Engineering Commons^™

Impact Of Weather Factors On Airport Arrival Rates: Application Of Machine Learning In Air Transportation, Robert W. Maxson, Dothang Truong, Woojin Choi

Publications

Weather is responsible for approximately 70% of air transportation delays in the National Airspace System, and delays resulting from convective weather alone cost airlines and passengers millions of dollars each year due to delays that could be avoided. This research sought to establish relationships between environmental variables and airport efficiency estimates by data mining archived weather and airport performance data at ten geographically and climatologically different airports. Several meaningful relationships were discovered from six out of ten airports using various machine learning methods within an overarching data mining protocol, and the developed models were tested using historical data.

Hyper-Local Weather Predictions With The Enhanced General Urban Area Microclimate Predictions Tool, Kevin A. Adkins, William Becker, Sricharan Ayyalasomayajula, Steven Lavenstein, Kleoniki Vlachou, David Miller, Marc Compere, Avinash Muthu Krishnan, Nickolas Macchiarella

Publications

This paper presents enhancements to, and the demonstration of, the General Urban area Microclimate Predictions tool (GUMP), which is designed to provide hyper-local weather predictions by combining machine-learning (ML) models and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. For the further development and demonstration of GUMP, the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) campus was used as a test environment. Local weather sensors provided data to train ML models, and CFD models of urban- and suburban-like areas of ERAU’s campus were created and iterated through with a wide assortment of inlet wind speed and direction combinations. ML weather sensor predictions were combined with best-fit …

The Evolution Of Ai On The Commercial Flight Deck: Finding Balance Between Efficiency And Safety While Maintaining The Integrity Of Operator Trust, Mark Miller, Sam Holley, Leila Halawi

Publications

As artificial intelligence (AI) seeks to improve modern society, the commercial aviation industry offers a significant opportunity. Although many parts of commercial aviation including maintenance, the ramp, and air traffic control show promise to integrate AI, the highly computerized digital flight deck (DFD) could be challenging. The researchers seek to understand what role AI could provide going forward by assessing AI evolution on the commercial flight deck over the past 50 years. A modified SHELL diagram is used to complete a Human Factors (HF) analysis of the early use for AI on the commercial flight deck through introduction of the …

Alternatives To Reducing Aviation Fuel-Burn With Technology: Fully Electric Autonomous Taxibot, Denzil Neo

Student Works

Aircraft taxiing operations in the aerodrome were identified to consume the most jet fuel apart from the cruise phase of the flight. This was also well supported by various research associating taxi operations at large, congested airports, with high jet fuel consumption, high carbon emissions, and noise pollution. Existing literature recognised the potential to address the environmental issues of aerodrome taxi operations by operating External or Onboard Aircraft Ground Propulsion Systems (AGPS). Designed to power aircraft with sources other than their main engines, external Aircraft Ground Power Systems (AGPS) have shown the potential to significantly cut jet fuel consumption and …

Directional Speaker Poster, Eugene Ng, Bryan Wong, Ruhaan Das

Student Works

Changi Airport is set to expand with a new terminal, Terminal 5. Currently, many of the airport's processes are manual, requiring a high dependence on staff. This proposal aims to incorporate automation and AI for a smoother passenger experience.

Rocket Measurements Of Electron Energy Spectra From Earth’S Photoelectron Production Layer, Aroh Barjatya, Shantanab Debchoudhury, Glyn A. Collinson, Alex Glocer, Dennis Chornay, Et Al.

Publications

Photoelectrons are crucial to atmospheric physics. They heat the atmosphere, strengthen 28 planetary ambipolar electric fields, and enhance the outflow of ions to space. However, 29 there exist only a handful of measurements of their energy spectrum near the peak of 30 photoproduction. We present calibrated energy spectra of pristine photoelectrons at their 31 source by a prototype Dual Electrostatic Analyzer (DESA) instrument flown on July 11 32 2021 aboard the Dynamo-2 sounding rocket (NASA № 36.357). Photopeaks arising from 33 30.4nm He-II spectral line were observed throughout the flight above 120km. DESA also 34 successfully resolved the rarely observed …

Validated Question Bank For Assessing Pilot Knowledge Of Aviation Weather Appendix: Weather Product Interpretation Questions, Robert Thomas, Cassandra Dommingo, John Kleber, Jackie Mcsorely, Amber Cole, Thomas Guinn, Elizabeth Blickensderfer

General Aviation Weather Display Interpretation

This appendix supplements the Thomas et al. (2022) paper titled “Validated Question Bank for Assessing Pilot Knowledge of Aviation Weather ” which validates a set of weather product interpretation questions that can be used to measure a pilot’s understanding of weather. The assessment consists of 15 weather product interpretation topics which can be administered as a single 65-question survey or, as in the Thomas et al. (2022) study, two assessments of 33 and 32 questions each separated by topic. The set of 65 questions can be found in this appendix along with a table which demonstrates how to separate the …

