The Generation IV Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) design is being actively
studied in various countries for application due to its inherent passive safe design,
higher thermal efficiencies, and proposed capability of providing high temperature
process heat. The pebble bed core is one of two core designs used in gas...
Weak-wind flow in the nocturnal boundary is one of the most poorly understood problems in the field of meteorology. The understanding of weak-wind flows is essential for the improvement of regulatory dispersion models which are currently rendered invalid under weak-wind conditions and stable stratification. Recently there have been increased efforts...
Predominant models for predicting rates of sediment transport face acute shortcomings when applied to coastal boundary layers. This is due to a neglect of the web of stochastic variables governing the rate of sediment dislodgement. While stochastic models do exist, the parametric extent of their validity tends to be limited,...
Precision irrigation has made spatially explicit water management a reality. However, detailed knowledge about the spatially variable evapotranspiration is often unavailable. One example location where we can begin to understand the impact of spatial variability on evapotranspiration is at the field edge, which contains a sharp discontinuity in surface conditions....
Linkages between land use and its influence on the atmosphere have been a long-standing research area. For example, what is the impact of irrigated agriculture on downwind rainfall? Global-scale models show that moisture recycling is an important source of water for inland regions around the world, but they do not...
A thermal infrared (TIR) camera is used to remotely sense the foliage temperature in a mountain valley. The foliage temperature is used as a proxy for air temperature and can be used to study and map the dynamics of the nocturnal, weak-wind boundary layer in this valley. All radiative flux...
Lower atmospheric flux measurements are a difficult subset of atmospheric data to accurately collect. The interplay of cost, precision, specialty, resolution and repeatability compound an already difficult experimental problem. In response to this, a new, novel instrumentation approach to measuring within the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is introduced.
The combination...