum values for the same day. These are found to occur when the four wave components come into the same phase at one longitude. It is shown that these highly localized longitudinal maxima are consistent with the historical phenomena known as "bright nights" in which the surroundings of human dark night observers were seen to be illuminated by this enhanced airglow.Plain Language SummaryFor centuries, going back to the Roman era, people have recorded experiences of brightened skies during the night, called "bright nights." Currently, scientists study airglow, an emission of light from the high atmosphere, 100 km above us. Satellite observations of a green airglow have shown that it consists of waves 1, 2, 3, and 4 around the earth. It happens that when the peaks of the different waves coincide there is an airglow brightening, and this article demonstrates that this event produces a bright night. The modern data are shown to be entirely consistent with the historical observations.

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkelman, J.E.

1992-01-01

The study concerns 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. The flight behavior of birds approaching the wind park system during daylight is also dealt with. For at least a fifth of the observations it was noted whether the birds passing within 100 meters distance of a turbine showed a reaction or not. The proportion of the reactions was related to the wind park in operation or not in operation, and to the distance between the wind turbines, species, flight height, the passing distance, wind direction and wind force. Secondly the flight path of birds approaching the wind park from eastern directions during daylight (real autumn migration) and from southern directions during late afternoon (flights of gulls to night roosts) was studied in detail. Significantly more reactions (11-18%) were recorded with the wind park fully operational compared to the wind park not operational (2%). In total 2203 flight paths of birds approaching the wind park were recorded during 151 hours of observation. The test results showed that a passing distance of less or more than 100 meters of the nearest wind turbine did not affect the proportion of reactions. Several reaction types and combinations were noted, varying from gradual and calm reactions (circa 75%), and panic reactions, occurring just before or while passing the wind turbines. The reactions are shift in the flight path in the horizontal plane (30%), shift in the flight path in the vertical plane (14%), one passing attempt (87%), an accelerated wing beat (14%), an alteration of the angle of the body (21%)

Soil and air temperatures for different habitats in Mount Rainier National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarah E. Greene; Mark Klopsch

1985-01-01

This paper reports air and soil temperature data from 10 sites in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State for 2- to 5-year periods. Data provided are monthly summaries for day and night mean air temperatures, mean minimum and maximum air temperatures, absolute minimum and maximum air temperatures, range of air temperatures, mean soil temperature, and absolute...

The History of the CONCAM Project: All Sky Monitors in the Digital Age

Science.gov (United States)

Nemiroff, Robert; Shamir, Lior; Pereira, Wellesley

2018-01-01

The CONtinuous CAMera (CONCAM) project, which ran from 2000 to (about) 2008, consisted of real-time, Internet-connected, fisheye cameras located at major astronomical observatories. At its peak, eleven CONCAMs around the globe monitored most of the night sky, most of the time. Initially designed to search for transients and stellar variability, CONCAMs gained initial notoriety as cloud monitors. As such, CONCAMs made -- and its successors continue to make -- ground-based astronomy more efficient. The original, compact, fisheye-observatory-in-a-suitcase design underwent several iterations, starting with CONCAM0 and with the last version dubbed CONCAM3. Although the CONCAM project itself concluded after centralized funding diminished, today more locally-operated, commercially-designed, CONCAM-like devices operate than ever before. It has even been shown that modern smartphones can operate in a CONCAM-like mode. It is speculated that the re-instatement of better global coordination of current wide-angle sky monitors could lead to better variability monitoring of the brightest stars and transients.

Experimental Study of Interior Temperature Distribution Inside Parked Automobile Cabin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Issam Mohammed Ali Aljubury

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Temperature inside the vehicle cabin is very important to provide comfortable conditions to the car passengers. Temperature inside the cabin will be increased, when the car is left or parked directly under the sunlight. Experimental studies were performed in Baghdad, Iraq (33.3 oN, 44.4 oE to investigate the effects of solar radiation on car cabin components (dashboard, steering wheel, seat, and inside air. The test vehicle was oriented to face south to ensure maximum (thermal sun load on the front windscreen. Six different parking conditions were investigated. A suggested car cover was examined experimentally. The measurements were recorded for clear sky summer days started at 8 A.M. till 5 P.M. Results show that interior air temperature in unshaded parked car reaches 70oC and dashboard temperature can approach 100 oC. While, cardboard car shade inside the car not reduce the air temperature inside it. Suggested car cover with 1 cm part-down side windows reduced temperature of cabin components by 70 % in average compare to the base case.

Building Student Understanding of the Cause of Day and Night: A Study of Literacy- and Spatial Thinking-Integrated Activities Compared to a Commercial Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Rule, Audrey C.; Webb, Angela Naomi

2015-01-01

The cause of day and night is a difficult concept to master without concrete foundational skills of understanding shadows, rotation, changing point of view, and relative positions of objects in the sky. This pretest-posttest experimental-control group study examined student learning in a science-literacy-spatial skills integrated unit with…

Contrasting trends in light pollution across Europe based on satellite observed night time lights.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennie, Jonathan; Davies, Thomas W; Duffy, James P; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J

2014-01-21

Since the 1970s nighttime satellite images of the Earth from space have provided a striking illustration of the extent of artificial light. Meanwhile, growing awareness of adverse impacts of artificial light at night on scientific astronomy, human health, ecological processes and aesthetic enjoyment of the night sky has led to recognition of light pollution as a significant global environmental issue. Links between economic activity, population growth and artificial light are well documented in rapidly developing regions. Applying a novel method to analysis of satellite images of European nighttime lights over 15 years, we show that while the continental trend is towards increasing brightness, some economically developed regions show more complex patterns with large areas decreasing in observed brightness over this period. This highlights that opportunities exist to constrain and even reduce the environmental impact of artificial light pollution while delivering cost and energy-saving benefits.

Tourism climatology for camping: a case study of two Ontario parks (Canada)

Science.gov (United States)

Hewer, Micah J.; Scott, Daniel; Gough, William A.

2015-08-01

Climate and weather act as central motivators for the travel decisions of tourists. Due to their seasonality, these factors determine the availability and quality of certain outdoor recreational activities. Park visitation in Ontario, Canada, has been identified as a weather sensitive tourism and recreation activity. This study used a survey-based approach to identify and compare stated weather preferences and thresholds, as well as weather-related decision-making for campers at two provincial parks in Ontario, Canada. The two parks were selected for differing physical and environmental characteristics (forested lake versus coastal beach). Statistically significant differences were detected between the two parks in relation to the importance of weather and weather-based decision-making. Specific temperatures that were considered ideal and thresholds that were too cool and too warm were identified for both parks, both during the day and the night. Heavy rain and strong winds were the most influential factors in weather-related decision-making and on-site behavioural adaptations. Beach campers placed greater importance on the absence of rain and the presence of comfortable temperatures compared to forest campers. In addition, beach campers were more likely to leave the park early due to incremental weather changes. The results of this study suggest that beach campers are more sensitive to weather than forest campers.

A new technique for measuring aerosols with moonlight observations and a sky background model

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Amy; Noll, Stefan; Kausch, Wolfgang; Kimeswenger, Stefan; Szyszka, Ceszary; Unterguggenberger, Stefanie

2014-05-01

There have been an ample number of studies on aerosols in urban, daylight conditions, but few for remote, nocturnal aerosols. We have developed a new technique for investigating such aerosols using our sky background model and astronomical observations. With a dedicated observing proposal we have successfully tested this technique for nocturnal, remote aerosol studies. This technique relies on three requirements: (a) sky background model, (b) observations taken with scattered moonlight, and (c) spectrophotometric standard star observations for flux calibrations. The sky background model was developed for the European Southern Observatory and is optimized for the Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal in the Atacama desert in Chile. This is a remote location with almost no urban aerosols. It is well suited for studying remote background aerosols that are normally difficult to detect. Our sky background model has an uncertainty of around 20 percent and the scattered moonlight portion is even more accurate. The last two requirements are having astronomical observations with moonlight and of standard stars at different airmasses, all during the same night. We had a dedicated observing proposal at Cerro Paranal with the instrument X-Shooter to use as a case study for this method. X-Shooter is a medium resolution, echelle spectrograph which covers the wavelengths from 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers. We observed plain sky at six different distances (7, 13, 20, 45, 90, and 110 degrees) to the Moon for three different Moon phases (between full and half). Also direct observations of spectrophotometric standard stars were taken at two different airmasses for each night to measure the extinction curve via the Langley method. This is an ideal data set for testing this technique. The underlying assumption is that all components, other than the atmospheric conditions (specifically aerosols and airglow), can be calculated with the model for the given observing parameters. The scattered

Teach and Touch the Earth and Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Florina Tendea, Camelia

2017-04-01

My name is Camelia Florina Tendea. I am primary school teacher at "Horea, Closca and Crisan" Secondary School, in Brad, a town in the west side of Transylvania. I am permanently interested to develop my knowledge and teaching skills about space sciences (Earth and Sky) because the new generations of students are very well informed and couriouse about these topics. In this context the teachers must be prepared to deal with such requests in school. Introducing of activity: For a primary school teacher is a real challenge teaching about Earth and Sky, so I consider that a collaboration with science teachers, engineers and other specialists in the sciences is absolutely essential and beneficial in the educational design. In my opinion, the contents about Earth ans Sky-Space in a single word- are very attractive for students and they are a permanent source of discoveries and provide a multidisciplinary vision, so required in the education. Possible contents to teach in primary school: about Earth: -Terra -the third Planet from the Sun; How Earth spins; Land and water; The Earth seen from space, Trip between Earth and Moon,Weather Phenomena; the Poles; about Sky: Solar System, Asteroids, Comets, Meteorites; Rosetta Mission or rendez-vous with a comet; Sun.Moon. Earth. Eclipse;Light Pollution and protection of the night sky; Life in Space. Astronauts and experiences; Mission X:- Train Like an Astronaut;About ISS. For teachers it is important to know from the beginning how they teach, a viable support is the teaching of STEM subjects, which provides access to careers in astronomy, science/technology space. We could teach about earth and sky using different kinds of experiments, simulations, hands-on activities, competitions, exhibitions, video presentations. Competences developed in primary school through these contents: Comunication, individual studying, understanding and valorisation of scientific information, relating to the natural environment. In addition, they are

Recent Advances and Achievements at The Catalina Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Gregory J.; Christensen, Eric J.; Fuls, Carson; Gibbs, Alex; Grauer, Al; Johnson, Jess A.; Kowalski, Richard; Larson, Stephen M.; Matheny, Rose; Seaman, Rob; Shelly, Frank

2017-10-01

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) is a NASA-funded project fully dedicated to discover and track near-Earth objects (NEOs). Since its founding nearly 20 years ago CSS remains at the forefront of NEO surveys, and recent improvements in both instrumentation and software have increased both survey productivity and data quality. In 2016 new large-format (10K x 10K) cameras were installed on both CSS survey telescopes, the 1.5-m reflector and the 0.7-m Schmidt, increasing the field of view, and hence nightly sky coverage by 4x and 2.4x respectively. The new cameras, coupled with improvements in the reduction and detection pipelines, and revised sky-coverage strategies have yielded a dramatic upward trend of NEO discovery rates. CSS has also developed a custom adaptive queue manager for scheduling NEO follow-up astrometry using a remotely operated and recently renovated 1-m Cassegrain reflector telescope, improvements that have increased the production of follow-up astrometry for newly discovered NEOs and arc extensions for previously discovered objects by CSS and other surveys. Additionally, reprocessing of archival CSS data (which includes some 46 million individual astrometric measurements) through the new reduction and detection pipeline will allow for improved orbit determinations and increased arc extensions for hundreds of thousands of asteroids. Reprocessed data will soon feed into a new public archive of CSS images and catalog data products made available through NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS). For the future, CSS is working towards improved NEO follow-up capabilities through a combination of access to larger telescopes, instrument upgrades and follow-up scheduling tools.

Sky Fest: A Model of Successful Scientist Participation in E/PO

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, H.; Shipp, S. S.; Shaner, A. J.; LaConte, K.; Shupla, C. B.

2014-12-01

Participation in outreach events is an easy way for scientists to get involved with E/PO and reach many people with minimal time commitment. At the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas, the E/PO team holds Sky Fest outreach events several times a year. These events each have a science content theme and include several activities for children and their parents, night sky viewing through telescopes, and scientist presentations. LPI scientists have the opportunity to participate in Sky Fest events either by helping lead an activity or by giving the scientist presentation (a short lecture and/or demonstration). Scientists are involved in at least one preparation meeting before the event. This allows them to ask questions, understand what activity they will be leading, and learn the key points that they should be sharing with the public, as well as techniques for effectively teaching members of the public about the event topic. During the event, each activity is run by one E/PO specialist and one scientist, enabling the scientist to learn about effective E/PO practices from the E/PO specialist and the E/PO specialist to get more science information about the event topic. E/PO specialists working together with scientists at stations provides a more complete, richer experience for event participants. Surveys of event participants have shown that interacting one-on-one with scientists is often one of their favorite parts of the events. Interviews with scientists indicated that they enjoyed Sky Fest because there was very little time involved on their parts outside of the actual event; the activities were created and/or chosen by the E/PO professionals, and setup for the events was completed before they arrived. They also enjoyed presenting their topic to people without a background in science, and who would not have otherwise sought out the information that was presented.

Sky Detection in Hazy Image.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yingchao; Luo, Haibo; Ma, Junkai; Hui, Bin; Chang, Zheng

2018-04-01

Sky detection plays an essential role in various computer vision applications. Most existing sky detection approaches, being trained on ideal dataset, may lose efficacy when facing unfavorable conditions like the effects of weather and lighting conditions. In this paper, a novel algorithm for sky detection in hazy images is proposed from the perspective of probing the density of haze. We address the problem by an image segmentation and a region-level classification. To characterize the sky of hazy scenes, we unprecedentedly introduce several haze-relevant features that reflect the perceptual hazy density and the scene depth. Based on these features, the sky is separated by two imbalance SVM classifiers and a similarity measurement. Moreover, a sky dataset (named HazySky) with 500 annotated hazy images is built for model training and performance evaluation. To evaluate the performance of our method, we conducted extensive experiments both on our HazySky dataset and the SkyFinder dataset. The results demonstrate that our method performs better on the detection accuracy than previous methods, not only under hazy scenes, but also under other weather conditions.

The World At Night: A New International Year of Astronomy 2009 Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simmons, M.

2008-02-01

Full Text Available The World At Night (TWAN is a new programme founded in 2007 with the goal of creating a collection of stunning photographs of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites against the night-time backdrop of stars, planets, and celestial events. The eternally peaceful sky looks the same above all the symbols of different nations and regions, a testament to the truly unified nature of Earth as a planet rather than an amalgam of human-designated territories. Those involved in global programmes learn to see humanity as a family living together on a single planet amidst the vast ocean of our Universe. This global perspective motivates us to work for a better, more peaceful planet for all the world’s inhabitants. TWAN is an innovative approach to expanding this global perspective. TWAN’s primary goal is to present the public with a new and enlightening view of the wonders of our planet by revealing the unified nature of Earth’s people as one family and our world as a living planet that we must all care for together.

Site Protection Program and Progress Report of Ali Observatory, Tibet

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yongqiang; Zhou, Yunhe; Wang, Xiaohua; He, Jun; Zhou, Shu

2015-08-01

The Ali observatory, Tibet, is a promising new site identified through ten year site survey over west China, and it is of significance to establish rules of site protection during site development. The site protection program is described with five aspects: site monitoring, technical support, local government support, specific organization, and public education. The long-term sky brightness monitoring is ready with site testing instruments and basic for light pollution measurement; the monitoring also includes directions of main light sources, providing periodical reports and suggestions for coordinating meetings. The technical supports with institutes and manufacturers help to publish lighting standards and replace light fixtures; the research pays special attention to the blue-rich sources, which impact the important application of high altitude sites. An official leading group towards development and protection of astronomical resources has been established by Ali government; one of its tasks is to issue regulations against light pollution, including special restrictions of airport, mine, and winter heating, and to supervise lighting inspection and rectification. A site protection office under the official group and local astronomical society are organized by Ali observatory; the office can coordinate in government levels and promote related activities. A specific website operated by the protection office releases activity propaganda, evaluation results, and technical comparison with other observatories. Both the site protection office and Ali observatory take responsibility for public education, including popular science lectures, light pollution and energy conservation education. Ali Night Sky Park has been constructed and opens in 2014, and provides a popular place and observational experience. The establishment of Ali Observatory and Night Sky Park brings unexpected social influence, and the starry sky trip to Ali becomes a new format of culture

Heterogeneous Parking Market Subject to Parking Rationing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Asadi Bagloee

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Different types of drivers and parking spaces delineate a heterogeneous parking market for which the literature has yet to provide a model applicable to the real world. The main obstacle is computational complexities of considering various parking restrictions along with traffic congestion on the road network. In this study, the heterogeneity aspects are considered within a Logit parking choice model. A mathematical programming problem was introduced to explicitly consider parking capacities and parking rationing constraints. The parking rationing is defined as any arrangement to reserve parking space for some specific demand such as parking permit, private parking, VIP parking, and different parking durations. Introduction of parking rationing in the presence of other constraints is a unique factor in this study which makes the model more realistic. The algorithm was tested on a central business district case study. The results prove that the algorithm is able to converge rapidly. Among the algorithm’s output are shadow prices of the parking capacity and parking rationing constraints. The shadow prices contain important information which is key to addressing a variety of parking issues, such as the location of parking shortages, identification of fair parking charges, viability of parking permits, and the size of reserved parking.

Protecting the Local Dark-Sky Areas around the International Observatories in Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, M. G.

2001-12-01

This report covers efforts by IAU Commission 50's new Working Group on Light Pollution to slow or halt the spread of incipient light pollution near the VLT, the Magellan 6.5m telescopes, Gemini South, SOAR, Blanco and many smaller telescopes in Chile. An effort has just begun to protect the ALMA site in Northern Chile from RFI. Such work includes extensive outreach programs to the local population, schools and industry as well as to local, regional and national levels of government in Chile. The group is working internationally with such organizations as the IDA; one member has recently led the production of "The first world atlas of the artificial night-sky brightness". These efforts have resulted in the first national-level environmental legislation covering dark skies as part of a government effort to protect the environment. Chilean manufacturers are now producing competitive, full-cut-off, street lighting designed specifically to comply with the new legislation. The Chilean national tourism agency is supporting "Astronomical Tourism" based on the dark, clear skies of Chile. An international conference on Controlling Light Pollution and RFI will be held in La Serena, Chile on 5-7 March, 2002, backed up by a parallel meeting of Chilean amateur astronomers. Much work remains to be done. Most of this work is supported by funding from the US National Science Foundation through CTIO, and from ESO, OCIW and CONAMA.

The Citizen-Scientist as Data Collector: GLOBE at Night, Part 1

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, D. L.; Henderson, S.; Meymaris, K.; Walker, C.; Pompea, S. M.; Gallagher, S.; Salisbury, D.

2006-12-01

GLOBE at Night is an international science event designed to observe and record the visible stars as a means of measuring light pollution in a given location. Increased and robust understanding of our environment requires learning opportunities that take place outside of the conventional K-12 classroom and beyond the confines of the school day. This hands-on learning activity extended the traditional classroom and school day through 11 nights last March, when 18,000 citizen-scientists made over 4,500 observations from 96 countries. Utilizing the international networking capabilities of The GLOBE Program, GLOBE at Night was designed to make data collection and input user-friendly. Citizen-scientists were able to participate in this global scientific campaign by submitting their observations through an online database, allowing for authentic worldwide research and analysis by participating scientists. The data collected is available online in a variety of formats for use by students, teachers and scientists worldwide to assess how the quality of the night sky varies around the world. Using the online analysis tools provided by ESRI, participants were able to compare the observed data with population density and nighttime lighting datasets (DMSP Earth at Night). This comparison allowed correlations between observed data patterns and commonly used indices of population density and energy usage. This session will share our results and demonstrate how students and scientists across the globe can explore and analyze the results of this exciting campaign. We will discuss how the project team planned and executed the project in such a way that non-astronomers were able to make valid and useful contributions. We will also discuss lessons learned and best practices based on the 2006 campaign. GLOBE at Night is a collaborative effort sponsored by The GLOBE Program, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS

The Monthly Sky Guide: Sixth Edition

Science.gov (United States)

Ridpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil

2003-06-01

The latest edition of Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion's popular guide to the night sky is updated for planet positions and forthcoming eclipses up to the end of the year 2007. With one chapter for each month of the year, this is an easy-to-use handbook for anyone wanting to identify constellations, star clusters, nebulae, to plot the movement of planets, or witness solar and lunar eclipses. Most of the features discussed are visible to the naked eye and all can be seen with a small telescope or binoculars. Ian Ridpath has been a full-time writer, broadcaster and lecturer on astronomy and space for more than twenty-five years. He has written and edited more than 40 books, including A Comet Called Haley (Cambridge, 1985). Wil Tirion made his first star map in 1977. It showed stars to the magnitude of 6.5 and was issued as a set of maps by the British Astronomical Association in 1981. He has illustrated numerous books and magazines, including The Cambridge Star Atlas (Cambridge, 2001). Previous Edition Pb (1999): 0-521-66771-2

Night-to-night arousal variability and interscorer reliability of arousal measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Loredo, J S; Clausen, J L; Ancoli-Israel, S; Dimsdale, J E

1999-11-01

Measurement of arousals from sleep is clinically important, however, their definition is not well standardized, and little data exist on reliability. The purpose of this study is to determine factors that affect arousal scoring reliability and night-to-night arousal variability. The night-to-night arousal variability and interscorer reliability was assessed in 20 subjects with and without obstructive sleep apnea undergoing attended polysomnography during two consecutive nights. Five definitions of arousal were studied, assessing duration of electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency changes, increases in electromyographic (EMG) activity and leg movement, association with respiratory events, as well as the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) definition of arousals. NA. NA. NA. Interscorer reliability varied with the definition of arousal and ranged from an Intraclass correlation (ICC) of 0.19 to 0.92. Arousals that included increases in EMG activity or leg movement had the greatest reliability, especially when associated with respiratory events (ICC 0.76 to 0.92). The ASDA arousal definition had high interscorer reliability (ICC 0.84). Reliability was lowest for arousals consisting of EEG changes lasting <3 seconds (ICC 0.19 to 0.37). The within subjects night-to-night arousal variability was low for all arousal definitions In a heterogeneous population, interscorer arousal reliability is enhanced by increases in EMG activity, leg movements, and respiratory events and decreased by short duration EEG arousals. The arousal index night-to-night variability was low for all definitions.

Sky coverage modeling for the whole sky for laser guide star multiconjugate adaptive optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lianqi; Andersen, David; Ellerbroek, Brent

2012-06-01

The scientific productivity of laser guide star adaptive optics systems strongly depends on the sky coverage, which describes the probability of finding natural guide stars for the tip/tilt wavefront sensor(s) to achieve a certain performance. Knowledge of the sky coverage is also important for astronomers planning their observations. In this paper, we present an efficient method to compute the sky coverage for the laser guide star multiconjugate adaptive optics system, the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS), being designed for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. We show that NFIRAOS can achieve more than 70% sky coverage over most of the accessible sky with the requirement of 191 nm total rms wavefront.

Diagnosing night sweats.

Science.gov (United States)

Viera, Anthon J; Bond, Michael M; Yates, Scott W

2003-03-01

Night sweats are a common outpatient complaint, yet literature on the subject is scarce. Tuberculosis and lymphoma are diseases in which night sweats are a dominant symptom, but these are infrequently found to be the cause of night sweats in modern practice. While these diseases remain important diagnostic considerations in patients with night sweats, other diagnoses to consider include human immunodeficiency virus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obstructive sleep apnea, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, and several less common diseases. Antihypertensives, antipyretics, other medications, and drugs of abuse such as alcohol and heroin may cause night sweats. Serious causes of night sweats can be excluded with a thorough history, physical examination, and directed laboratory and radiographic studies. If a history and physical do not reveal a possible diagnosis, physicians should consider a purified protein derivative, complete blood count, human immunodeficiency virus test, thyroid-stimulating hormone test, erythrocyte sedimentation rate evaluation, chest radiograph, and possibly chest and abdominal computed tomographic scans and bone marrow biopsy.

Solar Resource Assessment with Sky Imagery and a Virtual Testbed for Sky Imager Solar Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtz, Benjamin Bernard

In recent years, ground-based sky imagers have emerged as a promising tool for forecasting solar energy on short time scales (0 to 30 minutes ahead). Following the development of sky imager hardware and algorithms at UC San Diego, we present three new or improved algorithms for sky imager forecasting and forecast evaluation. First, we present an algorithm for measuring irradiance with a sky imager. Sky imager forecasts are often used in conjunction with other instruments for measuring irradiance, so this has the potential to decrease instrumentation costs and logistical complexity. In particular, the forecast algorithm itself often relies on knowledge of the current irradiance which can now be provided directly from the sky images. Irradiance measurements are accurate to within about 10%. Second, we demonstrate a virtual sky imager testbed that can be used for validating and enhancing the forecast algorithm. The testbed uses high-quality (but slow) simulations to produce virtual clouds and sky images. Because virtual cloud locations are known, much more advanced validation procedures are possible with the virtual testbed than with measured data. In this way, we are able to determine that camera geometry and non-uniform evolution of the cloud field are the two largest sources of forecast error. Finally, with the assistance of the virtual sky imager testbed, we develop improvements to the cloud advection model used for forecasting. The new advection schemes are 10-20% better at short time horizons.

Dim light at night interferes with the development of the short-day phenotype and impairs cell-mediated immunity in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).

Science.gov (United States)

Aubrecht, Taryn G; Weil, Zachary M; Nelson, Randy J

2014-10-01

Winter is a challenging time to survive and breed outside of the tropics. Animals use day length (photoperiod) to regulate seasonally appropriate adaptations in anticipation of challenging winter conditions. The net result of these photoperiod-mediated adjustments is enhanced immune function and increased survival. Thus, the ability to discriminate day length information is critical for survival and reproduction in small animals. However, during the past century, urban and suburban development has rapidly expanded and filled the night sky with light from various sources, obscuring crucial light-dark signals, which alters physiological interpretation of day lengths. Furthermore, reduced space, increased proximity to people, and the presence of light at night may act as stressors for small animals. Whereas acute stressors typically enhance immune responses, chronic exposure to stressors often impairs immune responses. Therefore, we hypothesized that the combination of dim light at night and chronic stress interferes with enhanced cell-mediated immunity observed during short days. Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were assigned to short or long days with dark nights (0 lux) or dim (5 lux) light at night for 10 weeks. Following 2 weeks of chronic restraint (6 hr/day), a model of chronic stress, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses were assessed. Both dim light at night and restraint reduced the DTH response. Dim light at night during long nights produced an intermediate short day phenotype. These results suggest the constant presence of light at night could negatively affect survival of photoperiodic rodents by disrupting the timing of breeding and immune responses. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Minor Characters in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahraa Adnan Baqer

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at discussing the role of the minor characters in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The study assumes that without the first group of minor characters, associated with Olivia, the play Twelfth Night would lose much of its humor, and without the second group, associated with Sebastian, the play would fall apart. On the other hand, in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream minor characters play important roles, without them, the action dose not ran smoothly, or does not ran at all. The paper falls into three sections. Section one deals with the role of each minor character in Twelfth Night.  Section two focuses on the minor characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Section three is a conclusion which sums up the findings of the study.

A Universal Vacant Parking Slot Recognition System Using Sensors Mounted on Off-the-Shelf Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae Kyu Suhr

2018-04-01

Full Text Available An automatic parking system is an essential part of autonomous driving, and it starts by recognizing vacant parking spaces. This paper proposes a method that can recognize various types of parking slot markings in a variety of lighting conditions including daytime, nighttime, and underground. The proposed method can readily be commercialized since it uses only those sensors already mounted on off-the-shelf vehicles: an around-view monitor (AVM system, ultrasonic sensors, and in-vehicle motion sensors. This method first detects separating lines by extracting parallel line pairs from AVM images. Parking slot candidates are generated by pairing separating lines based on the geometric constraints of the parking slot. These candidates are confirmed by recognizing their entrance positions using line and corner features and classifying their occupancies using ultrasonic sensors. For more reliable recognition, this method uses the separating lines and parking slots not only found in the current image but also found in previous images by tracking their positions using the in-vehicle motion-sensor-based vehicle odometry. The proposed method was quantitatively evaluated using a dataset obtained during the day, night, and underground, and it outperformed previous methods by showing a 95.24% recall and a 97.64% precision.

Treasures of the Southern Sky

CERN Document Server

Gendler, Robert; Malin, David

2011-01-01

In these pages, the reader can follow the engaging saga of astronomical exploration in the southern hemisphere, in a modern merger of aesthetics, science, and a story of human endeavor. This book is truly a celebration of southern skies.  Jerry Bonnell, Editor - Astronomy Picture of the Day The southern sky became accessible to scientific scrutiny only a few centuries ago, after the first European explorers ventured south of the equator. Modern observing and imaging techniques have since revealed what seems like a new Universe, previously hidden below the horizon, a fresh astronomical bounty of beauty and knowledge uniquely different from the northern sky. The authors have crafted a book that brings this hidden Universe to all, regardless of location or latitude. Treasures of the Southern Sky celebrates the remarkable beauty and richness of the southern sky in words and with world-class imagery. In part, a photographic anthology of deep sky wonders south of the celestial equator, this book also celebrates th...

