Digital Commons Network^™

Large‐Amplitude Mountain Waves In The Mesosphere Observed On 21 June 2014 During Deepwave: 1.Wave Development, Scales, Momentum Fluxes, And Environmental Sensitivity, Michael J. Taylor, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, David C. Fritts, Bernd Kaifler, Steven M. Smith, Yucheng Zhao, Neal R. Criddle, Pattilyn Mclaughlin, William R. Pendleton Jr., Michael P. Mccarthy, Gonzalo Hernandez, Stephen D. Eckermann, James Doyle, Markus Rapp, Ben Liley, James M. Russell Iii

Publications

A remarkable, large‐amplitude, mountain wave (MW) breaking event was observed on the night of 21 June 2014 by ground‐based optical instruments operated on the New Zealand South Island during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE). Concurrent measurements of the MW structures, amplitudes, and background environment were made using an Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper, a Rayleigh Lidar, an All‐Sky Imager, and a Fabry‐Perot Interferometer. The MW event was observed primarily in the OH airglow emission layer at an altitude of ~82 km, over an ~2‐hr interval (~10:30–12:30 UT), during strong eastward winds at the OH altitude and above, which weakened …

Chalcogen Bonding Of Two Ligands To Hypervalent Yf4 (Y=S, Se, Te, Po), Wiktor Zierkiewicz, Rafal Wysokiński, Mariusz Michalczyk, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The ability of two NH3 ligands to engage in simultaneous chalcogen bonds to a hypervalent YF4 molecule, with Y=S, Se, Te, Po, is assessed via quantum calculations. The complex can take on one of two different geometries. The cis structure places the two ligands adjacent to one another ina pseudo-octahedral geometry, held there by a pair of σ-hole chalcogen bonds. The bases can also lie nearly opposite one another, in a distorted octahedron containing one π-hole and one strained σ-hole bond. The cis geometry is favored for Y=S, while Te,and Po tend toward the trans structure; they are nearly equally …

"Collaborative Research: Cedar--Airglow Imaging Of Gravity Wave And Instability Dynamics,", Michael Taylor

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Geothermal Potential Of The Western Snake River Plain Based On A Deep Corehole On The Mountain Home Afb Near Mountain Home, Idaho, Thomas E. Lachmar, Thomas G. Freeman, James Andrew Kessler, Joseph F. Batir, James P. Evans, Dennis L. Nielson, John W. Shervais, Xiwei Chen, Douglas R. Schmitt, David D. Blackwell

Geosciences Faculty Publications

A geothermal exploration corehole was drilled to a total depth of 1821.5 m on the Mountain Home Air Force Base near Mountain Home, Idaho. The corehole was used to collect an unusually large amount of data, including uniaxial compressive stress (UCS) experiments on core samples, to evaluate the geothermal potential of the western Snake River Plain. In addition, unlike many exploration holes in this region, a fluid entry was encountered at 1745.3 m and flowed artesian to the surface. A maximum temperature of 149.4 °C was calculated for the entry. A temperature log run on the corehole from 3 to …

The Importance Of Spatial Data To Open - Access National Archaeological Databases And The Development Of Paleodemography Research, Erick Robinson, Christopher Nicholson, Robert L. Kelly

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

With generous support from the National Science Foundation, we have spent the past four years developing an archaeological radiocarbon database for the United States. Here, we highlight the importance of spatial data for open-access, national-scale archaeological databases and the development of paleodemography research. We propose a new method for analyzing radiocarbon time series in the context of paleoclimate models. This method forces us to confront one of the central challenges to realizing the full potential of national-scale databases: the quality of the spatial data accompanying radiocarbon dates. We seek to open a national discussion on the use of spatial data …

Co-Design Of An Orchestration Tool: Supporting Engineering Teaching Assistants As They Facilitate Collaborative Learning., Luettamae Lawrence, Emma Mercier

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes a design-based implementation research (DBIR) project, focused on the co-design and implementation of an orchestration tool for teaching assistants (TAs) in required engineering classes. Building on our collaboration with the engineering department, we identified a need for a tool that provides insight into groups to help TAs intervene in realtime. This paper presents two phases of our iterative co-design process. The first phase includes the initial design of the tool from design workshops with TAs. The second phase focuses on a 16-week implementation of the orchestration tool and reports on interviews with TAs to understand how they …