Reduced-Order Dynamic Modeling And Robust Nonlinear Control Of Fluid Flow Velocity Fields, Anu Kossery Jayaprakash, William Mackunis, Vladimir Golubev, Oksana Stalnov

Publications

A robust nonlinear control method is developed for fluid flow velocity tracking, which formally addresses the inherent challenges in practical implementation of closed-loop active flow control systems. A key challenge being addressed here is flow control design to compensate for model parameter variations that can arise from actuator perturbations. The control design is based on a detailed reduced-order model of the actuated flow dynamics, which is rigorously derived to incorporate the inherent time-varying uncertainty in the both the model parameters and the actuator dynamics. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first robust nonlinear closed-loop active flow …

Comprehensive Report On Extraterrestrial Resource Extraction, Robinson Raphael

Student Works

The prospect of asteroid mining provides a plethora of riches that include metals and water. As the number of discovered asteroids continues to grow, opportunities arise to commercialize these resources within Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). With urgent applications on Earth and in space, NEAs allow for a surge in sales. Planning forward, Astroider Aerospace Systems follows a mission split into four phases. Phase 1 develops a series of spacecraft using existing technologies, titled as Near-Earth Asteroid Miners and Near-Earth Asteroid Surveyors. Phase 2 first launches the surveyors to candidate NEAs, prospecting them for ores. To identify potential celestial bodies for this …

Aessa Young Professionals Forum Webinar “Technologies And Skills That Will Gearup The Aerospace Industry Post Pandemic” - A Global Perspective With An Emphasis On South Africa October 2021, Linda Vee Weiland

Publications

A webinar presentation for AeSSA Young Professionals.

Applying Human Factors Heuristic Evaluation Tools To Improve Aviation Weather Displays: A Mismatch, John Kleber, Paige Lawton, Beth Blickensderfer

General Aviation Weather Display Interpretation

The evaluation of current Heuristic Evaluation Tools for use in assessing Aviation Weather Displays.

Cross Domain Iw Threats To Sof Maritime Missions: Implications For U.S. Sof, Gary C. Kessler, Diane M. Zorri

Publications

As cyber vulnerabilities proliferate with the expansion of connected devices, wherein security is often forsaken for ease of use, Special Operations Forces (SOF) cannot escape the obvious, massive risk that they are assuming by incorporating emerging technologies into their toolkits. This is especially true in the maritime sector where SOF operates nearshore in littoral zones. As SOF—in support to the U.S. Navy— increasingly operate in these contested maritime environments, they will gradually encounter more hostile actors looking to exploit digital vulnerabilities. As such, this monograph comes at a perfect time as the world becomes more interconnected but also more vulnerable.

Reduced Multiplicative Complexity Discrete Cosine Transform (Dct) Circuitry, Sirani Kanchana Mututhanthrige Perera

Publications

System and techniques for reduced multiplicative complex­ity discrete cosine transform (DCT) circuitry are described herein. An input data set can be received and, upon the input data set, a self-recursive DCT technique can be performed to produce a transformed data set. Here, the self-recursive DCT technique is based on a product of factors of a specified type of DCT technique. Recursive components of the technique are of the same DCT type as that of the DCT technique. The transformed data set can then be produced to a data con­sumer.

Aviation Human-In-The-Loop Simulation: Best Practices For Subjective Performance Measurement, John Kleber, Beth Blickensderfer

Aviation Weather Training Research

Subjective performance measurements are a useful tool for researchers and instructors to evaluate tasks that are difficult to quantify with objective data pulled from a simulator or the physiological data of pilots. Subjective performance measurements are non-intrusive measures typically conducted by human raters. Some recommendations for utilizing subjective measures include reducing the workload of the human raters, concealing the aim of the experiment from participants, utilizing multiple raters to evaluate each participant, providing raters with proper training, developing error-resistant rater forms and, including both subjective and objective measures when possible.

Finite-Time State Estimation For An Inverted Pendulum Under Input-Multiplicative Uncertainty, Sergey V. Drakunov, William Mackunis, Anu Kossery Jayaprakash, Krishna Bhavithavya Kidambi, Mahmut Reyhanoglu

Publications

A sliding mode observer is presented, which is rigorously proven to achieve finite-time state estimation of a dual-parallel underactuated (i.e., single-input multi-output) cart inverted pendulum system in the presence of parametric uncertainty. A salient feature of the proposed sliding mode observer design is that a rigorous analysis is provided, which proves finite-time estimation of the complete system state in the presence of input-multiplicative parametric uncertainty. The performance of the proposed observer design is demonstrated through numerical case studies using both sliding mode control (SMC)- and linear quadratic regulator (LQR)-based closed-loop control systems. The main contribution presented here is the rigorous …