The Sky in Early Modern English Literature A Study of Allusions to Celestial Events in Elizabethan and Jacobean Writing, 1572-1620

CERN Document Server

Levy, David H

2011-01-01

When a dissertation gets completed, the normal rule is that it is never read. By anyone.  David H. Levy’s dissertation - The Sky in Early Modern English Literature:  A Study of Allusions to Celestial Events in Elizabethan and Jacobean Writing, 1572-1620 - is different.  It opens a whole new interdisciplinary field, which involves the beautiful relationship between the night sky and the works of the early modern period of English Literature.  Although the sky enters into much of literature through the ages, the period involving William Shakespeare and his colleagues is particularly rich.               When Shakespeare was about 8 years old, his father probably took him outside his Stratford home into their northward-facing back yard.  There, father and son gazed upon the first great new star visible in the past 500 years, shining forth as brightly as Venus, and even visible in daylight.  This new star, which we now know as a supernova, completely unhinged old ideas about the cosmos.  Com...

ParkIndex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaczynski, Andrew T; Schipperijn, Jasper; Hipp, J Aaron

2016-01-01

using ArcGIS 9.3 and the Community Park Audit Tool. Four park summary variables - distance to nearest park, and the number of parks, amount of park space, and average park quality index within 1 mile were analyzed in relation to park use using logistic regression. Coefficients for significant park......, planners, and citizens to evaluate the potential for park use for a given area. Data used for developing ParkIndex were collected in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO). Adult study participants (n=891) reported whether they used a park within the past month, and all parks in KCMO were mapped and audited...

Expected first-order effects of a notional equatorial ring on Earth's night sky: a geometric consideration

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, L. O.

2013-12-01

: a schema of ring effects on the southern sky: (i) extinction of extra-terrestrial light between celestial equator and horizon; (ii) brightening of extra-terrestrial light via light-through-dust effects near the southern horizon; and (iii) reflection of sunlight from celestial equator to horizon. These effects would be modulated by season (due to ring self-shadowing) and hour of the night (because of Earth's shadow). We suggest that the expected effects are not "missing" at all - similar effects are well known to observers but are taken to be fully accounted for by skyglow, airglow and light pollution, qualitatively similar phenomena that certainly exist. We conclude that ground-based observers' non-identification of an equatorial ring is not a counter-indicator of a ring's existence. As far as this consideration goes, the question of an Earth ring system is open.

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkelman, J.E.

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. In this report attention is paid to the disturbance of the bird's biotope. The results show that four species of grassland birds, breeding in the park, were hardly disturbed by the wind turbines. For feeding and resting birds, however, disturbance effects were noted, even at a distance of 500 meters from the outside wind turbine array. The present number of bird species reduced 60-95%, dependent on the species, after the wind park was put into operation. Also the behavior of migrating birds was influenced by the wind park, showed in clustering of groups or avoiding the wind park, sometimes up to 67% of the birds did so. It is therefore recommended not to implement new wind parks in important bird migration and bird feeding or bird resting areas. Bird popular areas, however, are mostly windy areas. 15 figs., 25 tabs., 56 app., 128 refs

First Study on the Occurrence Frequency of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles over West Africa Using an All-Sky Airglow Imager and GNSS Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Okoh, Daniel; Rabiu, Babatunde; Shiokawa, Kazuo; Otsuka, Yuichi; Segun, Bolaji; Falayi, Elijah; Onwuneme, Sylvester; Kaka, Rafiat

2017-12-01

This is the first paper that reports the occurrence frequency of equatorial plasma bubbles and their dependences of local time, season, and geomagnetic activity based on airglow imaging observations at West Africa. The all-sky imager, situated in Abuja (Geographic: 8.99°N, 7.38°E; Geomagnetic: 1.60°S), has a 180° fisheye view covering almost the entire airspace of Nigeria. Plasma bubbles are observed for 70 nights of the 147 clear-sky nights from 9 June 2015 to 31 January 2017. Differences between nighttime and daytime ROTIs were also computed as a proxy of plasma bubbles using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers within the coverage of the all-sky imager. Most plasma bubble occurrences are found during equinoxes and least occurrences during solstices. The occurrence rate of plasma bubbles was highest around local midnight and lower for hours farther away. Most of the postmidnight plasma bubbles were observed around the months of December to March, a period that coincides with the harmattan period in Nigeria. The on/off status of plasma bubble in airglow and GNSS observations were in agreement for 67.2% of the total 768 h, while we suggest several reasons responsible for the remaining 32.8% when the airglow and GNSS bubble status are inconsistent. A majority of the plasma bubbles were observed under relatively quiet geomagnetic conditions (Dst ≥ -40 and Kp ≤ 3), but there was no significant pattern observed in the occurrence rate of plasma bubbles as a function of geomagnetic activity. We suggest that geomagnetic activities could have either suppressed or promoted the occurrence of plasma bubbles.

The Sondrestrom Research Facility All-sky Imagers

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, E. A.; Grill, M.; Gudmundsson, E.; Stromme, A.

2010-12-01

The Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility is located near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, just north of the Arctic Circle and 100 km inland from the west coast of Greenland. The facility is operated by SRI International in Menlo Park, California, under the auspices of the U.S. National Science Foundation. Operating in Greenland since 1983, the Sondrestrom facility is host to more than 20 instruments, the majority of which provide unique and complementary information about the arctic upper atmosphere. Together these instruments advance our knowledge of upper atmospheric physics and determine how the tenuous neutral gas interacts with the charged space plasma environment. The suite of instrumentation supports many disciplines of research - from plate tectonics to auroral physics and space weather. The Sondrestrom facility has recently acquired two new all-sky imagers. In this paper, we present images from both new imagers, placing them in context with other instruments at the site and detailing to the community how to gain access to this new data set. The first new camera replaces the intensified auroral system which has been on site for nearly three decades. This new all-sky imager (ASI), designed and assembled by Keo Scientific Ltd., employs a medium format 180° fisheye lens coupled to a set of five 3-inch narrowband interference filters. The current filter suite allows operation at the following wavelengths: 750 nm, 557.7 nm, 777.4 nm, 630.0 nm, and 732/3 nm. Monochromatic images from the ASI are acquired at a specific filter and integration time as determined by a unique configuration file. Integrations as short as 0.5 sec can be commanded for exceptionally bright features. Preview images are posted to the internet in near real-time, with final images posted weeks later. While images are continuously collected in a "patrol mode," users can request special collection sequences for targeted experiments. The second new imager installed at the Sondrestrom

Sky Subtraction with Fiber-Fed Spectrograph

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Myriam

2017-09-01

"Historically, fiber-fed spectrographs had been deemed inadequate for the observation of faint targets, mainly because of the difficulty to achieve high accuracy on the sky subtraction. The impossibility to sample the sky in the immediate vicinity of the target in fiber instruments has led to a commonly held view that a multi-object fibre spectrograph cannot achieve an accurate sky subtraction under 1% contrary to their slit counterpart. The next generation of multi-objects spectrograph at the VLT (MOONS) and the planed MOS for the E-ELT (MOSAIC) are fiber-fed instruments, and are aimed to observed targets fainter than the sky continuum level. In this talk, I will present the state-of-art on sky subtraction strategies and data reduction algorithm specifically developed for fiber-fed spectrographs. I will also present the main results of an observational campaign to better characterise the sky spatial and temporal variations ( in particular the continuum and faint sky lines)."

Improving Nocturnal Fire Detection with the VIIRS Day-Night Band

Science.gov (United States)

Polivka, Thomas N.; Wang, Jun; Ellison, Luke T.; Hyer, Edward J.; Ichoku, Charles M.

2016-01-01

Building on existing techniques for satellite remote sensing of fires, this paper takes advantage of the day-night band (DNB) aboard the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to develop the Firelight Detection Algorithm (FILDA), which characterizes fire pixels based on both visible-light and infrared (IR) signatures at night. By adjusting fire pixel selection criteria to include visible-light signatures, FILDA allows for significantly improved detection of pixels with smaller and/or cooler subpixel hotspots than the operational Interface Data Processing System (IDPS) algorithm. VIIRS scenes with near-coincident Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) overpasses are examined after applying the operational VIIRS fire product algorithm and including a modified "candidate fire pixel selection" approach from FILDA that lowers the 4-µm brightness temperature (BT) threshold but includes a minimum DNB radiance. FILDA is shown to be effective in detecting gas flares and characterizing fire lines during large forest fires (such as the Rim Fire in California and High Park fire in Colorado). Compared with the operational VIIRS fire algorithm for the study period, FILDA shows a large increase (up to 90%) in the number of detected fire pixels that can be verified with the finer resolution ASTER data (90 m). Part (30%) of this increase is likely due to a combined use of DNB and lower 4-µm BT thresholds for fire detection in FILDA. Although further studies are needed, quantitative use of the DNB to improve fire detection could lead to reduced response times to wildfires and better estimate of fire characteristics (smoldering and flaming) at night.

H I-SELECTED GALAXIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY. I. OPTICAL DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Andrew A.; Garcia-Appadoo, Diego A.; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Ivezic, Zeljko; Bentz, Misty C.; Disney, Mike J.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Brinkmann, J.

2010-01-01

We present the optical data for 195 H I-selected galaxies that fall within both the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Parkes Equatorial Survey (ES). The photometric quantities have been independently recomputed for our sample using a new photometric pipeline optimized for large galaxies, thus correcting for SDSS's limited reliability for automatic photometry of angularly large or low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. We outline the magnitude of the uncertainty in the SDSS catalog-level photometry and derive a quantitative method for correcting the over-sky subtraction in the SDSS photometric pipeline. The main thrust of this paper is to present the ES/SDSS sample and discuss the methods behind the improved photometry, which will be used in future scientific analysis. We present the overall optical properties of the sample and briefly compare to a volume-limited, optically selected sample. Compared to the optically selected SDSS sample (in the similar volume), H I-selected galaxies are bluer and more luminous (fewer dwarf ellipticals and more star formation). However, compared to typical SDSS galaxy studies, which have their own selection effect, our sample is bluer, fainter, and less massive.

Causality and skies: is non-refocussing necessary?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bautista, A; Ibort, A; Lafuente, J

2015-01-01

The causal structure of a strongly causal, null pseudo-convex, space-time M is completely characterized in terms of a partial order on its space of skies defined by means of a class of non-negative Legendrian isotopies called sky isotopies. It is also shown that such partial order is determined by the class of future causal celestial curves, that is, curves in the space of light rays which are tangent to skies and such that they determine non-negative sky isotopies. It will also be proved that the space of skies Σ equipped with Low’s (or reconstructive) topology is homeomorphic and diffeomorphic to M under the only additional assumption that M separates skies, that is, that different events determine different skies. The sky-separating property of M is sharp and the previous result provides an answer to the question about the class of space-times whose causal structure, topological and differentiable structure can be reconstructed from their spaces of light rays and skies. These results can be understood as a Malament–Hawking-like theorem stated in terms of the partial order defined on the space of skies. (paper)

Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory: 2008 October thru 2009 March

Science.gov (United States)

Carbo, Landry; Green, Dawson; Kragh, Katherine; Krotz, Jonathan; Meiers, Andrew; Patino, Bernadette; Pligge, Zachary; Shaffer, Nelson; Ditteon, Richard

2009-10-01

Photometric data for 39 asteroids were collected over 37 nights of observing during 2008 October thru 2009 March at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory. The asteroids were: 239 Adrastea, 875 Nymphe, 1051 Merope, 1167 Dubiago, 1574 Meyer, 1590 Tsiolkovskaja, 1845 Helewalda, 2294 Andronikov, 2303 Retsina, 2345 Fucik, 2666 Gramme, 2679 Kittisvaara, 3062 Wren, 3162 Nostalgia, 3259 Brownlee, 3376 Armandhammer, 3453 Dostoevsky, 3527 McCord, 3560 Chengian, 3614 Tumilty, 3713 Pieters, 4164 Shilov, 4542 Mossotti, 5133 Phillipadams, 5236 Yoko, 5619 Shair, 5875 Kruga, 6071 Sakitama, 6400 Georgealexander, 6821 Ranevskaya, 6976 Kanatsu, 7087 Lewotsky, (7569) 1989 BK, (7949) 1992 SU, 9780 Bandersnatch, (16182) 2000 AH137, 17770 Baume, 18434 Mikesandras, and (34036) 2000 OX27.

Remote Observing: Equipment, Methods and Experiences at the Dark Sky Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Caton, Daniel B.; Hawkins, L.

2009-01-01

Over the last few years we have experimented with remote observing with the 32-inch telescope at our Dark Sky Observatory. We have used relatively inexpensive X10 control modules and software to control many electrical and electronic circuits and devices. User access is via a combination of Microsoft Remote Desktop and RealVNC. X10's ActiveHome Pro software provides the interface for device control. Data acquisition has been with a Photometrics CH250 CCD camera under control of PMIS. Our new imaging camera is an Apogee U42 controlled by MaximDL. In both cases the control over the Internet is by the RD/VNC interface. All of this goes through an ordinary DSL connection at the observatory and provides surprisingly good performance even with the user having only DSL access at home as well. Field acquisition for cases of telescope misalignment with the sky after an instrument changeover are provided by an ImagingSource DMK 41AU02-USB camera on a Vixen 80mm f/5 auxiliary telescope. In some cases, to prevent crashing PMIS due to buffer overrun/interrupt issues, the field alignment is monitored using a streaming Linksys webcam that looks at the data-acquisition PC's monitor. Autoguiding uses an SBIG ST-402 camera and either CCDOPS or MaximDL. While we have only done imaging via remote use, we are working to develop control of the spectrograph as well. Weather conditions are monitored with a combination of a Davis Vantage Pro weather station, a Boltwood cloud/precipitation detector, daytime webcams and an infrared-sensitive SBIG Meteor camera for night views of the sky. We are grateful for support for this work from National Science Foundation grants AST-0520812 and AST-0722491.

History of the Night

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

The definition of the night, as the period between sunset and sunrise, is consistent and unalterable, regardless of culture and time. However the perception of the night and its economic, social, and cultural roles are subject to change. Which parameters determine these changes? What can we learn by studying them about the specific character of a culture? Why do people experience the night in different ways in different historical periods and how did this affect their lives? How do references to nocturnal activities in historical sources (works of art, narratives) reveal what the artists/authors wish to communicate to their audiences? Can the night be a meaningful subject of historical and archaeological enquiry? A study of the source material in the Greek world (ca. 400 BC-ca. AD 400) shows a continuous effort to colonize the night with activities of the day, to make the night safer, more productive, more rational, more efficient. The main motors for this change were social developments and religion, no...

Feasibility Study of Economics and Performance of Solar Photovoltaics at the Sky Park Landfill Site in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. A Study Prepared in Partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency for the RE-Powering America's Land Initiative: Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simon, J.; Mosey, G.

2013-01-01

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the Sky Park Landfill site in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for a feasibility study of renewable energy production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided technical assistance for this project. The purpose of this report is to assess the site for a possible photovoltaic (PV) system installation and estimate the cost, performance, and site impacts of different PV options. In addition, the report recommends financing options that could assist in the implementation of a PV system at the site.

SkyDiscovery: Humans and Machines Working Together

Science.gov (United States)

Donalek, Ciro; Fang, K.; Drake, A. J.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Graham, M. J.; Mahabal, A.; Williams, R.

2011-01-01

Synoptic sky surveys are now discovering tens to hundreds of transient events every clear night, and that data rate is expected to increase dramatically as we move towards the LSST. A key problem is classification of transients, which determines their scientific interest and possible follow-up. Some of the relevant information is contextual, and easily recognizable by humans looking at images, but it is very hard to encode in the data pipelines. Crowdsourcing (aka Citizen Science) provides one possible way to gather such information. SkyDiscovery.org is a website that allows experts and citizen science enthusiasts to work together and share information in a collaborative scientific discovery environment. Currently there are two projects running on the website. In the Event Classification project users help finding candidate transients through a series of questions related to the images shown. Event classification depends very much form the contextual information and humans are remarkably effective at recognizing noise in incomplete heterogeneous data and figuring out which contextual information is important. In the SNHunt project users are requested to look for new objects appearing on images of galaxies taken by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey, in order to find all the supernovae occurring in nearby bright galaxies. Images are served alongside with other tools that can help the discovery. A multi level approach allows the complexity of the interface to be tailored to the expertise level of the user. An entry level user can just review images and validate events as being real, while a more advanced user would be able to interact with the data associated to an event. The data gathered will not be only analyzed and used directly for some specific science project, but also to train well-defined algorithms to be used in automating such data analysis in the future.

Education for Life in the Sky.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Charles E.

1981-01-01

The need to educate people about the sky as both a psychological and physical environment is discussed, including a formal curriculum schema (sky as habitat, sky as transport, influence on culture) and informal curriculum, with such topics as recreation, pollution, mythology, and clouds. (DC)

NASA Science Engagement Through "Sky Art"

Science.gov (United States)

Bethea, K. L.; Damadeo, K.

2013-12-01

Sky Art is a NASA-funded online community where the public can share in the beauty of nature and the science behind it. At the center of Sky Art is a gallery of amateur sky photos submitted by users that are related to NASA Earth science mission research areas. Through their submissions, amateur photographers from around the world are engaged in the process of making observations, or taking pictures, of the sky just like many NASA science instruments. By submitting their pictures and engaging in the online community discussions and interactions with NASA scientists, users make the connection between the beauty of nature and atmospheric science. Sky Art is a gateway for interaction and information aimed at drawing excitement and interest in atmospheric phenomena including sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, moonsets, and aerosols, each of which correlates to a NASA science mission. Educating the public on atmospheric science topics in an informal way is a central goal of Sky Art. NASA science is included in the community through interaction from scientists, NASA images, and blog posts on science concepts derived from the images. Additionally, the website connects educators through the formal education pathway where science concepts are taught through activities and lessons that align with national learning standards. Sky Art was conceived as part of the Education and Public Outreach program of the SAGE III on ISS mission. There are currently three other NASA mission involved with Sky Art: CALIPSO, GPM, and CLARREO. This paper will discuss the process of developing the Sky Art online website, the challenges of growing a community of users, as well as the use of social media and mobile applications in science outreach and education.

Sky cover from MFRSR observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Kassianov

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The diffuse all-sky surface irradiances measured at two nearby wavelengths in the visible spectral range and their modeled clear-sky counterparts are the main components of a new method for estimating the fractional sky cover of different cloud types, including cumuli. The performance of this method is illustrated using 1-min resolution data from a ground-based Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR. The MFRSR data are collected at the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF Southern Great Plains (SGP site during the summer of 2007 and represent 13 days with cumuli. Good agreement is obtained between estimated values of the fractional sky cover and those provided by a well-established independent method based on broadband observations.

Parking Navigation for Alleviating Congestion in Multilevel Parking Facility

OpenAIRE

Kenmotsu, Masahiro; Sun, Weihua; Shibata, Naoki; Yasumoto, Keiichi; Ito, Minoru

2012-01-01

Finding a vacant parking space in a large crowded parking facility takes long time. In this paper, we propose a navigation method that minimizes the parking time based on collected real-time positional information of cars. In the proposed method, a central server in the parking facility collects the information and estimates the occupancy of each parking zone. Then, the server broadcasts the occupancy data to the cars in the parking facility. Each car then computes a parking route with the sh...

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds. De invloed van de Sep-proefwindcentrale te Oosterbierum (Friesland) op vogels; Deel 2: Nachtelijke aanvaringskansen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelman, J E

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. In this report data on the number of birds passing the wind park at night and the flight behavior of these birds during their passage are presented and discussed. The numbers were determined in the period 1985-1988 by using a search approach radar, two passive image intensifiers in combination with infrared spot lights, and a thermal image intensifier. Illumination of the wind turbines to avoid collisions is not believed to be necessary, because birds seem to be quite good at spotting the wind turbines, even during conditions of moderate visibility at night. 30 figs., 23 tabs., 18 app., 109 refs.

TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT CATALOG: A COMPREHENSIVE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CENSUS OF THE WHOLE SKY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilicki, Maciej; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Cluver, Michelle E.; Steward, Louise; Peacock, John A.

2014-01-01

Key cosmological applications require the three-dimensional (3D) galaxy distribution on the entire celestial sphere. These include measuring the gravitational pull on the Local Group, estimating the large-scale bulk flow, and testing the Copernican principle. However, the largest all-sky redshift surveys—the 2MASS Redshift Survey and IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey—have median redshifts of only z = 0.03 and sample the very local universe. All-sky galaxy catalogs exist that reach much deeper—SuperCOSMOS in the optical, the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in the near-IR, and WISE in the mid-IR—but these lack complete redshift information. At present, the only rapid way toward larger 3D catalogs covering the whole sky is through photometric redshift techniques. In this paper we present the 2MASS Photometric Redshift catalog (2MPZ) containing one million galaxies, constructed by cross-matching Two Micron All Sky Survey Extended Source Catalog (2MASS XSC), WISE, and SuperCOSMOS all-sky samples and employing the artificial neural network approach (the ANNz algorithm), trained on such redshift surveys as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 6dFGS, and 2dFGRS. The derived photometric redshifts have errors nearly independent of distance, with an all-sky accuracy of σ z = 0.015 and a very small percentage of outliers. In this way, we obtain redshift estimates with a typical precision of 12% for all the 2MASS XSC galaxies that lack spectroscopy. In addition, we have made an early effort toward probing the entire 3D sky beyond 2MASS, by pairing up WISE with SuperCOSMOS and training the ANNz on GAMA redshift data currently reaching to z med ∼ 0.2. This has yielded photo-z accuracies comparable to those in the 2MPZ. These all-sky photo-z catalogs, with a median z ∼ 0.1 for the 2MPZ, and significantly deeper for future WISE-based samples, will be the largest and most complete of their kind for the foreseeable future

Dark Skies Africa: an NOAO and IAU OAD Program on Light Pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Tellez, D.; Pompea, S. M.

2014-01-01

The IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) awarded the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) with a grant to deliver a “Dark Skies Outreach to Sub-Saharan Africa” program to institutions in 12 African countries during 2013. The program helped students identify wasteful and inefficient lighting and provided ways to reduce consumption and to keep energy costs in check. The goal was to inspire students to be responsible stewards in helping their community safeguard one of Africa’s natural resources - a dark night sky. Thirteen kits made by the NOAO Education and Public Outreach group were sent to coordinators at university, science center and planetarium-type institutions in 12 African countries and to the IAU OAD. The program’s kit included complete instructional guides and supplies for six activities and a project on energy conservation and responsible lighting. The six activities were taught to the coordinators in a series of six Google+ Hangout sessions scheduled from June to mid-November. The coordinators at the institutions in the twelve countries in turn trained local teachers in junior and senior high schools. The Google+ Hangout sessions also included instruction on carrying out evaluations. From the end of November until mid-December students from the different African countries shared final class projects (such as posters or powerpoints) on the program’s website. The entire program was designed to help coordinators and educators work with students, parents and the community to identify dark sky resource, lighting and energy issues and to assess their status, efficiency and effectiveness. Participants will take away from the presentation new techniques on using Google+ Hangout sessions to instruct and sustain a community of coordinators and educators through distance learning as well as immersing them (and their students) in Project Based Learning after a scaffolded sequence of activities.

Smart parking barrier

KAUST Repository

Alharbi, Abdulrazaq M.

2016-05-06

Various methods and systems are provided for smart parking barriers. In one example, among others, a smart parking barrier system includes a movable parking barrier located at one end of a parking space, a barrier drive configured to control positioning of the movable parking barrier, and a parking controller configured to initiate movement of the parking barrier, via the barrier drive. The movable parking barrier can be positioned between a first position that restricts access to the parking space and a second position that allows access to the parking space. The parking controller can initiate movement of the movable parking barrier in response to a positive identification of an individual allowed to use the parking space. The parking controller can identify the individual through, e.g., a RFID tag, a mobile device (e.g., a remote control, smartphone, tablet, etc.), an access card, biometric information, or other appropriate identifier.

Energy cost unit of street and park lighting system with solar technology for a more friendly city

Science.gov (United States)

Warman, E.; Nasution, F. S.; Fahmi, F.

2018-03-01

Street and park lighting system is part of a basic infrastructure need to be available in such a friendly city. Enough light will provide more comfort to citizens, especially at night since its function to illuminate roads and park environments around the covered area. The necessity to add more and more lighting around the city caused the rapid growth of the street and park lighting system while the power from PLN (national electricity company) is insufficient and the cost is getting higher. Therefore, it is necessary to consider other energy sources that are economical, environmentally friendly with good continuity. Indonesia, which located on the equator, have benefited from getting solar radiation throughout the year. This free solar radiation can be utilized as an energy source converted by solar cells to empower street and park lighting system. In this study, we planned the street and park lighting with solar technology as alternatives. It was found that for Kota Medan itself, an average solar radiation intensity of 3,454.17 Wh / m2 / day is available. By using prediction and projection method, it was calculated that the energy cost unit for this system was at Rp 3,455.19 per kWh. This cost was higher than normal energy cost unit but can answer the scarcity of energy availability for street and park lighting system

"Chrono-functional milk": The difference between melatonin concentrations in night-milk versus day-milk under different night illumination conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Asher, A; Shabtay, A; Brosh, A; Eitam, H; Agmon, R; Cohen-Zinder, M; Zubidat, A E; Haim, A

2015-01-01

Pineal melatonin (MLT) is produced at highest levels during the night, under dark conditions. We evaluated differences in MLT-concentration by comparing daytime versus night time milk samples, from two dairy farms with different night illumination conditions: (1) natural dark (Dark-Night); (2) short wavelength Artificial Light at Night (ALAN, Night-Illuminated). Samples were collected from 14 Israeli Holstein cows from each commercial dairy farm at 04:30 h ("Night-milk") 12:30 h ("Day-milk") and analyzed for MLT-concentration. In order to study the effects of night illumination conditions on cows circadian rhythms, Heart Rate (HR) daily rhythms were recorded. MLT-concentrations of Night-milk samples from the dark-night group were significantly (p Night-illuminated conditions (30.70 ± 1.79 and 17.81 ± 0.33 pg/ml, respectively). Interestingly, night illumination conditions also affected melatonin concentrations at daytime where under Dark-Night conditions values are significantly (p Night-Illuminated conditions, (5.36 ± 0.33 and 3.30 ± 0.18 pg/ml, respectively). There were no significant differences between the two treatments in the milk yield and milk composition except somatic cell count (SCC), which was significantly lower (p = 0.02) in the Dark-Night group compared with the Night-Illuminated group. Cows in both groups presented a significant (p night illuminated cows feeding and milking time are the "time keeper", while in the Dark-night cows, HR rhythms were entrained by the light/dark cycle. The higher MLT-concentration in Dark-night cows with the lower SCC values calls upon farmers to avoid exposure of cows to ALAN. Therefore, under Dark-night conditions milk quality will improve by lowering SCC values where separation between night and day of such milk can produce chrono-functional milk, naturally rich with MLT.

Night Terrors in Children

OpenAIRE

Feferman, Irv

1988-01-01

Night terrors are a bizarre sleep disorder that affects young children. The child partially awakes during the night agitated, afraid and terrified, and cannot be consoled. These events, which may be related to emotional turmoil, are self-limiting. Psychiatric evaluation is indicated in certain cases, and drug therapy is almost never necessary. Parents should be reassured that night terrors are not dangerous and do not reflect any serious pathology.

Promoting Dark Sky Protection in Chile: the Gabriel Mistral IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary and Other AURA Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. Chris; Smith, Malcolm; Pompea, Stephen; Sanhueza, Pedro; AURA-Chile EPO Team

2018-01-01

For over 20 years, AURA has been leading efforts promoting the protection of dark skies in northern Chile. Efforts began in the early 1990s at AURA's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), working in collaboration with other international observatories in Chile including Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). CTIO also partnered with local communities, for example supporting Vicuña's effort to establish the first municipal observatory in Chile. Today we have developed a multifaceted effort of dark sky protection, including proactive government relations at national and local levels, a strong educational and public outreach program, and a program of highlighting international recognition of the dark skies through the IDA Dark Sky Places program. Work on international recognition has included the declaration of the Gabriel Mistral IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary, the first such IDA sanctuary in the world.

A Chinese sky trust?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brenner, Mark [Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: brenner@econs.umass.edu; Riddle, Matthew [Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: mriddle@econs.umass.edu; Boyce, James K. [Political Economy Research Institute and Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: boyce@econs.umass.edu

2007-03-15

The introduction of carbon charges on the use of fossil fuels in China would have a progressive impact on income distribution. This outcome, which contrasts to the regressive distributional impact found in most studies of carbon charges in industrialized countries, is driven primarily by differences between urban and rural expenditure patterns. If carbon revenues were recycled on an equal per capita basis via a 'sky trust,' the progressive impact would be further enhanced: low-income (mainly rural) households would receive more in sky-trust dividends than they pay in carbon charges, and high-income (mainly urban) households would pay more than they receive in dividends. Thus a Chinese sky trust would contribute to both lower fossil fuel consumption and greater income equality.

A Chinese sky trust?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, Mark; Riddle, Matthew; Boyce, James K.