Computational Insights Into Mg-Cl Complex Electrolytes For Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries, Jared B. Moss, Liping Zhang, Kevin V. Nielson, Yujing Bi, Chao Wu, Steve Scheiner, Tianbiao Leo Liu

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

DFT calculations were conducted to provide insightful and unprecedented thermodynamic insights on tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvation, isomerization, chlorination, and complexation of possible Mg-Cl coordination species for the popular Mg-Cl electrolytes. Computational results using the M06-2x functional with the 6-31+G(d) basis set indicate trigonal bipyramidal e, e-cis-tbp-MgCl2(THF)3 dichloride species and octahedral [MgCl(THF)5]+ monochloride species are the dominant mononuclear species. These two can combine to form the active dinuclear species, [(μ-Cl)3Mg2(THF)6]+ with a free energy -6.30 kcal/mol, which is calculated to be the dominant Mg-Cl species in solution. Two mono-cation species, [(μ-Cl)3Mg2(THF)6]+ and [MgCl(THF)5]+ have comparable LUMO energies, thus both of them can …

Anisotropic Singlet Fission In Single Crystalline Hexacene, Dezheng Sun, Gang-Hua Deng, Bolei Xu, Enshi Xu, Xia Li, Yajing Wu, Yuqin Qian, Yu Zhong, Colin Nuckolls, Avetik R. Harutyunyan, Hai-Lung Dai, Gugang Chen, Hanning Chen, Yi Rao

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Singlet fission is known to improve solar energy utilization by circumventing the Shockley-Queisser limit. The two essential steps of singlet fission are the formation of a correlated triplet pair and its subsequent quantum decoherence. However, the mechanisms of the triplet pair formation and decoherence still remain elusive. Here we examined both essential steps in single crystalline hexacene and discovered remarkable anisotropy of the overall singlet fission rate along different crystal axes. Since the triplet pair formation emerges on the same timescale along both crystal axes, the quantum decoherence is likely responsible for the directional anisotropy. The distinct quantum decoherence rates …

Large‐Amplitude Mountain Waves In The Mesosphere Observed On 21 June 2014 During Deepwave: 2. Nonlinear Dynamics, Wave Breaking, And Instabilities, David C. Fritts, Ling Wang, Michael J. Taylor, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, Neal R. Criddle, Bernd Kaifler, Stephen D. Eckermann, Ben Liley

Publications

Weak cross‐mountain flow over the New Zealand South Island on 21 June 2014 during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) led to large‐amplitude mountain waves in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The mesosphere and lower thermosphere responses were observed by ground‐based instruments in the lee of the Southern Alps supporting DEEPWAVE, including an Advanced Mesosphere Temperature Mapper, a Rayleigh lidar, an All‐Sky Imager, and a Fabry‐Perot Interferometer. The character of the mountain wave responses at horizontal scales of ~30–90 km reveals strong “sawtooth” variations in the temperature field suggesting large vertical and horizontal displacements leading to mountain wave overturning. …

(0,1)-Matrices, Discrepancy And Preservers, Leroy B. Beasley

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Let m and n be positive integers, and let R = (r₁, . . . , r_m) and S = (s₁, . . . , s_n) be nonnegative integral vectors. Let A(R,S) be the set of all m × n (0, 1)-matrices with row sum vector R and column vector S. Let R and S be nonincreasing, and let F(R) be the m × n (0, 1)-matrix, where for each i, the ith row of F(R, …

Collaborative Research: Development And Application Of A Framework For Integrated Geodynamic Earth Models, Anthony Lowry

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Why Weightlifters Grunt: A Classroom Exercise That Introduces Students To Evolution, H. Charles Romesburg

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

A classroom exercise is described in which college students take part in creating and supporting an evolutionary hypothesis that explains effort grunting. The exercise holds their interest throughout and readies them to understand hypotheses of animal and plant evolution. It informs them about the dependence of cultural evolution upon biological evolution, and it connects widely to curricula.

