The seasonality of litter insect abundance and its relationship with rainfall was analyzed in a wet evergreen forest on the windward side of south Western Ghats. Monthly litter samples were collected using Berlese funnels during 4 seasons of a year: southwest monsoon season June-August), northeast monsoon season (September-November), summer (March -May) and pre-summer season (December-February)...

Diameter and Stability When a tree is impacted by a wind force, its cells in the trunk on the windward (wind-exposed) side are stretched, while those on the leeward (wind-sheltered) side are compressed (Figure 1). Furthermore, the tree crown’s own weight has to be added as well, which results in an even higher compression load on the leeward cells and a correspondingly lower tension on the oppo...

The components and claddings of low-rise building are usually destroyed first during typhoon disasters in coastal areas. Roof accessory structures can change the flow pattern on the roof, thus effectively reducing the wind load on the roof surface and the damage to the low rise buildings. Two types of aerodynamic mitigation plates, i.e., (1) 0.3 m high full length roof-edge plate, and (2) 0.3 m...

The influence of different wind directions on the outbreak of convection in Northern England, was investigated with a high-resolution numerical model. The Clark model, a 3D finite-difference, non-hydrostatic model was used in this study. It was initialised with the topography of Northern England, a representation of surface characteristics, and used a routinely available meteorological sounding...

It is important to study the effects of air condensation in hypersonic wind tunnels and to establish the degree of supersaturation achievable because savings in heating requirements or increase in Mach number may be achieved. The degree of supersaturation measured in this tunnel shows that with the present heater the upper limit on Mach number may be extended 22 from M = 9 to M = 12. Proof test...

We calculate the flight performance of the gigantic volant bird Argentavis magnificens from the upper Miocene ( approximately 6 million years ago) of Argentina using a computer simulation model. Argentavis was probably too large (mass approximately 70 kg) to be capable of continuous flapping flight or standing takeoff under its own muscle power. Like extant condors and vultures, Argentavis woul...

An experimental study was conducted to determine the proximity aeroheating characteristics for a two-stage-to-orbit concept in close proximity in the NASA Langley 20-Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel. A new hybrid discrete thin-film resistance gauge technique was evaluated in this study and used to measure experimental interference heating levels between the booster and the orbiter at a constant freestrea...

With the incorporation of Doppler radar radial velocity by MM5/3DVAR system, a Mei-yu frontal system related to a coming heavy rain episode over southwestern Taiwan was retrieved within the Taiwan Strait on 6 June 2003. Significant frontal wind-shift (the prefrontal southwesterlies/the postfrontal northeasterlies) was reproduced over ocean, which was not captured by the NCEP reanalysis and the ...

Barchan dunes are found where sand availability is low and wind direction quite constant. The two dimensional shear stress of the wind field and the sand movement by saltation and avalanches over a barchan dune are simulated. The model with one dimensional shear stress is extended including surface diffusion and lateral shear stress. The resulting final shape is compared to the results of the m...

An engineering inviscid-boundary layer method has been modi ed for application to slender threedimensional (3-D) forebodies which are characteristic of transatmospheric vehicles. An improved shock description in the nose region has been added to the inviscid technique which allows the calculation of a wider range of body geometries. The modi ed engineering method is applied to the perfect gas s...