2007-01-01

The introduction of carbon charges on the use of fossil fuels in China would have a progressive impact on income distribution. This outcome, which contrasts to the regressive distributional impact found in most studies of carbon charges in industrialized countries, is driven primarily by differences between urban and rural expenditure patterns. If carbon revenues were recycled on an equal per capita basis via a 'sky trust,' the progressive impact would be further enhanced: low-income (mainly rural) households would receive more in sky-trust dividends than they pay in carbon charges, and high-income (mainly urban) households would pay more than they receive in dividends. Thus a Chinese sky trust would contribute to both lower fossil fuel consumption and greater income equality

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds. De invloed van de Sep-proefwindcentrale te Oosterbierum (Friesland) op vogels; Deel 1: Aanvaringsslachtoffers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelman, J E

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. This report deals with the results of searches for dead birds killed as a consequence of collisions with obstacles in the wind park in the spring of 1986-1991 and in the autumn of 1986-1988 and 1991. During the six spring periods and four autumn periods searches were made on 642 different days during which 2907 times an obstacle was searched for dead birds. During these days 76 birds were found (25 species), of which 36% were certainly or very probably killed as a result from a collision with a wind turbine, and 22% were possibly so. Of 34% the cause of death was unknown, and 7% died from other causes. Of the 76 birds found 17% were wounded but still alive. There were no nights with large kills. Also attention is paid to the distribution of the bird victims over the wind park area, their individual positions with regard to the obstacles, and the weather conditions in relation to the number of victims at a certain day. On average less than 0.1% of the birds passing the wind park during the night collided with an obstacle in the wind park, and less than 0.01% did so when the diurnal migration is included. When all resting and feeding birds are also added less than 0.008% collided in autumn (in spring less than 0.06%, breeding birds included). When the possible collisions are included these figures are 0.2%, 0.02%, 0.01% and 0.1% respectively. 9 figs., 22 tabs., 19 app., 83 refs.

How do different definitions of night shift affect the exposure assessment of night work?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garde, Anne Helene; Hansen, Johnni; Kolstad, Henrik A

2016-01-01

the reference definition (at least 3 h of work between 24:00 and 05:00) and definitions using a period during the night. The overlap with definitions based on starting and ending time was less pronounced (64-71 %). The proportion of classified night shifts differs little when night shifts are based...

Night-vision goggles for night-blind subjects : subjective evaluation after 2 years of use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartong, D. T.; Kooijman, A. C.

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of night-vision goggles (NVG) for night-blind subjects after 1 and 2 years of use. Methods: Eleven night-blind subjects with retinitis pigmentosa used NVG for a 2-year period. At the end of each year, they were requested to fill-in two questionnaires regarding

Diurnal and Nocturnal Activity Time Budgets of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus in a Zoological Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise E. Lukacs

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The diurnal and nocturnal activity time budgets of five adult female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus were studied in a zoological park for two 24-hour, five 14-hour, and one 9-hour observation periods between May and June 2011. Relatively few studies have looked at detailed daytime and nighttime activity time budgets in captive Asian elephants. Continuous observation was used to measure the activity time budgets of at least one focal animal per observation period. The activity time budgets varied between animals and observation periods. The elephants spent 17-49% of the day (daylight hours standing, 1-9% of the day walking, 19-44% of the day eating, and 1-20% of the day using enrichment items. At night, the elephants spent 29-87% of the observation period standing, 1-19% of the night eating, and 0.1-10% of the night using enrichment items. At night, elephants spent 0-45% of the observation period lying down. Variations in activity time budgets between elephants and observation periods have been observed in other studies of captive and wild elephants. Results of this observational study allow comparison between groups of captive elephants and between captive and wild elephants. Furthermore, results of this study can inform management strategies.

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Miaomiao; Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P C; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C S; Tang, Jin-Ling; Wong, Samuel Y S; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants' demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97-1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74-2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01-1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40-11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19-9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13-2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94-1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies.

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P. C.; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C. S.; Tang, Jin-ling; Wong, Samuel Y. S.; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. Methods A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants’ demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Results Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97–1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74–2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01–1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40–11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19–9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13–2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94–1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Conclusion Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies. PMID:29763461

Responses of Tree Seedlings near the Alpine Treeline to Delayed Snowmelt and Reduced Sky Exposure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maaike Y. Bader

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Earlier snowmelt changes spring stress exposure and growing-season length, possibly causing shifts in plant species dominance. If such shifts involve trees, this may lead to changes in treeline position. We hypothesized that earlier snowmelt would negatively affect the performance of tree seedlings near the treeline due to higher spring stress levels, but less so if seedlings were protected from the main stress factors of night frosts and excess solar radiation. We exposed seedlings of five European treeline tree species: Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus uncinata, and Sorbus aucuparia to two snow-cover treatments (early and late melting, with about two weeks difference combined with reduced sky exposure during the day (shading or night (night warming, repeated in two years, at a site about 200 m below the regional treeline elevation. Physiological stress levels (as indicated by lower Fv/Fm in the first weeks after emergence from snow were higher in early-emerging seedlings. As expected, shade reduced stress, but contrary to expectation, night warming did not. However, early- and late-emerging seedlings did not differ overall in their growth or survival, and the interaction with shading was inconsistent between years. Overall, shading had the strongest effect, decreasing stress levels and mortality (in the early-emerging seedlings only, but also growth. A two-week difference in snow-cover duration did not strongly affect the seedlings, although even smaller differences have been shown to affect productivity in alpine and arctic tundra vegetation. Still, snowmelt timing cannot be discarded as important for regeneration in subalpine conditions, because (1 it is likely more critical in very snow-rich or snow-poor mountains or landscape positions; and (2 it can change (subalpine vegetation phenology and productivity, thereby affecting plant interactions, an aspect that should be considered in future studies.

SkyNet: Modular nuclear reaction network library

Science.gov (United States)

Lippuner, Jonas; Roberts, Luke F.

2017-10-01

The general-purpose nuclear reaction network SkyNet evolves the abundances of nuclear species under the influence of nuclear reactions. SkyNet can be used to compute the nucleosynthesis evolution in all astrophysical scenarios where nucleosynthesis occurs. Any list of isotopes can be evolved and SkyNet supports various different types of nuclear reactions. SkyNet is modular, permitting new or existing physics, such as nuclear reactions or equations of state, to be easily added or modified.

Night Eating Disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deniz Tuncel

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Hunger is an awakening related biological impulse. The relationship between hunger and sleep is moderated by the control of homeostatic and circadian rhytms of the body. Abnormal eating behavior during sleep period could result from different causes. Abnormal eating during the main sleep period has been categorized as either night eating syndrome or sleep related eating disorder. Night eating syndrome (NES is an eating disorder characterised by the clinical features of morning anorexia, evening hyperphagia, and insomnia with awakenings followed by nocturnal food ingestion. Recently night eating syndrome, conceptualized as a delayed circadian intake of food. Sleep-related eating disorder, thought to represent a parasomnia and as such included within the revised International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-2, and characterized by nocturnal partial arousals associated with recurrent episodes of involuntary food consumption and altered levels of consciousness. Whether, however, sleep-related eating disorder and night eating syndrome represent different diseases or are part of a continuum is still debated. This review summarizes their characteristics, treatment outcomes and differences between them.

parkITsmart: minimization of cruising for parking

OpenAIRE

Tsiaras, Christos; Hobi, Livio; Hofstetter, Fabian; Liniger, Samuel; Stiller, Burkhard

2015-01-01

Finding a parking space in urban areas is a daily challenge for drivers across the world, due to the increasing amount of vehicles and the limited amount of parking spaces. Drivers who are looking for a parking space in peak hours are often forced to drive around city blocks until they spot a free parking space. This process is termed in literature “cruising for parking” and is proven to (a) cost a lot of time and gas for drivers, (b) generate unnecessary traffic load, and (c) affect the envi...

Exploring en-route parking type and parking-search route choice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Bekhor, Sholomo

2011-01-01

This paper describes the first phase of an on-going research investigating the joint choice of parking type, parking facility and cruising-for-parking route. The importance of this issue derives from the significant share of cruising-for-parking traffic in urban areas, the relevance of parking po...

Potential Visual Impacts of Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development within Solar Energy Zones on Selected Viewpoints in Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, and El Camino Real De Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, Robert G. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Abplanalp, Jennifer M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Cantwell, Brian L. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Beckman, Kevin J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2013-06-01

In connection with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Solar PEIS), Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) has conducted an extended visual impact analysis for selected key observation points (KOPs) within three National Park Service (NPS) units located within the 25-mi (40-km) viewshed of four solar energy zones (SEZs) identified in the Solar PEIS. The analysis includes only those NPS units that the Solar PEIS identified as potentially subject to moderate or strong visual contrasts associated with solar development within the SEZs. The NPS units included in the analysis are Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and El Camino Real De Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. The analysis showed that certain KOPs in each of these NPS units could potentially be subject to major visual contrast and impacts from solar development within the SEZs, but many of the KOPs would likely be subject to moderate, minor, or negligible contrasts and impacts, generally because they were relatively distant from the relevant SEZ, had views of the SEZ partially blocked by intervening terrain, and/or had very low vertical angles of view toward the SEZ. For all three NPS units, power tower facilities were found to be major contributors to potential visual contrasts, primarily because of the long-distance visibility of intensely bright reflection of light from the receivers on the central towers, but also because of the height and strong vertical line of the tower structures and the potential for night-sky impacts from FAA-mandated hazard navigation lighting.

Model for the angular distribution of sky radiance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooper, F C; Brunger, A P

1979-08-01

A flexible mathematical model is introduced which describes the radiance of the dome of the sky under various conditions. This three-component continuous distribution (TCCD) model is compounded by the superposition of three separate terms, the isotropic, circumsolar and horizon brightening terms, each representing the contribution of a particular sky characteristic. In use a particular sky condition is characterized by the values of the coefficients of each of these three terms, defining the distribution of the total diffuse component. The TCCD model has been demonstrated to fit both the normalized clear sky data and the normalized overcast sky data with an RMS error of about ten percent of the man overall sky radiance. By extension the model could describe variable or partly clouded sky conditions. The model can aid in improving the prediction of solar collector performance.

From Near-Neutral to Strongly Stratified: Adequately Modelling the Clear-Sky Nocturnal Boundary Layer at Cabauw.

Science.gov (United States)

Baas, P; van de Wiel, B J H; van der Linden, S J A; Bosveld, F C

2018-01-01

The performance of an atmospheric single-column model (SCM) is studied systematically for stably-stratified conditions. To this end, 11 years (2005-2015) of daily SCM simulations were compared to observations from the Cabauw observatory, The Netherlands. Each individual clear-sky night was classified in terms of the ambient geostrophic wind speed with a [Formula: see text] bin-width. Nights with overcast conditions were filtered out by selecting only those nights with an average net radiation of less than [Formula: see text]. A similar procedure was applied to the observational dataset. A comparison of observed and modelled ensemble-averaged profiles of wind speed and potential temperature and time series of turbulent fluxes showed that the model represents the dynamics of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) at Cabauw very well for a broad range of mechanical forcing conditions. No obvious difference in model performance was found between near-neutral and strongly-stratified conditions. Furthermore, observed NBL regime transitions are represented in a natural way. The reference model version performs much better than a model version that applies excessive vertical mixing as is done in several (global) operational models. Model sensitivity runs showed that for weak-wind conditions the inversion strength depends much more on details of the land-atmosphere coupling than on the turbulent mixing. The presented results indicate that in principle the physical parametrizations of large-scale atmospheric models are sufficiently equipped for modelling stably-stratified conditions for a wide range of forcing conditions.

From Near-Neutral to Strongly Stratified: Adequately Modelling the Clear-Sky Nocturnal Boundary Layer at Cabauw

Science.gov (United States)

Baas, P.; van de Wiel, B. J. H.; van der Linden, S. J. A.; Bosveld, F. C.

2018-02-01

The performance of an atmospheric single-column model (SCM) is studied systematically for stably-stratified conditions. To this end, 11 years (2005-2015) of daily SCM simulations were compared to observations from the Cabauw observatory, The Netherlands. Each individual clear-sky night was classified in terms of the ambient geostrophic wind speed with a 1 m s^{-1} bin-width. Nights with overcast conditions were filtered out by selecting only those nights with an average net radiation of less than - 30 W m^{-2}. A similar procedure was applied to the observational dataset. A comparison of observed and modelled ensemble-averaged profiles of wind speed and potential temperature and time series of turbulent fluxes showed that the model represents the dynamics of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) at Cabauw very well for a broad range of mechanical forcing conditions. No obvious difference in model performance was found between near-neutral and strongly-stratified conditions. Furthermore, observed NBL regime transitions are represented in a natural way. The reference model version performs much better than a model version that applies excessive vertical mixing as is done in several (global) operational models. Model sensitivity runs showed that for weak-wind conditions the inversion strength depends much more on details of the land-atmosphere coupling than on the turbulent mixing. The presented results indicate that in principle the physical parametrizations of large-scale atmospheric models are sufficiently equipped for modelling stably-stratified conditions for a wide range of forcing conditions.

VLITE Surveys the Sky: A 340 MHz Companion to the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Wendy; Clarke, Tracy; Brisken, Walter; Cotton, William; Richards, Emily E.; Giacintucci, Simona; Kassim, Namir

2018-01-01

The VLA Low Band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (VLITE; ) is a commensal observing system on the Karl G. Janksy Very Large Array (VLA) which was developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and NRAO. A 64 MHz sub-band from the prime focus 240-470 MHz dipoles is correlated during nearly all regular VLA observations. VLITE uses dedicated samplers and fibers, as well as a custom designed, real-time DiFX software correlator, and requires no additional resources from the VLA system running the primary science program. The experiment has been operating since November 2014 with 10 antennas; a recent expansion in summer 2017 increased that number to 16 and more than doubled the number of baselines.The VLA Sky Survey (VLASS; ), is an ongoing survey of the entire sky visible to the VLA at a frequency of 2-4 GHz. The observations are made using an "on-the-fly" (OTF) continuous RA scanning technique which fills in the sky by observing along rows of constant declination. VLITE breaks the data into 2-second integrations and correlates these at a central position every 1.5 degrees. All data for each correlator position is imaged separately, corrected and weighted by an appropriately elongated primary beam model, and then combined in the image plane to create a mosaic of the sky. A catalog of the sources is extracted to provide a 340 MHz sky model.We present preliminary images and catalogs from the 2017 VLASS observations which began in early September, 2017, and continued on a nearly daily basis throughout the fall. In addition to providing a unique sky model at 340 MHz, these data complement VLASS by providing spectral indices for all cataloged sources.

iParking: an intelligent indoor location-based smartphone parking service.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-10-31

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution.

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Chen

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution.

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-01-01

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution. PMID:23202179

National Parks

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — National Park Service unit boundaries (NTAD). These park boundaries signify legislative boundary definitions and local park names have been consolidated according to...

Solar irradiance forecasting at one-minute intervals for different sky conditions using sky camera images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alonso-Montesinos, J.; Batlles, F.J.; Portillo, C.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The solar resource has been predicted for three hours at 1-min intervals. • Digital image levels and cloud motion vectors are joint for irradiance forecasting. • The three radiation components have been predicted under different sky conditions. • Diffuse and global radiation has an nRMSE value around 10% in all sky conditions. • Beam irradiance is predicted with an nRMSE value of about 15% in overcast skies. - Abstract: In the search for new techniques to predict atmospheric features that might be useful to solar power plant operators, we have carried out solar irradiance forecasting using emerging sky camera technology. Digital image levels are converted into irradiances and then the maximum cross-correlation method is applied to obtain future predictions. This methodology is a step forward in the study of the solar resource, essential to solar plant operators in adapting a plant’s operating procedures to atmospheric conditions and to improve electricity generation. The results are set out using different statistical parameters, in which beam, diffuse and global irradiances give a constant normalized root-mean-square error value over the time interval for all sky conditions. The average measure is 25.44% for beam irradiance; 11.60% for diffuse irradiance and 11.17% for global irradiance.

Daytime Water Detection Based on Sky Reflections

Science.gov (United States)

Rankin, Arturo; Matthies, Larry; Bellutta, Paolo

2011-01-01

A water body s surface can be modeled as a horizontal mirror. Water detection based on sky reflections and color variation are complementary. A reflection coefficient model suggests sky reflections dominate the color of water at ranges > 12 meters. Water detection based on sky reflections: (1) geometrically locates the pixel in the sky that is reflecting on a candidate water pixel on the ground (2) predicts if the ground pixel is water based on color similarity and local terrain features. Water detection has been integrated on XUVs.

An assessment of human-elephant conflict in Manas National Park, Assam, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.K. Nath

2009-06-01

Full Text Available An assessment of human-elephant conflict was carried out in the fringe villages around Manas National Park, Assam during 2005-06. The available forest department conflict records since 1991 onwards were also incorporated during analysis. Conflict was intense in the months of July-August and was mostly concentrated along the forest boundary areas, decreasing with distance from the Park. Crop damage occurred during two seasons; paddy (the major crop suffered the most due to raiding. Crop maturity and frequency of raiding were positively correlated. Single bull elephants were involved in conflicts more frequently (59% than female herds (41%, while herds were involved in majority of crop raiding cases. Of the single elephants, 88% were makhnas and 11.9% were tuskers. The average herd size recorded was 8 individuals, with group size ranging up to 16. Mitigation measures presently adopted involve traditional drive-away techniques including making noise by shouting, drum beating, bursting fire crackers and firing gun shots into the air, and using torch light, pelting stones and throwing burning torches. Kunkis have been used in severe cases. Machans are used for guarding the crops. Combinations of methods are most effective. Family herds were easily deflected, while single bulls were difficult to ward off. Affected villagers have suggested methods like regular patrolling (39% by the Forest Department officials along the Park boundary, erection of a concrete wall (18% along the Park boundary, electric fencing (13%, simply drive away (13%, culling (11% and lighting the Park boundary during night hours (6%. Attempts to reduce conflict by changing the traditional cropping pattern by introducing some elephant-repellent alternative cash crops (e.g. lemon and chilli are under experiment.

Smart parking barrier

KAUST Repository

Alharbi, Abdulrazaq M.

2016-01-01

positioning of the movable parking barrier, and a parking controller configured to initiate movement of the parking barrier, via the barrier drive. The movable parking barrier can be positioned between a first position that restricts access to the parking

Nightmares and Night Terrors

Science.gov (United States)

... able to tell you what happened in the dream and why it was scary. Your child may have trouble going back to sleep. Your child might have the same dream again on other nights. What are night terrors? ...

Rural Latino youth park use: characteristics, park amenities, and physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Cynthia K; Saelens, Brain E; Thompson, Beti

2011-06-01

Less than half of youth engage in sufficient physical activity to achieve health benefits. Key environmental factors of park and recreation spaces may influence youth physical activity. We sought to ascertain youth characteristics and behaviors that attract youth to parks with specific amenities and encourage physical activity while at the parks in a rural, predominantly Latino community. We examined the quality of amenities in the 13 parks and recreation spaces that middle school aged youth have access to in their community using the Environmental Assessment of Parks and Recreation Spaces (EAPRS) tool. Middle school students completed surveys in the school classroom (n = 1,102) regarding park use, physical activity, and intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., motivators). We used logistic regression to identify correlates of any park use, use of higher quality field and court parks, and active and sedentary park use. Younger age, participation in an after school activity, and identification of a team as a motivator were positively associated with any park use. Use of higher quality court and field parks was associated with participation in an after school activity and being Latino. The odds of being active in the parks were greater for boys and Latinos. Older age and alcohol use are correlated with being sedentary at the park, while odds of being sedentary at the park were lower for boys and youth who met physical activity guidelines. Organized team activities may encourage active use of higher quality fields and courts parks by Latino youth; thereby, increasing their level of physical activity.

Determinants of day-night difference in blood pressure, a comparison with determinants of daytime and night-time blood pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Musameh, M D; Nelson, C P; Gracey, J; Tobin, M; Tomaszewski, M; Samani, N J

2017-01-01

Blunted day-night difference in blood pressure (BP) is an independent cardiovascular risk factor, although there is limited information on determinants of diurnal variation in BP. We investigated determinants of day-night difference in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP and how these compared with determinants of daytime and night-time SBP and DBP. We analysed the association of mean daytime, mean night-time and mean day-night difference (defined as (mean daytime-mean night-time)/mean daytime) in SBP and DBP with clinical, lifestyle and biochemical parameters from 1562 adult individuals (mean age 38.6) from 509 nuclear families recruited in the GRAPHIC Study. We estimated the heritability of the various BP phenotypes. In multivariate analysis, there were significant associations of age, sex, markers of adiposity (body mass index and waist-hip ratio), plasma lipids (total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides), serum uric acid, alcohol intake and current smoking status on daytime or night-time SBP and/or DBP. Of these, only age (P=4.7 × 10 -5 ), total cholesterol (P=0.002), plasma triglycerides (P=0.006) and current smoking (P=3.8 × 10 -9 ) associated with day-night difference in SBP, and age (P=0.001), plasma triglyceride (P=2.2 × 10 -5 ) and current smoking (3.8 × 10 -4 ) associated with day-night difference in DBP. 24-h, daytime and night-time SBP and DBP showed substantial heritability (ranging from 18-43%). In contrast day-night difference in SBP showed a lower heritability (13%) while heritability of day-night difference in DBP was not significant. These data suggest that specific clinical, lifestyle and biochemical factors contribute to inter-individual variation in daytime, night-time and day-night differences in SBP and DBP. Variation in day-night differences in BP is largely non-genetic.

Determinants of day–night difference in blood pressure, a comparison with determinants of daytime and night-time blood pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Musameh, M D; Nelson, C P; Gracey, J; Tobin, M; Tomaszewski, M; Samani, N J

2017-01-01

Blunted day–night difference in blood pressure (BP) is an independent cardiovascular risk factor, although there is limited information on determinants of diurnal variation in BP. We investigated determinants of day–night difference in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP and how these compared with determinants of daytime and night-time SBP and DBP. We analysed the association of mean daytime, mean night-time and mean day–night difference (defined as (mean daytime−mean night-time)/mean daytime) in SBP and DBP with clinical, lifestyle and biochemical parameters from 1562 adult individuals (mean age 38.6) from 509 nuclear families recruited in the GRAPHIC Study. We estimated the heritability of the various BP phenotypes. In multivariate analysis, there were significant associations of age, sex, markers of adiposity (body mass index and waist–hip ratio), plasma lipids (total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides), serum uric acid, alcohol intake and current smoking status on daytime or night-time SBP and/or DBP. Of these, only age (P=4.7 × 10−5), total cholesterol (P=0.002), plasma triglycerides (P=0.006) and current smoking (P=3.8 × 10−9) associated with day–night difference in SBP, and age (P=0.001), plasma triglyceride (P=2.2 × 10−5) and current smoking (3.8 × 10−4) associated with day–night difference in DBP. 24-h, daytime and night-time SBP and DBP showed substantial heritability (ranging from 18–43%). In contrast day–night difference in SBP showed a lower heritability (13%) while heritability of day–night difference in DBP was not significant. These data suggest that specific clinical, lifestyle and biochemical factors contribute to inter-individual variation in daytime, night-time and day–night differences in SBP and DBP. Variation in day–night differences in BP is largely non-genetic. PMID:26984683

Analysis of Parking Reliability Guidance of Urban Parking Variable Message Sign System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenyu Mei

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Operators of parking guidance and information systems (PGIS often encounter difficulty in determining when and how to provide reliable car park availability information to drivers. Reliability has become a key factor to ensure the benefits of urban PGIS. The present paper is the first to define the guiding parking reliability of urban parking variable message signs (VMSs. By analyzing the parking choice under guiding and optional parking lots, a guiding parking reliability model was constructed. A mathematical program was formulated to determine the guiding parking reliability of VMS. The procedures were applied to a numerical example, and the factors that affect guiding reliability were analyzed. The quantitative changes of the parking berths and the display conditions of VMS were found to be the most important factors influencing guiding reliability. The parking guiding VMS achieved the best benefit when the parking supply was close to or was less than the demand. The combination of a guiding parking reliability model and parking choice behavior offers potential for PGIS operators to reduce traffic congestion in central city areas.

Using routine meteorological data to derive sky conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Pagès

2003-03-01

Full Text Available Sky condition is a matter of interest for public and weather predictors as part of weather analyses. In this study, we apply a method that uses total solar radiation and other meteorological data recorded by an automatic station for deriving an estimation of the sky condition. The impetus of this work is the intention of the Catalan Meteorological Service (SMC to provide the public with real-time information about the sky condition. The methodology for deriving sky conditions from meteorological records is based on a supervised classification technique called maximum likelihood method. In this technique we first need to define features which are derived from measured variables. Second, we must decide which sky conditions are intended to be distinguished. Some analyses have led us to use four sky conditions: (a cloudless or almost cloudless sky, (b scattered clouds, (c mostly cloudy – high clouds, (d overcast – low clouds. An additional case, which may be treated separately, corresponds to precipitation (rain or snow. The main features for estimating sky conditions are, as expected, solar radiation and its temporal variability. The accuracy of this method of guessing sky conditions compared with human observations is around 70% when applied to four sites in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula. The agreement increases if we take into account the uncertainty both in the automatic classifier and in visual observations.Key words. Meteorological and atmospheric dynamics (instruments and techniques; radiative processes – Atmospheric composition and structure (cloud physics and chemistry

Real-time Transients from Palomar-QUEST Synoptic Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Mahabal, Ashish A.; Drake, A.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Donalek, C.; Glikman, E.; Graham, M. J.; Williams, R.; Baltay, C.; Rabinowitz, D.; Bauer, A.; Ellman, N.; Lauer, R.; PQ Team Indiana

2006-12-01

The data from the driftscans of the Palomar-QUEST synoptic sky survey is now routinely processed in real-time. We describe here the various components of the pipeline. We search for both variable and transient objects, including supernovae, variable AGN, GRB orphan afterglows, cataclysmic variables, interesting stellar flares, novae, other types of variable stars, and do not exclude the possibility of even entirely new types of objects or phenomena. In order to flag as many asteroids as possible we have been doing two 4-hour scans of the same area covering 250 sq. deg and detect over a million sources. Flagging a source as a candidate transient requires detection in at least two filters besides its absence in fiducial sky constructed from past images. We use various software filters to eliminate instrument artifacts, and false alarms due to the proximity of bright, saturated stars which dominate the initial detection rate. This leaves up to a couple of hundred asteroids and genuine transients. Previously known asteroids are flagged through an automated comparison with a databases of known asteroids, and new ones through apparent motion. In the end, we have typically 10 20 astrophysical transients remaining per night, and we are currently working on their automated classification, and spectroscopic follow-up. We present preliminary results from real-time follow-up of a few candidates carried out with the Palomar 200-inch telescope as part of a pilot project. Finally we outline the plans for the much harder problem of classifying the transients more accurately for distribution through VOEventNet to astronomers interested only in specific types of transients, more details and overall setting of which is covered in our VOEventNet poster (Drake et al.)

The Python Sky Model: software for simulating the Galactic microwave sky

Science.gov (United States)

Thorne, B.; Dunkley, J.; Alonso, D.; Næss, S.

2017-08-01

We present a numerical code to simulate maps of Galactic emission in intensity and polarization at microwave frequencies, aiding in the design of cosmic microwave background experiments. This python code builds on existing efforts to simulate the sky by providing an easy-to-use interface and is based on publicly available data from the WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) and Planck satellite missions. We simulate synchrotron, thermal dust, free-free and anomalous microwave emission over the whole sky, in addition to the cosmic microwave background, and include a set of alternative prescriptions for the frequency dependence of each component, for example, polarized dust with multiple temperatures and a decorrelation of the signals with frequency, which introduce complexity that is consistent with current data. We also present a new prescription for adding small-scale realizations of these components at resolutions greater than current all-sky measurements. The usefulness of the code is demonstrated by forecasting the impact of varying foreground complexity on the recovered tensor-to-scalar ratio for the LiteBIRD satellite. The code is available at: https://github.com/bthorne93/PySM_public.

Reducing the ecological consequences of night-time light pollution: options and developments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaston, Kevin J; Davies, Thomas W; Bennie, Jonathan; Hopkins, John

2012-12-01

1. Much concern has been expressed about the ecological consequences of night-time light pollution. This concern is most often focused on the encroachment of artificial light into previously unlit areas of the night-time environment, but changes in the spectral composition, duration and spatial pattern of light are also recognized as having ecological effects.2. Here, we examine the potential consequences for organisms of five management options to reduce night-time light pollution. These are to (i) prevent areas from being artificially lit; (ii) limit the duration of lighting; (iii) reduce the 'trespass' of lighting into areas that are not intended to be lit (including the night sky); (iv) change the intensity of lighting; and (v) change the spectral composition of lighting.3. Maintaining and increasing natural unlit areas is likely to be the most effective option for reducing the ecological effects of lighting. However, this will often conflict with other social and economic objectives. Decreasing the duration of lighting will reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, but is unlikely to alleviate many impacts on nocturnal and crepuscular animals, as peak times of demand for lighting frequently coincide with those in the activities of these species. Reducing the trespass of lighting will maintain heterogeneity even in otherwise well-lit areas, providing dark refuges that mobile animals can exploit. Decreasing the intensity of lighting will reduce energy consumption and limit both skyglow and the area impacted by high-intensity direct light. Shifts towards 'whiter' light are likely to increase the potential range of environmental impacts as light is emitted across a broader range of wavelengths.4.Synthesis and applications. The artificial lightscape will change considerably over coming decades with the drive for more cost-effective low-carbon street lighting solutions and growth in the artificially lit area. Developing lighting strategies that minimize adverse

Spectral and Spatial UV Sky Radiance Measurements at a Seaside Resort Under Clear Sky and Slightly Overcast Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandmann, Henner; Stick, Carsten

2014-01-01

Spatial measurements of the diffusely scattered sky radiance at a seaside resort under clear sky and slightly overcast conditions have been used to calculate the sky radiance distribution across the upper hemisphere. The measurements were done in the summer season when solar UV radiation is highest. The selected wavelengths were 307, 350 and 550 nm representing the UVB, UVA and VIS band. Absolute values of radiance differ considerably between the wavelengths. Normalizing the measured values by use of direct solar radiance made the spatial distributions of unequal sky radiance comparable. The results convey a spatial impression of the different distributions of the radiance at the three wavelengths. Relative scattered radiance intensity is one order of magnitude greater in UVB than in VIS, whereas in UVA lies roughly in between. Under slightly overcast conditions scattered radiance is increased at all three wavelengths by about one order of magnitude. These measurements taken at the seaside underline the importance of diffuse scattered radiance. The effect of shading parts of the sky can be estimated from the distribution of sky radiance. This knowledge might be useful for sun seekers and in the treatment of people staying at the seaside for therapeutic purposes. © 2013 The American Society of Photobiology.