Plant-Soil Feedbacks Predict Native But Not Non-Native Plant Community Composition: A 7-Year Common-Garden Experiment, Andrew Kulmatiski

Ecology Center Publications

Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) have gained attention as a potential mechanism of plant growth and coexistence, however, because they are typically measured using plant monocultures in greenhouse conditions, the link between PSFs and plant growth in field communities remains poorly tested. Here, PSFs for six native and four non-native species were measured in a 7-year, common-garden experiment. A plant community growth model was then parameterized either with PSF data (PSF model) or without PSF data (Null model). PSF and Null model predictions were compared to plant ground cover in experimental and natural communities. For eight of 10 species, plant cover at …

On-The-Road Testing Of The Effects Of Driver’S Experience, Gender, Speed, And Road Grade On Car Emissions, Abdelhaleem I. Khader, Randy S. Martin

Publications

On-road vehicles have become a dominant source of air pollution and energy consumption in many parts of the world. As a result, estimating the amount of pollution from these vehicles and analyzing the factors affecting their emission is necessary to understand and manage ambient air quality. Traditionally, automobile emissions have been measured with dynamometer tests using representative driving cycles. A review of the related literature shows that there is a lack of real life, on-the-road testing of automobile emissions. Moreover, a few previous studies have directly discussed the impact of driver variability on emissions from the vehicles. This research analyzes …

Innovations In (U–Th)/He, Fission Track, And Trapped Charge Thermochronometry With Applications To Earthquakes, Weathering, Surface‐Mantle Connections, And The Growth And Decay Of Mountains, Alexis K. Ault, Cécile Gautheron, Georgina E. King

Geosciences Faculty Publications

A transformative advance in Earth science is the development of low‐temperature thermochronometry to date Earth surface processes or quantify the thermal evolution of rocks through time. Grand challenges and new directions in low‐temperature thermochronometry involve pushing the boundaries of these techniques to decipher thermal histories operative over seconds to hundreds of millions of years, in recent or deep geologic time and from the perspective of atoms to mountain belts. Here we highlight innovation in bedrock and detrital fission track, (U–Th)/He, and trapped charge thermochronometry, as well as thermal history modeling that enable fresh perspectives on Earth science problems. These developments …

Spectroscopic Description Of The E1 State Of Mo Nitrogenase Based On Mo And Fe X‑Ray Absorption And MöSsbauer Studies, Casey Van Stappen, Roman Davydov, Zhi-Yong Yang, Ruixi Fan, Yisong Guo, Eckhard Bill, Lance C. Seefeldt, Brian M. Hoffman, Serena Debeer

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Mo nitrogenase (N2ase) utilizes a two-component protein system, the catalytic MoFe and its electron-transfer partner FeP, to reduce atmospheric dinitrogen (N₂) to ammonia (NH₃). The FeMo cofactor contained in the MoFe protein serves as the catalytic center for this reaction and has long inspired model chemistry oriented toward activating N₂. This field of chemistry has relied heavily on the detailed characterization of how Mo N2ase accomplishes this feat. Understanding the reaction mechanism of Mo N2ase itself has presented one of the most challenging problems in bioinorganic chemistry because of the ephemeral nature of its …

From The Signature Theorem To Anomaly Cancellation, Andreas Malmendier, Michael T. Schultz

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

We survey the Hirzebruch signature theorem as a special case of the Atiyah–Singer index theorem. The family version of the Atiyah–Singer index theorem in the form of the Riemann–Roch–Grothendieck–Quillen (RRGQ) formula is then applied to the complexified signature operators varying along the universal family of elliptic curves. The RRGQ formula allows us to determine a generalized cohomology class on the base of the elliptic fibration that is known in physics as (a measure of) the local and global anomaly. Combining several anomalous operators allows us to cancel the local anomaly on a Jacobian elliptic surface, a construction that is based …

Integration Of Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Into A Food And Nutrition Curriculum In Utah, Cathy A. Merrill, Becki G. Lawver

