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At least 181 records · Page 10

Sampling, aggregation, and variance estimation for area, yield, and production in LACIE

An approximately 2% sampling error was achieved in LACIE by sampling only approximately 2% of the sampling frame. The sample design in the yardstick region for which historical data were available down to a substratum level to support missing data resulting from cloud cover provided the most accurate estimate possible. The implemented strategy provided data of sufficient quality and quantity to support required performance levels and also to satisfy the existing constraints. The allocation scheme appeared to provide the most efficient usage of the available data and gave segment coverage of major producing areas and thus improved the probability of an accurate estimate.

Hallum, C. R.↗

Mechanical aggregation of enstatite chondrites from an inhomogeneous debris cloud

Enstatite chondrites have oxygen isotope ratios closer to those of the earth and moon than other meteorites. Their minerals are chemically reduced; metal contains Si, and some Ca, Ti, Mg and Mn are incorporated in sulphides rather than silicates. Clinoenstatite and olivine are virtually Fe-free. Two types of clinoenstatite in the Indarch enstatite chondrite have been reported, one luminescing blue and one red. Similar clinoenstatites in the Kota-Kota enstatite chondrite are associated with two distinct types of forsteritic olivine, one luminescing orange and the other blue. The textural relations and differences in chemical composition cannot be explained by progressive condensation from the solar nebula and require the mechanical mixing of material from at least two sources. It is suggested here that enstatite chondrites result from mechanical and chemical processes during aerodynamic sorting and gravitational settling of debris from a hot cloud of dust, liquid and gas produced during collision of planetesimals.

Leitch, C. A.↗

Graphite-magnetite aggregates in ordinary chondritic meteorites

The graphite-magnetite component has been found (1) as abundant isolated inclusions in eight ordinary-chondritic, regolith breccias; (2) as the sole matrix in a new kind of unequilibrated chondrite that forms clasts in these regolith breccias; and (3) together with a Huss matrix in six unequilibrated ordinary chondrites. It is suggested that the component was formed by low-temperature, gas-solid reactions before the accretion of the meteorite, and that the isolated inclusions of graphite-magnetite in regolith breccias were derived from bodies composed of the new kind of chondrite that has graphite-magnetite as its sole matrix.

Scott, E. R. D.↗

General multiyear aggregation technology: Methodology and software documentation

A general methodology is presented for estimating a stratum's at-harvest crop acreage proportion for a given crop year (target year) from the crop's estimated acreage proportion for sample segments from within the stratum. Sample segments from crop years other than the target year are (usually) required for use in conjunction with those from the target year. In addition, the stratum's (identifiable) crop acreage proportion may be estimated for times other than at-harvest in some situations. A by-product of the procedure is a methodology for estimating the change in the stratum's at-harvest crop acreage proportion from crop year to crop year. An implementation of the proposed procedure as a statistical analysis system routine using the system's matrix language module, PROC MATRIX, is described and documented. Three examples illustrating use of the methodology and algorithm are provided.

Baker, T. C.↗

Some key issues in isotopic anomalies - Astrophysical history and aggregation

Astrophysical history, particularly that period extending from stellar nucleosynthesis events to the formation of meteorites, is discussed as the key element for the understanding of isotopic anomalies in meteorites. The bulk homogeneity of the interstellar medium is considered, and it is argued that, despite the presence of spatial inhomogeneities due to different nucleosynthesis rates in different parts of the galaxy and supernova ejecta, a cosmic chemical memory of nucleosynthesis patterns, rather than an inhomogeneous injection, is the source of isotopic anomalies. According to this view, volatility patterns and some isotopic patterns are mapped onto a grain-size spectrum, and the FUN systematics may be explained by interstellar sputtering. Furthermore, meteoritic He and Ne abundances are inferred to be presolar, and the ubiquitous titanium isotopic anomalies are explained by processes of chemical fixation and condensation in varying environments.

Clayton, D. D.↗

Singular perturbation, state aggregation and nonlinear filtering

Consideration is given to a state process evolving in R(n), whose motion is that of a pure jump process in R(n) in the 0(1) time scale, upon which is superimposed a continuous motion along the orbits of a gradient-like vector field g in R(n) in the 0(1/epsilon) time scale. The infinitesimal generator of the state process is, in other words, of the form L + (1/epsilon)g. It follows from the main results presented that the projected filters converge to the finite state Wonham filter corresponding to the problem of estimating the finite state process in the presence of additive white noise.

Hijab, O.↗

Aggregating available soil water holding capacity data for crop yield models

The total amount of water available to plants that is held against gravity in a soil is usually estimated as the amount present at -0.03 MPa average water potential minus the amount present at -1.5 MPa water potential. This value, designated available water-holding capacity (AWHC), is a very important soil characteristic that is strongly and positively correlated to the inherent productivity of soils. In various applications, including assessing soil moisture status over large areas, it is necessary to group soil types or series as to their productivity. Current methods to classify AWHC of soils consider only total capacity of soil profiles and thus may group together soils which differ greatly in AWHC as a function of depth in the profile. A general approach for evaluating quantitatively the multidimensional nature of AWHC in soils is described. Data for 902 soil profiles, representing 184 soil series, in Indiana were obtained from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at Purdue University. The AWHC for each of ten 150-mm layers in each soil was established, based on soil texture and parent material. A multivariate clustering procedure was used to classify each soil profile into one of 4, 8, or 12 classes based upon ten-dimensional AWHC values. The optimum number of classes depends on the range of AWHC in the population of oil profiles analyzed and on the sensitivity of a crop to differences in distribution of water within the soil profile.