Analysis of Parking Reliability Guidance of Urban Parking Variable Message Sign System

OpenAIRE

Zhenyu Mei; Ye Tian; Dongping Li

2012-01-01

Operators of parking guidance and information systems (PGIS) often encounter difficulty in determining when and how to provide reliable car park availability information to drivers. Reliability has become a key factor to ensure the benefits of urban PGIS. The present paper is the first to define the guiding parking reliability of urban parking variable message signs (VMSs). By analyzing the parking choice under guiding and optional parking lots, a guiding parking reliability model was constru...

Dwellers of the Sky: Serpent in the Greco-Roman Zodiac

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

dr.Wael Sayed Soliman

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Ancient Egyptians were close observers of the heavenly bodies behavior from prehistoric times, which evidenced by the numerous astronomical tools and scenes they left. Throughout the Egyptian history, images of night sky decorated coffins, tombs, temples and some other different kinds of monuments. These images served as a theoretical and visual tribute to the solar cycle and bore strong renewing associations. This article investigates the function of the serpent within a various collection of ancient Egyptian zodiacs dating back to the Greco-Roman Period, which was readily incorporated into the existing tradition of astronomical iconography. In order to explain the adoption of the serpent, this article examines its role in the astronomical images. There are no actual evidences for serpent iconography found in ancient astronomical scenes before the Greco-Roman Period, I ample to prove that knowledge of those creatures existed from the earliest time, and pervade the Egyptian symbolism. The details of the serpent picture have sketched and valid for the Greco-Roman Egypt, starting from the Third Century B.C.

Night Eating Disorders

OpenAIRE

Deniz Tuncel; Fatma Özlem Orhan

2009-01-01

Hunger is an awakening related biological impulse. The relationship between hunger and sleep is moderated by the control of homeostatic and circadian rhytms of the body. Abnormal eating behavior during sleep period could result from different causes. Abnormal eating during the main sleep period has been categorized as either night eating syndrome or sleep related eating disorder. Night eating syndrome (NES) is an eating disorder characterised by the clinical features of morning anorexia, even...

Using routine meteorological data to derive sky conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Pagès

Full Text Available Sky condition is a matter of interest for public and weather predictors as part of weather analyses. In this study, we apply a method that uses total solar radiation and other meteorological data recorded by an automatic station for deriving an estimation of the sky condition. The impetus of this work is the intention of the Catalan Meteorological Service (SMC to provide the public with real-time information about the sky condition. The methodology for deriving sky conditions from meteorological records is based on a supervised classification technique called maximum likelihood method. In this technique we first need to define features which are derived from measured variables. Second, we must decide which sky conditions are intended to be distinguished. Some analyses have led us to use four sky conditions: (a cloudless or almost cloudless sky, (b scattered clouds, (c mostly cloudy – high clouds, (d overcast – low clouds. An additional case, which may be treated separately, corresponds to precipitation (rain or snow. The main features for estimating sky conditions are, as expected, solar radiation and its temporal variability. The accuracy of this method of guessing sky conditions compared with human observations is around 70% when applied to four sites in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula. The agreement increases if we take into account the uncertainty both in the automatic classifier and in visual observations.

Key words. Meteorological and atmospheric dynamics (instruments and techniques; radiative processes – Atmospheric composition and structure (cloud physics and chemistry

Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pepłońska, Beata; Burdelak, Weronika; Krysicka, Jolanta; Bukowska, Agnieszka; Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej; Sobala, Wojciech; Klimecka-Muszyńska, Dorota; Rybacki, Marcin

2014-10-01

Night shift work has been linked to some chronic diseases. Modification of lifestyle by night work may partially contribute to the development of these diseases, nevertheless, so far epidemiological evidence is limited. The aim of the study was to explore association between night shift work and lifestyle factors using data from a cross-sectional study among blue-collar workers employed in industrial plants in Łódź, Poland. The anonymous questionnaire was self-administered among 605 employees (236 women and 369 men, aged 35 or more) - 434 individuals currently working night shifts. Distribution of the selected lifestyle related factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), number of main meals and the hour of the last meal was compared between current, former, and never night shift workers. Adjusted ORs or predicted means were calculated, as a measure of the associations between night shift work and lifestyle factors, with age, marital status and education included in the models as covariates. Recreational inactivity (defined here as less than one hour per week of recreational physical activity) was associated with current night shift work when compared to never night shift workers (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.13-5.22) among men. Alcohol abstinence and later time of the last meal was associated with night shift work among women. Statistically significant positive relationship between night shift work duration and BMI was observed among men (p = 0.029). This study confirms previous studies reporting lower exercising among night shift workers and tendency to increase body weight. This finding provides important public health implication for the prevention of chronic diseases among night shift workers. Initiatives promoting physical activity addressed in particular to the night shift workers are recommended.

Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beata Pepłońska

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Night shift work has been linked to some chronic diseases. Modification of lifestyle by night work may partially contribute to the development of these diseases, nevertheless, so far epidemiological evidence is limited. The aim of the study was to explore association between night shift work and lifestyle factors using data from a cross-sectional study among blue-collar workers employed in industrial plants in Łódź, Poland. Material and Methods: The anonymous questionnaire was self-administered among 605 employees (236 women and 369 men, aged 35 or more - 434 individuals currently wor­king night shifts. Distribution of the selected lifestyle related factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI, number of main meals and the hour of the last meal was compared between current, former, and never night shift workers. Adjusted ORs or predicted means were calculated, as a measure of the associations between night shift work and lifestyle factors, with age, marital status and education included in the models as covariates. Results: Recreational inactivity (defined here as less than one hour per week of recreational physical activity was associated with current night shift work when compared to never night shift workers (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.13-5.22 among men. Alcohol abstinence and later time of the last meal was associated with night shift work among women. Statistically significant positive relationship between night shift work duration and BMI was observed among men (p = 0.029. Conclusions: This study confirms previous studies reporting lower exercising among night shift workers and tendency to increase body weight. This finding provides important public health implication for the prevention of chronic diseases among night shift workers. Initiatives promoting physical activity addressed in particular to the night shift workers are recommended.

Night and day in the VA: associations between night shift staffing, nurse workforce characteristics, and length of stay.

Science.gov (United States)

de Cordova, Pamela B; Phibbs, Ciaran S; Schmitt, Susan K; Stone, Patricia W

2014-04-01

In hospitals, nurses provide patient care around the clock, but the impact of night staff characteristics on patient outcomes is not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the association between night nurse staffing and workforce characteristics and the length of stay (LOS) in 138 veterans affairs (VA) hospitals using panel data from 2002 through 2006. Staffing in hours per patient day was higher during the day than at night. The day nurse workforce had more educational preparation than the night workforce. Nurses' years of experience at the unit, facility, and VA level were greater at night. In multivariable analyses controlling for confounding variables, higher night staffing and a higher skill mix were associated with reduced LOS. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluation of Clear Sky Models for Satellite-Based Irradiance Estimates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gotseff, Peter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2013-12-01

This report describes an intercomparison of three popular broadband clear sky solar irradiance model results with measured data, as well as satellite-based model clear sky results compared to measured clear sky data. The authors conclude that one of the popular clear sky models (the Bird clear sky model developed by Richard Bird and Roland Hulstrom) could serve as a more accurate replacement for current satellite-model clear sky estimations. Additionally, the analysis of the model results with respect to model input parameters indicates that rather than climatological, annual, or monthly mean input data, higher-time-resolution input parameters improve the general clear sky model performance.

Gaia , an all sky astrometric and photometric survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrasco, J.M.

2017-01-01

Gaia space mission includes a low resolution spectroscopic instrument to classify and parametrize the observed sources. Gaia is a full-sky unbiased survey down to about 20th magnitude. The scanning law yields a rather uniform coverage of the sky over the full mission. The data reduction is a global one over the full mission. Both sky coverage and data reduction strategy ensure an unprecedented all-sky homogeneous spectrophotometric survey. Certainly, that survey is of interest for future on-ground and space projects (LSST, PLATO, EUCLID, ...). This work addresses the exploitation of the Gaia spectrophotometry as standard photometry reference through the discussion of the sky coverage, the spectrophotometric precision and the expected uncertainties of the synthetic photometry derived from the low resolution Gaia spectra and photometry.

Partnering to Enhance Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, H.; Shipp, S. S.; Shupla, C. B.; Shaner, A. J.; LaConte, K.

2015-12-01

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas utilizes many partners to support its multi-faceted Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program. The poster will share what we have learned about successful partnerships. One portion of the program is focused on providing training and NASA content and resources to K-12 educators. Teacher workshops are performed in several locations per year, including LPI and the Harris County Department of Education, as well as across the country in cooperation with other programs and NASA Planetary Science missions. To serve the public, LPI holds several public events per year called Sky Fest, featuring activities for children, telescopes for night sky viewing, and a short scientist lecture. For Sky Fest, LPI partners with the NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society; they provide the telescopes and interact with members of the public as they are viewing celestial objects. International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is held annually and involves the same aspects as Sky Fest, but also includes partners from Johnson Space Center's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science group, who provide Apollo samples for the event. Another audience that LPI E/PO serves is the NASA Planetary Science E/PO community. Partnering efforts for the E/PO community include providing subject matter experts for professional development workshops and webinars, connections to groups that work with diverse and underserved audiences, and avenues to collaborate with groups such as the National Park Service and the Afterschool Alliance. Additional information about LPI's E/PO programs can be found at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education. View a list of LPI E/PO's partners here: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/partners/.

Management Training of Sumatra Elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus and Daily Behavior in Flying Squad WWF Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arum Ratnasari

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Flying squad is an established strategy in the effort to resolve the conflict elephants in Tesso Nilo National Park. Flying squad utilizes trainedelephants to chase away wild elephants that come out the national park area. The study aims to identify management training and daily behavior ofSumatran elephant. The study was conducted in the Flying Squad WWF's Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau in March-April 2016 using focal animalsampling and interview. The elephant training curriculum consist of basic training, advanced training and exercise development by combined verbalcommands, visual, and physical. The measured success of training will be seen if the elephants could perform mahout’s commands without any error.Percentage of ingestive behavior showed the highest value at noon, while percentage of shelter seeking and other behavior showed the highest valueat night. It caused the elephants do more displacement to get the food at noon.Keywords: daily behavior, flying squad, focal animal sampling, sumatran elephant, training management

Artificial light at night confounds broad-scale habitat use by migrating birds

Science.gov (United States)

McLaren, James D.; Buler, Jeffrey J.; Schreckengost, Tim; Smolinsky, Jaclyn A.; Boone, Matthew; van Loon, E. Emiel; Dawson, Deanna K.; Walters, Eric L.

2018-01-01

With many of the world's migratory bird populations in alarming decline, broad-scale assessments of responses to migratory hazards may prove crucial to successful conservation efforts. Most birds migrate at night through increasingly light-polluted skies. Bright light sources can attract airborne migrants and lead to collisions with structures, but might also influence selection of migratory stopover habitat and thereby acquisition of food resources. We demonstrate, using multi-year weather radar measurements of nocturnal migrants across the northeastern U.S., that autumnal migrant stopover density increased at regional scales with proximity to the brightest areas, but decreased within a few kilometers of brightly-lit sources. This finding implies broad-scale attraction to artificial light while airborne, impeding selection for extensive forest habitat. Given that high-quality stopover habitat is critical to successful migration, and hindrances during migration can decrease fitness, artificial lights present a potentially heightened conservation concern for migratory bird populations.

Oxidative DNA damage during night shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatti, Parveen; Mirick, Dana K; Randolph, Timothy W; Gong, Jicheng; Buchanan, Diana Taibi; Zhang, Junfeng Jim; Davis, Scott

2017-09-01

We previously reported that compared with night sleep, day sleep among shift workers was associated with reduced urinary excretion of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG), potentially reflecting a reduced ability to repair 8-OH-dG lesions in DNA. We identified the absence of melatonin during day sleep as the likely causative factor. We now investigate whether night work is also associated with reduced urinary excretion of 8-OH-dG. For this cross-sectional study, 50 shift workers with the largest negative differences in night work versus night sleep circulating melatonin levels (measured as 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in urine) were selected from among the 223 shift workers included in our previous study. 8-OH-dG concentrations were measured in stored urine samples using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Mixed effects models were used to compare night work versus night sleep 8-OH-dG levels. Circulating melatonin levels during night work (mean=17.1 ng/mg creatinine/mg creatinine) were much lower than during night sleep (mean=51.7 ng/mg creatinine). In adjusted analyses, average urinary 8-OH-dG levels during the night work period were only 20% of those observed during the night sleep period (95% CI 10% to 30%; psleep, is associated with reduced repair of 8-OH-dG lesions in DNA and that the effect is likely driven by melatonin suppression occurring during night work relative to night sleep. If confirmed, future studies should evaluate melatonin supplementation as a means to restore oxidative DNA damage repair capacity among shift workers. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Infrared Sky Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Stephan D.

2009-02-01

A retrospective is given on infrared sky surveys from Thomas Edison’s proposal in the late 1870s to IRAS, the first sensitive mid- to far-infrared all-sky survey, and the mid-1990s experiments that filled in the IRAS deficiencies. The emerging technology for space-based surveys is highlighted, as is the prominent role the US Defense Department, particularly the Air Force, played in developing and applying detector and cryogenic sensor advances to early mid-infrared probe-rocket and satellite-based surveys. This technology was transitioned to the infrared astronomical community in relatively short order and was essential to the success of IRAS, COBE and ISO. Mention is made of several of the little known early observational programs that were superseded by more successful efforts.

The Night Sky Companion A Yearly Guide to Sky-watching

CERN Document Server

Plotner, Tammy

2008-01-01

Takes a look at astronomy, offering general history, soft science, trivia, observing guidance and motivation. This book provides fresh historical tie-ins, information and objects. It offers unaided-eye observers an opportunity to view many objects or events, learn about their history, science and how 'looking up' can be rewarding

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds. De invloed van de Sep-proefwindcentrale te Oosterbierum (Friesland) op vogels; Deel 3: Aanvlieggedrag overdag

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelman, J E

1992-01-01

The study concerns 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. The flight behavior of birds approaching the wind park system during daylight is also dealt with. For at least a fifth of the observations it was noted whether the birds passing within 100 meters distance of a turbine showed a reaction or not. The proportion of the reactions was related to the wind park in operation or not in operation, and to the distance between the wind turbines, species, flight height, the passing distance, wind direction and wind force. Secondly the flight path of birds approaching the wind park from eastern directions during daylight (real autumn migration) and from southern directions during late afternoon (flights of gulls to night roosts) was studied in detail. Significantly more reactions (11-18%) were recorded with the wind park fully operational compared to the wind park not operational (2%). In total 2203 flight paths of birds approaching the wind park were recorded during 151 hours of observation. The test results showed that a passing distance of less or more than 100 meters of the nearest wind turbine did not affect the proportion of reactions. Several reaction types and combinations were noted, varying from gradual and calm reactions (circa 75%), and panic reactions, occurring just before or while passing the wind turbines. The reactions are shift in the flight path in the horizontal plane (30%), shift in the flight path in the vertical plane (14%), one passing attempt (87%), an accelerated wing beat (14%), an alteration of the angle of the body (21%).

Spatiotemporal change of sky polarization during the total solar eclipse on 29 March 2006 in Turkey: polarization patterns of the eclipsed sky observed by full-sky imaging polarimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Sipocz, Brigitta; Hegedüs, Ramón; Kriska, György; Horváth, Gábor

2008-12-01

Using 180 degrees field-of-view (full-sky) imaging polarimetry, we measured the spatiotemporal change of the polarization of skylight during the total solar eclipse on 29 March 2006 in Turkey. We present our observations here on the temporal variation of the celestial patterns of the degree p and angle alpha of linear polarization of the eclipsed sky measured in the red (650 nm), green (550 nm), and blue (450 nm) parts of the spectrum. We also report on the temporal and spectral change of the positions of neutral (unpolarized, p = 0) points, and points with local minima or maxima of p of the eclipsed sky. Our results are compared with the observations performed by the same polarimetric technique during the total solar eclipse on 11 August 1999 in Hungary. Practically the same characteristics of celestial polarization were encountered during both eclipses. This shows that the observed polarization phenomena of the eclipsed sky may be general.

Experience in Solar System and Sky Motions

Science.gov (United States)

Coles, K. S.

2017-12-01

To help students predict where they will see objects in the sky, they must comprehend sky motion and the relative motions of individual objects. Activities to promote this comprehension among college and secondary students include: Tracking star motion in the planetarium: Students predict star motion by marking the expected path on plastic hemisphere models of the celestial dome. They check their prediction by observing and marking the actual motion. For comprehension, comparing motion in different parts of the sky surpasses two-dimensional views of the sky in books or on computers. Mastery is assessed by the same exercise with the sky set at other latitudes, including those on the other side of the equator. Making sundials: Students first make a horizontal sundial for the latitude of their choice following written directions (e.g., Waugh, 1973). One problem to solve is how to convert sundial time to standard time. A prompt is a picture of the analemma (the position of the Sun in the sky at a fixed clock time over the course of a year). Tests of mastery include the questions, "What accounts for the shape of the analemma?" and "What information is needed to predict the shape of the analemma one would see on other planets?" Reference: Waugh, A. E., 1973, Sundials: their theory and construction: Dover, 228 p.

Parks & benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Holmes, Esbern

2011-01-01

conservation. Increasing visitor flows and cuts in staff resources has put focus on the management of visitor carrying capacities and their relation to landscape structure and zoning. At the same time park authorities face falling public appropriations and receding focus on their conservation functions...... compared to recreation and settlement. The constant priority of the balancing of nature protection and economic utilization gives rise to various experience with land use and visitor management relevant for sustainable development also outside the parks. In European nature parks the handling of visitor...... carrying capacities related to Natura2000-sites and their included habitat type areas is a priority theme for the sustainable management of nature parks. A comparative analysis of conditions and initiatives related to visitor carrying capacities in 8 nature parks in the Baltic region has been carried out...

Daylight and energy implications for CIE standard skies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Danny H.W.

2007-01-01

Recently, the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) has adopted a range of 15 standard skies, which include the existing CIE overcast, very clear and cloudless polluted skies, covering the whole probable spectrum of usual skies found in the world. The traditional daylight factor (DF) approach with the calculations being based on an isotropic overcast sky, however, cannot cater to the dynamic variations in daylight luminance and illuminance as the sun's position changes under non-overcast skies. Currently, we propose a numerical procedure that considers the changes in the luminance of sky elements to predict the interior daylight illuminance under the 15 CIE standard skies. This paper evaluates the method by using a typical room with a large vertical glazing window facing north. The available daylight for the room at mean hourly sun positions in each month in terms of DF and illuminance levels were determined and compared with those based on a computer program, namely, RADIANCE. A modification to the ground reflected component was made when a well defined shadow was cast in front of the window facade. It is shown that the results estimated by the proposed approach are in reasonably good agreement with those produced from RADIANCE. The interior daylight and lighting energy consumption were also determined using the proposed and the traditional DF approaches. The findings reveal that daylighting designs using existing CIE overcast sky only would considerably underestimate the indoor daylight availability and electric lighting energy savings, especially under high design indoor illuminance settings

Organization and management of ATLAS nightly builds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luehring, F; Obreshkov, E; Quarrie, D; Rybkine, G; Undrus, A

2010-01-01

The automated multi-platform software nightly build system is a major component in the ATLAS collaborative software organization, validation and code approval schemes. Code developers from ATLAS participating Institutes spread all around the world use about 30 branches of nightly releases for testing new packages, verification of patches to existing software, and migration to new platforms and compilers. The nightly releases lead up to, and are the basis of, stable software releases used for data processing worldwide. The ATLAS nightly builds are managed by the fully automated NICOS framework on the computing farm with 44 powerful multiprocessor nodes. The ATN test tool is embedded within the nightly system and provides results shortly after full compilations complete. Other test frameworks are synchronized with NICOS jobs and run larger scale validation jobs using the nightly releases. NICOS web pages dynamically provide information about the progress and results of the builds. For faster feedback, E-mail notifications about nightly releases problems are automatically distributed to the developers responsible.

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

OpenAIRE

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-01-01

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service p...

Tropospheric haze and colors of the clear daytime sky.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Raymond L

2015-02-01

To casual observers, haze's visible effects on clear daytime skies may seem mundane: significant scattering by tropospheric aerosols visibly (1) reduces the luminance contrast of distant objects and (2) desaturates sky blueness. However, few published measurements of hazy-sky spectra and chromaticities exist to compare with these naked-eye observations. Hyperspectral imaging along sky meridians of clear and hazy skies at one inland and two coastal sites shows that they have characteristic colorimetric signatures of scattering and absorption by haze aerosols. In addition, a simple spectral transfer function and a second-order scattering model of skylight reveal the net spectral and colorimetric effects of haze.

Aquarius L-Band Radiometers Calibration Using Cold Sky Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Dinnat, Emmanuel P.; Le Vine, David M.; Piepmeier, Jeffrey R.; Brown, Shannon T.; Hong, Liang

2015-01-01

An important element in the calibration plan for the Aquarius radiometers is to look at the cold sky. This involves rotating the satellite 180 degrees from its nominal Earth viewing configuration to point the main beams at the celestial sky. At L-band, the cold sky provides a stable, well-characterized scene to be used as a calibration reference. This paper describes the cold sky calibration for Aquarius and how it is used as part of the absolute calibration. Cold sky observations helped establish the radiometer bias, by correcting for an error in the spillover lobe of the antenna pattern, and monitor the long-term radiometer drift.

Associations between number of consecutive night shifts and impairment of neurobehavioral performance during a subsequent simulated night shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, Michelle; Sletten, Tracey L; Ferguson, Sally A; Grunstein, Ronald R; Anderson, Clare; Kennaway, David J; Lockley, Steven W; Rajaratnam, Shantha Mw

2016-05-01

This study aimed to investigate sleep and circadian phase in the relationships between neurobehavioral performance and the number of consecutive shifts worked. Thirty-four shift workers [20 men, mean age 31.8 (SD 10.9) years] worked 2-7 consecutive night shifts immediately prior to a laboratory-based, simulated night shift. For 7 days prior, participants worked their usual shift sequence, and sleep was assessed with logs and actigraphy. Participants completed a 10-minute auditory psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) at the start (~21:00 hours) and end (~07:00 hours) of the simulated night shift. Mean reaction times (RT), number of lapses and RT distribution was compared between those who worked 2-3 consecutive night shifts versus those who worked 4-7 shifts. Following 4-7 shifts, night shift workers had significantly longer mean RT at the start and end of shift, compared to those who worked 2-3 shifts. The slowest and fastest 10% RT were significantly slower at the start, but not end, of shift among participants who worked 4-7 nights. Those working 4-7 nights also demonstrated a broader RT distribution at the start and end of shift and had significantly slower RT based on cumulative distribution analysis (5 (th), 25 (th), 50 (th), 75 (th)percentiles at the start of shift; 75th percentile at the end of shift). No group differences in sleep parameters were found for 7 days and 24 hours prior to the simulated night shift. A greater number of consecutive night shifts has a negative impact on neurobehavioral performance, likely due to cognitive slowing.

AHP 47: A NIGHT DATE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phun tshogs dbang rgyal ཕུན་ཚོགས་དབང་རྒྱལ།

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The author was born in 1993 in Ska chung (Gaqun Village, Nyin mtha' (Ningmute Township, Rma lho (Henan Mongolian Autonomous County, Rma lho (Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai Province, PR China. Night dating was popular for teenage boys some years ago. They rode horses and yaks when they went night dating. They generally rode yaks, because horses were important for their families and used for such important tasks as pursuing bandits and going to the county town for grain and supplies. An early experience with night dating is described.

Polarization patterns of the twilight sky

Science.gov (United States)

Cronin, Thomas W.; Warrant, Eric J.; Greiner, Birgit

2005-08-01

Although natural light sources produce depolarized light, patterns of partially linearly polarized light appear in the sky due to scattering from air molecules, dust, and aerosols. Many animals, including bees and ants, orient themselves to patterns of polarization that are present in daytime skies, when the intensity is high and skylight polarization is strong and predictable. The halicitid bee Megalopta genalis inhabits rainforests in Central America. Unlike typical bees, it forages before sunrise and after sunset, when light intensities under the forest canopy are very low, and must find its way to food sources and return to its nest in visually challenging circumstances. An important cue for the orientation could be patterns of polarization in the twilight sky. Therefore, we used a calibrated digital camera to image skylight polarization in an overhead patch of sky, 87.6° across, before dawn on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where the bees are found. We simultaneously measured the spectral properties of polarized light in a cloudless patch of sky 15° across centered on the zenith. We also performed full-sky imaging of polarization before dawn and after dusk on Lizard Island in Australia, another tropical island. During twilight, celestial polarized light occurs in a wide band stretching perpendicular to the location of the hidden sun and reaching typical degrees of polarization near 80% at wavelengths >600 nm. This pattern appears about 45 minutes before local sunrise or disappears 45 minutes after local sunset (about 20 minutes after the onset of astronomical twilight at dawn, or before its end at dusk) and extends with little change through the entire twilight period. Such a strong and reliable orientation cue could be used for flight orientation by any animal with polarization sensitivity that navigates during twilight.

Parks, Place and Pedagogy - Education Partnerships with the National Park Service

Science.gov (United States)

Vye, E. C.; Rose, W. I.; Nash, B.; Klawiter, M.; Huntoon, J. E.; Engelmann, C. A.; Gochis, E. E.; MiTEP

2011-12-01

The Michigan Teaching Excellence Program (MITEP) is a multi-year program of teacher leadership development that empowers science teachers in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Jackson to lead their schools and districts through the process of improving science teaching and learning. A component of this program is facilitated through partnership between academia, K-12 educators, and the National Park Service (NPS) that aims to develop place-based education strategies that improve diversity and Earth Science literacy. This tangible education method draws upon both the sense of place that National Parks offer and the art of interpretation employed by the park service. Combined, these deepen cognitive process and provide a more diverse reflection of what place means and the processes behind shaping what we see. Our partnerships present participants the opportunity to intern in a Midwest national park for 3-8 weeks during their third year in the program. In summer 2011, eleven teachers from the Grand Rapids school district participated in this innovative way of learning and teaching Earth Science. One goal was to develop geological interpretive materials desired and needed for the parks. Secondly, and important to place-based educational methodologies, these deliverables will be used as a way of bringing the parks to urban classrooms. Participants lived in the parks and worked directly with both national park and Michigan Tech staff to create lesson plans, podcasts, media clips, video, and photographic documentation of their experiences. These lesson plans will be hosted in the Views of the National Park website in an effort to provide innovative teaching resources nationally for teachers or free-choice learners wishing to access information on Midwest national parks. To the benefit of park staff, working with teachers from urban areas offered an opportunity for park staff to access diverse learners in urban settings unable to visit the park. The foundation has been laid for

The Accuracy of RADIANCE Software in Modelling Overcast Sky Condition

OpenAIRE

Baharuddin

2013-01-01

A validation study of the sky models of RADIANCE simulation software against the overcast sky condition has been carried out in order to test the accuracy of sky model of RADIANCE for modeling the overcast sky condition in Hong Kong. Two sets of data have been analysed. Firstly, data collected from a set of experiments using a physical scale model. In this experiment, the illuminance of four points inside the model was measured under real sky conditions. Secondly, the RADIANCE simulation has ...

Influence of Parking Price on Parking Garage Users’ Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Simićević

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Parking charge is a powerful tool for solving parking and traffic congestion problems. In order to achieve the expected effects without any adverse impact it is necessary to understand well the users’ responses to this policy. This paper, based on a sample of interviewed parking garage users, has developed binary logit model for identification and quantification of characteristics of users and trips, on which the acceptance of parking price is dependent. In addition, multinomial logit model has been made in order to predict what the users will opt for when faced with an increase in parking price. For the first time the parameter “shorten duration” has been introduced which has shown to be the most significant in making behaviour-related decisions. The results show that the users with the purpose work are the most sensitive to an increase in parking charge, what can be deemed positive for policy makers. However, great sensitivity of the users with the purpose shopping should cause their concern. The results of the multinomial model show that they would not discontinue coming into the area after all.

