Global Reporting Format (GRF) Application Automation for Runway Surface Conditions in West Africa

This paper aims to design an automated Global Reporting Format’s (GRF) application in order to reduce time of manual application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). A method has been used to measure and generate Runway Condition Report (RCR) automatically. The developed computing model is an autonomous and automatic application implemented specially for West Africa (and can be extended to any rainy area). It uses Arduino materials and computing code developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using that method to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is fast, so human presence on the runway is reduced. Even though the results obtained using this model are slightly different from those expected, the actual runway conditions are not too much affected.

A Trend towards a Stable Warm and Windless State of the Surface Weather Conditions in Northern and Northeastern China during 1961–2014

This study investigates the trends in the mean state and the day-to-day variability （DDV） of the surface weather conditions over northern and northeastern China （NNEC） during 1961-2014 using CN05.1 observational data. In this study, we show that the surface temperature （wind speed） has increased （decreased） over NNEC and that the DDV of the surface temperatures and wind speeds has decreased, indicating a trend towards a stable warm and windless state of the surface weather conditions over NNEC. This finding implies a trend towards more persistent hot and windless episodes, which threaten human health and aggravate environmental problems. The trends are also examined in reanalysis data. Both the ERA-40 and the NCEP data show an increasing （decreasing） trend in the mean state of the surface temperatures （wind speeds）. However, the reanalysis data show a consistent decreasing trend in the DDV of the surface weather conditions only in the spring. The underlying reason for the decreased DDV of the surface weather conditions is further analyzed, focusing on the spring season. Essentially, the decreased DDV of the surface weather conditions can be attributed to a decrease in synoptic-scale wave activity, which is caused by a decrease in the baroclinic instability. There is a contrasting change in the baroclinic instability over East Asia, showing a decreasing （increasing） trend north （south） of 40°N. This contrasting change in the baroclinic instability is primarily caused by a tropospheric cooling zone over East Asia at approximately 40°N, which influences the meridional temperature gradient over East Asia.

Evaluating Spatial Heterogeneity of Land Surface Hydrothermal Conditions in the Heihe River Basin

Land surface hydrothermal conditions(LSHCs) reflect land surface moisture and heat conditions, and play an important role in energy and water cycles in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Based on comparison of four evaluation methods(namely, the classic statistical method, geostatistical method, information theory method, and fractal method), this study proposed a new scheme for evaluating the spatial heterogeneity of LSHCs. This scheme incorporates diverse remotely sensed surface parameters, e.g., leaf area index-LAI, the normalized difference vegetation index-NDVI, net radiation-Rn, and land surface temperature-LST. The LSHCs can be classified into three categories, namely homogeneous, moderately heterogeneous and highly heterogeneous based on the remotely sensed LAI data with a 30 m spatial resolution and the combination of normalized information entropy(S’) and coefficient of variation(CV). Based on the evaluation scheme, the spatial heterogeneity of land surface hydrothermal conditions at six typical flux observation stations in the Heihe River Basin during the vegetation growing season were evaluated. The evaluation results were consistent with the land surface type characteristics exhibited by Google Earth imagery and spatial heterogeneity assessed by high resolution remote sensing evapotranspiration data. Impact factors such as precipitation and irrigation events, spatial resolutions of remote sensing data, heterogeneity in the vertical direction, topography and sparse vegetation could also affect the evaluation results. For instance, short-term changes(precipitation and irrigation events) in the spatial heterogeneity of LSHCs can be diagnosed by energy factors, while long-term changes can be indicated by vegetation factors. The spatial heterogeneity of LSHCs decreases when decreasing the spatial resolution of remote sensing data. The proposed evaluation scheme would be useful for the quantification of spatial heterogeneity of LSHCs over flux observation stations toward the global scale, and also contribute to the improvement of the accuracy of estimation and validation for remotely sensed(or model simulated) evapotranspiration.

