Tropical Mesoscale Convective Systems and Associated Energetics : Observational and Modeling Studies

The main purpose of the thesis is to improve the state of knowledge and understanding of the physical structure of the TMCS and its short range prediction. The present study principally addresses the fine structure, dynamics and microphysics of severe convective storms.The structure and dynamics of the Tropical cloud clusters over Indian region is not well understood. The observational cases discussed in the thesis are limited to the temperature and humidity observations. We propose a mesoscale observational network along with all the available Doppler radars and other conventional and non—conventional observations. Simultaneous observations with DWR, VHF and UHF radars of the same cloud system will provide new insight into the dynamics and microphysics of the clouds. More cases have to be studied in detail to obtain climatology of the storm type passing over tropical Indian region. These observational data sets provide wide variety of information to be assimilated to the mesoscale data assimilation system and can be used to force CSRM.The gravity wave generation and stratosphere troposphere exchange (STE) processes associated with convection gained a great deal of attention to modem science and meteorologist. Round the clock observations using VHF and UHF radars along with supplementary data sets like DWR, satellite, GPS/Radiosondes, meteorological rockets and aircrafl observations is needed to explore the role of convection and associated energetics in detail.

Qualitative Air Flow Modelling and Analysis of Data Centre Air Conditioning as Multiple Jet Array

Data centre is a centralized repository,either physical or virtual,for the storage,management and dissemination of data and information organized around a particular body and nerve centre of the present IT revolution.Data centre are expected to serve uniinterruptedly round the year enabling them to perform their functions,it consumes enormous energy in the present scenario.Tremendous growth in the demand from IT Industry made it customary to develop newer technologies for the better operation of data centre.Energy conservation activities in data centre mainly concentrate on the air conditioning system since it is the major mechanical sub-system which consumes considerable share of the total power consumption of the data centre.The data centre energy matrix is best represented by power utilization efficiency(PUE),which is defined as the ratio of the total facility power to the IT equipment power.Its value will be greater than one and a large value of PUE indicates that the sub-systems draw more power from the facility and the performance of the data will be poor from the stand point of energy conservation. PUE values of 1.4 to 1.6 are acievable by proper design and management techniques.Optimizing the air conditioning systems brings enormous opportunity in bringing down the PUE value.The air conditioning system can be optimized by two approaches namely,thermal management and air flow management.thermal management systems are now introduced by some companies but they are highly sophisticated and costly and do not catch much attention in the thumb rules.

Qualitative air flow modelling and analysis of data centre air conditioning as multiple jet array

This work identifies the importance of plenum pressure on the performance of the data centre. The present methodology followed in the industry considers the pressure drop across the tile as a dependant variable, but it is shown in this work that this is the only one independent variable that is responsible for the entire flow dynamics in the data centre, and any design or assessment procedure must consider the pressure difference across the tile as the primary independent variable. This concept is further explained by the studies on the effect of dampers on the flow characteristics. The dampers have found to introduce an additional pressure drop there by reducing the effective pressure drop across the tile. The effect of damper is to change the flow both in quantitative and qualitative aspects. But the effect of damper on the flow in the quantitative aspect is only considered while using the damper as an aid for capacity control. Results from the present study suggest that the use of dampers must be avoided in data centre and well designed tiles which give required flow rates must be used in the appropriate locations. In the present study the effect of hot air recirculation is studied with suitable assumptions. It identifies that, the pressure drop across the tile is a dominant parameter which governs the recirculation. The rack suction pressure of the hardware along with the pressure drop across the tile determines the point of recirculation in the cold aisle. The positioning of hardware in the racks play an important role in controlling the recirculation point. The present study is thus helpful in the design of data centre air flow, based on the theory of jets. The air flow can be modelled both quantitatively and qualitatively based on the results.

“Qualitative Air Flow Modelling And Analysis Of Data Centre Air Conditioning As Multiple Jet Array

In the present study the effect of hot air recirculation is studied with suitable assumptions. It identifies that, the pressure drop across the tile is a dominant parameter which governs the recirculation. The rack suction pressure of the hardware along with the pressure drop across the tile determines the point of recirculation in the cold aisle. The positioning of hardware in the racks play an important role in controlling the recirculation point. The present study is thus helpful in the design of data centre air flow, based on the theory of jets. The air flow can be modelled both quantitatively and qualitatively based on the results

Assessment of Convective Activity Using Stability Indices as Inferred from Radiosonde and MODIS Data