Seubert, C. E.↗

Photon interaction cross sections for aggregations of finite-dimensional leaves

The Ross (1981) plate turbid-medium theory, which abstracts the leaf canopy as a gaseous mixture of oriented planar nondimensional plates that are randomly distributed in the configuration space, does not account for the 'hot spot' effect typical of all layered media with finite-dimensional scattering centers. The concept of 'particle distribution functions' is presently used to derive the interaction cross sections. This formalism is statistical-mechanical in nature, since the radiative transfer equation is essentially a linearized form of the Boltzmann equation for N-body systems.

Myneni, Ranga B.↗

Titan's aerosols. I - Laboratory investigations of shapes, size distributions, and aggregation of particles produced by UV photolysis of model Titan atmospheres

Experiments in which C2H2, C2H4, and HCN were photolyzed separately and as a mixture in UV light have been conducted in order to ascertain the physical properties of model Titan atmosphere aerosols. Aerosols formed from photolysis of C2H4 were physically similar to those formed from C2H2; protolysis of HCN rapidly generated particles that did not grow to sizes greater than 0.09 microns. While the formation of particles from C4H2 was observed within minutes, formation was slowed by a factor of 4 when C2H2 and HCN were added.

Scattergood, Thomas W.↗

Comet Halley as an aggregate of interstellar dust and further evidence for the photochemical formation of organics in the interstellar medium

Photolysis of mixtures of CO:NH3:H2O at 12 K results in the formation of an organic residue which is not volatile in high vacuum at room temperature. Analysis of this fraction by GC-MS resulted in the detection of C2-C3 hydroxy acids and hydroxy amides, glycerol, urea, glycine, hexamethylene tetramine, formamidine and ethanolamine. Use of isotopically labeled gases made it possible to establish that the observed products were not contaminants. The reaction pathways for the formation of these products were determined from the position of the isotopic labels in the mass spectral fragments. The significance of these findings to the composition of comets and the origins of life is discussed.

Briggs, R.↗

Analysis of Monomer Aggregation and Crystal Growth Rates of Lysozyme

This project was originally conceived to analyze the extensive data of tetragonal lysozyme crystal growth rates collected at NASA/MSFC by Dr. Marc L. Pusey's research group. At that time the lack of analysis of the growth rates was hindering progress in understanding the growth mechanism of tetragonal lysozyme and other protein crystals. After the project was initiated our initial analysis revealed unexpected complexities in the growth rate behavior. This resulted in an expansion in the scope of the project to include a comprehensive investigation of the growth mechanisms of tetragonal lysozyme crystals. A discussion of this research is included as well a list of presentations and publications resulting from the research. This project contributed significantly toward the education of several students and fostered extensive collaborations between investigators.

Nadarajah, Arunan↗

Documenting, Understanding, and Predicting the Aggregate Surface Radiation Fluxes for SHEBA

This document serves as a final report for NASA grant NAG5-4903 at Boston University. The report covers the first two years of the three-year project. The third year's funding and tasks have been transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) where the Principal Investigator (J. Key) is now stationed. The new UW grant number is NAG5-8625. Plans for the final project year at UW were detailed in the Request to Transfer document, submitted to NASA in July 1999. This is a group project with the University of Colorado (CU) as the lead institution, where Judith Curry is the Principal Investigator. The overall project is jointly funded by NASA and NSF. The progress reported herein is that specific to Boston University, but no attempt has been made to separate NASA and NSF activities.

Key, Jeffrey R.↗

The Magnetic Properties Of Aggregate Polycrystalline Diamond: Implications For Carbonado Petrogenesis

Carbonados are a type of diamond, which are made up of many aggregrates of small crystalline diamonds or microdiamonds. The term "carbonado" comes from the Portuguese word carbonated. They are only found in sedimentary deposits in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Bahia Province of Brazil. They were once the source of the world's supply of industrial diamonds. Their origin is uncertain but several mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed. This theories are: (1) extraterrestrial, that is they formed from the dust cloud of original solar nebulae; (2) produced by the high temperatures and pressures of the Earth's mantle; (3) or as the result of an extra-terrestrial impact into a carbon rich layer of sediment. Our study was done to further the understanding of their origin. We measured the magnetic properties on some twenty samples from the CAR. An earlier study was done on whole samples of carbonados and the "common" or kimberlitic diamond. Our work differed in that we started at the surface and subsequently removed the surface layers (by days of acid immersion) into the interior; measuring the magnetic properties at each interval. This procedure permits us to monitor the distribution of magnetic substances within the samples. Our results showed that the magnetic carriers are distributed on the surface including the open pores and that the carbonado interior is essentially non-magnetic. This result suggests that the initial formation environment was deficient in magnetic particles. Such a situation could indicate that their formation was the result of an extra-terrestrial body impacting carbon-rich sediment. Obviously, more work will be required on isotopic and chemical analyses before a more detailed ori-in can be determined.

Kleteschka, Gunther↗

Serpentine by Hydrogenation of Fe-rich Ferromagnesiosilica PCs in Aggregate IDPs

Condensed hydrogen-bearing magnesiosilica smokes support that hydrogenation at H2/H2O ratios may lead to the formation of rare Fe-rich serpentine plus metallic iron in ferromagnesiosilica PCs with appropriate (Mg,Fe)/Si ratios that were acquired during their formation. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Rietmeijer, F. J. M.↗