Hydrodynamic Efficiency Improvement of the High Skew Propeller for the Underwater Vehicle Under Surface and Submerged Conditions

An algorithm based on the Boundary Element Method(BEM)is presented for designing the High Skew Propeller(HSP)used in an Underwater Vehicle(UV).Since UVs operate under two different kinds of working conditions(i.e.surface and submerged conditions),the design of such a propeller is an unwieldy task.This is mainly due to the fact that the resistance forces as well as the vessel efficiency under these conditions are significantly different.Therefore,some factors are necessary for the design of the opti-mum propeller to utilize the power under the mentioned conditions.The design objectives of the optimum propeller are to obtain the highest possible thrust and efficiency with the minimum torque.For the current UV,the main dimensions of the propeller are pre-dicted based on the given required thrust and the defined operating conditions.These dimensions(number of blades,pitch,diameter,expanded area ratio,thickness and camber)are determined through iterative procedure.Because the propeller operates at the stern of the UV where the inflow velocity to the propeller is non-uniform,a 5-blade HSP is preferred for running the UV.Finally,the propel-ler is designed based on the numerical calculations to acquire the improved hydrodynamic efficiency.

Evaluation of Haney-Type Surface ThermalBoundary Conditions Using a CoupledAtmosphere and Ocean Model

A coupled atmosphere-ocean model developed at the Institute for Space Studies at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Russell et al., 1995) was used to verify the validity of Haney-type surface thermal boundary condition, which linearly connects net downward surface heat fluxQ to air/sea temperature difference ΔT by a relaxation coefficientk. The model was initiated from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) atmospheric observations for 1 December 1977, and from the National Ocean Data Center (NODC) global climatological mean December temperature and salinity fields at 1°x 1° resolution. The time step is 7.5 minutes. We integrated the model for 450 days and obtained a complete model-generated global data set of daily mean downward net surface fluxQ, surface air temperatureT A, and sea surface temperatureT O. Then, we calculated the cross-correlation coefficients (CCC) betweenQ and ΔT. The ensemble mean CCC fields show (a) no correlation betweenQ and ΔT in the equatiorial regions, and (b) evident correlation (CCC≥0.7) betweenQ and ΔT in the middle and high latitudes. Additionally, we did the variance analysis and found that whenk=120 W m?2K?1, the two standard deviations, σQ and σκδT , are quite close in the middle and high latitudes. These results agree quite well with a previous research (Chu et al., 1998) on analyzing the NCEP re-analyzed surface data, except that a smaller value ofk (80 W m?2K?1) was found in the previous study. Key words Air-sea coupled system - Ocean surface fluxes - Surface thermal boundary condition

Dependence of the AGCM Climatology on the Method of Prescribing Surface Boundary Conditions and Its Climatological Implication

By using IAP 9L AGCM, two sets of long-term climatological integration have been performed with the two different interpolation procedures for generating the daily surface boundary conditions. One interpolation procedure is the so-called “traditional” scheme, for which the daily surface boundary conditions are obtained by linearly interpolating between the observed monthly mean values, however the observed monthly means cannot be preserved after interpolation. The other one is the “new” scheme, for which the daily surface boundary conditions are obtained by linearly interpolating between the “artificial” monthly mean values which are based on, but are different from the observed ones, after interpolating with this new scheme, not only the observed monthly mean values are preserved, the time series of the new generated daily values is also more consistent with the observation. Comparison of the model results shows that the differences of the globally or zonally averaged fields between these two integrations are quite small, and this is due to the compensating effect between the different regions. However, the differences of the two patterns (the global or regional geographical distributions), are quite significant, for example, the magnitude of the difference in the JJA mean rainfall between these two integrations can exceed 2 mm/ day over Asian monsoon regions, and the difference in DJF mean surface air temperature can also exceed 2?C over this region. The fact that the model climatology depends quite strongly on the method of prescribing the daily surface boundary conditions suggests that in order to validate the climate model or to predict the short-term climate anomalies, either the “new? interpolation scheme or the high frequency surface boundary conditions (e.g., daily or weekly data instead of the monthly data) should be introduced. Meanwhile, as for the coupled model, the daily coupling scheme between the different component climate models ( e.g., atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models) is preferred in order to partly eliminate the “climate drift” problem which may appear during the course of direct coupling.