The combined use of both radiosonde data and three-dimensional satellite derived data over ocean and land is useful for a better understanding of atmospheric thermodynamics. Here, an attempt is made to study the ther-modynamic structure of convective atmosphere during pre-monsoon season over southwest peninsular India utilizing satellite derived data and radiosonde data. The stability indices were computed for the selected stations over southwest peninsular India viz: Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin, using the radiosonde data for five pre- monsoon seasons. The stability indices studied for the region are Showalter Index (SI), K Index (KI), Lifted In-dex (LI), Total Totals Index (TTI), Humidity Index (HI), Deep Convective Index (DCI) and thermodynamic pa-rameters such as Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and Convective Inhibition Energy (CINE). The traditional Showalter Index has been modified to incorporate the thermodynamics over tropical region. MODIS data over South Peninsular India is also used for the study. When there is a convective system over south penin-sular India, the value of LI over the region is less than −4. On the other hand, the region where LI is more than 2 is comparatively stable without any convection. Similarly, when KI values are in the range 35 to 40, there is a possibility for convection. The threshold value for TTI is found to be between 50 and 55. Further, we found that prior to convection, dry bulb temperature at 1000, 850, 700 and 500 hPa is minimum and the dew point tem-perature is a maximum, which leads to increase in relative humidity. The total column water vapor is maximum in the convective region and minimum in the stable region. The threshold values for the different stability indices are found to be agreeing with that reported in literature.

Nitrification in a packed bed bioreactor integrated into amarine recirculating maturation system under different substrate concentrations and flow rates

BACKGROUND: A packed bed bioreactor (PBBR) activated with an indigenous nitrifying bacterial consortia was developed and commercialized for rapid establishment of nitrification in brackish water and marine hatchery systems in the tropics. The present study evaluated nitrification in PBBR integrated into a Penaeus monodon recirculating maturation system under different substrate concentrations and flow rates. RESULTS:Instantnitrificationwasobservedafter integration ofPBBRinto thematuration system.TANandNO2-Nconcentrations were always maintained below0.5 mg L−1 during operation. The TANandNO2-N removalwas significant (P < 0.001) in all the six reactor compartments of the PBBR having the substrates at initial concentrations of 2, 5 and 10 mg L−1. The average volumetric TAN removal rates increased with flow rates from 43.51 (250 L h−1) to 130.44 (2500 L h−1) gTAN m−3 day−1 (P < 0.05). FISH analysis of the biofilms after 70 days of operation gave positive results with probes NSO 190 ((β ammonia oxidizers), NsV 443 (Nitrosospira spp.) NEU (halophilic Nitrosomonas), Ntspa 712 (Phylum Nitrospira) indicating stability of the consortia. CONCLUSION: The PBBR integrated into the P. monodon maturation system exhibited significant nitrification upon operation for 70 days as well as at different substrate concentrations and flow rates. This system can easily be integrated into marine and brackish water aquaculture systems, to establish instantaneous nitrification

A Comparative Study of Convective Parameterization Schemes in WRF-NMM Model

Severe local storms, including tornadoes, damaging hail and wind gusts, frequently occur over the eastern and northeastern states of India during the pre-monsoon season (March-May). Forecasting thunderstorms is one of the most difficult tasks in weather prediction, due to their rather small spatial and temporal extension and the inherent non-linearity of their dynamics and physics. In this paper, sensitivity experiments are conducted with the WRF-NMM model to test the impact of convective parameterization schemes on simulating severe thunderstorms that occurred over Kolkata on 20 May 2006 and 21 May 2007 and validated the model results with observation. In addition, a simulation without convective parameterization scheme was performed for each case to determine if the model could simulate the convection explicitly. A statistical analysis based on mean absolute error, root mean square error and correlation coefficient is performed for comparisons between the simulated and observed data with different convective schemes. This study shows that the prediction of thunderstorm affected parameters is sensitive to convective schemes. The Grell-Devenyi cloud ensemble convective scheme is well simulated the thunderstorm activities in terms of time, intensity and the region of occurrence of the events as compared to other convective schemes and also explicit scheme

Numerical Methods for Non-Stationary Stokes Flow

We consider a first order implicit time stepping procedure (Euler scheme) for the non-stationary Stokes equations in smoothly bounded domains of R3. Using energy estimates we can prove optimal convergence properties in the Sobolev spaces Hm(G) (m = 0;1;2) uniformly in time, provided that the solution of the Stokes equations has a certain degree of regularity. For the solution of the resulting Stokes resolvent boundary value problems we use a representation in form of hydrodynamical volume and boundary layer potentials, where the unknown source densities of the latter can be determined from uniquely solvable boundary integral equations’ systems. For the numerical computation of the potentials and the solution of the boundary integral equations a boundary element method of collocation type is used. Some simulations of a model problem are carried out and illustrate the efficiency of the method.

