In the Basin and Range Province, the geologic regime of the Pilot Valley, linear trending block faults have isolated many valleys both topographically and hydrologically. Discharge from these arid, closed basins occurs only as evaporation. Minerals dissolved in discharging fluid are precipitated at the valley floor as the liquid evaporates. The resulting salt flats and high density brines are known as playas. The Pilot Valley Playa surface was sampled concurrently with the recording of a Thematic Mapper remotely sensed image to define the surface conditions that correspond to image data. An association was found between the band 7 (infrared wavelength radiation) image data and the measured depth to water; and between the visible wavelength data and the evaporite mineral deposits on the playa. The specific gravity of the shallow subsurface brine was found to increase as the liquid brine surface approached the elevation of the valley floor. By using the observed relationships, three remotely sensed images were interpreted with respect to temporal changes in the areal extent of playa evaporite deposits and water depth between 1984 and 1988. The visible wavelength data indicated that the areal extent of the evaporite deposits diminished during the study period. The water level at the playa margins was interpreted to have dropped, and at the playa center to have remained stable. These interpretations suggest that a decrease in the extent of evaporite deposition is related to a drop in the water level around the playa margins. The interpreted changes of the playa surface are used to draw the following conclusions about the hydrology of the Pilot Valley. The distinct variation in depth to water around the playa margin suggests that these areas are influenced by the discharge from the surrounding ranges. The relatively stable water depth in the central playa and the associated thicker evaporite deposits suggest that the subsurface brine acts here as a buffer to discharge variations. If the temporal changes of the playa margins do result from discharge variation, the discharge zone at the base of the Silver Island Range is wider than that of the adjacent, higher elevation Pilot Range.

Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-69). / Methods which measure seafloor resistivity are uniquely suited to studying hydrothermal circulation in the crust. The magnetometric resistivity (MMR) technique is a galvanic method which uses a bipole current source with a magnetometer receiver. The resistivity of the subsurface can be estimated from the magnetic field read in MMR. In order to analyze and invert MMR data taken near Mid Ocean Ridges, it is important to understand the effects of ridge topography on MMR models. To analyze these effects a 3D MMR forward modeling program MMR3Df̲wd is used to model Mid Ocean Ridges with varying slopes, resistivities, and source/receiver geometries. The modeled magnetic fields are compared with models with a flat seafloor to determine the impact of the ridge topography. Results show that for some of the ridges modeled, the effects of the topography were significant, suggesting that in some instances it is important to include ridge topography in forward models to obtain accurate results from data inversion. / by Lisa A. Lassner. / S.M.

This investigation evaluated a computerized behavioral skills training package for teaching responses to interview skills by adolescents and young adults with learning disabilities. The package consisted of instructional videos, video-modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and selection-based instruction. Experiment 1 replicated and extended recent research which has suggested that a selection-based protocol operating on a lag schedule of reinforcement is an effective and efficient method for teaching responses to interview questions (O’Neill, Blowers, Henson, & Rehfeldt, 2015; O’Neill & Rehfeldt, 2014). The purpose was to address some of the limitations of these studies while testing the limits of the selection-based protocol in promoting topography-based responses to interview questions by adolescents and young adults with learning disabilities. Experiment 2 evaluated the efficacy of the computerized behavioral skills training protocol while simultaneously comparing the basic package to an identical package plus the selection-based protocol from Experiment 1. This experiment attempted to isolate the additive effect of selection-based instruction from that of computerized behavioral skills training for teaching topography-based responses to interview questions by adolescents and young adults with learning disabilities.

Space-borne radar interferometry provides a global vantage point to understand climate change, global weather phenomenon, and other Earth dynamics. For climate change observations, space-borne interferometers can be utilized to relate ocean topography to temperature, thus providing a global map of ocean temperatures. Since the oceans are in constant motion, a single-pass interferometer is needed to successfully make these measurements of ocean height. The feasibility of a single-pass measurement is dependent on the physical size of the instrument, hence it is cheaper and more practical to launch a small, light weight instrument into space. Since instrument size scales inversely with operating frequency, high frequency microwave technology (Ku-band and Ka-band) is preferred for these types of applications. However, space-borne deployments become more difficult to implement at these frequencies since the physical structure of the instrument changes in the harsh environment of space. For that reason, a ground-based Ku-band (13.245GHz) radar interferometer has been developed at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL). In this thesis, a description of the radar hardware as well as interferometric results from Mount Sugarloaf provide a measure of the performance of the radar and demonstrate the capabilities of using a ground-based interferometer as a test-bed for space-borne applications.