Applied Sciences, Technology and Education Faculty Publications

In 2014, Family and Consumer Sciences teachers in Utah revised the Food and Nutrition Sciences curriculum to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)‐related content. This study is a needs assessment of the state implementation of the STEM‐enhanced curriculum in 2015–2016. A Borich needs assessment model was used to analyze mean weighted discrepancy scores between teacher‐perceived levels of importance and teacher‐perceived competence for each objective in the new curriculum. The results showed that although teachers felt moderately competent to teach the new curriculum, the highest ranked need for professional development was in Standard 1: Kitchen Safety Procedures and Sanitation. Professional …

Blake Tullis Appointed New Interim Associate Vice President For Research, Utah Water Research Laboratory

News

UWRL faculty member and Associate Director Blake Tullis was recently appointed to the position of Interim Associate Vice President within the Office of Research.

Generalized Near Horizon Extreme Binary Black Hole Geometry, Jacob Ciafre, Shahar Hadar, Erin Rickenbach, Maria J. Rodriguez

All Physics Faculty Publications

We present a new vacuum solution of Einstein’s equations describing the near horizon region of two neutral, extreme (zero-temperature), corotating, nonidentical Kerr black holes. The metric is stationary, asymptotically near horizon extremal Kerr (NHEK), and contains a localized massless strut along the symmetry axis between the black holes. In the deep infrared, it flows to two separate throats which we call “pierced-NHEK” geometries: each throat is NHEK pierced by a conical singularity. We find that in spite of the presence of the strut for the pierced-NHEK geometries the isometry group SL(2,R)×U(1) is restored. We find the physical parameters and entropy.

Status And Prospects Of Organic Redox Flow Batteries Toward Sustainable Energy Storage, Jian Luo, Bo Hu, Maowei Hu, Yu Zhao, T. Leo Liu

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are regarded a promising technology for large-scale electricity energy storage to realize efficient utilization of intermittent renewable energy. Redox -active materials are the most important components in the RFB system because their physicochemical and electrochemical properties directly determine their battery performance and energy storage cost. Designable, tunable, and potentially low-cost redox-active organic compounds are promising alternatives to traditional redox-active inorganic compounds for RFB applications. Herein, the representative designs of redox-active molecules, recent development of organic RFBs (ORFBs), and advantages/disadvantages of different ORFB are reviewed. Especially the relationship between redox-active molecules’ physicochemical properties and their battery performance …

Linking Cellular Activity To Brain Tumors | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

A team of researchers at Utah State University is tackling one of the newest questions in cancer research: Is cellular blebbing associated with the development of tumors?

Yang-Mills Sources For Biconformal Gravity, Walter Davis Muhwezi

Physics Capstone Projects

We present a gauge formulation of Yang-Mills matter sources for Biconformal gravity. Biconformal gravity is a 2n-dimensional conformal gauge theory with a curvature linear action that has been shown to reproduce scale invariant general relativity on the cotangent bundle of n-dimensional space time. We present a generalization of Yang-Mills theories in biconformal space and show that the field equations with sources reduce the Yang-Mills sector to n-dimensional Yang-Mills theory in curved spacetime. We compute the restrictive conditions on the energy-momentum tensor required by the gravitational field equations.

A Structural Based Feature Extraction For Detecting The Relation Of Hidden Substructures In Coral Reef Images, Mahmood Sotoodeh, Mohammad Reza Moosavi, Reza Boostani

Computer Science Student Research

In this paper, we present an efficient approach to extract local structural color texture features for classifying coral reef images. Two local texture descriptors are derived from this approach. The first one, based on Median Robust Extended Local Binary Pattern (MRELBP), is called Color MRELBP (CMRELBP). CMRELBP is very accurate and can capture the structural information from color texture images. To reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector, the second descriptor, co-occurrence CMRELBP (CCMRELBP) is introduced. It is constructed by applying the Integrative Co-occurrence Matrix (ICM) on the Color MRELBP images. This way we can detect and extract the relative …

The First Vega Ride-Share Mission Flight, Fabio Caramelli, Francois Battie, Aldo Scaccia, S. Corbo, A. Dalloneau, F. Fabiani, Angelo Fontana, M. Mariani, P. Guerrieri, Augusto Cramarossa, Alessandro Gabrielli

Small Satellite Conference

The first European ride-share mission will be carried out by the Vega launch system in September 2019. The VEGA PoC (Proof of Concept) flight using the SSMS (Small Satellite Mission Service) hardware was conceived in the context of ESA LLL Initiative. This paper reports on the highlights of the preparation of the first European rideshare mission with Vega launcher and on the development of the related launch system.