Einfluss der Führung des Trocknungsprozesses auf den Trocknungsverlauf und die Produkteigenschaften empfindlicher biologischer Güter

Die Konvektionstrocknung ist eine der ältesten Methoden zur Konservierung von Lebensmitteln. Es ist bekannt, dass Agrarprodukte temperaturempfindlich sind. Bei Überhitzung erleiden sie chemische und physikalische Veränderungen, die ihre Qualität vermindern. In der industriellen Praxis wird die Konvektionstrocknung in der Regel auf Grundlage empirisch ermittelter Werte durchgeführt, welche die Produkttemperatur nicht berücksichtigen. Es ist deshalb nicht sichergestellt, ob der Prozess optimal oder auch nur gut betrieben wird. Inhalt dieser Arbeit ist ein Vergleich der klassischen einstufigen Konvektionstrocknung mit einer Prozessführungsstrategie bei der die Produkttemperatur als Regelgröße eingeführt wird. Anhand der Untersuchung des Trocknungsverhaltens von Äpfeln werden die beiden Verfahren analysiert, die erhaltenen Ergebnisse miteinander verglichen und daraus optimierte Trocknungsbedingungen abgeleitet. Die für dieses Projekt entwickelte Prozessanlage erlaubt die simultane Untersuchung sämtlicher wesentlicher Temperaturen, der Gewichtsveränderung und der optischen Qualitätskriterien. Gleichzeitig ist es möglich, entweder die Lufttemperatur oder die Temperatur des Produktes zur regeln, während die jeweils andere Größe als Messwert erfasst wird. Es kann weiterhin zwischen Durch- und Überströmung gewählt werden.

Stereo-Based Head Pose Tracking Using Iterative Closest Point and Normal Flow Constraint

In this text, we present two stereo-based head tracking techniques along with a fast 3D model acquisition system. The first tracking technique is a robust implementation of stereo-based head tracking designed for interactive environments with uncontrolled lighting. We integrate fast face detection and drift reduction algorithms with a gradient-based stereo rigid motion tracking technique. Our system can automatically segment and track a user's head under large rotation and illumination variations. Precision and usability of this approach are compared with previous tracking methods for cursor control and target selection in both desktop and interactive room environments. The second tracking technique is designed to improve the robustness of head pose tracking for fast movements. Our iterative hybrid tracker combines constraints from the ICP (Iterative Closest Point) algorithm and normal flow constraint. This new technique is more precise for small movements and noisy depth than ICP alone, and more robust for large movements than the normal flow constraint alone. We present experiments which test the accuracy of our approach on sequences of real and synthetic stereo images. The 3D model acquisition system we present quickly aligns intensity and depth images, and reconstructs a textured 3D mesh. 3D views are registered with shape alignment based on our iterative hybrid tracker. We reconstruct the 3D model using a new Cubic Ray Projection merging algorithm which takes advantage of a novel data structure: the linked voxel space. We present experiments to test the accuracy of our approach on 3D face modelling using real-time stereo images.

Output from the 1998 Product Development Value Stream Workshop: A Framework for Understanding Information Flow in the Product Development Process

The descriptions below and the attached diagrams are outputs of the 1998 LAI Product Development Focus Team workshop on the Value Chain in Product Development. A working group at that workshop was asked to model the product development process: in terms of the phases of product development and their interfaces, boundaries and outputs. Their work has proven to be generally useful to LAI researchers and industry members, and so is formalized here.

Scaling algorithms for distributed max flow

Bibliography: p. 22-24.

FastAero – A Precorrected FFT – Fast Multipole Tree Steady and Unsteady Potential Flow Solver

In this paper a precorrected FFT-Fast Multipole Tree (pFFT-FMT) method for solving the potential flow around arbitrary three dimensional bodies is presented. The method takes advantage of the efficiency of the pFFT and FMT algorithms to facilitate more demanding computations such as automatic wake generation and hands-off steady and unsteady aerodynamic simulations. The velocity potential on the body surfaces and in the domain is determined using a pFFT Boundary Element Method (BEM) approach based on the Green’s Theorem Boundary Integral Equation. The vorticity trailing all lifting surfaces in the domain is represented using a Fast Multipole Tree, time advected, vortex participle method. Some simple steady state flow solutions are performed to demonstrate the basic capabilities of the solver. Although this paper focuses primarily on steady state solutions, it should be noted that this approach is designed to be a robust and efficient unsteady potential flow simulation tool, useful for rapid computational prototyping.

Numerical Simulation of Electroosmotic Flow with Step Change in Zeta Potential

Electroosmotic flow is a convenient mechanism for transporting polar fluid in a microfluidic device. The flow is generated through the application of an external electric field that acts on the free charges that exists in a thin Debye layer at the channel walls. The charge on the wall is due to the chemistry of the solid-fluid interface, and it can vary along the channel, e.g. due to modification of the wall. This investigation focuses on the simulation of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) profile in a cylindrical microchannel with step change in zeta potential. The modified Navier-Stoke equation governing the velocity field and a non-linear two-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann equation governing the electrical double-layer (EDL) field distribution are solved numerically using finite control-volume method. Continuities of flow rate and electric current are enforced resulting in a non-uniform electrical field and pressure gradient distribution along the channel. The resulting parabolic velocity distribution at the junction of the step change in zeta potential, which is more typical of a pressure-driven velocity flow profile, is obtained.