Mathematical model of parking space unit for triangular parking area

Science.gov (United States)

Syahrini, Intan; Sundari, Teti; Iskandar, Taufiq; Halfiani, Vera; Munzir, Said; Ramli, Marwan

2018-01-01

Parking space unit (PSU) is an effective measure for the area size of a vehicle, including the free space and the width of the door opening of the vehicle (car). This article discusses a mathematical model for parking space of vehicles in triangular shape area. An optimization model for triangular parking lot is developed. Integer Linear Programming (ILP) method is used to determine the maximum number of the PSU. The triangular parking lot is in isosceles and equilateral triangles shape and implements four possible rows and five possible angles for each field. The vehicles which are considered are cars and motorcycles. The results show that the isosceles triangular parking area has 218 units of optimal PSU, which are 84 units of PSU for cars and 134 units of PSU for motorcycles. Equilateral triangular parking area has 688 units of optimal PSU, which are 175 units of PSU for cars and 513 units of PSU for motorcycles.

(an)isotropy of the X-ray sky

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafer, R.A.; Fabian, A.C.

1983-01-01

An assessment is made of the extent to which the study of the isotropy of the X-ray sky has contributed to the present understanding of the structure of the universe at moderate redshifts. It is, of course, the anisotropic character of the sky flux that is valuable in this context. Although it is not currently possible to undertake measurements with the precision and small solid angles that are typically achieved in the microwave range, the comparatively crude limits from the X-ray fluctuations place limits on the largest scale structure of the universe. After indicating the nature of measurements made, with the HEAO 1 A-2 experiment, of the X-ray sky and its anisotropies, it is shown how these place limits on the origin of the X-ray sky and on any large scale structure of the universe. 40 references

Discover POPSCIENCE on Researchers' Night

CERN Multimedia

The POPSCIENCE Team

2014-01-01

On Friday 26 September 2014, CERN will be celebrating European Researchers' Night at three venues in Geneva and St. Genis-Pouilly. Inspired by Andy Warhol, this year's theme is “Pop science is for everyone”.     Every year, on the last Friday of September, the European Researchers’ Night takes place in about 300 cities all over Europe, with funding from the EU, to promote research and highlight researchers in engaging and fun ways for the general public. Andy Warhol said, “Pop art is for everyone”. This year, “Pop science is for everyone” is the motto of the Researchers’ Night event organised by CERN and its partners*. The night will offer everyone the opportunity to learn about the latest discoveries in physics and cosmology through poetry, theatre and music. This will be in addition to the event's traditional activities for the general public. To attract new audiences,...

Evaluating urban parking policies with agent-based model of driver parking behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martens, C.J.C.M.; Benenson, I.

2008-01-01

This paper presents an explicit agent-based model of parking search in a city. In the model, “drivers” drive toward their destination, search for parking, park, remain at the parking place, and leave. The city’s infrastructure is represented by a high-resolution geographic information system (GIS)

Traffic Light Detection at Night

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Morten Bornø; Philipsen, Mark Philip; Bahnsen, Chris

2015-01-01

Traffic light recognition (TLR) is an integral part of any in- telligent vehicle, it must function both at day and at night. However, the majority of TLR research is focused on day-time scenarios. In this paper we will focus on detection of traffic lights at night and evalu- ate the performance...... of three detectors based on heuristic models and one learning-based detector. Evaluation is done on night-time data from the public LISA Traffic Light Dataset. The learning-based detector out- performs the model-based detectors in both precision and recall. The learning-based detector achieves an average...

Analysis on Time Window of Shared Parking in Hospitals Based on Parking Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qin Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Hospitals are essential components of a city; huge traffic demand is generated and attracted, causing contradiction between parking supply and demand. By sharing parking berths, limited space can serve more demand which is beneficial to alleviating parking problems. Aimed at improving the capacity of shared parking, the paper analyzes four parking groups in typical hospitals, which are medical staff, outpatients, emergency patients, and visiting groups. The parking demand of medical staff is rigid. For outpatients and visiting groups, longer walking distance is acceptable and more attention is paid to parking fee. By contrast, emergency patients can accept shorter walking distance and focus more on convenience due to urgency. Under this circumstance, parking behaviors selection models are established by means of Multinomial Logit Model. On this basis, time value is adopted to calculate the tolerance of alterative parking time. Moreover, this paper explores the variation of time window, under different parking impedance. A case study is conducted and suggests that start and end point of a certain time window can be influenced by external factors.

Fading Skies

Science.gov (United States)

Sio, Betsy Menson

2009-01-01

A sky fading from blue to white to red at the horizon, and water darkening from light to midnight blue. Strong diagonals slashing through the image, drawing a viewer's eyes deeper into the picture, and delicate trees poised to convey a sense of beauty. These are the fascinating strengths of the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Japanese artist Ando…

International Observe the Moon Night: A Worldwide Public Observing Event that Annually Engages Scientists, Educators, and Citizen Enthusiasts in NASA Science

Science.gov (United States)

Buxner, S.; Jones, A. P.; Bleacher, L.; Wasser, M. L.; Day, B. H.; Shaner, A. J.; Bakerman, M. N.; Joseph, E.

2017-12-01

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual worldwide event, held in the fall, that celebrates lunar and planetary science and exploration. InOMN is sponsored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in collaboration with NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), the NASA's Heliophysics Education Consortium, CosmoQuest, Night Sky Network, and Science Festival Alliance. Other key partners include the NASA Museum Alliance, Night Sky Network, and NASA Solar System Ambassadors. In 2017, InOMN will bring together thousands of people across the globe to observe and learn about the Moon and its connection to planetary science. We are partnering with the NASA Science Mission Directorate total solar eclipse team to highlight InOMN as an opportunity to harness and sustain the interest and momentum in space science and observation following the August 21st eclipse. This is part of a new partnership with the Sun-Earth Day team, through the Heliophysics Education Consortium, to better connect the two largest NASA-sponsored public engagement events, increase participation in both events, and share best practices in implementation and evaluation between the teams. Over 3,800 InOMN events have been registered between 2010 and 2016, engaging over 550,000 visitors worldwide. Most InOMN events are held in the United States, with strong representation from many other countries. InOMN events are evaluated to determine the value of the events and to allow us to improve the experience for event hosts and visitors. Our results show that InOMN events are hosted by scientists, educators, and citizen enthusiasts around the world who leverage InOMN to bring communities together, get visitors excited and learn about the Moon - and beyond, and share resources to extend engagement in lunar and planetary science and observation. Through InOMN, we annually provide resources such as event-specific Moon maps, presentations, advertising materials, and

Volunteers for Researchers’ Night wanted

CERN Multimedia

Katarina Anthony

2015-01-01

Every year, on the last Friday of September, the European Researchers’ Night (see here) takes place in about 300 cities all over Europe - promoting research in engaging and fun ways for the general public. This year, CERN will be participating once again, hosting dozens of events across the Balexert shopping centre – and we’ll need YOUR help to make the celebration a success.   From film screenings and celebrity Q&A sessions to “Ask a Researcher” and build-your-own LEGO LHC events, this year’s Researchers’ Night is going to be jam-packed! The fun will kick off prior to the night itself with a mock-up of the LHC tunnel installed in the central court of the Balexert shopping centre, 8-12 September*. CERN people will be on hand to speak to shoppers about the LHC, and to encourage them to participate in Researchers’ Night! The CERN organisers are recruiting volunteers and support staff for Researchers’ ...

Derotation of the cosmic microwave background polarization: Full-sky formalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gluscevic, Vera; Kamionkowski, Marc; Cooray, Asantha

2009-01-01

Mechanisms have been proposed that might rotate the linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as it propagates from the surface of last scatter. In the simplest scenario, the rotation will be uniform across the sky, but the rotation angle may also vary across the sky. We develop in detail the complete set of full-sky quadratic estimators for the rotation of the CMB polarization that can be constructed from the CMB temperature and polarization. We derive the variance with which these estimators can be measured and show that these variances reduce to the simpler flat-sky expressions in the appropriate limit. We evaluate the variances numerically. While the flat-sky formalism may be suitable if the rotation angle arises as a realization of a random field, the full-sky formalism will be required to search for rotations that vary slowly across the sky as well as for models in which the angular power spectrum for the rotation angle peaks at large angles.

5 CFR 532.505 - Night shift differentials.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Night shift differentials. 532.505... PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS Premium Pay and Differentials § 532.505 Night shift differentials. (a) Employees shall be entitled to receive night shift differentials in accordance with section 5343 of title 5...

SkyNet: A Modular Nuclear Reaction Network Library

Science.gov (United States)

Lippuner, Jonas; Roberts, Luke F.

2017-12-01

Almost all of the elements heavier than hydrogen that are present in our solar system were produced by nuclear burning processes either in the early universe or at some point in the life cycle of stars. In all of these environments, there are dozens to thousands of nuclear species that interact with each other to produce successively heavier elements. In this paper, we present SkyNet, a new general-purpose nuclear reaction network that evolves the abundances of nuclear species under the influence of nuclear reactions. SkyNet can be used to compute the nucleosynthesis evolution in all astrophysical scenarios where nucleosynthesis occurs. SkyNet is free and open source, and aims to be easy to use and flexible. Any list of isotopes can be evolved, and SkyNet supports different types of nuclear reactions. SkyNet is modular so that new or existing physics, like nuclear reactions or equations of state, can easily be added or modified. Here, we present in detail the physics implemented in SkyNet with a focus on a self-consistent transition to and from nuclear statistical equilibrium to non-equilibrium nuclear burning, our implementation of electron screening, and coupling of the network to an equation of state. We also present comprehensive code tests and comparisons with existing nuclear reaction networks. We find that SkyNet agrees with published results and other codes to an accuracy of a few percent. Discrepancies, where they exist, can be traced to differences in the physics implementations.

SMART VEHICLE PARKING

OpenAIRE

S.Bharath Ram

2016-01-01

The goal of this project is to count the number of empty car parking areas and to display them in a Website. This system consists of sensors attached to several parking areas. These sensors located in different parking area’s detects the presence of vehicle and sends information to Microcontroller, which calculates the number of available empty parking areas and uploads them in a website. This basically works on the principle of Internet of Things here the sensors are connected to internet.

Capacity Analysis Of Parking Lot And Volume Of Vehicle Toward Sustainable Parking Convenience

Science.gov (United States)

Herdiansyah, Herdis; Sugiyanto; Guntur Octavianto, Andrew; Guntur Aritonang, Edison; Nova Imaduddin, Malya; Dedi; Rilaningrum, Magfira

2017-10-01

The development of human's population is having effect on the increase of facilities and transportation needs. One of the primary problems is the availability of parking area. This has occurred in Universitas Indonesia (UI), mainly in Salemba Campus. The availability of land is not as equal as the number of vehicles, which are to be parked, that is why the convenience of students, lecturers and employees at UI is unsatisfactory. The purpose of this paper is to know the level of parking convenience that is affected by the capacity of parking lots and the volume of vehicles in UI Salemba Campus. The results of this research indicate Salemba campus's parking index. The motor index is still in the category of medium (index 0.945) and the car parking index has less category with a parking index 0.485. While with the location of research object being behind the UI Salemba campus, the results obtained were both the motor and the car are still in the category of “enough” with the parking index of, that is 0.657 for the motor and 0.777 for the car. So theoretically, the parking management at Salemba Campus is in an unsustainable parking degree because, if there is no long-term solution, it will increase congestion in the surrounding area and intensify the dissatisfaction of existing parking users.

Dark Skies Africa: a Prototype Project with the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance Elaine; Tellez, Daniel; Pompea, Stephen M.

2015-08-01

The IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) awarded the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) with a grant to deliver a “Dark Skies Outreach to Sub-Saharan Africa” program to institutions in 12 African countries during 2013: Algeria, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Namibia and Senegal. The program helped students identify wasteful and inefficient lighting and provided ways to reduce consumption and to keep energy costs in check. The goal was to inspire students to be responsible stewards in helping their community safeguard one of Africa’s natural resources - a dark night sky.Thirteen kits made by the NOAO Education and Public Outreach group were sent to coordinators at university, science center and planetarium-type institutions in the 12 countries and to the IAU OAD. The program’s kit included complete instructional guides and supplies for six hands-on activities (e.g., on the importance of shielding lights and using energy efficient bulbs) and a project on energy conservation and responsible lighting (through energy audits). The activities were taught to the coordinators in a series of six Google+ Hangout sessions scheduled from June to mid-November. The coordinators at the institutions in turn trained local teachers in junior and senior high schools. The Google+ Hangout sessions also included instruction on carrying out evaluations. From the end of November until mid-December students from the different African countries shared final class projects (such as posters or powerpoints) on the program’s website.The entire program was designed to help coordinators and educators work with students, parents and the community to identify dark sky resource, lighting and energy issues and to assess their status, efficiency and effectiveness. The audience will take away from the presentation lessons learned on how well the techniques succeeded in using Google+ Hangout sessions to instruct and

Partnering to Enhance Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach Program

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, Heather; Shipp, Stephanie; Shupla, Christine; Shaner, Andrew; LaConte, Keliann

2015-11-01

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas utilizes many partners to support its multi-faceted Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program. The poster will share what we have learned about successful partnerships. One portion of the program is focused on providing training and NASA content and resources to K-12 educators. Teacher workshops are performed in several locations per year, including LPI and the Harris County Department of Education, as well as across the country in cooperation with other programs and NASA Planetary Science missions.To serve the public, LPI holds several public events per year called Sky Fest, featuring activities for children, telescopes for night sky viewing, and a short scientist lecture. For Sky Fest, LPI partners with the NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society; they provide the telescopes and interact with members of the public as they are viewing celestial objects. International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is held annually and involves the same aspects as Sky Fest, but also includes partners from Johnson Space Center’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science group, who provide Apollo samples for the event.Another audience that LPI E/PO serves is the NASA Planetary Science E/PO community. Partnering efforts for the E/PO community include providing subject matter experts for professional development workshops and webinars, connections to groups that work with diverse and underserved audiences, and avenues to collaborate with groups such as the National Park Service and the Afterschool Alliance.Additional information about LPI’s E/PO programs can be found at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education. View a list of LPI E/PO’s partners here: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/partners/.

Hawaiian Starlight: Sharing the Beauty of the Hawaiian Skies

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, J. C.

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corp. The summit of Mauna Kea (14,000 feet) offers the best viewing of the Cosmos in the northern hemisphere, and the film "Hawaiian Starlight" delivers a pure esthetic experience from the mountain into the Universe. Seven years in the making, this cinematic symphony reveals the spectacular beauty of the mountain and its connection to the Cosmos through the magical influence of time-lapse cinematography scored exclusively (no narration) with the awe-inspiring, critically acclaimed, Halo music by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Daytime and nighttime landscapes and skyscapes alternate with stunning true color images of the Universe captured by an observatory on Mauna Kea, all free of any computer generated imagery. An extended segment of the film will be presented at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference to celebrate the international year of Astronomy 2009, a global effort initiated by the IAU (International Astronomical Union) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery. Hawaiian Starlight is true to this commitment. The inspiration and technology of the film will be shortly presented by the film's director.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Flagstaff Car-Park and Park-and-Ride (P+R)

CERN Document Server

GS Department

2011-01-01

As part of the new arrangements following the arrival of the tram-line at CERN, an Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) system has been installed restricting access to the Flagstaff Car-park and the Park-and-Ride (P+R) zone according to the conditions set out below: Holders of a valid P+R user card may enter the car-park at all hours but may only park in the area specifically designated as the P+R zone. P+R user cards can be purchased from the Fondation des Parkings de Genève (http://www.ge.ch/parkings/abonnements.html)   Members of CERN personnel and of contractors' personnel, whatever their status, may freely access the Flagstaff Car-Park at all hours, as long as their vehicle is duly registered with CERN, but they may not use the P+R zone, which is reserved for holders of P+R user cards. Please check that your vehicle number-plates are properly registered via AdaMS (http://cern.ch/adams). If this is not the case, the following action must be taken: - for private or co...

Under Connecticut Skies: Exploring 100 Years of Astronomy at Van Vleck Observatory in Middletown, Connecticut

Science.gov (United States)

Kilgard, Roy E.; Williams, Amrys; Erickson, Paul; Herbst, William; Redfield, Seth

2017-01-01

Under Connecticut Skies examines the history of astronomy at Van Vleck Observatory, located on the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Since its dedication in June of 1916, Van Vleck has been an important site of astronomical research, teaching, and public outreach. Over a thousand visitors pass through the observatory each year, and regular public observing nights happen year-round in cooperation with the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford. Our project explores the place-based nature of astronomical research, the scientific instruments, labor, and individuals that have connected places around the world in networks of observation, and the broader history of how observational astronomy has linked local people, amateur observers, professional astronomers, and the tools and objects that have facilitated their work under Connecticut’s skies over the past 100 years. Our research team has produced a historical exhibition to help commemorate the observatory’s centennial that opened to the public in May of 2016. Our work included collecting, documenting, and interpretting this history through objects, archival documents, oral histories, photographs, and more. The result is both a museum and a working history "laboratory" for use by student and professional researchers. In addition to the exhibit itself, we have engaged in new interpretive programs to help bring the history of astronomy to life. Future work will include digitization of documents and teaching slides, further collection of oral histories, and expanding the collection to the web for use by off-site researches.

Genus Topology of Structure in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Model Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Gott, J. Richard, III; Hambrick, D. Clay; Vogeley, Michael S.; Kim, Juhan; Park, Changbom; Choi, Yun-Young; Cen, Renyue; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Nagamine, Kentaro

2008-03-01

We measure the three-dimensional topology of large-scale structure in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This allows the genus statistic to be measured with unprecedented statistical accuracy. The sample size is now sufficiently large to allow the topology to be an important tool for testing galaxy formation models. For comparison, we make mock SDSS samples using several state-of-the-art N-body simulations: the Millennium run of Springel et al. (10 billion particles), the Kim & Park CDM models (1.1 billion particles), and the Cen & Ostriker hydrodynamic code models (8.6 billion cell hydro mesh). Each of these simulations uses a different method for modeling galaxy formation. The SDSS data show a genus curve that is broadly characteristic of that produced by Gaussian random-phase initial conditions. Thus, the data strongly support the standard model of inflation where Gaussian random-phase initial conditions are produced by random quantum fluctuations in the early universe. But on top of this general shape there are measurable differences produced by nonlinear gravitational effects and biasing connected with galaxy formation. The N-body simulations have been tuned to reproduce the power spectrum and multiplicity function but not topology, so topology is an acid test for these models. The data show a "meatball" shift (only partly due to the Sloan Great Wall of galaxies) that differs at the 2.5 σ level from the results of the Millenium run and the Kim & Park dark halo models, even including the effects of cosmic variance.

Perceived Health Benefits and Willingness to Pay for Parks by Park Users: Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire Henderson-Wilson

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Whilst a growing body of evidence demonstrates people derive a range of health and wellbeing benefits from visiting parks, only a limited number of attempts have been made to provide a complementary economic assessment of parks. The aim of this exploratory study was to directly estimate the perceived health and wellbeing benefits attained from parks and the economic value assigned to parks by park users in Victoria, Australia. The research employed a mixed methods approach (survey and interviews to collect primary data from a selection of 140 park users: 100 from two metropolitan parks in Melbourne and 40 from a park on the urban fringe of Melbourne, Victoria. Our findings suggest that park users derive a range of perceived physical, mental/spiritual, and social health benefits, but park use was predominantly associated with physical health benefits. Overall, our exploratory study findings suggest that park users are willing to pay for parks, as they highly value them as places for exercising, socialising, and relaxing. Importantly, most people would miss parks if they did not exist. The findings aim to provide park managers, public health advocates, and urban policy makers with evidence about the perceived health and wellbeing benefits of park usage and the economic value park visitors place on parks.

Is this a one-night stand or the start of something meaningful? Developing relationships to place in National Park backcountry.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey J. Brooks; George N. Wallace; Daniel R. Williams

2007-01-01

This paper presents empirical evidence that helps to understand how some visitors develop relationships with Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The paper describes relationship to place as the active construction and accumulation of meaning, which involves both physical and social interactions over time. The discussion is organized around three themes evident in...

The pre-launch Planck Sky Model: a model of sky emission at submillimetre to centimetre wavelengths

CERN Document Server

Delabrouille, J.; Melin, J.-B.; Miville-Deschenes, M.-A.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Jeune, M.Le; Castex, G.; de Zotti, G.; Basak, S.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bouchet, F.R.; Clements, D.L.; da Silva, A.; Dickinson, C.; Dodu, F.; Dolag, K.; Elsner, F.; Fauvet, L.; Fay, G.; Giardino, G.; Leach, S.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Massardi, M.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; Montier, L.; Mottet, S.; Paladini, R.; Partridge, B.; Piffaretti, R.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Ricciardi, S.; Roman, M.; Schaefer, B.; Toffolatti, L.

2012-01-01

We present the Planck Sky Model (PSM), a parametric model for the generation of all-sky, few arcminute resolution maps of sky emission at submillimetre to centimetre wavelengths, in both intensity and polarisation. Several options are implemented to model the cosmic microwave background, Galactic diffuse emission (synchrotron, free-free, thermal and spinning dust, CO lines), Galactic H-II regions, extragalactic radio sources, dusty galaxies, and thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich signals from clusters of galaxies. Each component is simulated by means of educated interpolations/extrapolations of data sets available at the time of the launch of the Planck mission, complemented by state-of-the-art models of the emission. Distinctive features of the simulations are: spatially varying spectral properties of synchrotron and dust; different spectral parameters for each point source; modeling of the clustering properties of extragalactic sources and of the power spectrum of fluctuations in the cosmic infrared back...

Menstrual characteristics and night work among nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Moen, Bente E; Baste, Valborg; Morken, Tone; Alsaker, Kjersti; Pallesen, Ståle; Bjorvatn, Bjørn

2015-01-01

Night work has been associated with adverse effects in terms of reproductive health. Specifically, menstruation has been suggested to be negatively impacted by night work, which again may influence fertility. This study investigated whether working nights is related to menstrual characteristics and if there is a relationship between shift work disorder (SWD) and menstruation. The study was cross-sectional, response rate 38%. The sample comprised female nurses who were members of the Norwegian Nurses Association; below 50 yr of age, who were not pregnant, did not use hormonal pills or intrauterine devices and who had not reached menopause (n=766). The nurses answered a postal survey including questions about night work and menstrual characteristics. Fifteen per cent reported to have irregular menstruations. Thirty-nine per cent of the nurses were classified as having SWD. Logistic regression analyses concerning the relationship between irregular menstruations and night work did not show any associations. Furthermore, no associations were found between cycle length or bleeding period and night work parameters. No associations were found between menstrual characteristics and SWD.

Are TODs Over-Parked?

OpenAIRE

Cervero, Robert; Adkins, Arlie; Sullivan, Cathleen

2009-01-01

This study empirically investigates the proposition that TOD, and specifically housing near suburban rail stops, is “over-parked†in the U.S. This is done by comparing parking generation rates for 31 housing complexes near rail stops in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon with on-site parking supplies and with ITE parking generation rates. Factors that explain parking demand for transit-oriented housing are also investigated, both statistically and through case analyses. The re...

Hot Flashes amd Night Sweats (PDQ)

Science.gov (United States)

... Professionals Questions to Ask about Your Treatment Research Hot Flashes and Night Sweats (PDQ®)–Patient Version Overview ... quality of life in many patients with cancer. Hot flashes and night sweats may be side effects ...

Bark in the Park: A Review of Domestic Dogs in Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michael A.; Fitzsimons, James A.; Wescott, Geoffrey; Miller, Kelly K.; Ekanayake, Kasun B.; Schneider, Thomas

2014-09-01

The presence of domestic dogs Canis familiaris in public open spaces is increasingly controversial. In our review of the literature, we located 133 publications of various types (papers, reports etc.) that examine some aspect of dogs in parks and open spaces (50 % focussed solely on dogs). There has been an exponential growth in the cumulative number of articles ( R 2 = 0.96; 82 % published since 1997); almost all pertain to temperate latitudes (97 %) and most to the northern hemisphere (62 %). Most articles focus on impacts on wildlife (51 %), zoonotic diseases (17 %), and people's perceptions regarding dogs (12 %). Articles mostly describe problems associated with dogs, while reports of low compliance with dog regulations are common. We outline six major findings regarding dogs in parks: (1) there is a paucity of information on dogs in parks, particularly in relation to their interactions with wildlife and regarding their management; (2) published studies are mainly restricted to a handful of locations in developed countries; (3) sectors of societies hold different views over the desirability of dogs in parks; (4) the benefits and risks of dogs to humans and park values are poorly documented and known; (5) dogs represent a notable disease risk in some but not all countries; and (6) coastal parks are over-represented in the literature in terms of potential negative impacts. Park managers globally require better information to achieve conservation outcomes from dog management in parks.

Assessment of the effect of a windmill park at Overgaard on the existence of birds in the EU bird protection area no. 15

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clausen, P.; Kyed Larsen, J.

1999-01-01

As part of the plans to establish a windmill park at Overgaard, Denmark, an assessment has been performed of the consequences for the occurrence of water birds in the EU bird protection area no. 15 which will be very close to the park. The report concludes that for all assessed species, apart from whooper swan and golden plover, none of the proposed windmill parks are expected to have any negative influence on the species' future occurrence and status in the EU bird protection area no. 15. For the golden plover the same conclusion is reached regarding its use of the area as resting-place during daytime. It is not possible to assess the effects, if any, on the plover's use of the area as forage area during the nights. For the whooper swan the area they have been using at Overgaard will be lost. Depending on the type of windmill park the lost area amounts to about 1-2,5 % of the bird protection area. It is expected, however, that the swans will move to other fields in the protection area for foraging. (ln)

Conditions for the management of carrying capacity in the parks of Parks&Benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Holmes, Esbern

2011-01-01

Growth in the number of visitors is an upcoming problem in nature parks. Nature parks are at the same time facing increasing demand, falling public appropriations and receding focus on their conservation functions. To ensure a balancing of nature protection and economic utilization the concept...... stakeholders, balancing use and protection preferably based on scientific and/or experiential cognition. The conditions for the management of carrying capacity for the 8 nature parks in the EC Baltic Project Parks&Benefits are analysed in the report. 1. Part focus on the methodology, concentrated...... on the comparison of the common conditions related to the international nature protection obligations in the parks, primarily expressed through the management under the EU Natura2000-program. In part 2, a comparison of the 8 parks concerning extent, land use composition, population in and around the park...

Design of a device for sky light polarization measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yujie; Hu, Xiaoping; Lian, Junxiang; Zhang, Lilian; Xian, Zhiwen; Ma, Tao

2014-08-14

Sky polarization patterns can be used both as indicators of atmospheric turbidity and as a sun compass for navigation. The objective of this study is to improve the precision of sky light polarization measurements by optimal design of the device used. The central part of the system is composed of a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera; a fish-eye lens and a linear polarizer. Algorithms for estimating parameters of the polarized light based on three images are derived and the optimal alignments of the polarizer are analyzed. The least-squares estimation is introduced for sky light polarization pattern measurement. The polarization patterns of sky light are obtained using the designed system and they follow almost the same patterns of the single-scattering Rayleigh model. Deviations of polarization angles between observation and the theory are analyzed. The largest deviations occur near the sun and anti-sun directions. Ninety percent of the deviations are less than 5° and 40% percent of them are less than 1°. The deviations decrease evidently as the degree of polarization increases. It also shows that the polarization pattern of the cloudy sky is almost identical as in the blue sky.

Reconstruction of Sky Illumination Domes from Ground-Based Panoramas

Science.gov (United States)

Coubard, F.; Lelégard, L.; Brédif, M.; Paparoditis, N.; Briottet, X.

2012-07-01

The knowledge of the sky illumination is important for radiometric corrections and for computer graphics applications such as relighting or augmented reality. We propose an approach to compute environment maps, representing the sky radiance, from a set of ground-based images acquired by a panoramic acquisition system, for instance a mobile-mapping system. These images can be affected by important radiometric artifacts, such as bloom or overexposure. A Perez radiance model is estimated with the blue sky pixels of the images, and used to compute additive corrections in order to reduce these radiometric artifacts. The sky pixels are then aggregated in an environment map, which still suffers from discontinuities on stitching edges. The influence of the quality of estimated sky radiance on the simulated light signal is measured quantitatively on a simple synthetic urban scene; in our case, the maximal error for the total sensor radiance is about 10%.

Exploration of Science Parks

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xiong Huibing; Sun Nengli

2005-01-01

Science parks have developed gready in the world, whereas empirical researches have showed that science parks based on linear model cannot guarantee the creation of innovation. Hi-tech innovation is derived from flow and management of information. The commercial and social interactions between in-parks and off-park firms and research institutions act as the key determinant for innovation.Industrial clustering is the rational choice for further developing Chinese science parks and solving some problems such as the lack of dear major industries and strong innovation sense, etc.

Photosynthetically-active radiation: sky radiance distributions under clear and overcast conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grant, R.H.; Heisler, G.M.; Gao, W.