APPLICATION OF HIERARCHY ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK TO EVALUATE THE EXPLOITATIONCONDITIONS OF SURFACE MINING AREA

It always adopts the direct hierarchy analysis to value the exploitation conditions of surface mining areas. This way has some unavoidable shortcomings because it is mainly under the aid of experts and it is affected by the subjective thinking of the experts. This paper puts forwards a new approach that divides the whole exploitation conditions into sixteen subsidiary systems and each subsidiary system forms a neural network system. The whole decision system of exploitation conditions of surface mining areas is composed of sixteen subsidiary neural network systems. Each neural network is practiced with the data of the worksite, which is reasonable and scientific. This way will be a new decision approach for exploiting the surface mining areas.

COMPACT FOUR-COMPONENT 2-D FDFD METHOD WITH EQUIVALENT SURFACE IMPEDANCE BOUNDARY CONDITION FOR MULTILAYER METAL-COATED WAVEGUIDE

A compact four-component two-dimensional （2-D） finite-difference frequency domain （FDFD） method with the equivalent surface impedance boundary condition is used to analyze the dispersion characteristics of multilayer metal-coated waveguides. According to the equivalent surface impedance boundary condition,the relationship between transverse field components on the boundary can be easily depicted. Once the eigen equation is solved,the propagation constant can be obtained as the eigen value for a given frequency. Results of the proposed method agaree well with those of high frequency structure simulator（HFSS）.

Convective heat and mass transfer in MHD mixed convection flow of Jeffrey nanofluid over a radially stretching surface with thermal radiation

Mixed convection flow of magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) Jeffrey nanofluid over a radially stretching surface with radiative surface is studied. Radial sheet is considered to be convectively heated. Convective boundary conditions through heat and mass are employed. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations. Convergent series solutions of the resulting problems are derived. Emphasis has been focused on studying the effects of mixed convection, thermal radiation, magnetic field and nanoparticles on the velocity, temperature and concentration fields. Numerical values of the physical parameters involved in the problem are computed for the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are computed.

STRUCTURE AND SURFACE CONDITION OF ULTRAFINE AI PARTICLES

The crystal habit,crystalline structure,surface condition and composition of the ultrafine Al particles prepared by inert gas evaporation method were studied in detail by means of high resolution transmission electron microscope,X-ray diffraction and X-ray photo-electron spectrum.The results indicate that the ultrafine Al particles prepared in high pure inert gas are of clear crystal habits,single crystal in a large majority and fcc crystalline structure with a_0=0.405 nm.It is also found on the surface of the Al particles that there is a layer of amor- phous Al_2O_3 with 2 nm average thickness,which could protect the particles against oxidizing further.Therefore,the ultrafine Al particles prepared by the inert gas evaporation method are very stable in atmosphere.

4-component 2-D CFDFD method in analysis of lossy circular waveguide with fractal rough surface

In this paper, equivalent surface impedance boundary condition （ESIBC）, which takes fractal parameters （D, G） into SIBC, is implemented in the 4-component 2-D compact finite difference frequency domain （2-D CFDFD） method to an- alyze the propagation characteristics of lossy circular waveguide with fractal rough surface based on Weierstrass-Mandelbrot （W-M） function. Fractal parameters’ effects on attenuation constant are presented in the 3 mm lossy circular waveguide, and the attenuation constants of the first three modes vary monotonically with scaling constant （G） and decrease as the fractal dimension （D） increasing.

