1-9 of 9 results
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Graphics Tools for Meteorology Research and Education
PI Mark Sinclair
A software package called MADS (Meteorological Analysis and Diagnostic Software) is being developed to provide gridded data (both archived and real-time) and graphical software to produce maps, cross-sections, vertical profiles, time series graphs and statistical (climatological) displays of a large number of basic and derived quantities.
Unlike similar proprietary software products, MADS is intuitive and very easy to use. Students produce publication-quality color maps and graphs with only a few minutes of instruction and typically remark on how easy the software is to use. Meteorology faculty have used MADS plots for their research, and MADS assignments have been implemented into meteorology classes. MADS is ideal for institutions with limited computing support and is maintained by various automated scripts that download or update archived datasets. This system is continually being enhanced to accommodate more and more features expected in a modern meteorological graphics display package.This project has the potential to enhance meteorology education. Weather analysis and forecasting require both critical thinking and three-dimensional spatial analysis skills to apply complex theory to the diagnosis of atmospheric processes from multiple environmental variables in a variety of graphical formats. Outside websites used by meteorology students to visualize atmospheric fields typically offer a limited menu of “standard” meteorological displays. Upper-division theory classes are usually taught from a purely mathematical standpoint, with limited application to real-time atmospheric phenomena. MADS allows students to visualize contributions of the individual terms in dynamical meteorology or thermodynamics equations and overlay them to see their relative impact in the current meteorological context.Categories: Faculty-Staff
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Ice Cloud Parameterizations and Aircraft Icing
PI Dorothea Ivanova
Ice and mixed phase clouds have an important impact on aviation, but they are often poorly represented in the models.
This proposal seeks to help improve our understanding of aircraft icing occurrence through better parameterizations of the ice microphysical cloud properties. The goal of this proposal is to create a new Global Climate Model (GCM) parameterization for Arctic ice and mixed-phase clouds, and explore possible relationship between different type size distributions (SDs), and airplane icing. The study will utilize data for different ice crystal size spectra in arctic cold clouds, and data for the corresponding airplane icing occurrences. The PI has already developed and published parameterizations for mid-latitude and tropical ice clouds (Ivanova 2001, Ivanova 2004, Mitchell and Ivanova 2006, Mitchell et al. 2008). The tropical and mid-latitude schemes predict different behavior of the SDs for the same ice water content (IWC) and temperatures. As temperature decreases beyond -35C, the concentration of the small crystals is enhanced with the tropical scheme, but the opposite occurs with the mid-latitude scheme. This finding indicates that the microphysics properties of tropical and mid-latitude cold clouds are considerably different for the same IWC. It may also point to the different mechanisms by which convective and non-convective cold clouds are generated. Clearly, there is a need for Arctic and polar ice cloud parameterization, and for a study to explore the possibility of a relationship between the environmental conditions (temperature, IWC, supercooled liquid water content), different predicted size spectra, and aircraft icing. Cold cloud interactions with aircrafts that fly through them require knowledge of cloud microphysics. Aircrafts must be designed to fly into supercooled clouds, or they must avoid those clouds in order to prevent problems associated with airframe and engine icing. De-icing or anti-icing systems must be engineered to withstand reasonable extremes in terms of ice water content (IWC), supercooled liquid water content (LWC), ice particle size distributions (SDs), and temperature. The aircraft design or certification envelopes (FAR 25, Appendix C; Federal Aviation Administration, 1999) were developed before the advent of modern cloud physics instrumentation. In the case of ice and mixed-phase clouds, data from the new arctic field campaigns suggest that cloud temperature is one of the main parameters governing cloud microstructure, the size distributions, and ice water content affecting aircraft icing. Korolev et al. (2001) showed that the cold cloud size distributions may depend on the value of the ice particle size assumed. Parameterizations of ice particle sizes for mid-latitude and tropical ice clouds (Ivanova et al., 2001, Boudala et al., 2002; Ivanova 2004; Mitchell et al., 2008) appear in recent literature, and were implemented in the U. S. Community Climate model 3 (CCM3) Global Climate Model (GCM), and U.K. MetOffice GCM, but little is done to study high latitude cold clouds size distributions and how they may be related to the aircraft icing.Contact Information
Categories: Faculty-Staff Undergraduate
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Mesoscale Computer Modeling of the North American Monsoon over Arizona
PI Dorothea Ivanova
The Department of Meteorology is involved in research on the North American (Mexican) Monsoon in Arizona and the U.S. Southwest.
