Five severe convective cells over North Texas from three separate dates were examined to determine what three dimensional, or “total” lightning data can add to the understanding of a convective cell’s intensity, propagation, and severe weather potential. Total lightning data were obtained from Vaisala Inc.’s Dallas/Fort Worth (D/FW) Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) network. Radar data from two Weather Surveillance Radar – 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) sites were used for position data and information regarding the intensity and kinematic properties of each cell. Total lightning products used by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Fort Worth, Texas were compared to total lightning flash rate; a quantity that has been shown to be correlated to changes in cell intensity inferred from other sources, such as radar and satellite data. These products, specifically flash extent density (FED) were also compared to CG flash rate and radar derived measures from the WSR-88D sites. The results of this work show that FED and total flash rate are well correlated, with an average Pearson correlation value of 0.73, indicating that previous total flash rate results may also apply to FED. Lightning hooks, holes, and notches in FED displays indicated likely updraft regions, while appendages were observed to develop prior to deviant motion with two supercells. These results, combined with a greater update frequency provided a useful complement to radar data in the warning decision process. FED jumps were observed prior to several severe weather reports, indicating that total lightning activity may be related to updraft strength as found in past studies. However, FED jumps were sometimes observed without any associated severe event. More work is clearly needed to define what FED changes are of most importance in the short-term prediction of storm severity. The usefulness of the total lightning data on these dates was dependant upon LDAR network status and distance of the cell from the network center. The results of this study suggest that combining total flash rate trends with visual displays of FED provides the greatest added benefit to forecasters in maintaining situational awareness during warning operations.

Based on first principles Density Functional Theory calculations, we have investigated for possible paths for engineering electronic band structure of Transition Metal Dichalco- genides (TMDs). We have considered two approaches which have shown to be promising for engineering electronic bands of TMDs: substitutional chemical doping and heterostruc- turing. All the calculations are done using first principles Density Functional Theory as it is implemented in Quantum Espresso package. Two possible substitutional doping meth- ods for MoS2 are considered in our calculations; cation doping where Mo is substituted by metal atoms and anion doping where Nitrogen and halogen group atoms take the posi- tion of S-sites. We observe the n-type characteristics for halogen group doping and p-type characteristics for Nitrogen group doping at S site. Similarly, we observe these bipolar characteristics when substituted by the transition metal elements (4d elements in the peri- odic table) at Mo site. Our results on doping monolayer MoS2 are in agreement with those results obtained by Dolui et al. for similar systems. Our work is extended to explore the effect of substitutional doping in bilayer MoS2. We observe the promising bipolar char- acteristics on doping while the magnitude of the band gap decreases upon the controlled S-site doping with F and As. In the second part, we considered two types of heterostructuring; Van der Waals heterostructures, and lateral heterostructures. In Van der Waals heterostructures, a direct band gap is observed with a physical separation of charges into two layers from orbital isosurface plots. We present a brief overview of the folding of energy bands in supercell approach. Using heterogeneous supercell approach, we studied the electronic properties of a mixed system of MoS2 -WS2 . The separation of the charges into the two sections shows that our MoS2 -WS2 in-plane heterostructure shows a potential for a pn junction. These systematic studies of the doped and heterostructures of TMDs can be useful for device applications.

That tornadoes cannot occur in mountains due to disruptive influences of the complex terrain is a common misperception. Multiple tornadoes occur each year in mountainous environments, including the Appalachian Mountains. Copious research examines the influences of complex terrain on large severe weather systems such as multicell convective systems and squall lines, but research is lacking investigating this same relationship for smaller-scale severe weather phenomena like supercells and tornadoes. This study examines how complex terrain may have influenced the rotational low-level wind fields of fourteen supercell thunderstorms in the Appalachians. The terrain variables include elevation, land cover, slope, and aspect. Using GIS mapping techniques, the individual storm tracks were overlaid onto elevation, land cover, slope, and aspect layers; points along the storm tracks were measured to correlate storm intensities with the underlying terrain. Hypotheses predict that lower elevations, areas of shallower slopes, agricultural land covers, and terrain features with a southeasterly orientation represent terrain variables that would enhance low-level rotation in the lower levels. Results indicate that elevation has a significant impact on storm rotational intensity, especially in mountainous regions. Lower and flatter elevations augment storm rotational intensity, and higher elevations decrease storm rotational intensity. Additionally, northern and western facing slopes exhibited a negative relationship to storm intensity. A qualitative examination revealed vorticity stretching to be evident in eight of the fourteen storms; with vorticity stretching evident on both southeasterly and northwesterly slopes. Future research on appropriate scale for storm-terrain interactions could reveal even stronger relationships between topography and supercell thunderstorms. / Master of Science