Platelet adhesion to the surface of a sudden tubular expansion tube under swirling flow condition

The size mismatch in an end-to-end vascular anastomosis between the host vessel and the graft may cause flow disturbance and predispose to thrombosis [1].Although a number of techniques have been employed to reduce the risk of anastomotic thrombosis due to the size mismatch。

A method of convolutional neural network based on frequency segmentation for monitoring the state of wind turbine blades

Wind turbine blades are prone to failure due to high tip speed,rain,dust and so on.A surface condition detecting approach based on wind turbine blade aerodynamic noise is proposed.On the experimental measurement data,variational mode decomposition filtering and Mel spectrogram drawing are conducted first.The Mel spectrogram is divided into two halves based on frequency characteristics and then sent into the convolutional neural network.Gaussian white noise is superimposed on the original signal and the output results are assessed based on score coefficients,considering the complexity of the real environment.The surfaces of Wind turbine blades are classified into four types:standard,attachments,polishing,and serrated trailing edge.The proposed method is evaluated and the detection accuracy in complicated background conditions is found to be 99.59%.In addition to support the differentiation of trained models,utilizing proper score coefficients also permit the screening of unknown types.

Non-Contact System for Global Reporting Format (GRF) Automation: Contaminant Body Detection and Depth Estimation in the Case of Rainy Weather

The paper designed a non-contact system in order to perform the application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format (GRF) developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The system involves devices that film the surface (a runway in our case) from the air and displays the contaminant (water) body and measures the depth of the water automatically during the inspection. While measuring, data are sent to a computer used as a receiver. The developed devices are automatic devices implemented specially to use during rainy weather or even for some other cases. The aerial system uses a raspberry pi 4 model B, a camera, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic module, a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and python codes developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using these devices to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is very fast and human presence on the runway is not needed. The results obtained using these devices show that the method used herein is a proper solution to the GRF issues in the rainy areas, where the contaminant body detection and the accurate depth measurement were not well estimated because of the lack of a suitable method.

Diagnosis of the Causes of the Rain Flooding in June in the West Africa Coastal Area

Rain flooding during June on the West Africa coastal area is analyzed by using the 95th and 75th percentiles, which represent extreme and intense rainfall events respectively. Thus, the contribution of these events that reaches around 50% shows their impact on the rainfall in June. Atmospheric and oceanic factors influence the rain flooding. Indeed, the extreme events are associated with easterly waves propagating from 20°E, while those of intense events are initiated around 5°E. The impact of oceanic conditions exhibits the warming of the equatorial rail and the Atlantic cold tongue, the warming of the whole ocean basin and a north-south dipole of SST anomalies. The West African monsoon that reaches Abidjan corresponds to a low-level atmospheric flow, whose upward motion extends in latitude from the ocean to the continent. An increase of disturbance contributes to enhancing these events. This is confirmed by the inflow on to the continent of oceanic moisture coming from the ventilation by evaporation of warm water. In addition, the coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations are one of the best candidates that could help to better explain these dramatic events. This study is useful because of showing solutions that could help in adoption of policies for the risks management related to these events.

Numerical Analysis of the High Skew Propeller of an Underwater Vehicle

A numerical analysis based on the boundary element method （BEM） was presented for the hydrodynamic performance of a high skew propeller （HSP） which is employed by an underwater vehicle （UV）. Since UVs operate at two different working conditions （surface and submerged conditions）, the design of such a propeller is a cumbersome task. This is primarily due to the fact that the resistance forces as well as the vessel efficiency under these conditions are significantly different. Therefbre, some factors are necessary for the design of the optimum propeller to utilize the power at the mentioned conditions. The design objectives of the optimum propeller are to obtain the highest possible thrust, minimum torque, and efficiency. In the current study, a 5-bladed HSP was chosen for running the UV. This propeller operated at the stern of the UV hull where the inflow velocity to the propeller was non-uniform. Some parameters of the propeller were predicted based on the UV geometrical hull and operating conditions. The computed results include the pressure distribution and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the HSP in open water conditions, and comparison of these results with those of the experimental data indicates good agreement. The propeller efficiency for both submerged and surface conditions was found to be 67% and 64%, respectively, which compared to conventional propellers is a significantly higher efficiency.