Finite-Time State Estimation For An Inverted Pendulum Under Input-Multiplicative Uncertainty, William Mackunis, Sergey V. Drakunov, Anu Kossery Jayaprakash, Krishna Bhavithavya Kidambi, Mahmut Reyhanoglu

Publications

A sliding mode observer is presented, which is rigorously proven to achieve finite-time state estimation of a dual-parallel underactuated (i.e., single-input multi-output) cart inverted pendulum system in the presence of parametric uncertainty. A salient feature of the proposed sliding mode observer design is that a rigorous analysis is provided, which proves finite-time estimation of the complete system state in the presence of input-multiplicative parametric uncertainty. The performance of the proposed observer design is demonstrated through numerical case studies using both sliding mode control (SMC)- and linear quadratic regulator (LQR)-based closed-loop control systems. The main contribution presented here is the rigorous …

Dynamics Of Discontinuities In Elastic Solids, Arkadi Berezovski, Mihhail Berezovski

Publications

The paper is devoted to evolving discontinuities in elastic solids. A discontinuity is represented as a singular set of material points. Evolution of a discontinuity is driven by the configurational force acting at such a set. The main attention is paid to the determination of the velocity of a propagating discontinuity. Martensitic phase transition fronts and brittle cracks are considered as representative examples.

Semi-Lagrangian Implicit Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook Collision Model For The Finite-Volume Discrete Boltzmann Method, Leitao Chen, Sauro Succi, Xiaofeng Cai, Laura Schaefer

Publications

In order to increase the accuracy of temporal solutions, reduce the computational cost of time marching, and improve the stability associated with collisions for the finite-volume discrete Boltzmann method, an advanced implicit Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) collision model using a semi-Lagrangian approach is proposed in this paper. Unlike existing models, in which the implicit BGK collision is resolved either by a temporal extrapolation or by a variable transformation, the proposed model removes the implicitness by tracing the particle distribution functions (PDFs) back in time along their characteristic paths during the collision process. An interpolation scheme is needed to evaluate the PDFs at …

Infusing Humanities In Stem Education: Student Opinions Of Disciplinary Connections In An Introductory Chemistry Course, Emily K. Faulconer, Beverly Wood, John C. Griffith

Publications

The Next Generation Science Standards and other educational reforms support the formation of deep connections across the STEM disciplines. Integrated STEM is considered as a best practice by the educational communities of the disparate disciplines. However, the integration of non-STEM disciplines is understudied and generally limited to the integration of art (STEAM). Humanistic STEM blends the study of STEM with interest in and concern for human affairs, welfare, values, or culture. This study looks at an infusion of the humanities into an online chemistry course to see if there is an influence on student connection between course content and cross-disciplinary …

W-Gun: Whale Optimization For Energy And Delay-Centric Green Underwater Networks, Rajkumar Singh Rathore, Houbing Song, Suman Sangwan, Sukriti Mazumdar, Omprakash Kaiwartya, Kabita Adhikari, Rupak Kharel

Publications

Underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) have witnessed significant R&D attention in both academia and industry due to their growing application domains, such as border security, freight via sea or river, natural petroleum production and the fishing industry. Considering the deep underwater-oriented access constraints, energy-centric communication for the lifetime maximization of tiny sensor nodes in UWSNs is one of the key research themes in this domain. Existing literature on green UWSNs are majorly adapted from the existing techniques in traditional wireless sensor network relying on geolocation and the quality of service-centric underwater relay node selection, without paying much attention to the dynamic …

Cache-Enabled In Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks For Transmission Performance, Jiachen Yang, Houbing Song, Chaofan Ma, Jiabao Man, Huifang Xu, Gan Zheng

Publications

The proliferation of mobile devices that support the acceleration of data services (especially smartphones) has resulted in a dramatic increase in mobile traffic. Mobile data also increased exponentially, already exceeding the throughput of the backhaul. To improve spectrum utilization and increase mobile network traffic, in combination with content caching, we study the cooperation between primary and secondary networks via content caching. We consider that the secondary base station assists the primary user by pre-caching some popular primary contents. Thus, the secondary base station can obtain more licensed bandwidth to serve its own user. We mainly focus on the time delay …

Coverage Guided Differential Adversarial Testing Of Deep Learning Systems, Jianmin Guo, Houbing Song, Yue Zhao, Yu Jiang

Publications

Deep learning is increasingly applied to safety-critical application domains such as autonomous cars and medical devices. It is of significant importance to ensure their reliability and robustness. In this paper, we propose DLFuzz, the coverage guided differential adversarial testing framework to guide deep learing systems exposing incorrect behaviors. DLFuzz keeps minutely mutating the input to maximize the neuron coverage and the prediction difference between the original input and the mutated input, without manual labeling effort or cross-referencing oracles from other systems with the same functionality. We also design multiple novel strategies for neuron selection to improve the neuron coverage. The …