The objectives of this project are:- To achieve a better understanding of the evolution of the North American monsoon system and its variations.
- To achieve a better understanding of the response of warm season atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns to slowly varying boundary conditions (e.g. sea surface temperatures—SSTs, soil moisture), using advanced computer models.
- To run atmospheric mesoscale models (MM5 and WRF) utilizing the parallel-processor supercomputer on the Prescott Campus.
Contact Information
Categories: Faculty-Staff
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Cbud Computing for Meteorology Education
PI Curtis James
Weather analysis and forecasting require both critical thinking and three-dimensional spatial analysis skills to apply complex theory to the diagnosis of atmospheric processes from multiple environmental variables in a variety of formats.
Existing websites used by meteorology students to visualize atmospheric fields are not designed to facilitate synthesis of weather information because they offer a limited menu of “standard” meteorological displays without pedagogical intent or clear reference to theoretical underpinnings. Thus, there exists a significant opportunity to enhance online weather visualization tools in the context of meteorology education. This project seeks to create a virtual online LINUX server using a cloud service provider for 4D weather analysis and visualization in real time. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's (UCAR's) Unidata will configure the server using the Local Data Manager (LDM), a prototype installation of AWIPS II standalone EDEX server and CAVE client, and a RAMADDA server. Other meteorological tools will be configured for real-time use by National Weather Service meteorologists and the Department of Meteorology. All of these software packages will be accessible from any computer or mobile device using a web browser, and will support the Department's new focus in Emergency Response Meteorology practices and applications.
Contact Information
Categories: Faculty-Staff
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A Database Management System for General Aviation Safety
PI Massoud Bazargan
CO-I Michael Williams
CO-I Alan Stolzer
The research team at Embry-Riddle proposes to conduct a series of analyses to find patterns and associations among general aviation (GA) accidents and incidents.
This research work is intended to provide the FAA with analyses of fatal and non-fatal accidents by examining the NTSB database and recommending strategies to mitigate risks associated with such events.Some of the potential studies that the team proposes to conduct include: analysis of primary ten causes leading to fatal and non-fatal accidents for each region by aircraft complexity and pilot demographics, statistical analyses on existing General Aviation accidents and incidents NTSB database on a national and regional basis to identify associations and patterns between flight elements and risk factors. This study will address multiple factors including pilots' demographics, light conditions, weather conditions and equipment used.Categories: Faculty-Staff
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Statistical Analysis for General Aviation Accidents
PI Massoud Bazargan
The identification of causal factors for problems within a complex system present a variety of challenges to the investigator.
This project will proceed by considering existing data on GA accidents, applying data mining methods to highlight patterns, applying mathematical and statistical methods to model relationships, and finally to employ simulation to test, refine and verify results.Categories: Faculty-Staff
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A Comparison of Online and Traditional Undergraduate Introductory Physics
PI Emily Faulconer
CO-I John Griffith
CO-I Beverly Wood
CO-I Soumyadip Acharyya
CO-I Donna Roberts
While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well-researched, very little of this includes college level introductory physics. Only one study explored physics at the whole-class level rather than specific course components such as a single lab or a homework platform. In this work, we compared the failure rate, grade distribution, and withdrawal rates in an introductory undergraduate physics course across several learning modes including traditional face-to-face instruction, synchronous video instruction, and online classes.