1996-01-01

The photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), defined as the wavelength band of 0.400 μm to 0.700 μm, represents most of the visible solar radiation. Although the proportion of global irradiance that originates from diffuse sky radiation is higher for PAR than for all solar shortwave radiation, it is often assumed that the PAR diffuse sky radiation is distributed identically to that of all shortwave solar radiation. This assumption has not been tested. PAR sky radiance measurements were made in a rural area over a wide range of solar zenith angles. The distribution of PAR sky radiance was modeled using physically-based, non-linear equations.For clear skies, the normalized sky radiance distribution (N) was best modeled using the scattering angle (ψ) and the zenith position in the sky (Θ) as N (Θ, ψ) = 0.0361 [6.3 + (1 + cos 2 Θ / (1 - cos ψ)] [1-e -0.31 sec ( Θ]. The angle Ψ is defined by cos ψ = cos Θ cos Θ * + sin Θ sin Θ * cos Φ, where solar zenith angle is Θ* and the difference in azimuth between the sun and the position in the sky is Φ. Modeling of the overcast sky depended on the visibility of the solar disk. The translucent middle/high cloud overcast conditions (cloud base greater than 300 m above ground level) were best modeled as: N(Θ∗, ψ) = 0.149 + 0.084Θ∗ + 1.305e −2.5ψ while the translucent low cloud overcast conditions (cloud base less than 300 m above ground level) were best modeled as: N(Θ∗, ψ) = 0.080 + 0.058Θ∗ + 0.652e −2.1ψ . The obscured overcast sky condition (solar disk obscured) was best modeled as: N(Θ) = 0.441 [1 + 4.6cos Θ] /[1 + 4.6]. The unit of N for all equations is π Sr −1 , so that integration of each function over the sky hemisphere yields 1.0.These equations can be applied directly to the sky diffuse irradiance on the horizontal, I diff , to provide radiance distributions for the sky. Estimates of actual sky radiance distribution can be estimated from N a (Θ, ψ) = I diff N(Θ, �

Modelling and Display of the Ultraviolet Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Daniels, J.; Henry, R.; Murthy, J.; Allen, M.; McGlynn, T. A.; Scollick, K.

1994-12-01

A computer program is currently under development to model in 3D - one dimension of which is wavelength - all the known and major speculated sources of ultraviolet (900 A - 3100 A ) radiation over the celestial sphere. The software is being written in Fortran 77 and IDL and currently operates under IRIX (the operating system of the Silicon Graphics Iris Machine); all output models are in FITS format. Models along with display software will become available to the astronomical community. The Ultraviolet Sky Model currently includes the Zodiacal Light, Point Sources of Emission, and the Diffuse Galactic Light. The Ultraviolet Sky Model is currently displayed using SkyView: a package under development at NASA/ GSFC, which allows users to retrieve and display publically available all-sky astronomical survey data (covering many wavebands) over the Internet. We present a demonstration of the SkyView display of the Ultraviolet Model. The modelling is a five year development project: the work illustrated here represents product output at the end of year one. Future work includes enhancements to the current models and incorporation of the following models: Galactic Molecular Hydrogen Fluorescence; Galactic Highly Ionized Atomic Line Emission; Integrated Extragalactic Light; and speculated sources in the intergalactic medium such as Ionized Plasma and radiation from Non-Baryonic Particle Decay. We also present a poster which summarizes the components of the Ultraviolet Sky Model and outlines a further package that will be used to display the Ultraviolet Model. This work is supported by United States Air Force Contract F19628-93-K-0004. Dr J. Daniels is supported with a post-doctoral Fellowship from the Leverhulme Foundation, London, United Kingdom. We are also grateful for the encouragement of Dr Stephen Price (Phillips Laboratory, Hanscomb Air Force Base, MA)

Algolcam: Low Cost Sky Scanning with Modern Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Connors, Martin; Bolton, Dempsey; Doktor, Ian

2016-01-01

Low cost DSLR cameras running under computer control offer good sensitivity, high resolution, small size, and the convenience of digital image handling. Recent developments in small single board computers have pushed the performance to cost and size ratio to unprecedented values, with the further advantage of very low power consumption. Yet a third technological development is motor control electronics which is easily integrated with the computer to make an automated mount, which in our case is custom built, but with similar mounts available commercially. Testing of such a system under a clear plastic dome at our auroral observatory was so successful that we have developed a weatherproof housing allowing use during the long, cold, and clear winter nights at northerly latitudes in Canada. The main advantage of this housing should be improved image quality as compared to operation through clear plastic. We have improved the driving software to include the ability to self-calibrate pointing through the web API of astrometry.net, and data can be reduced automatically through command line use of the Muniwin program. The mount offers slew in declination and RA, and tracking at sidereal or other rates in RA. Our previous tests with a Nikon D5100 with standard lenses in the focal length range 50-200 mm, operating at f/4 to f/5, allowed detection of 12th magnitude stars with 30 second exposure under very dark skies. At 85 mm focal length, a field of 15° by 10° is imaged with 4928 by 3264 color pixels, and we have adopted an 85 mm fixed focal length f/1.4 lens (as used by Project Panoptes), which we expect will give a limited magnitude approaching 15. With a large field of view, deep limiting magnitude, low cost, and ease of construction and use, we feel that the Algolcam offers great possibilities in monitoring and finding changes in the sky. We have already applied it to variable star light curves, and with a suitable pipeline for detection of moving or varying objects

Reflective all-sky thermal infrared cloud imager.

Science.gov (United States)

Redman, Brian J; Shaw, Joseph A; Nugent, Paul W; Clark, R Trevor; Piazzolla, Sabino

2018-04-30

A reflective all-sky imaging system has been built using a long-wave infrared microbolometer camera and a reflective metal sphere. This compact system was developed for measuring spatial and temporal patterns of clouds and their optical depth in support of applications including Earth-space optical communications. The camera is mounted to the side of the reflective sphere to leave the zenith sky unobstructed. The resulting geometric distortion is removed through an angular map derived from a combination of checkerboard-target imaging, geometric ray tracing, and sun-location-based alignment. A tape of high-emissivity material on the side of the reflector acts as a reference that is used to estimate and remove thermal emission from the metal sphere. Once a bias that is under continuing study was removed, sky radiance measurements from the all-sky imager in the 8-14 μm wavelength range agreed to within 0.91 W/(m 2 sr) of measurements from a previously calibrated, lens-based infrared cloud imager over its 110° field of view.

An All-Sky Portable (ASP) Optical Catalogue

Science.gov (United States)

Flesch, Eric Wim

2017-06-01

This optical catalogue combines the all-sky USNO-B1.0/A1.0 and most-sky APM catalogues, plus overlays of SDSS optical data, into a single all-sky map presented in a sparse binary format that is easily downloaded at 9 Gb zipped. Total count is 1 163 237 190 sources and each has J2000 astrometry, red and blue magnitudes with PSFs and variability indicator, and flags for proper motion, epoch, and source survey and catalogue for each of the photometry and astrometry. The catalogue is available on http://quasars.org/asp.html, and additional data for this paper is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4225/50/5807fbc12595f.

Vascular Plant and Vertebrate Inventory of Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Brian F.; Halvorson, William Lee; Schmidt, Cecilia A.

2006-01-01

Executive Summary This report summarizes the results of the first comprehensive inventory of plants and vertebrates at the Rincon Mountain District (RMD) of Saguaro National Park, Arizona. From 2001 to 2003 we surveyed for vascular plants and vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) at the district to document the presence of species within its boundaries. Park staff also surveyed for medium and large mammals using infrared-triggered cameras from 1999 to 2005. This report summarizes the methods and results of these two efforts. Our spatial sampling design was ambitious and was one of the first of its kind in the region to colocate study sites for vegetation and vertebrates using a stratified random design. We also chose the location of some study sites non-randomly in areas that we thought would have the highest species richness. Because we used repeatable study designs and standardized field methods, these inventories can serve as the first step in a biological monitoring program for the district. We also provide an important overview of most previous survey efforts in the district. We use data from our inventory and other surveys to compile species lists and to assess inventory completeness. With the exception of plants, our survey effort was the most comprehensive ever undertaken in the district. We recorded a total of 801 plant and vertebrate species, including 50 species not previously found in the district (Table 1) of which five (all plants) are non-native species. Based on a review of our inventory and past research at the district, there have been a total of 1,479 species of plants and vertebrates found there. We believe inventories for all taxonomic groups are nearly complete. In particular, the plant, amphibian and reptile, and mammal species lists are the most complete of any comparably large natural area of the 'sky island' region of southern Arizona and adjacent Mexico. For each taxon-specific chapter we discuss patterns of species

Parking management : strategies, evaluation and planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litman, T.A.

2006-01-01

Parking facilities are a major cost to society. Current planning practices are based on the assumption that parking should be abundant and provided free, with costs borne indirectly. This report examined parking management strategies related to integrated parking plans. Problems with current parking planning practices were reviewed. The costs of parking facilities were examined, as well as the savings that can accrue from improved management techniques. Strategies included shared parking; remote parking and shuttle services; walking and cycling improvements; improved enforcement and control; and increasing the capacity of existing parking facilities. Parking pricing methods, financial incentives and parking tax reforms were reviewed. Issues concerning user information and marketing were examined. Overflow parking plans were evaluated. Three illustrative examples of parking management programs were outlined, along with details of implementation, planning and evaluation procedures. It was concluded that cost-effective parking management programs can often reduce parking requirements by 20 to 40 per cent compared with conventional planning requirements, in addition to providing economic, social and environmental benefits. 32 refs., 7 tabs., 3 figs

Measuring high-resolution sky luminance distributions with a CCD camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Tohsing, Korntip; Schrempf, Michael; Riechelmann, Stefan; Schilke, Holger; Seckmeyer, Gunther

2013-03-10

We describe how sky luminance can be derived from a newly developed hemispherical sky imager (HSI) system. The system contains a commercial compact charge coupled device (CCD) camera equipped with a fish-eye lens. The projection of the camera system has been found to be nearly equidistant. The luminance from the high dynamic range images has been calculated and then validated with luminance data measured by a CCD array spectroradiometer. The deviation between both datasets is less than 10% for cloudless and completely overcast skies, and differs by no more than 20% for all sky conditions. The global illuminance derived from the HSI pictures deviates by less than 5% and 20% under cloudless and cloudy skies for solar zenith angles less than 80°, respectively. This system is therefore capable of measuring sky luminance with the high spatial and temporal resolution of more than a million pixels and every 20 s respectively.

Sky luminosity for Rio de Janeiro City - Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corbella, O.D.

1995-12-01

This paper presents sky luminosity data for Rio de Janeiro City, useful to be used in daylighting design in architecture. The data are presented as monthly graphics that correlate sunshine-hours with the frequency of occurrence during the day of a specific type of sky, that would present one of five defined characteristics (among clear and overcast sky). These results were derived from the knowledge of daily solar radiation and sunshine-hours data, for every day for a twelve year period. (author). 10 refs, 13 figs, 16 tabs

Dark nights reverse metabolic disruption caused by dim light at night.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonken, L K; Weil, Z M; Nelson, R J

2013-06-01

The increasing prevalence of obesity and related metabolic disorders coincides with increasing exposure to light at night. Previous studies report that mice exposed to dim light at night (dLAN) develop symptoms of metabolic syndrome. This study investigated whether mice returned to dark nights after dLAN exposure recover metabolic function. Male Swiss-Webster mice were assigned to either: standard light-dark (LD) conditions for 8 weeks (LD/LD), dLAN for 8 weeks (dLAN/dLAN), LD for 4 weeks followed by 4 weeks of dLAN (LD/dLAN), and dLAN for 4 weeks followed by 4 weeks of LD (dLAN/LD). After 4 weeks in their respective lighting conditions both groups initially placed in dLAN increased body mass gain compared to LD mice. Half of the dLAN mice (dLAN/LD) were then transferred to LD and vice versa (LD/dLAN). Following the transfer dLAN/dLAN and LD/dLAN mice gained more weight than LD/LD and dLAN/LD mice. At the conclusion of the study dLAN/LD mice did not differ from LD/LD mice with respect to weight gain and had lower fat pad mass compared to dLAN/dLAN mice. Compared to all other groups dLAN/dLAN mice decreased glucose tolerance as indicated by an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test at week 7, indicating that dLAN/LD mice recovered glucose metabolism. dLAN/dLAN mice also increased MAC1 mRNA expression in peripheral fat as compared to both LD/LD and dLAN/LD mice, suggesting peripheral inflammation is induced by dLAN, but not sustained after return to LD. These results suggest that re-exposure to dark nights ameliorates metabolic disruption caused by dLAN exposure. Copyright © 2013 The Obesity Society.

Accuracy of the hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation versus sky conditions: revealing solar elevations and cloudinesses favourable for this navigation method

Science.gov (United States)

Száz, Dénes; Farkas, Alexandra; Barta, András; Kretzer, Balázs; Blahó, Miklós; Egri, Ádám; Szabó, Gyula; Horváth, Gábor

2017-09-01

According to Thorkild Ramskou's theory proposed in 1967, under overcast and foggy skies, Viking seafarers might have used skylight polarization analysed with special crystals called sunstones to determine the position of the invisible Sun. After finding the occluded Sun with sunstones, its elevation angle had to be measured and its shadow had to be projected onto the horizontal surface of a sun compass. According to Ramskou's theory, these sunstones might have been birefringent calcite or dichroic cordierite or tourmaline crystals working as polarizers. It has frequently been claimed that this method might have been suitable for navigation even in cloudy weather. This hypothesis has been accepted and frequently cited for decades without any experimental support. In this work, we determined the accuracy of this hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation for 1080 different sky situations characterized by solar elevation θ and cloudiness ρ, the sky polarization patterns of which were measured by full-sky imaging polarimetry. We used the earlier measured uncertainty functions of the navigation steps 1, 2 and 3 for calcite, cordierite and tourmaline sunstone crystals, respectively, and the newly measured uncertainty function of step 4 presented here. As a result, we revealed the meteorological conditions under which Vikings could have used this hypothetical navigation method. We determined the solar elevations at which the navigation uncertainties are minimal at summer solstice and spring equinox for all three sunstone types. On average, calcite sunstone ensures a more accurate sky-polarimetric navigation than tourmaline and cordierite. However, in some special cases (generally at 35° ≤ θ ≤ 40°, 1 okta ≤ ρ ≤ 6 oktas for summer solstice, and at 20° ≤ θ ≤ 25°, 0 okta ≤ ρ ≤ 4 oktas for spring equinox), the use of tourmaline and cordierite results in smaller navigation uncertainties than that of calcite. Generally, under clear or less cloudy

The impact of short night-time naps on performance, sleepiness and mood during a simulated night shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Centofanti, Stephanie A; Hilditch, Cassie J; Dorrian, Jillian; Banks, Siobhan

2016-01-01

Short naps on night shift are recommended in some industries. There is a paucity of evidence to verify the sustained recovery benefits of short naps in the last few hours of the night shift. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the sustained recovery benefits of 30 and 10-min nap opportunities during a simulated night shift. Thirty-one healthy participants (18F, 21-35 y) completed a 3-day, between-groups laboratory study with one baseline night (22:00-07:00 h time in bed), followed by one night awake (time awake from 07:00 h on day two through 10:00 h day three) with random allocation to: a 10-min nap opportunity ending at 04:00 h, a 30-min nap opportunity ending at 04:00 h or no nap (control). A neurobehavioral test bout was administered approximately every 2 h during wake periods. There were no significant differences between nap conditions for post-nap psychomotor vigilance performance after controlling for pre-nap scores (p > 0.05). The 30-min nap significantly improved subjective sleepiness compared to the 10-min nap and no-nap control (p effect.

Variation of outdoor illumination as a function of solar elevation and light pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Spitschan, Manuel; Aguirre, Geoffrey K; Brainard, David H; Sweeney, Alison M

2016-06-07

The illumination of the environment undergoes both intensity and spectral changes during the 24 h cycle of a day. Daylight spectral power distributions are well described by low-dimensional models such as the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage) daylight model, but the performance of this model in non-daylight regimes is not characterised. We measured downwelling spectral irradiance across multiple days in two locations in North America: One rural location (Cherry Springs State Park, PA) with minimal anthropogenic light sources, and one city location (Philadelphia, PA). We characterise the spectral, intensity and colour changes and extend the existing CIE model for daylight to capture twilight components and the spectrum of the night sky.

RECONSTRUCTION OF SKY ILLUMINATION DOMES FROM GROUND-BASED PANORAMAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Coubard

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The knowledge of the sky illumination is important for radiometric corrections and for computer graphics applications such as relighting or augmented reality. We propose an approach to compute environment maps, representing the sky radiance, from a set of ground-based images acquired by a panoramic acquisition system, for instance a mobile-mapping system. These images can be affected by important radiometric artifacts, such as bloom or overexposure. A Perez radiance model is estimated with the blue sky pixels of the images, and used to compute additive corrections in order to reduce these radiometric artifacts. The sky pixels are then aggregated in an environment map, which still suffers from discontinuities on stitching edges. The influence of the quality of estimated sky radiance on the simulated light signal is measured quantitatively on a simple synthetic urban scene; in our case, the maximal error for the total sensor radiance is about 10%.

Correspondence of perceived vs. objective proximity to parks and their relationship to park-based physical activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaczynski Andrew T

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parks are key environmental resources for encouraging population-level physical activity (PA. In measuring availability of parks, studies have employed both self-reported and objective indicators of proximity, with little correspondence observed between these two types of measures. However, little research has examined how the degree of correspondence between self-reported and objectively-measured distance to parks is influenced by individual, neighborhood, and park-related variables, or which type of measure is more strongly related to physical activity outcomes. Methods We used data from 574 respondents who reported the distance to their closest park and compared this with objective measurements of proximity to the closest park. Both indicators were dichotomized as having or not having a park within 750 m. Audits of all park features within this distance were also conducted and other personal characteristics and neighborhood context variables (safety, connectedness, aesthetics were gleaned from participants' survey responses. Participants also completed detailed seven-day PA log booklets from which measures of neighborhood-based and park-based PA were derived. Results Agreement was poor in that only 18% of respondents achieved a match between perceived and objective proximity to the closest park (kappa = 0.01. Agreement was higher among certain subgroups, especially those who reported engaging in at least some park-based PA. As well, respondents with a greater number of parks nearby, whose closest park had more features, and whose closest park contained a playground or wooded area were more likely to achieve a match. Having a ball diamond or soccer field in the closest park was negatively related to achieving a match between perceived and objective proximity. Finally, engaging in at least some park-based PA was not related to either perceived or objective proximity to a park, but was more likely when a match between and

Parking taxes : evaluating options and impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litman, T.A.

2006-01-01

In addition to encouraging the use of alternative modes of transport, parking taxes can help to reduce congestion, air pollution, and urban sprawl. Various types of parking taxes were evaluated in this paper, as well as their impacts on parking supply, prices and travel patterns. Examples of various parking tax programs in major cities in Canada, Europe, the United States and Australia were presented. Parking tax programs were divided into 2 main categories: (1) per-space parking levies which distribute cost burdens and encourage property owners to manage parking supply more efficiently and (2) commercial parking taxes on parking rental transactions which discourage the pricing of parking and concentrate impacts in limited areas. Worksite parking levies were discussed, as well stormwater fees and employee parking as a taxable benefit. Typical parking facility financial costs were reviewed and best practices for structuring and implementing parking taxes to increase public acceptability were outlined. It was suggested that the tax base should be broad and well-defined. Local governments should increase parking prices to market rates before imposing special parking taxes, and taxes and fees should be structured to avoid undesirable land use. Parking tax reforms should be part of an overall parking and mobility management program. Stakeholders should be consulted to insure that regulations, administrative procedures and enforcement policies are efficient and fair. The establishment of an evaluation program to determine tax impacts on parking supply and pricing, economic activity, traffic and spillover problems was also recommended. 42 refs., 4 tabs., 1 fig

What is the preferred number of consecutive night shifts?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Jensen, Marie Aarrebo; Hansen, Åse Marie

2016-01-01

% preferred '2 + 2' and 26% preferred '7 + 7'. Participants, who preferred longer spells of night work experienced that night work was less demanding, found it easier to sleep at different times of the day, and were more frequently evening types compared with participants who preferred shorter spells of night...... the longer spells of night work found night work less demanding, found it easier to sleep at different times of the day, and were more frequently evening types....

“Native Skywatchers - Earth Sky Mirroring, Kapemni Pairs - Ojibwe and D(L)akota Sacred Star Sites “

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Annette S.; Gawboy, Carl; Rock, Jim; Wilson, William; Tibbetts, Jeff; O'Rourke, Charleen

2015-08-01

Late in February, deep in the heart of the northern hemisphere winter, Ojibwe people know to look to the east a few hours after sunset and offer tobacco to Mizhi Bizhiw -Curly Tail, the Great Spirit Cat in the night sky. There are many beautiful and layered teachings about Mizhi Bizhiw - Curly Tail relating to the coming of spring, respect for the water, sugar bush camp, but most important; knowing the stars meant survival.Painted high on the granite rock cliffs above the glacial waters in red ochre is the Mizhi Bizhiw - Curly Tail constellation. Along with the Ojibwe lion are two neighboring seasonal constellations: Mooz (Pegasus) and Biboonkionini -Wintermaker (Orion+). On Lake Hegman in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area located near Ely, Minnesota, a sacred reflection, an earth-sky mirroring is illustrated. It is here that tangible and intangible star knowledge meet.In D(L)akota star knowledge one of the most important teachings is kapemni. Wrapped up in this one word are layers of meaning that can be thought of as ‘As it is above; it is below.’ Imagine two tipis stacked vertically. The top triangle is inverted so that the pair meets at the apex. It is understood that the top realm represents the sky above, the stars or the spirit world. The bottom tipi represents the Earth, the material or the physical world.On Summer Solstice each year the Sun can be found in the Mato Tipila - Bear’s Lodge D(L)akota constellation (Gemini). The day when this astronomical alignment happens is known as the ‘Wacipi - Sundance Ceremony in the Stars’. At this time traditionally D(L)akota people would meet at Mato Tipila Paha - Grey Horn Butte (Devil’s Tower) in northeast Wyoming and participate in the earthly Wacipi - Sun Dance ceremony. This is a beautiful example of a kapemni pair or an earth-sky mirroring.Presented here are just two examples of sacred star sites found in our region: Minnesota, North & South Dakota, US. These are examples of cultural heritage that is

The on-street parking premium and car drivers' choice between street and garage parking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kobus, M.B.W.; Gutierrez Puigarnau, E.; Rietveld, P.; van Ommeren, J.N.

2013-01-01

We introduce a methodology to estimate the effect of parking prices on car drivers' choice between street and garage parking. Our key identifying assumption is that the marginal benefit of parking duration does not depend on this choice. The endogeneity of parking duration is acknowledged in the

The VLA Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Lacy, Mark; VLASS Survey Team, VLASS Survey Science Group

2018-01-01

The VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), which began in September 2017, is a seven year project to image the entire sky north of Declination -40 degrees in three epochs. The survey is being carried out in I,Q and U polarization at a frequency of 2-4GHz, and a resolution of 2.5 arcseconds, with each epoch being separated by 32 months. Raw data from the survey, along with basic "quicklook" images are made freely available shortly after observation. Within a few months, NRAO will begin making available further basic data products, including refined images and source lists. In this talk I shall describe the science goals and methodology of the survey, the current survey status, and some early results, along with plans for collaborations with external groups to produce enhanced, high level data products.

First ground-based 200-μm observing with THUMPER on JCMT - sky characterization and planet maps

Science.gov (United States)

Ward-Thompson, D.; Ade, P. A. R.; Araujo, H.; Coulson, I.; Cox, J.; Davis, G. R.; Evans, Rh.; Griffin, M. J.; Gear, W. K.; Hargrave, P.; Hargreaves, P.; Hayton, D.; Kiernan, B. J.; Leeks, S. J.; Mauskopf, P.; Naylor, D.; Potter, N.; Rinehart, S. A.; Sudiwala, R.; Tucker, C. R.; Walker, R. J.; Watkin, S. L.

2005-12-01

We present observations that were carried out with the Two HUndred Micron PhotometER (THUMPER) mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii, at a wavelength of 200 μm (frequency 1.5 THz). The observations utilize a small atmospheric window that opens up at this wavelength under very dry conditions at high-altitude observing sites. The atmosphere was calibrated using the sky-dipping method and a relation was established between the optical depth, τ, at 1.5 THz and that at 225 GHz: τ1.5THz= (95 +/- 10) ×τ225GHz. Mars and Jupiter were mapped from the ground at this wavelength for the first time, and the system characteristics measured. A noise-equivalent flux density (NEFD) of ~ 65 +/- 10 Jy (1σ 1s) was measured for the THUMPER-JCMT combination, consistent with predictions based upon our laboratory measurements. The main beam resolution of 14 arcsec was confirmed and an extended error beam detected at roughly two-thirds of the magnitude of the main beam. Measurements of the Sun allow us to estimate that the fraction of the power in the main beam is ~15 per cent, consistent with predictions based on modelling the dish surface accuracy. It is therefore shown that the sky over Mauna Kea is suitable for astronomy at this wavelength under the best conditions. However, higher or drier sites should have a larger number of useable nights per year.

Night Rover Challenge

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of the Night Rover Challenge was to foster innovations in energy storage technology. Specifically, this challenge asked competitors to create an energy...

Public Engagement with the Lunar and Planetary Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Shaner, Andrew; Shupla, Christine; Smith Hackler, Amanda; Buxner, Sanlyn; Wenger, Matthew; Joseph, Emily C. S.

2016-10-01

The Lunar and Planetary Institute's (LPI) public engagement programs target audiences of all ages and backgrounds; in 2016 LPI has expanded its programs to reach wider, more diverse audiences. The status, resources, and findings of these programs, including evaluation results, will be discussed in this poster. LPI's Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series (CESS) is an annual public speaker series to engage the public in space science and exploration. Each thematic series includes four to five presentations held between September and May. Past series' titles have included "Science" on the Silver Screen, The Universe is Out to Get Us and What We Can (or Can't) Do About It, and A User's Guide to the Universe: You Live Here. Here's What You Need to Know. While the presentations are available online after the event, they are now being livestreamed to be accessible to a broader national, and international, audience. Sky Fest events, held four to five times a year, have science content themes and include several activities for children and their parents, night sky viewing through telescopes, and scientist presentations. Themes include both planetary and astronomy topics as well as planetary exploration topics (e.g., celebrating the launch or landing of a spacecraft). Elements of the Sky Fest program are being conducted in public libraries serving audiences underrepresented in STEM near LPI. These programs take place as part of existing hour-long programs in the library. During this hour, young people, typically 6-12 years old, move through three stations where they participate in hands-on activities. Like Sky Fest, these programs are thematic, centered on one over-arching topic such as the Moon or Mars. Beginning in Fall 2016, LPI will present programs at a revitalized park in downtown Houston. Facilities at this park will enable LPI to bring both the Sky Fest and CESS programs into the heart of Houston, which is one of the most diverse cities in the US and the world.

Night-time activity forecast by season and weather in a longitudinal design - natural light effects on three years' rest-activity cycles in nursing home residents with dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wahnschaffe, Amely; Nowozin, Claudia; Rath, Andreas; Floessner, Theresa; Appelhoff, Stefan; Münch, Mirjam; Kunz, Dieter

2017-12-01

Backround: Night-time agitation is a frequent symptom of dementia. It often causes nursing home admission and has been linked to circadian rhythm disturbances. A positive influence of light interventions on night-time agitation was shown in several studies. The aim of our study was to investigate whether there is a long-term association between regional weather data (as indicator for daylight availability) and 24-hour variations of motor activity. Motor activity of 20 elderly nursing home residents living with dementia was analyzed using recordings of continuously worn wrist activity monitors over a three-year period. The average recording duration was 479 ± 206 days per participant (mean ± SD). Regional cloud amount and day length data from the local weather station (latitude: 52°56'N) were included in the analysis to investigate their effects on several activity variables. Nocturnal rest, here defined as the five consecutive hours with the least motor activity during 24 hours (L5), was the most predictable activity variable per participant. There was a significant interaction of night-time activity with day length and cloud amount (F 1,1174 = 4.39; p = 0.036). Night-time activity was higher on cloudy short days than on clear short days (p = 0.007), and it was also higher on cloudy short days than on cloudy long days (p = 0.032). The need for sufficient zeitgeber (time cue) strength during winter time, especially when days are short and skies are cloudy, is crucial for elderly people living with dementia. Activity forecast by season and weather might be a valuable approach to anticipate adequately complementary use of electrical light and thereby foster lower night-time activity.

Semi-automatic parking slot marking recognition for intelligent parking assist systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ho Gi Jung

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a semi-automatic parking slot marking-based target position designation method for parking assist systems in cases where the parking slot markings are of a rectangular type, and its efficient implementation for real-time operation. After the driver observes a rearview image captured by a rearward camera installed at the rear of the vehicle through a touchscreen-based human machine interface, a target parking position is designated by touching the inside of a parking slot. To ensure the proposed method operates in real-time in an embedded environment, access of the bird's-eye view image is made efficient: image-wise batch transformation is replaced with pixel-wise instantaneous transformation. The proposed method showed a 95.5% recognition rate in 378 test cases with 63 test images. Additionally, experiments confirmed that the pixel-wise instantaneous transformation reduced execution time by 92%.