One of the primary missions of the National Weather Service (NWS) is to use a network of more than 150 NEXRAD radar installations to monitor weather for threats to life and property. Large hail produced by severe thunderstorms is a major focus of this mission. An algorithm known as the Maximum Estimated Size of Hail (MESH) algorithm is in operational use to diagnose the presence and size of hail. This study aims to use dual-Doppler observations as well as the MESH algorithm to test the idea that storms that rotate produce larger hail. Previous studies have used polarimetric radar products to detect the presence of large hail and dual-Doppler methods have been used to study embryonic hail, but no research has tested the theory of hail and rotating storms with observational evidence. A set of 59 case studies was gathered; each included a hail report submitted by a trained weather spotter or NWS employee and complete radar observations through the depth of a storm from two radars. The radar observations were resampled to a three-dimensional Cartesian grid and a dual-Doppler analysis was run on each case study. A strong correlation (stronger even than the MESH algorithm) was found between measured vorticity and hail size, lending credence to the idea that rotating storms do indeed have a higher ceiling for hail production. However, no correlation was found between MESH error and rotation. Further research will be required to evaluate whether or not this relationship can be used to augment the MESH algorithm so as to improve its skill. / Master of Science / The National Weather Service (NWS) uses a nationwide network of long-range weather radars to monitor the atmosphere over the United States. One of the primary applications of that network is to protect life and property by identifying and monitoring storms capable of producing large hail. The probable size of hail is estimated using an algorithm on raw radar data. This study uses multi-radar analysis methods to establish a metric for storm rotation, which is used in conjunction with the operational hail size algorithm to test the theory that rotating storms produce larger hail. A set of 59 case studies, each composed of data from a pair of radars as well as a measured hail size from a storm spotter, was gathered and analyzed. Analysis resulted in three values per case study: actual hail size, predicted hail size, and storm rotation intensity. Storm rotation and actual hail size were found to be strongly correlated, lending credence to the idea that rotation increases a storm’s hail production ceiling. However, no strong correlation was found between the operational algorithm’s error and storm rotation. Additional research will be required to determine if the relationship between rotation and actual hail size can be used to improve the skill of current operational algorithms.

La première partie de la thèse est consacrée à l'étude de la diffraction d'ondes électro­ma­gné­ti­ques par des objets bornés recouverts de couches minces de diélectriques non linéaires. Un développement asymptotique de l'onde fondamentale et de la seconde harmonique est donné en utilisant des techniques d'équations intégrales.<br /><br />Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, on s'intéressé à la méthode dite de la (\em supercell) qui est utilisée par les physiciens afin de donner une approximation des modes introduits par un défaut à support compact dans un cristal photonique. On étudie la convergence de cette méthode donnant un sens à la convergence du spectre de l'opérateur approché. La convergence exponentielle des valeurs propres dues au défaut est démontrée.<br /><br />La troisième partie de la thèse est consacrée à l'étude de la propagation d'ondes électromagnétiques dans les fibres optiques photoniques. On dérive une modélisation mathématique de ces fibres dont l'enveloppe est constituée d'un cristal photonique bidimensionnel invariant selon l'axe de la fibre. Les modes guidés par la fibre sont caractérisés comme étant les valeurs propres d'opérateurs intégraux.

abstract: Moore's law has been the most important driving force for the tremendous progress of semiconductor industry. With time the transistors which form the fundamental building block of any integrated circuit have been shrinking in size leading to smaller and faster electronic devices.As the devices scale down thermal effects and the short channel effects become the important deciding factors in determining transistor architecture.SOI (Silicon on Insulator) devices have been excellent alternative to planar MOSFET for ultimate CMOS scaling since they mitigate short channel effects. Hence as a part of thesis we tried to study the benefits of the SOI technology especially for lower technology nodes when the channel thickness reduces down to sub 10nm regime. This work tries to explore the effects of structural confinement due to reduced channel thickness on the electrostatic behavior of DG SOI MOSFET. DG SOI MOSFET form the Qfinfet which is an alternative to existing Finfet structure. Qfinfet was proposed and patented by the Finscale Inc for sub 10nm technology nodes. As part of MS Thesis we developed electrostatic simulator for DG SOI devices by implementing the self consistent full band Schrodinger Poisson solver. We used the Empirical Pseudopotential method in conjunction with supercell approach to solve the Schrodinger Equation. EPM was chosen because it has few empirical parameters which give us good accuracy for experimental results. Also EPM is computationally less expensive as compared to the atomistic methods like DFT(Density functional theory) and NEGF (Non-equilibrium Green's function). In our workwe considered two crystallographic orientations of Si,namely [100] and [110]. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2016

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Electronic band structure of various crystal orientations of relaxed and strained bulk, 1D and 2D confined semiconductors are investigated using nonlocal empirical pseudopotential method with spin-orbit interaction. For the bulk semiconductors, local and nonlocal pseudopotential parameters are obtained by fitting transport-relevant quantities, such as band gap, effective masses and deformation potentials, to available experimental data. A cubic-spline interpolation is used to extend local form factors to arbitrary q and the resulting transferable local pseudopotential V(q) with correct work function is used to investigate the 1D and 2D confined systems with supercell method. Quantum confinement, uniaxial and biaxial strain and crystal orientation effects of the band structure are investigated. Regarding the transport relavant quantities, we have found that the largest ballistic electron conductance occurs for compressively-strained large-diameter [001] wires while the smallest transport electron effective mass is found for larger-diameter [110] wires under tensile stress.

No description available.

This submission is officially titled as a project. The author has also produced a second project relating to the same topic, titled "Part B: Power Transient in a CANDU Reactor" / This report consists of two separate studies. The first part deals with the calculation of the tube thickness of the Bruce B adjuster rods. The incremental cross-section for four tube thicknesses were obtained using the SUPERCELL Method. The tube thicknesses were then calculated so that the flux distributions at steady state full power and the corresponding total reactivity worth of the adjuster rods were in agreement with the reference design valves. The second part deals with the modifications made to the three-dimensionalSORGHUM code to permit calculations of steady-state flux distributions in asubcritical assembly in the presence of a constant non-fission meutron source. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)