Theoretical analysis on capillary adhesion of microsized plates with a substrate

The stiction of a thin plate induced by the capillary force has attracted much attention in the broad range of applications. A novel method is presented to calculate the capillary adhesion problem of the plate through analytical method. The expressions of the surface energy, the strain energy and the total potential energy of the plate-substrate system have been analyzed and delineated. By means of continuum mechanics and the principle of minimum potential energy, the governing equation of the plate with an arbitrary shape and the corresponding transversality boundary condition due to the moving bound have been derived. Then the critical adhesion radius of the circular plate has been solved according to the supplementary transversality condition. Thus the deflections of the plates are analytically calculated with different critical adhesion radii. The results may be beneficial to the engineering application and the micro/nanomeasurement.

Improved treatments for evaluating horizontal magnetic components through the 3-D FDM in E-polarization induction problems

To improve the accuracy of the numerical evaluation through the 3-D finite difference method, the surface boundary conditions are added to modify the old program. The author has tested the new program by making calculations for the model constructed by Wanamaker, et al (1984). The comparison between the numerical results obtained from this paper and those by Wannamaker, et al (1984) indicates that a pronounced improvement is realized in the evaluation of the horizontal magnetic components. Moreover, better calculations for the vertical magnetic components are also obtainable by using the new program.

Two Dimensional Fully Nonlinear Numerical Wave Tank Based on the BEM

The development of a two dimensional numerical wave tank （NWT） with a rocker or piston type wavemaker based on the high order boundary element method （BEM） and mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian （MEL） is examined. The cauchy principle value （CPV） integral is calculated by a special Gauss type quadrature and a change of variable. In addition the explicit truncated Taylor expansion formula is employed in the time-stepping process. A modified double nodes method is assumed to tackle the comer problem, as well as the damping zone technique is used to absorb the propagation of the free surface wave at the end of the tank. A variety of waves are generated by the NWT, for example; a monochromatic wave, solitary wave and irregular wave. The results confirm the NWT model is efficient and stable.

Potential Impacts of Various Land Use Forms on Land Degradation in Arid Regions （Case Study： Kuwait）

During the last 20 years, land use in Kuwait was remarkably changed in various forms. Such changes resulted in positively constructive, as well as, adversely destructive impacts on the local environment and ecology. In 1993-1994, a buffer zone of 15 km wide and more than 200 km long was established between Iraq and Kuwait. This allowed the restoration of biodiversity, enhancement of ecological conditions and stabilization of fragile soils. In 1991, long bund walls were constructed along the Saudi-Kuwaiti borders by Saudi Arabia and in 1993-1994, a ground trench was dug along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti borders by Kuwait. Bund walls are piles of excavated soils, 2-3 m high, 3-5 m wide and several tens of kilometers length. Constructing 1 km length of a bund wall required 2,500-3,000 m3 （1,000 m length x 5 m average width x 0.5 m depth） amount of soil, which disturbed a groundcover strip of an average area of 10,000 m2 （1,000 m length x 10 m average width）. Border trenches are ground hollows 2-3 m deep, 3-5 m wide and 220 km long. The amount of excavated soil from digging 1 km long trench ranged from 6,000-8,000 m3. Field work indicated that 1 km long of trench had disturbed a groundcover of an average area of 12,000 m2 （1,000 m length ~ 12 m average width）. Such man-induced land features are closely related to land degradation processes, as they were of adverse environmental impacts on soil, surface hydrologic conditions and natural vegetation. The main objective of this study is to assess the immediate and long term impacts of the introduced land use forms in selected areas in Kuwait, such as Wadi AI Batin （Western part of Kuwait）. To achieve such an objective, intensive field program was designed and implemented and the collected data and available information were analyzed and interpreted.