Relationship between thyroid stimulating hormone and night shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, So-Hyun; Lee, Bum-Joon; Kim, Seong-Jin; Kim, Hwan-Cheol

2016-01-01

Night shift work has well-known adverse effects on health. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between thyroid diseases and night shift work. This study aimed to examine night shift workers and their changes in thyroid stimulating hormones (TSH) levels over time. Medical check-up data (2011-2015) were obtained from 967 female workers at a university hospital in Incheon, Korea. Data regarding TSH levels were extracted from the records, and 2015 was used as a reference point to determine night shift work status. The relationships between TSH levels and night shift work in each year were analyzed using the general linear model (GLM). The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to evaluate the repeated measurements over the 5-year period. The GEE analysis revealed that from 2011 to 2015, night shift workers had TSH levels that were 0.303 mIU/L higher than the levels of non-night shift workers (95 % CI: 0.087-0.519 mIU/L, p  = 0.006) after adjusting for age and department. When we used TSH levels of 4.5 ≥ mIU/L to identify subclinical hypothyroidism, night shift workers exhibited a 1.399 fold higher risk of subclinical hypothyroidism (95 % CI: 1.050-1.863, p  = 0.022), compared to their non-night shift counterparts. This result of this study suggests that night shift workers may have an increased risk of thyroid diseases, compared to non-night shift workers.

Smart Parking Management Field Test: A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Parking Demonstration

OpenAIRE

Shaheen, Susan

2005-01-01

In almost every major city in the U.S. and internationally, parking problems are ubiquitous. It is well known that the limited availability of parking contributes to roadway congestion, air pollution, and driver frustration and that the cost of expanding traditional parking capacity is frequently prohibitive. However, less research has addressed the effect of insufficient parking at transit stations on transit use. In the San Francisco Bay Area, parking has recently been at or near capacity a...

Light pollution offshore: Zenithal sky glow measurements in the mediterranean coastal waters

Science.gov (United States)

Ges, Xavier; Bará, Salvador; García-Gil, Manuel; Zamorano, Jaime; Ribas, Salvador J.; Masana, Eduard

2018-05-01

Light pollution is a worldwide phenomenon whose consequences for the natural environment and the human health are being intensively studied nowadays. Most published studies address issues related to light pollution inland. Coastal waters, however, are spaces of high environmental interest, due to their biodiversity richness and their economical significance. The elevated population density in coastal regions is accompanied by correspondingly large emissions of artificial light at night, whose role as an environmental stressor is increasingly being recognized. Characterizing the light pollution levels in coastal waters is a necessary step for protecting these areas. At the same time, the marine surface environment provides a stage free from obstacles for measuring the dependence of the skyglow on the distance to the light polluting sources, and validating (or rejecting) atmospheric light propagation models. In this work we present a proof-of-concept of a gimbal measurement system that can be used for zenithal skyglow measurements on board both small boats and large vessels under actual navigation conditions. We report the results obtained in the summer of 2016 along two measurement routes in the Mediterranean waters offshore Barcelona, travelling 9 and 31.7 km away from the coast. The atmospheric conditions in both routes were different from the ones assumed for the calculation of recently published models of the anthropogenic sky brightness. They were closer in the first route, whose results approach better the theoretical predictions. The results obtained in the second route, conducted under a clearer atmosphere, showed systematic differences that can be traced back to two expected phenomena, which are a consequence of the smaller aerosol content: the reduction of the anthropogenic sky glow at short distances from the sources, and the slower decay rate of brightness with distance, which gives rise to a relative excess of brightness at large distances from the

A Cross-Sectional Investigation of the Importance of Park Features for Promoting Regular Physical Activity in Parks.

Science.gov (United States)

Costigan, Sarah A; Veitch, Jenny; Crawford, David; Carver, Alison; Timperio, Anna

2017-11-02

Parks in the US and Australia are generally underutilised, and park visitors typically engage in low levels of physical activity (PA). Better understanding park features that may encourage visitors to be active is important. This study examined the perceived importance of park features for encouraging park-based PA and examined differences by sex, age, parental-status and participation in PA. Cross-sectional surveys were completed by local residents ( n = 2775) living near two parks (2013/2015). Demographic variables, park visitation and leisure-time PA were self-reported, respondents rated the importance of 20 park features for encouraging park-based PA in the next fortnight. Chi-square tests of independence examined differences in importance of park features for PA among sub-groups of local residents (sex, age, parental-status, PA). Park features ranked most important for park-based PA were: well maintained (96.2%), feel safe (95.4%), relaxing atmosphere (91.2%), easy to get to (91.7%), and shady trees (90.3%). All subgroups ranked 'well maintained' as most important. Natural and built environment features of parks are important for promoting adults' park-based PA, and should be considered in park (re)design.

Mining the SDSS SkyServer SQL queries log

Science.gov (United States)

Hirota, Vitor M.; Santos, Rafael; Raddick, Jordan; Thakar, Ani

2016-05-01

SkyServer, the Internet portal for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) astronomic catalog, provides a set of tools that allows data access for astronomers and scientific education. One of SkyServer data access interfaces allows users to enter ad-hoc SQL statements to query the catalog. SkyServer also presents some template queries that can be used as basis for more complex queries. This interface has logged over 330 million queries submitted since 2001. It is expected that analysis of this data can be used to investigate usage patterns, identify potential new classes of queries, find similar queries, etc. and to shed some light on how users interact with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data and how scientists have adopted the new paradigm of e-Science, which could in turn lead to enhancements on the user interfaces and experience in general. In this paper we review some approaches to SQL query mining, apply the traditional techniques used in the literature and present lessons learned, namely, that the general text mining approach for feature extraction and clustering does not seem to be adequate for this type of data, and, most importantly, we find that this type of analysis can result in very different queries being clustered together.

The BlueSky Smoke Modeling Framework: Recent Developments

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, D. C.; Larkin, N.; Raffuse, S. M.; Strand, T.; ONeill, S. M.; Leung, F. T.; Qu, J. J.; Hao, X.

2012-12-01

BlueSky systems—a set of decision support tools including SmartFire and the BlueSky Framework—aid public policy decision makers and scientific researchers in evaluating the air quality impacts of fires. Smoke and fire managers use BlueSky systems in decisions about prescribed burns and wildland firefighting. Air quality agencies use BlueSky systems to support decisions related to air quality regulations. We will discuss a range of recent improvements to the BlueSky systems, as well as examples of applications and future plans. BlueSky systems have the flexibility to accept basic fire information from virtually any source and can reconcile multiple information sources so that duplication of fire records is eliminated. BlueSky systems currently apply information from (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Hazard Mapping System (HMS), which represents remotely sensed data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES); (2) the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) interagency project, which derives fire perimeters from Landsat 30-meter burn scars; (3) the Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group (GeoMAC), which produces helicopter-flown burn perimeters; and (4) ground-based fire reports, such as the ICS-209 reports managed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Efforts are currently underway to streamline the use of additional ground-based systems, such as states' prescribed burn databases. BlueSky systems were recently modified to address known uncertainties in smoke modeling associated with (1) estimates of biomass consumption derived from sparse fuel moisture data, and (2) models of plume injection heights. Additional sources of remotely sensed data are being applied to address these issues as follows: - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

The Whipple Strip Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Kertzman, M. P.

As part of the normal operation of the Whipple 10m Gamma Ray telescope, ten minute drift scan “zenith” runs are made each night of observation for use as calibration. Most of the events recorded during a zenith run are due to the background of cosmic ray showers. However, it would be possible for a hitherto unknown source of gamma rays to drift through the field. This paper reports the results of a search for serendipitous high energy gamma ray sources in the Whipple 10m nightly calibration zenith data. From 2000-2004 nightly calibration runs were taken at an elevation of 89 º. A 2- D analysis of these drift scan runs produces a strip of width ~ 3.5º in declination and spanning the full range of right ascension. In the 2004-05 observing season the calibration runs were taken at elevations of 86° and 83°. Beginning in the 2005-06 season, the nightly calibration runs were taken at an elevation of 80º. Collectively, these drift scans cover a strip approximately 12.5º wide in declination, centered at declination 37.18º, and spanning the full range of RA. The analysis procedures developed for drift scan data, the sensitivity of the method, and the results will be presented.

Modelling parking behaviour considering heterogeneity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

San Martin, G.A.; Ibeas Portilla, A.; Alonso Oreña, B.; Olio, L. del

2016-07-01

Most of motorized trips in cities of middle and small size are made in public transport and mainly in private vehicle, this has caused a saturation in parking systems of the cities, causing important problems to society, one of the most important problems is high occupancy of public space by parking systems. Thus, is required the estimation of models that reproduce users’ behaviour when they are choosing for parking in cities, to carry out transport policies to improve transport efficiency and parking systems in the cities. The aim of this paper is the specification and estimation of models that simulate users’ behaviour when they are choosing among alternatives of parking that there are in the city: free on street parking, paid on street parking, paid on underground parking and Park and Ride (now there isn´t). For this purpose, is proposed a multinomial logit model that consider systematic and random variations in tastes. Data of users’ behaviour from the different alternatives of parking have been obtained with a stated preference surveys campaign which have been done in May 2015 in the principal parking zones of the city of Santander. In this paper, we provide a number of improvements to previously developed methodologies because of we consider much more realism to create the scenarios stated preference survey, obtaining better adjustments. (Author)

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey: Technical Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frieman, Joshua A.; /Fermilab /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Bassett, Bruce; /Cape Town U. /South African Astron. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; /Washington; Choi, Changsu; /Seoul Natl. U.; Cinabro, David; /Wayne State U.; DeJongh, Don Frederic; /Fermilab; Depoy, Darren L.; /Ohio State U.; Doi, Mamoru; /Tokyo U.; Garnavich, Peter M.; /Notre Dame U.; Hogan, Craig J.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Holtzman, Jon; /New Mexico State U.; Im, Myungshin; /Seoul Natl. U.; Jha, Saurabh; /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Konishi, Kohki; /Tokyo U.; Lampeitl, Hubert; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Marriner, John; /Fermilab; Marshall, Jennifer L.; /Ohio State U.; McGinnis,; /Fermilab; Miknaitis, Gajus; /Fermilab; Nichol, Robert C.; /Portsmouth U.; Prieto, Jose Luis; /Ohio State U. /Rochester Inst. Tech. /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Pennsylvania U.

2007-09-14

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) has embarked on a multi-year project to identify and measure light curves for intermediate-redshift (0.05 < z < 0.35) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) using repeated five-band (ugriz) imaging over an area of 300 sq. deg. The survey region is a stripe 2.5 degrees wide centered on the celestial equator in the Southern Galactic Cap that has been imaged numerous times in earlier years, enabling construction of a deep reference image for discovery of new objects. Supernova imaging observations are being acquired between 1 September and 30 November of 2005-7. During the first two seasons, each region was imaged on average every five nights. Spectroscopic follow-up observations to determine supernova type and redshift are carried out on a large number of telescopes. In its first two three-month seasons, the survey has discovered and measured light curves for 327 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia, 30 probable SNe Ia, 14 confirmed SNe Ib/c, 32 confirmed SNe II, plus a large number of photometrically identified SNe Ia, 94 of which have host-galaxy spectra taken so far. This paper provides an overview of the project and briefly describes the observations completed during the first two seasons of operation.

Impacts of national parks on tourism: a case study from a prominent alpine national park

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Getzner, M.

2008-01-01

National parks and other categories of protected areas are often assumed to enhance regional economic development due to park tourism. The current study attempts to estimate the impact of the Hohe Tauern national park (Austria) on tourism by exploring whether and to what extent the national park may have had an influence on tourism development. For most national park communities, the results suggest that the establishment of the national park had some impact by enforcing an already positive trend or by weakening or reversing a negative trend of tourism. However, breakpoint tests exhibit turning points up to several years after the establishment of the park, indicating that taking a national park as the basis for tourism development is a medium to long term development strategy. In the short term, the impact of a national park on tourism is not measurable. Tourism increased by 1 to 3% annually after the breakpoint, indicating that the establishment of a national park has to be incorporated into the tourism and development strategy of a region right from the start. The causal relationship between the establishment of the national park and tourism development may be weak, in particular in communities where the difference between the actual and the forecast numbers of overnight stays is small. Marketing national park tourism and building up a brand or distinctive label may therefore contribute to regional development particularly in the long term. [it

Parking Spoorzone Delft : Addressing expected parking challenges 2015-2017

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piccot, C.; Groenendijk, L.; Rot, M.; Van der Meijs, P.; Rakers, T.; Negenborn, R.R.; Annema, J.A.; Pel, A.; Vleugel, J.

2014-01-01

This project is carried out on request of the BVOW, the interest group of the neighbourhoods Olofsbuurt and Westerkwartier in Delft, in order to propose solutions for the parking issue of Spoorzone Delft expected between 2015 and 2017. They are worried that parking disturbances will emerge in their

Citizen Sky, IYA 2009 and What's To Come

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.

2010-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky is going beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. During IYA 2009 the Citizen Sky team was fully assembled, the website was developed and put online, and the first of two participant workshops was held. However, Citizen Sky does not stop or even slow down with the conclusion of IYA 2009. The project will continue to grow in the coming years. New participants are being recruited and trained as the observing phase of the project continues, a second participant workshop is planned for 2010, and the data analysis phase of the project will begin in earnest.

Simultaneous measurement of spectral sky radiance by a non-scanning multidirectional spectroradiometer (MUDIS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riechelmann, Stefan; Schrempf, Michael; Seckmeyer, Gunther

2013-01-01

We present a novel non-scanning multidirectional spectroradiometer (MUDIS) measuring the spectral sky radiance as a function of zenith and azimuth angle with a high spectral and temporal resolution. The instrument is based on a hyperspectral imager and measures spectral sky radiance in the wavelength range of 250–600 nm at 113 different directions simultaneously. MUDIS has been intercalibrated with a sky scanning CCD spectroradiometer (SCCD). Sky radiance measurements have been performed with both instruments under cloudless and overcast sky. The spectral actinic irradiance derived from those measurements agrees within 8% for wavelengths higher than 320 nm. The bias between synchronous MUDIS and SCCD sky radiance measurements during cloudless and overcast sky is below 5% for 320 and 500 nm with a 1σ standard deviation of less than 10%. MUDIS enables us to perform more than 220 000 spectral sky radiance measurements instead of approximately 6000 SCCD spectral sky radiance measurements per day and to measure spatial variations of spectral sky radiance simultaneously. (paper)

The Rainbow Sky

CERN Document Server

Buick, Tony

2010-01-01

The world is full of color, from the blue ocean and the yellow daffodils and sunflowers in green carpeted meadows to the majestic purple mountains in the distance and brightly hued coral reefs off the edges of tropical coasts. But what is color, exactly? Why do we see things in different colors? Do we all see the same colors? Like the surface of our planet, the sky above us offers us an endless palette of color, a visual feast for the eyes. Besides atmospheric phenomena such as sunsets and rainbows, there are the many varied worlds of the Solar System, which we can spy through our telescopes, with their subtle colorings of beige and blue and green. Faraway star systems have suns that come in shades ranging from red and yellow to blue and white. Scientists even often use "false colors" to enhance the features of images they take of structures, such as the rings of Saturn and Jupiter’s clouds. This book, with its clear explanations of what makes the sky such a colorful place and in its great wealth of picture...

The NexStar evolution and SkyPortal user's guide

CERN Document Server

Chen, James L

2016-01-01

This book serves as a comprehensive guide for using a Nexstar Evolution mount with WiFi SkyPortal control, walking the reader through the process for aligning and operating the system from a tablet or smartphone. The next generation Go-To mount from Celestron, this is compatible not only with the Nextstar Evolution but also with older mounts. It is the ideal resource for anyone who owns, or is thinking of owning, a Nexstar Evolution telescope, or adapting their existing Celestron mount. Pros and cons of the system are thoroughly covered with a critical depth that addresses any possible question by users. Beginning with a brief history of Go-To telescopes and the genesis of this still new technology, the author covers every aspect of the newly expanding capability in observing. This includes the associated Sky Portal smartphone and tablet application, the transition from the original Nexstar GoTo system to the new SkyPortal system, the use of the Sky Portal application with its Sky Safari 4 basic software and ...

Automated exploitation of sky polarization imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadjadi, Firooz A; Chun, Cornell S L

2018-03-10

We propose an automated method for detecting neutral points in the sunlit sky. Until now, detecting these singularities has been done manually. Results are presented that document the application of this method on a limited number of polarimetric images of the sky captured with a camera and rotating polarizer. The results are significant because a method for automatically detecting the neutral points may aid in the determination of the solar position when the sun is obscured and may have applications in meteorology and pollution detection and characterization.

LAN MAP: An Innovative Airborne Light at Night Mapping Project

Science.gov (United States)

Craine, Eric R.; Craine, B. L.; Craine, E. M.; Craine, P. R.

2013-01-01

Widespread installation of inefficient and misdirected artificial light at night (LAN) has led to increasing concerns about light pollution and its impact, not only on astronomical facilities but larger communities as well. Light pollution impacts scientific research, environmental ecosystems, human health, and quality of life. In recent years, the public policy response to light pollution has included formulation of government codes to regulate lighting design and installation. Various environmental groups now include light pollution among their rallying themes to protest both specific and general developments. The latter efforts are often conducted in the absence of any quantitative data and are frequently charged by emotion rather than reason. To bring some scientific objectivity, and quantitative data, to these discussions, we have developed a suite of tools for simultaneous photometric measurements and temporal monitoring of both local communities and the sky overhead. We have also developed novel protocols for the use of these tools, including a triad of airborne, ground mobile, and ground static photometric surveys. We present a summary of these tools and protocols, with special emphasis on the airborne systems, and discuss baseline and follow-up measurements of LAN environments in the vicinity of numerous observatories in Arizona, the home of the initial LAN MAP surveys.

Clear-Sky Narrowband Albedo Datasets Derived from Modis Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Y.; Minnis, P.; Sun-Mack, S.; Arduini, R. F.; Hong, G.

2013-12-01

Satellite remote sensing of clouds requires an accurate estimate of the clear-sky radiances for a given scene to detect clouds and aerosols and to retrieve their microphysical properties. Knowing the spatial and angular variability of clear-sky albedo is essential for predicting the clear-sky radiance at solar wavelengths. The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Project uses the near-infrared (NIR; 1.24, 1.6 or 2.13 μm) and visible (VIS; 0.63 μm) channels available on the Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) to help identify clouds and retrieve their properties. Generally, clear-sky albedo for a given surface type is determined for conditions when the vegetation is either thriving or dormant and free of snow. The clear-sky albedos are derived using a radiative transfer parameterization of the impact of the atmosphere, including aerosols, on the observed reflectances. This paper presents the method of generating monthly clear-sky overhead albedo maps for both snow-free and snow-covered surfaces of these channels using one year of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) CERES products. Maps of 1.24 and 1.6 μm are being used as the background to help retrieve cloud properties (e.g., effective particle size, optical depth) in CERES cloud retrievals in both snow-free and snow-covered conditions.

Spatial analysis related to the location characteristics of park supply. Case study: Music Park and Pendawa Park, Bandung City, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, A.; Akbar, R.; Maryati, S.; Natalivan, P.

2018-05-01

Public space plays a role in defining the character of a city and is a valuable asset for a city and one of the indicators in assessing whether a city is considered successful or not. In the context of urban sociology, high-quality public spaces with well-maintained environments can improve the quality of the heterogeneous life of urban social communities by creating economic, social, or environmental value-added. Urban societies tend to be heterogeneous, individualistic, and characterized by high competition that often causes conflicts. Another reason for conflicts is the relatively high social differentiation because of the level of religious differences, customs, languages, and sociocultural aspects brought by immigrants from various regions. In the context of space, the city is a system that does not stand alone because internally the city is a unified system of functional activities in it. Meanwhile, externally, the city is influenced by its surrounding environment. As part of the public space, park has an important role in the environmental, aesthetic, recreational, psychological, social, educational, and economic aspects of the city. Public space can be understood as open spaces in urban areas, where everyone regardless their interests and backgrounds can be intersectional and have social contact and serve as an “urban regenerator” including educational functions through innovation and technological intervention. Moreover, park can also absorb carbon dioxide emissions, produce oxygen, improve air and water quality, regulate the microclimate, reduce noise, protect soil and water, and maintain biodiversity. However, many things cause the function of parks to decrease. One reason relates to the distribution of parks related to the characteristics of their location. Research has not seen many studies on the characteristics of locations in the planning of public space. The provision of public space should consider these location characteristics. This study

[Shift and night work and mental health].

Science.gov (United States)

Sancini, Angela; Ciarrocca, Manuela; Capozzella, Assunta; Corbosiero, Paola; Fiaschetti, Maria; Caciari, Tiziana; Cetica, Carlotta; Scimitto, Lara; Ponticiello, Barnaba Giuseppina; Tasciotti, Zaira; Schifano, Maria Pia; Andreozzit, Giorgia; Tomei, Francesco; Tomei, Gianfranco

2012-01-01

Aim of our study was to evaluate the influence that shift work and night work could have on mental health. A review of literary articles from 1990 to 2011 on shift work and night work was carried out. The results of this review confirmed that the shift work and night work affect mental health with the onset of neuropsychological disorders such as mood disorders, anxiety, nervousness, depressive anxiety syndromes, chronic fatigue and chronic insomnia irritability, sleep disturbances, reduction in levels of attention, cognitive impairments, alteration of circadian rhythm. Night work and shift work cause severe desynchronization of the cronobiological rhythms and a disruption of social life with negative effects on performance at work, on health and on social relationships. In the light of these results and recognizing shift work and night work as risk factors for the health of workers is necessary to implement preventive and periodic health checks by the occupational doctor to ensure the health and safety of workers taking account of the different environmental and individual factors.

Interview with Steve Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Hitchcock, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Jennifer Hitchcock interviews community activist and director of Syracuse University's Composition and Cultural Rhetoric doctoral program, Steve Parks. They discuss Parks's working-class background, career path, influences, and activism. Parks also considers the direction of the field of composition and rhetoric and expresses optimism for the…

SNAP sky background at the north ecliptic pole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldering, Greg

2002-01-01

I summarize the extant direct and indirect data on the sky background SNAP will see at the North Ecliptic Pole over the wavelength range 0.4 < λ < 1.7 (micro)m. At the spatial resolution of SNAP the sky background due to stars and galaxies is resolved, so the only source considered is zodiacal light. Several models are explored to provide interpolation in wavelength between the broadband data from HST and COBE observations. I believe the input data are now established well enough that the accuracy of the sky background presented here is sufficient for SNAP simulations, and that it will stand up to scrutiny by reviewers

Night shift decreases cognitive performance of ICU physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Maltese, François; Adda, Mélanie; Bablon, Amandine; Hraeich, Sami; Guervilly, Christophe; Lehingue, Samuel; Wiramus, Sandrine; Leone, Marc; Martin, Claude; Vialet, Renaud; Thirion, Xavier; Roch, Antoine; Forel, Jean-Marie; Papazian, Laurent

2016-03-01

The relationship between tiredness and the risk of medical errors is now commonly accepted. The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of an intensive care unit (ICU) night shift on the cognitive performance of a group of intensivists. The influence of professional experience and the amount of sleep on cognitive performance was also investigated. A total of 51 intensivists from three ICUs (24 seniors and 27 residents) were included. The study participants were evaluated after a night of rest and after a night shift according to a randomized order. Four cognitive skills were tested according to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. All cognitive abilities worsened after a night shift: working memory capacity (11.3 ± 0.3 vs. 9.4 ± 0.3; p night shift. The cognitive abilities of intensivists were significantly altered following a night shift in the ICU, regardless of either the amount of professional experience or the duration of sleep during the shift. The consequences for patients' safety and physicians' health should be further evaluated.

Automated Car Park Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Fabros, J. P.; Tabañag, D.; Espra, A.; Gerasta, O. J.

2015-06-01

This study aims to develop a prototype for an Automated Car Park Management System that will increase the quality of service of parking lots through the integration of a smart system that assists motorist in finding vacant parking lot. The research was based on implementing an operating system and a monitoring system for parking system without the use of manpower. This will include Parking Guidance and Information System concept which will efficiently assist motorists and ensures the safety of the vehicles and the valuables inside the vehicle. For monitoring, Optical Character Recognition was employed to monitor and put into list all the cars entering the parking area. All parking events in this system are visible via MATLAB GUI which contain time-in, time-out, time consumed information and also the lot number where the car parks. To put into reality, this system has a payment method, and it comes via a coin slot operation to control the exit gate. The Automated Car Park Management System was successfully built by utilizing microcontrollers specifically one PIC18f4550 and two PIC16F84s and one PIC16F628A.

Orlice Nature Park - environmental themes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanus, L.

2002-01-01

The aim of this abstract is to outline the main characteristics of Orlice Nature Park and of the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and to evaluate public interest in the nature park and in nature protection in general. Orlice Nature Park was instituted in 1996. The function of the park is to protect the character of the area of landscape around the River Orlice. Orlice Natural Park covers an area of 115 sq. km. The main environmental risks to the park are: intensive agriculture, forest mono-culture, industry, transport, channel improvement, the building of holiday cottages, sport, and recreation. Among the conflicts of interest in the park are: nature protection, water management, building constrictions, business, fishery, water sports and recreation. During the process of Environmental Impact Assessment in Hradec Kralove, the public voiced its opinion against the building of a supermarket within the grounds of of the nature park. In this case the public showed its interest in the value of nature and landscape, the value of human health and the value of plant species. In general, the public and the local media show an interest in the park only in exceptional circumstances. (author)

Night-Time Light Dynamics during the Iraqi Civil War

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xi Li

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, we analyzed the night-time light dynamics in Iraq over the period 2012–2017 by using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS monthly composites. The data quality of VIIRS images was improved by repairing the missing data, and the Night-time Light Ratio Indices (NLRIs, derived from urban extent map and night-time light images, were calculated for different provinces and cities. We found that when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS attacked or occupied a region, the region lost its light rapidly, with the provinces of Al-Anbar, At-Ta’min, Ninawa, and Sala Ad-din losing 63%, 73%, 88%, and 56%, of their night-time light, respectively, between December 2013 and December 2014. Moreover, the light returned after the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF recaptured the region. In addition, we also found that the night-time light in the Kurdish Autonomous Region showed a steady decline after 2014, with the Arbil, Dihok, and As-Sulaymaniyah provinces losing 47%, 18%, and 31% of their night-time light between December 2013 and December 2016 as a result of the economic crisis in the region. The night-time light in Southern Iraq, the region controlled by Iraqi central government, has grown continuously; for example, the night-time light in Al Basrah increased by 75% between December 2013 and December 2017. Regions formerly controlled by ISIS experienced a return of night-time light during 2017 as the ISF retook almost all this territory in 2017. This indicates that as reconstruction began, electricity was re-supplied in these regions. Our analysis shows the night-time light in Iraq is directly linked to the socioeconomic dynamics of Iraq, and demonstrates that the VIIRS monthly night-time light images are an effective data source for tracking humanitarian disasters in that country.

The city at night (the case of Maribor, Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Drozg

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the city at night. The distinctive aspect of the discussed topic is the time dimension of spaces and areas – places that “live” at night. The night has economic, cultural, social and formal elements; and it is these elements that underpin how we see and come to know the city at night. A range of topics have been explored: places of retailing and consumption, workplaces, places of entertainment, places that embody the night image of the city and places of socially unacceptable, delinquent behaviour. In the empirical part, we examined the city of Maribor, Slovenia.

Park It!

Science.gov (United States)

Sartorius, Tara Cady

2010-01-01

Many artists visit national parks to draw, paint and take photographs of some of the most amazing scenery on earth. Raw nature is one of the greatest inspirations to an artist, and artists can be credited for helping inspire the government to create the National Park System. This article features Thomas Moran (1837-1926), one of the artists who…

iPark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Bin; Fantini, Ernesto Nicolas; Jensen, Christian S.

2013-01-01

where the geo-spatial aspect is not just a tag on other content, but is the primary content, e.g., a city street map with up-to-date road construction data. Along these lines, the iPark system aims to turn volumes of GPS data obtained from vehicles into information about the locations of parking spaces...

Night vision: changing the way we drive

Science.gov (United States)

Klapper, Stuart H.; Kyle, Robert J. S.; Nicklin, Robert L.; Kormos, Alexander L.

2001-03-01

A revolutionary new Night Vision System has been designed to help drivers see well beyond their headlights. From luxury automobiles to heavy trucks, Night Vision is helping drivers see better, see further, and react sooner. This paper describes how Night Vision Systems are being used in transportation and their viability for the future. It describes recent improvements to the system currently in the second year of production. It also addresses consumer education and awareness, cost reduction, product reliability, market expansion and future improvements.

State Park Trails

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set is a collection of ArcView shapefiles (by park) of trails within statutory boundaries of individual MN State Parks, State Recreation Areas and State...

Pulsars at Parkes

OpenAIRE

Manchester, R. N.

2012-01-01

The first pulsar observations were made at Parkes on March 8, 1968, just 13 days after the publication of the discovery paper by Hewish and Bell. Since then, Parkes has become the world's most successful pulsar search machine, discovering nearly two thirds of the known pulsars, among them many highly significant objects. It has also led the world in pulsar polarisation and timing studies. In this talk I will review the highlights of pulsar work at Parkes from those 1968 observations to about ...

Night lights and regional income inequality in Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mveyange, Anthony Francis

Estimating regional income inequality in Africa has been challenging due to the lack of reliable and consistent sub-national income data. I employ night lights data to circumvent this limitation. I find significant and positive associations between regional inequality visible through night lights...... and income in Africa. Thus, in the absence of income data, we can construct regional inequality proxies using night lights data. Further investigation on the night lights-based regional inequality trends reveals two main findings: first, increasing regional inequality trends between 1992 and 2003; and second......, declining regional inequality trends between 2004 and 2012....