In this study, statistically significant differences were found for student failure rates, grade distribution, and withdrawal rates but yielded small effect sizes. Post-hoc pair-wise test were run to determine differences between learning modes. Online students had a significantly lower failure rate than students who took the class via synchronous video classroom. While statistically significant differences were found for grade distributions, the pair-wise comparison yielded no statistically significance differences between learning modes when using the more conservative Bonferroni correction in post-hoc testing. Finally, in this study, student withdrawal rates were lowest for students who took the class in person (in-person classroom and synchronous video classroom) than online. Students that persist in an online introductory physics class are more likely to achieve an A than in other modes. However, the withdrawal rate is higher from online physics courses. Further research is warranted to better understand the reasons for higher withdrawal rates in online courses. Finding the root cause to help eliminate differences in student performance across learning modes should remain a high priority for education researchers and the education community as a whole.
Categories: Faculty-Staff
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Aviation Management Education Study (AMES)
PI Jason Newcomer
CO-I James Marion
CO-I Matthew Earnhardt
The Aviation Management Education Study (AMES) is a longitudinal effort consisting of a series of research papers covering various facets of aviation education as it pertains to managers in the field and hiring of industry professionals.
In the last 34 years, corporate America and the aviation professions have changed due to (a) increased air travel, (b) outsourcing functions, (c) aviation research, (d) federal regulation, and (e) the changed U.S. economy (Katkin, et al., 2013; Mootien, Warren, Morris, & Enoch, 2013; Quinlan, Hampson, & Gregson, 2013; Rango & Laliberte, 2010). The specific business problem is the lack of current, correlated demographic data of aviation managers, as well as any resultant significance testing of the aforementioned data to determine if there are necessary academic pre-requisites to obtaining management positions in aviation.
Categories: Faculty-Staff
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Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Application to Support Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF)
PI Brent Terwilliger
CO-I David Ison
CO-I Dennis Vincenzi
CO-I Dahai Liu
This continuing research project features refinement of UAS application methods to support of ARFF responses. Previously, modeling and simulation, in combination with UAS attribute performance models, was implemented to better understand challenges, limitations, and potential benefits of UAS support. However, based on the findings and recommendations of the original inquiry, the research will be expanded to include examination of operator knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), performance rating standards, and appropriate training requirements and delivery approaches.
Our team of researchers from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide has been actively compiling published performance data associated with commercially-off-the-shelf (COTS) group 1 to 3 fixed-wing and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in an effort to develop statistical models of each category. The captured data, which includes maximum speed, cruise speed, endurance, weights, wind limitations, and costs, is used to calculate capabilities including range (one-way and return), time to objective, station keeping duration, and maneuver requirements. The benefit from assembling such a unified collection of information and the calculation of associated derived capabilities is that these models are anticipated to accurately reflect the capabilities, limitations, and considerations necessary in the assessment of such platforms for various applications and operating environments. These models will be available for combination with simulation or analysis frameworks to better assess end usability of these categories of aircraft for a significant number of applications including, emergency response, disaster relief, precision agriculture, security, tactical, communications, environmental study, infrastructure inspection, cargo delivery, and mapping/surveying.
Publications:
Terwilliger, B., Vincenzi, D., Ison, D., & Smith, T. (2015). Assessment of unmanned aircraft platform performance using modeling and simulation (paper no. 15006). In Volume 2015: Proceedings of the 2015 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Arlington, VA: National Training and Simulation Association.
Terwilliger, B., Vincenzi, D., Ison, D., Herron, R., & Smith, T. (2015). UAS capabilities and performance modeling for application analysis. In Proceedings of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International 42nd Annual Symposium. Arlington, VA: Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
Ison, D., Terwilliger, B., Vincenzi, D., & Kleinke, S. (2015). Airport bird activity - monitoring and mitigation: The unmanned aerial system (UAS) approach.Presented at the 2015 North American Bird Strike Conference, Montreal, QC.
Categories: Faculty-Staff
1-9 of 9 results