Monte Carlo Simulations Of Coupled Transient Seepage Flow And Compressive Stress In Levees, Fred Thomas Tracy, Ghada Ellithy, Jodi L. Ryder, Martin T. Schultz, Benjamin R. Breland, T. Chris Massey, Maureen K. Corcoran

Publications

The purpose of this research is to compare the results from two different computer programs of flow analyses of two levees at Port Arthur, Texas where rising water of a flood from Hurricane Ike occurred on the levees. The first program (Program 1) is a two-dimensional (2-D) transient finite element program that couples the conservation of mass flow equation with accompanying hydraulic boundary conditions with the conservation of force equations with accompanying x and y displacement and force boundary conditions, thus yielding total head, x displacement, and y displacement as unknowns at each finite element node. The second program (Program …

Thermodynamic Model Of Co2 Deposition In Cold Climates, Sandra K. S. Boetcher, Ted Von Hippel, Matthew J. Traum

Publications

A thermodynamic model, borrowing ideas from psychrometric principles, of a cryogenic direct-air CO2-capture system utilizing a precooler is used to estimate the optimal CO2 removal fraction to minimize energy input per tonne of CO2. Energy costs to operate the system scale almost linearly with the temperature drop between the ingested air and the cryogenic desublimation temperature of CO2, driving siting to the coldest accessible locations. System performance in three Arctic/Antarctic regions where the proposed system can potentially be located is analyzed. Colder ambient temperatures provide colder system input air temperature yielding lower CO2 removal energy requirements. A case is also …

Design Of Personnel Big Data Management System Based On Blockchain, Houbing Song, Jian Chen, Zhihan Lv

Publications

With the continuous development of information technology, enterprises, universities and governments are constantly stepping up the construction of electronic personnel information management system. The information of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people’s information are collected and stored into the system. So much information provides the cornerstone for the development of big data, if such data is tampered with or leaked, it will cause irreparable serious damage. However, in recent years, electronic archives have exposed a series of problems such as information leakage, information tampering, and information loss, which has made the reform of personnel information management more and …

Adaboost‑Based Security Level Classifcation Of Mobile Intelligent Terminals, Feng Wang, Houbing Song, Dingde Jiang, Hong Wen

Publications

With the rapid development of Internet of Things, massive mobile intelligent terminals are ready to access edge servers for real-time data calculation and interaction. However, the risk of private data leakage follows simultaneously. As the administrator of all intelligent terminals in a region, the edge server needs to clarify the ability of the managed intelligent terminals to defend against malicious attacks. Therefore, the security level classification for mobile intelligent terminals before accessing the network is indispensable. In this paper, we firstly propose a safety assessment method to detect the weakness of mobile intelligent terminals. Secondly, we match the evaluation results …

Aviation Weather Products In General Aviation : Interpretability And Usability Research Trends, Jacqueline Mcsorley, Jayde King, Beth Blickensderfer

General Aviation Weather Display Interpretation

• Introduction
• Current Study
• Trends
• Summary
• Conclusion

Meshless Modeling Of Flow Dispersion And Progressive Piping In Poroelastic Levees, Anthony Khoury, Eduardo Divo, Alain J. Kassab, Sai Kakuturu, Lakshmi Reddi

Publications

Performance data on earth dams and levees continue to indicate that piping is one of the major causes of failure. Current criteria for prevention of piping in earth dams and levees have remained largely empirical. This paper aims at developing a mechanistic understanding of the conditions necessary to prevent piping and to enhance the likelihood of self-healing of cracks in levees subjected to hydrodynamic loading from astronomical and meteorological (including hurricane storm surge-induced) forces. Systematic experimental investigations are performed to evaluate erosion in finite-length cracks as a result of transient hydrodynamic loading. Here, a novel application of the localized collocation …

Exploring Perceived Usability And Interpretability Of Aviation Weather Products Among Ga Pilots, Jackie Mcsorley, Jayde King, Beth Blickensderfer

General Aviation Weather Display Interpretation

• Introduction
• Results
• Discussion
• Current Investigations

Efficacy Of The Localized Aviation Mos Program In Ceiling Flight Category Forecasts, Douglas D. Boyd, Thomas A. Guinn, Thomas A. Guinn

Publications

(1) Background: Flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) carries an elevated risk of fatal outcome for general aviation (GA) pilots. For the typical GA flight, aerodrome-specific forecasts (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF), Localized Aviation Model Output Statistics Program (LAMP)) assist the airman in pre-determining whether a flight can be safely undertaken. While LAMP forecasts are more prevalent at GA-frequented aerodromes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends that this tool be used as supplementary to the TAF only. Herein, the predictive accuracy of LAMP for ceiling flight categories of visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) was determined. (2) Methods: …