Parking Space Detection and Trajectory Tracking Control for Vehicle Auto-Parking

OpenAIRE

Shiuh-Jer Huang; Yu-Sheng Hsu

2017-01-01

On-board available parking space detecting system, parking trajectory planning and tracking control mechanism are the key components of vehicle backward auto-parking system. Firstly, pair of ultrasonic sensors is installed on each side of vehicle body surface to detect the relative distance between ego-car and surrounding obstacle. The dimension of a found empty space can be calculated based on vehicle speed and the time history of ultrasonic sensor detecting information. This result can be u...

Dry eye signs and symptoms in night-time workers

OpenAIRE

Ali Makateb; Hamed Torabifard

2017-01-01

Purpose: To determine the effect of night-time working on dry eye signs and symptoms. Methods: A total of 50 healthy subjects completed a dry eye questionnaire and underwent clinical examinations including basic Schirmer's test and tear breakup time (TBUT) test on two consecutive days, before and after the night shift (12-hrs night-shift). Results: All dry eye symptoms were aggravated significantly after the night shift (P 

Barriers and benefits: implications of artificial night-lighting for the distribution of common bats in Britain and Ireland

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Fiona; Roche, Niamh; Aughney, Tina; Jones, Nicholas; Day, Julie; Baker, James; Langton, Steve

2015-01-01

Artificial lighting is a particular problem for animals active at night. Approximately 69% of mammal species are nocturnal, and one-third of these are bats. Due to their extensive movements—both on a nightly basis to exploit ephemeral food supplies, and during migration between roosts—bats have an unusually high probability of encountering artificial light in the landscape. This paper reviews the impacts of lighting on bats and their prey, exploring the direct and indirect consequences of lighting intensity and spectral composition. In addition, new data from large-scale surveys involving more than 265 000 bat calls at more than 600 locations in two countries are presented, showing that prevalent street-lighting types are not generally linked with increased activity of common and widespread bat species. Such bats, which are important to ecosystem function, are generally considered ‘light-attracted’ and likely to benefit from the insect congregations that form at lights. Leisler's bat (Nyctalus leisleri) may be an exception, being more frequent in lit than dark transects. For common pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), lighting is negatively associated with their distribution on a landscape scale, but there may be local increases in habitats with good tree cover. Research is now needed on the impacts of sky glow and glare for bat navigation, and to explore the implications of lighting for habitat matrix permeability. PMID:25780236

Solar Neutrino Day-Night Effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blennow, Mattias; Ohlsson, Tommy; Snellman, Hakan

2005-01-01

We summarize the results of Ref. [M. Blennow, T. Ohlsson and H. Snellman, Phys. Rev. D 69 (2004) 073006, hep-ph/0311098] in which we determine the effects of three flavor mixing on the day-night asymmetry in the flux of solar neutrinos. Analytic methods are used to determine the difference in the day and night solar electron neutrino survival probabilities and numerical methods are used to determine the effect of three flavor mixing at detectors

Research on Extraction of Ship Target in Complex Sea-sky Background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, W J; Ding, X M; Cui, J W; Ao, L

2006-01-01

Research on the extraction of ship target in complex sea-sky background has important value to improve the capability of imaging-typed sea navigation and nautical traffic control systems. According to the imaging property of complex sea-sky background, a reliable ship target extraction method is proposed in this paper. The general guide line is that getting the sea-sky division line as a priori knowledge and then the target potential area is determined through discontinuous region of the sea-sky division line. Firstly, a local selective window filter is adopted to filter the image; secondly, eight directions Sobel operator edge detection method and gradient Hough transform are combined to extract sea-sky division line in the image; then a multi-histogram matching technique is adopted to remove the sea and sky background and thus ship target is extracted from complex background. The experiments show that our method has the merits of robustness to noise, small computational complexity and stability

The variable sky of deep synoptic surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ridgway, Stephen T.; Matheson, Thomas; Mighell, Kenneth J.; Olsen, Knut A. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85725 (United States); Howell, Steve B., E-mail: ridgway@noao.edu [NASA Ames Research Center, P.O. Box 1, M/S 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)

2014-11-20

The discovery of variable and transient sources is an essential product of synoptic surveys. The alert stream will require filtering for personalized criteria—a process managed by a functionality commonly described as a Broker. In order to understand quantitatively the magnitude of the alert generation and Broker tasks, we have undertaken an analysis of the most numerous types of variable targets in the sky—Galactic stars, quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and asteroids. It is found that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be capable of discovering ∼10{sup 5} high latitude (|b| > 20°) variable stars per night at the beginning of the survey. (The corresponding number for |b| < 20° is orders of magnitude larger, but subject to caveats concerning extinction and crowding.) However, the number of new discoveries may well drop below 100 per night within less than one year. The same analysis applied to GAIA clarifies the complementarity of the GAIA and LSST surveys. Discovery of AGNs and QSOs are each predicted to begin at ∼3000 per night and decrease by 50 times over four years. Supernovae are expected at ∼1100 per night, and after several survey years will dominate the new variable discovery rate. LSST asteroid discoveries will start at >10{sup 5} per night, and if orbital determination has a 50% success rate per epoch, they will drop below 1000 per night within two years.

The variable sky of deep synoptic surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ridgway, Stephen T.; Matheson, Thomas; Mighell, Kenneth J.; Olsen, Knut A.; Howell, Steve B.

2014-01-01

The discovery of variable and transient sources is an essential product of synoptic surveys. The alert stream will require filtering for personalized criteria—a process managed by a functionality commonly described as a Broker. In order to understand quantitatively the magnitude of the alert generation and Broker tasks, we have undertaken an analysis of the most numerous types of variable targets in the sky—Galactic stars, quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and asteroids. It is found that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be capable of discovering ∼10 5 high latitude (|b| > 20°) variable stars per night at the beginning of the survey. (The corresponding number for |b| < 20° is orders of magnitude larger, but subject to caveats concerning extinction and crowding.) However, the number of new discoveries may well drop below 100 per night within less than one year. The same analysis applied to GAIA clarifies the complementarity of the GAIA and LSST surveys. Discovery of AGNs and QSOs are each predicted to begin at ∼3000 per night and decrease by 50 times over four years. Supernovae are expected at ∼1100 per night, and after several survey years will dominate the new variable discovery rate. LSST asteroid discoveries will start at >10 5 per night, and if orbital determination has a 50% success rate per epoch, they will drop below 1000 per night within two years.

Science by night – it's magic!

CERN Document Server

CERN Bulletin

2010-01-01

The control rooms of the LHC and its experiments threw open their doors to 150 youngsters on European Researchers Night and the place was buzzing with excitement all evening!    It's just possible that a few scientists' vocations were born last Friday night, as the sixth European Researchers Night took place across Europe. CERN was taking part for the first time and invited young people aged from 12 to 19 into the control rooms of the LHC machine and five experiments. From 5.00 in the afternoon until 1.00 in the morning, 150 youngsters and physics teachers got the opportunity to sit with scientists at the controls of the accelerator and experiments. This meeting of minds went down very well for all concerned, the scientists being only too happy to wax lyrical about their passion. The youngsters were thrilled with their visit and amazed at being allowed so close to the controls of these mighty machines. The night-time setting added an extra touch of magic to the whole event. Some just could...

Night Shift Work and Risk of Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Johnni

2017-09-01

Night work is increasingly common and a necessity in certain sectors of the modern 24-h society. The embedded exposure to light-at-night, which suppresses the nocturnal hormone melatonin with oncostatic properties and circadian disruption, i.e., misalignment between internal and external night and between cells and organs, are suggested as main mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis. In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified shift work that involves circadian disruption as probably carcinogenic to humans based on limited evidence from eight epidemiologic studies on breast cancer, in addition to sufficient evidence from animal experiments. The aim of this review is a critical update of the IARC evaluation, including subsequent and the most recent epidemiologic evidence on breast cancer risk after night work. After 2007, in total nine new case-control studies, one case-cohort study, and eight cohort studies are published, which triples the number of studies. Further, two previous cohorts have been updated with extended follow-up. The assessment of night shift work is different in all of the 26 existing studies. There is some evidence that high number of consecutive night shifts has impact on the extent of circadian disruption, and thereby increased breast cancer risk, but this information is missing in almost all cohort studies. This in combination with short-term follow-up of aging cohorts may explain why some cohort studies may have null findings. The more recent case-control studies have contributed interesting results concerning breast cancer subtypes in relation to both menopausal status and different hormonal subtypes. The large differences in definitions of both exposure and outcome may contribute to the observed heterogeneity of results from studies of night work and breast cancer, which overall points in the direction of an increased breast cancer risk, in particular after over 20 years of night shifts. Overall, there is a

Super-sample covariance approximations and partial sky coverage

Science.gov (United States)

Lacasa, Fabien; Lima, Marcos; Aguena, Michel

2018-04-01

Super-sample covariance (SSC) is the dominant source of statistical error on large scale structure (LSS) observables for both current and future galaxy surveys. In this work, we concentrate on the SSC of cluster counts, also known as sample variance, which is particularly useful for the self-calibration of the cluster observable-mass relation; our approach can similarly be applied to other observables, such as galaxy clustering and lensing shear. We first examined the accuracy of two analytical approximations proposed in the literature for the flat sky limit, finding that they are accurate at the 15% and 30-35% level, respectively, for covariances of counts in the same redshift bin. We then developed a harmonic expansion formalism that allows for the prediction of SSC in an arbitrary survey mask geometry, such as large sky areas of current and future surveys. We show analytically and numerically that this formalism recovers the full sky and flat sky limits present in the literature. We then present an efficient numerical implementation of the formalism, which allows fast and easy runs of covariance predictions when the survey mask is modified. We applied our method to a mask that is broadly similar to the Dark Energy Survey footprint, finding a non-negligible negative cross-z covariance, i.e. redshift bins are anti-correlated. We also examined the case of data removal from holes due to, for example bright stars, quality cuts, or systematic removals, and find that this does not have noticeable effects on the structure of the SSC matrix, only rescaling its amplitude by the effective survey area. These advances enable analytical covariances of LSS observables to be computed for current and future galaxy surveys, which cover large areas of the sky where the flat sky approximation fails.

The effect of the Sep wind park near Oosterbierum, Friesland, The Netherlands, on birds. De invloed van de Sep-proefwindcentrale te Oosterbierum (Friesland) op vogels; Deel 4: Verstoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelman, J E

1992-01-01

The title study concerns the period 1984-1991. The wind park consists of 18 three-bladed 300 kW horizontal axis wind turbines of 35 meters height, and a rotor diameter of 30 meters, seven meteorological towers, and three cluster and control buildings. Aspects studied included disturbance of breeding, resting or feeding, and migrating birds, behavior of birds approaching the wind turbines during the day and night, and bird victims due to collision with the wind turbines and the meteorological towers. In this report attention is paid to the disturbance of the bird's biotope. The results show that four species of grassland birds, breeding in the park, were hardly disturbed by the wind turbines. For feeding and resting birds, however, disturbance effects were noted, even at a distance of 500 meters from the outside wind turbine array. The present number of bird species reduced 60-95%, dependent on the species, after the wind park was put into operation. Also the behavior of migrating birds was influenced by the wind park, showed in clustering of groups or avoiding the wind park, sometimes up to 67% of the birds did so. It is therefore recommended not to implement new wind parks in important bird migration and bird feeding or bird resting areas. Bird popular areas, however, are mostly windy areas. 15 figs., 25 tabs., 56 app., 128 refs.

Public parks as urban tourism in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Adiati, M. P.; Lestari, N. S.; Wiastuti, R. D.

2018-03-01

Sustainable urban tourism development should provide better places for people to live in and for people to visit. Jakarta as the capital city has a potential for its urban tourism. Thus, urban tourism attribute such as Public Park should be in high- quality to cope with the needs of urban people and outside visitors. The purpose of this study is to investigate Public Park attributes and to analyze its compliance refer to Public Park that eventually supports sustainable urban tourism. This paper used a qualitative approach. Primary data obtain from direct field observation in seven Public Parks in Jakarta; Menteng Park, Suropati Park, Situ Lembang Park, Ayodhya Park, Cattleya Park, Kodok Park, and Langsat Park. Observation checks list use as guidance. The result provides an assessment of Public Park based on four categories; the accessibility, park activities, safety, and user. The implication of this study offers recommendations to enhance Public Park so that it complies with good public park design- attributes and with the obligations of sustainable urban tourism in Jakarta.

eGSM: A extended Sky Model of Diffuse Radio Emission

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Doyeon; Liu, Adrian; Switzer, Eric

2018-01-01

Both cosmic microwave background and 21cm cosmology observations must contend with astrophysical foreground contaminants in the form of diffuse radio emission. For precise cosmological measurements, these foregrounds must be accurately modeled over the entire sky Ideally, such full-sky models ought to be primarily motivated by observations. Yet in practice, these observations are limited, with data sets that are observed not only in a heterogenous fashion, but also over limited frequency ranges. Previously, the Global Sky Model (GSM) took some steps towards solving the problem of incomplete observational data by interpolating over multi-frequency maps using principal component analysis (PCA).In this poster, we present an extended version of GSM (called eGSM) that includes the following improvements: 1) better zero-level calibration 2) incorporation of non-uniform survey resolutions and sky coverage 3) the ability to quantify uncertainties in sky models 4) the ability to optimally select spectral models using Bayesian Evidence techniques.

Open Skies and monitoring a fissile materials cut-off treaty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allentuck, J.; Lemley, J.R.

1995-01-01

The Treaty on Open Skies (Open Skies) is intended among other things to provide, in the words of its preamble, means ''to facilitate the monitoring of compliance with existing or future arms control agreements.'' Open Skies permits overflights of the territory of member states by aircraft equipped with an array of sensors of various types. Their types and capabilities are treaty-limited. To find useful application in monitoring a cut-off treaty Open Skies would need to be amended. The number of signatories would need to be expanded so as to provide greater geographical coverage, and restrictions on sensor-array capabilities would need to be relaxed. To facilitate the detection of impending violations of a cut-off convention by Open Skies overflights, the data base provided by parties to the former should include among other things an enumeration of existing and former fuel cycle and research facilities including those converted to other uses, their precise geographic location, and a site plan

Activity patterns of African buffalo Syncerus caffer in the Lower Sabie Region, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.J. Ryan

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The activity budgets of three herds of African buffalo in the Lower Sabie region of Kruger National Park, recorded between 1991 and 1992 were quantified to examine both nocturnal and seasonal effects on feeding activity and 24-hr movement in an area of dense bushveld. We found that the average 24-hr distance traveled by herds (3.35 km was shorter than that found in other studies and that there was no seasonal effect on this distance, which we attribute to ready availability of water in both seasons. We found that the buffalo spent a similar amount of time feeding (9.5 hrs as in other studies, but that the proportional feeding and resting time was influenced by the time of day and the season. These herds spent proportionally more time feeding at night (44.5 % vs 32.0 % and more time resting in the day (28.4 % vs 16.0 %. In addition, they appeared to rest more during the day and feed more at night during the wet season, when it was hotter.

Accuracy of the hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation versus sky conditions: revealing solar elevations and cloudinesses favourable for this navigation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Száz, Dénes; Farkas, Alexandra; Barta, András; Kretzer, Balázs; Blahó, Miklós; Egri, Ádám; Szabó, Gyula; Horváth, Gábor

2017-09-01

According to Thorkild Ramskou's theory proposed in 1967, under overcast and foggy skies, Viking seafarers might have used skylight polarization analysed with special crystals called sunstones to determine the position of the invisible Sun. After finding the occluded Sun with sunstones, its elevation angle had to be measured and its shadow had to be projected onto the horizontal surface of a sun compass. According to Ramskou's theory, these sunstones might have been birefringent calcite or dichroic cordierite or tourmaline crystals working as polarizers. It has frequently been claimed that this method might have been suitable for navigation even in cloudy weather. This hypothesis has been accepted and frequently cited for decades without any experimental support. In this work, we determined the accuracy of this hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation for 1080 different sky situations characterized by solar elevation θ and cloudiness ρ , the sky polarization patterns of which were measured by full-sky imaging polarimetry. We used the earlier measured uncertainty functions of the navigation steps 1, 2 and 3 for calcite, cordierite and tourmaline sunstone crystals, respectively, and the newly measured uncertainty function of step 4 presented here. As a result, we revealed the meteorological conditions under which Vikings could have used this hypothetical navigation method. We determined the solar elevations at which the navigation uncertainties are minimal at summer solstice and spring equinox for all three sunstone types. On average, calcite sunstone ensures a more accurate sky-polarimetric navigation than tourmaline and cordierite. However, in some special cases (generally at 35° ≤  θ  ≤ 40°, 1 okta ≤  ρ  ≤ 6 oktas for summer solstice, and at 20° ≤  θ  ≤ 25°, 0 okta ≤  ρ  ≤ 4 oktas for spring equinox), the use of tourmaline and cordierite results in smaller navigation uncertainties than that of calcite

NRAO Makes Available VLA Sky Survey Maps

Science.gov (United States)

1994-06-01

An original and comprehensive data set potentially full of scientific surprises now is available to astronomers, students and the public through the information superhighway. Radio images of the sky produced by the Very Large Array radio telescope -- one of the premier astronomical instruments in the world -- as part of a massive survey now are stored in an electronic repository avail- able over the Internet computer communications network. "Each of these sensitive new sky maps shows about a thou- sand radio-emitting objects, most of which have never been seen before," said Dr. J. J. Condon, leader of the National Radio As- tronomy Observatory (NRAO) survey team. "We are releasing them as soon as they are completed because they contain more data than we could possibly analyze by ourselves." "By using electronic distribution, we can open this tre- mendous resource of information for computer analysis by all as- tronomers immediately, without waiting for traditional publication," Condon added. The radio images are copyright NRAO/ AUI. Permission is granted for use of the material without charge for scholarly, educational and private non-commercial purposes. "It is entirely conceivable -- even probable -- that valuable discoveries will be made by students or amateur astrono- mers who devote the time to study these maps carefully," said team member Dr. W. D. Cotton. "Making this new information available electronically means that more people can participate in adding to its scientific value." The maps are a product of the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), which began its observational phase in September of 1993 and will cover 82 percent of the sky when completed by the end of 1996. The NVSS is expected to produce a catalog of more than two million ra- dio-emitting objects in the sky, and it is the first sky survey sensitive to linearly polarized emission from radio sources beyond our own Milky Way galaxy. "The NVSS is being made as a service to the entire astronomical

Night-time warming and the greenhouse effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kukla, G.; Karl, T.R.

1993-01-01

Studies of temperature data collected mainly from rural stations in North America, China, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Australia, Sudan, Japan, Denmark, Northern Finland, several Pacific Islands, Pakistan, South Africa and Europe suggest that the reported warming of the Northern Hemisphere since WWII is principally a result of an increase in night-time temperatures. The average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as the mean diurnal temperature range (DTR), were calculated for various regions from data supplied by 1000 stations from 1951 to 1990. Average and minimum temperatures generally rose during the analysed interval and the rise in night-time temperatures was more pronounced than the increase in daily maximum temperatures. As a result, the mean DTR decreased almost everywhere. The most probable causes of the rise in night-time temperatures are: an increase in cloudiness owing to natural changes in the circulation patterns of oceans and the atmosphere; increased cloud cover density caused by industrial pollution; urban heat islands, generated by cities, which are strongest during the night; irrigation which keeps the surface warmer at night and cooler by day; and anthropogenic greenhouse gases. 18 refs., 3 figs

Improvement of Theme Park Marketing Mode:A Case Study of Theme Parks in Chengdu

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Min; LI; Gaoli; XIONG

2013-01-01

Construction of theme park has been launched since the early 1990s in Chengdu City,but ended up as a losing proposition after its short-term prosperity because of similar scale and similarity with those in other cities.As more international well-known theme parks entering the market,theme parks in Chengdu have been faced with the transition,and novel concepts are also introduced into the operation of these parks.To adapt to the market,it is imperative to make marketing strategies and combine marketing elements.Through analyzing current development of local theme parks and introducing successful marketing modes of domestic and overseas theme parks,a favorable marketing mode for theme parks in Chengdu was defined on the basis of fully exploring Ba-Shu culture(Ba and Shu are two ancient kingdoms in the history of Sichuan).By defining a favorable theme,focusing more on visitors’experience,devoting more in developing new products,adopting flexible price strategies,and integrating advertisement marketing,internet marketing,and other marketing methods,outstanding brands will be formed,and tourism cultures with distinguished features of Chengdu will be created.

Participatory Dark Sky Quality Monitoring from Italy: Interactions Between Awareness Raising and Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Giacomelli

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Research on light pollution and its effects developed in Italy through a peculiar path. After originating seminal work in the late Nineties, above all the first world atlas of night sky brightness, the academic system apparently did not leverage this asset to a wider set of studies. In parallel, some activities which are prerequisites to research and analysis, such as measurement campaigns or development of calibration tests, were initiated in a “grassroots mode” by other sectors of society, such as non-governmental associations. One of the relevant example of this process is the BuioMetria Partecipativa project which was started in 2008 in Italy with the aim of encouraging non-professionals to collect data on light pollution as a strategy for environmental awareness raising. The BMP project conjugates this component with a scientific approach, allowing the collection of valuable quantitative environmental data, using a low-cost device, called Sky Quality Meter (SQM, provided to citizens. The measurements are loaded to a database on the project web site, and are published in a variety of formats. In 2011 the system was extended to collect data from fixed SQM stations for continuous monitoring, with the development of automated data harvesting procedures and leading to complement the citizen science measures with more high-quality time series of light pollution data. At the national level, the project obtained considerable recognition, in terms of citizen participation and media coverage. Most interestingly from a research perspective, the project acted as a trigger to initiate light pollution studies by Italian experts, namely in the areas of biometeorology and marine ecology. The article will review the process which led the authors to escalate their operations from awareness raising to research, and will provide an overview of the models and of the first tests conducted in the context of our research studies.

ESASky: All the sky you need

Science.gov (United States)

De Marchi, Guido; ESASky Team

2018-06-01

ESASky is a discovery portal giving to all astronomers, professional and amateur alike, an easy way to access high-quality scientific data from their computer, tablet, or mobile device. It includes over half a million images, 300,000 spectra, and more than a billion catalogue sources. From gamma rays to radio wavelengths, it allows users to explore the cosmos with data from a dozen space missions from the astronomical archives of ESA, NASA, and JAXA and does not require prior knowledge of any particular mission. ESASky features an all-sky exploration interface, letting users easily zoom in for stars as single targets or as part of a whole galaxy, visualise them and retrieve the relevant data taken in an area of the sky with just a few clicks. Users can easily compare observations of the same source obtained by different space missions at different times and wavelengths. They can also use ESASky to plan future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, comparing the relevant portion of the sky as observed by Hubble and other missions. We will illustrate the many options to visualise and access astronomical data: interactive footprints for each instrument, tree-maps, filters, and solar-system object trajectories can all be combined and displayed. The most recent version of ESASky, released in February, also includes access to scientific publications, allowing users to visualise on the sky all astronomical objects with associated scientific publications and to link directly back to the papers in the NASA Astrophysics Data System.

Predicting daylight illuminance on inclined surfaces using sky luminance data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, D.H.W.; Lau, C.C.S.; Lam, J.C. [City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon (China). Dept. of Building and Construction

2005-07-01

Daylight illuminance, particularly on vertical surfaces, plays a major role in determining and evaluating the daylighting performance of a building. In many parts of the world, however, the basic daylight illuminance data for various vertical planes are not always readily available. The usual method to obtain diffuse illuminance on tilted planes would be based on inclined surface models using data from the horizontal measurements. Alternatively, the diffuse illuminance on a sloping plane can be computed by integrating the luminance distribution of the sky 'seen' by the plane. This paper presents an approach to estimate the vertical outdoor illuminance from sky luminance data and solar geometry. Sky luminance data recorded from January 1999 to December 2001 in Hong Kong and generated by two well-known sky luminance models (Kittler and Perez) were used to compute the outdoor illuminance for the four principal vertical planes (N, E, S and W). The performance of this approach was evaluated against data measured in the same period. Statistical analysis indicated that using sky luminance distributions to predict outdoor illuminance can give reasonably good agreement with measured data for all vertical surfaces. The findings provide an accurate alternative to determine the amount of daylight on vertical as well as other inclined surfaces when sky luminance data are available. (author)

Smart parking management and navigation system

KAUST Repository

Saadeldin, Mohamed

2017-11-09

Various examples are provided for smart parking management, which can include navigation. In one example, a system includes a base station controller configured to: receive a wireless signal from a parking controller located at a parking space; determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from the wireless signal; and identify a presence of a vehicle located at the parking space based at least in part on the RSSI. In another example, a method includes receiving a wireless signals from a base station controller and a parking controller located at a parking space; determining RSSIs from the wireless signals; and determining a location of the mobile computing device in a parking facility based at least in part on the RSSIs. In another example, a RSSI can be received, a parking occupancy can be determined using the RSSI, and an electronic record can be updated based on the parking occupancy.

Development of software for estimating clear sky solar radiation in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Ambarita, H.

2017-01-01

Research on solar energy applications in Indonesia has come under scrutiny in recent years. Solar radiation is harvested by solar collector or solar cell and convert the energy into useful energy such as heat and or electricity. In order to provide a better configuration of a solar collector or a solar cell, clear sky radiation should be estimated properly. In this study, an in-house software for estimating clear sky radiation is developed. The governing equations are solved simultaneously. The software is tested in Medan city by performing a solar radiation measurements. For clear sky radiation, the results of the software and measurements ones show a good agreement. However, for the cloudy sky condition it cannot predict the solar radiation. This software can be used to estimate the clear sky radiation in Indonesia.

Clear sky solar insolation data for Islamabad

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhter, P.; Baig, A.; Mufti, A.

1990-09-01

Monthly average values of both integrated and instantaneous clear sky solar radiation components for Islamabad territory have been presented and discussed. The components include total, direct normal, direct horizontal, global and diffuse radiations, sun hours, number of clear days and temperature for solar energy applications. Beam irradiance values are used to get clear sky (maximum) sun hours by ab-initio. The need for replacing the conventional sunshine recorder is discussed. (author). 8 refs, 1 fig, 2 tabs

Tropical rainforest response to marine sky brightening climate engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Muri, Helene; Niemeier, Ulrike; Kristjánsson, Jón Egill

2015-04-01

Tropical forests represent a major atmospheric carbon dioxide sink. Here the gross primary productivity (GPP) response of tropical rainforests to climate engineering via marine sky brightening under a future scenario is investigated in three Earth system models. The model response is diverse, and in two of the three models, the tropical GPP shows a decrease from the marine sky brightening climate engineering. Partial correlation analysis indicates precipitation to be important in one of those models, while precipitation and temperature are limiting factors in the other. One model experiences a reversal of its Amazon dieback under marine sky brightening. There, the strongest partial correlation of GPP is to temperature and incoming solar radiation at the surface. Carbon fertilization provides a higher future tropical rainforest GPP overall, both with and without climate engineering. Salt damage to plants and soils could be an important aspect of marine sky brightening.

Smart Parking Management Pilot Project: A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Parking Demonstration

OpenAIRE

Shaheen, Susan; Rodier, Caroline; Eaken, Amanda M.

2005-01-01

This report presents early findings from an application of advanced parking technologies to maximize existing parking capacity at the Rockridge BART station, which was launched in December 2004 in the East San Francisco Bay Area. The smart parking system includes traffic sensors that count the number of vehicles entering and exiting the parking lots at the station. A reservation system allows travelers to reserve spaces by Internet, personal digital assistant (PDA), phone, and cell phone. The...

The observer's sky atlas

CERN Document Server

Karkoschka, E

2007-01-01

This title includes a short introduction to observing, a thorough description of the star charts and tables, a glossary and much more. It is perfect for both the beginner and seasoned observer. It is fully revised edition of a best-selling and highly-praised sky atlas.

Sun, Earth and Sky

CERN Document Server

Lang, Kenneth R

2006-01-01

This Second Edition of Sun, Earth and Sky updates the popular text by providing comprehensive accounts of the most recent discoveries made by five modern solar spacecraft during the past decade. Their instruments have used sound waves to peer deep into the Sun’s inner regions and measure the temperature of its central nuclear reactor, and extended our gaze far from the visible Sun to record energetic outbursts that threaten Earth. Breakthrough observations with the underground Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are also included, which explain the new physics of ghostly neutrinos and solve the problematic mismatch between the predicted and observed amounts of solar neutrinos. This new edition of Sun, Earth and Sky also describes our recent understanding of how the Sun’s outer atmosphere is heated to a million degrees, and just where the Sun’s continuous winds come from. As humans we are more intimately linked with our life-sustaining Sun than with any other astronomical object, and the new edition therefore p...

Introduction to the Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project (ASAP): Systematics, biogeography, ecology, and population genetics of arthropods of the Madrean Sky Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Wendy Moore; Wallace M. Meyer; Jeffrey A. Eble; Kimberly Franklin; John F. Wiens; Richard C. Brusca

2013-01-01

The Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project (ASAP) is a new multi-disciplinary research program at the University of Arizona that combines systematics, biogeography, ecology, and population genetics to study origins and patterns of arthropod diversity along elevation gradients and among mountain ranges in the Madrean Sky Island Region. Arthropods represent taxonomically...

Sky shine of proton synchrotron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katoh, Kazuaki; Hirayama, Hideo

1978-01-01