Based on Vega flights accumulated experience, the development of multi-Payload mission concept started from analysis of the activities currently foreseen to fly a single payload mission adapted to the needs of multi …

Modularized Air-Launch With Virgin Orbit's Launcherone System: Responsive Smallsat Constellation Construction Measured In Hours, Not Months, John Fuller, Veronica Foreman, Sirisha Bandla, Monica Jan, Wade Mcelroy, Mandy Vaughn

Small Satellite Conference

As small satellites and the constellations they comprise have become increasingly prevalent, there has been greater interest in the value added by agile and responsive launch systems. Responsiveness, defined here as the ability of a launch vehicle to react quickly and positively to changing payload, customer, or situational constraints, is a capability that has largely been enabled by the rise of the smallsat launch industry and introduces a new set of considerations for smallsat mission stakeholders. This work examines the relative advantage of an air-launched small satellite launch vehicle network for rapid deployment of small satellite constellations, using Virgin Orbit’s …

Design Of An In-Situ Sensor Package To Track Cubesat Deployments, Aaron P. Aboaf, Nicholas W. Renninger, Lara C. Lufkin

Small Satellite Conference

Currently, radar measurements of low-earth-orbit CubeSats are only possible during a small portion of a CubeSat’s orbit – typically long after the CubeSat’s deployment – making near real-time space situational awareness (SSA) difficult. The CU Boulder Smead Aerospace Engineering Department has developed a concept to monitor CubeSat deployments from the deployer itself and provide relative position and velocity measurements of deployed payloads to provide faster orbital parameter estimation. Teaming with NanoRacks LLC, the VANTAGE team (Visual Approximation of Nanosat Trajectories to Augment Ground-based Estimation) has developed an innovative sensor package prototype consisting of an Infra-red (IR) Time of Flight (ToF) …

Experimental Validation Of Relative Attitude Determination Through Line Of Sight Measurements For A Two-Vehicle Static Formation, Fatak Borhani, Niranjan Ravichandra

Small Satellite Conference

Experimental results for testing the validity of GPS-denied relative attitude determination for a two-vehicle formation using line-of-sight (LOS) measurements in a static setting are presented. The experiments are conducted in the VICON environment. The estimated relative attitude given by the system is compared to the true relative attitude, computed using the LOS solution. The attitude covariance matrix is compared to the relative attitude angle errors to demonstrate performance characteristics.

Real-Time Optimal Slew Maneuver Planning For Small Satellites, Robin Aucoin

Small Satellite Conference

As the small-satellite market grows, so does the demand for large-scale small-satellite missions with diverse payload functions. To facilitate mission planning, and to enable autonomous transition between payload operations, real-time on-board slew maneuver path planning is often required to reorient the spacecraft. The computed trajectory must take into account a variety of kinematic and dynamic constraints on the spacecraft attitude, angular velocity and actuator limits. It is also desirable to compute this trajectory such that it is optimal in some sense. To simplify computation, current applications typically employ a “rest-to-rest” assumption where the maneuver endpoints are assumed to be inertially …

Application Of A Six Degrees-Of-Freedom Drag Model For Small Satellite Mission Development, Alex Reynolds, Serhat Hosder, Henry Pernicka

Small Satellite Conference

For spacecraft in low-perigee orbits, atmospheric drag presents one of the largest uncertainties in dynamics modeling. These uncertainties are particularly relevant to small satellites, which often fly in the LEO regime and produce control forces and torques comparable in magnitude to drag. In this study, a six degrees-of-freedom orbital dynamics model with drag perturbations is developed, and several applications of the model are investigated. The model is used to evaluate differential drag dynamics for the MR and MRS SAT microsatellite pair, and the implications to collision avoidance and end-of-life procedures are discussed. Preliminary propellant usage estimates for the mission are …