This study investigates the first-order mechanics of polygonal fault networks in Utopia Planitia, Mars and whether terrestrial sedimentary basin polygonal terrains are an analog for giant Martian polygons since there is an overlap in scale between the 3 km terrestrial polygons and the 1-40 km giant polygons of Mars. Volumetric contraction accommodates the extensional faulting observed in both cases. Boundary Element Method numerical models are used to simulate the first-order-mechanics of the faulting process. Models use material properties for wet, fine sediment, and apply an extensional strain to produce volumetric contraction. Fracture seeds that simulate the buried topography beneath the basin are placed at the base of the model. MOLA tracks from the Highlands are used to create the uneven topography beneath the basin since the underlying topography of the Northern Lowlands is thought to be similar to the topography of the older, Southern Highlands. The model investigates whether 1 & 2 km layer of wet, fine sediments will produce the fracture spacing observed within the polygonal terrains in Utopia (~5 – 6.5 km). A fracture network that is similar to the scale of the polygonal terrain in the Utopia Basin is established within the model at low strain, supporting the idea that buried topography could be the primary scaling factor for the polygon grabens. The results do not constrain an upper limit for strain; the observed trough widths in Utopia suggest that further strain was expressed by the widening of the troughs. Material properties for wet, fine sediments, analogous to the terrestrial counterpart, are appropriate for the model to match what is observed in Utopia. The power-law scale of Highlands topography controls the scale of the surface fracture spacing in the models. Measurements of running average of trough spacing along radial transects with respect to the center of the basin did not yield a monotonic decrease in trough spacing as would be expected for a smooth basement with no buried topography. Study results support the case for buried topography controlling the scale of the giant polygons of Utopia Planitia.

<p>This is a dissertation by Funing Li submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.</p>

No description available.

Internal waves exist everywhere in stratified fluids - fluids whose density changes with depth. The two largest bodies of stratified fluid are the atmosphere and ocean. Internal waves are generated from a variety of mechanisms. One common mechanism is wind forcing over repeated sinusoidal topography, like a series of hills. When modeling these waves, linear theory has been employed due to its ease and low computational cost. However, recent research has shown that non-linear effects, such as boundary layer separation, may have a dramatic impact on wave generation. This research has consisted of experimentation on sloped, sinusoidal hills. As of yet, no experimental research has been done to characterize internal wave generation when repeated sinusoidal hills lie on a sloped surface such as a continental slope or a foothill. In order to perform this experiment, a laboratory was built which employed the synthetic schlieren method of wave visualization. Measurements were taken to find wind speed, boundary layer thickness, and density perturbation. From these data, an analysis was performed on wave propagation angle, wave amplitude, and pressure drag. The result of the analysis shows that when wind blows across a series of sloped sinusoidal hills, fluid becomes trapped in the troughs of the hills resulting in a lower apparent forcing amplitude. The generated waves contain less energy than linear predictions. Additionally, the sloped hills produce waves which propagate at an angle away from the viewer. A necessary correction, which shifts from the reference frame of the observer to the reference plane of the waves is described. When this correction is applied, it is shown that linear theory may only be applied for low Froude numbers. At high Froude numbers, the effect of the boundary layer is great enough that the wave characteristics deviate significantly from linear theory predictions. The analyzed data agrees well with previous studies which show a similar deviation from linear theory.

This thesis project has been an investigation of the summer house phenomena, both from an historical point of view - the background and history of summer houses - looking at the emergence of the culture, their architectural programmatic experience, how they’ve change over time, as well as looking into specific reference projects, both for inspiration and clarity - some older houses, and others that are more modern. In addition to the research, and as the main part of the thesis project I have aimed to design a new small summer house of my own, to be placed on the small island in Mälaren where my family's current house is situated and where I have grown up, by using the knowledge I’ve gathered and the inspiration I have come across in order to create a project different from the one that is there today.

Bathymetric mapping is an important tool for reservoir management, typically completed before reservoir construction. Historically, bathymetric maps were produced by interpolating between points measured at a relatively large spacing throughout a reservoir, typically on the order of a few, up to 10, meters or more depending on the size of the reservoir. These measurements were made using traditional survey methods before the reservoir was filled, or using sonar surveys after filling. Post-construction issues such as sedimentation and erosion can change a reservoir, but generating updated bathymetric maps is difficult as the areas of interest are typically in the sediment deltas and other difficult-to-access areas that are often above water or exposed for part of the year. We present a method to create complete reservoir bathymetric maps, including areas above the water line, using small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) photogrammetry combined with multi-beam sonar data--both established methods for producing topographic models. This thesis presents methods to create accurate above-water shoreline models using images from sUAVs, processed using a commercial software package and a method to accurately knit sonar and Structure from Motion (SfM) data sets by matching slopes. The models generated by both approaches are point clouds, which consist of points representing the ground surface in three-dimensional space. Generating models from sUAV-captured images requires ground control points (GCPs), i.e., points with a known location, to anchor model creation. We explored issues with ground control spacing, masking water regions (or omitting water regions) in the images, using no GCPs, and incorrectly tagging a GCP. To quantify the effect these issues had on model accuracy, we computed the difference between generated clouds and a reference point cloud to determine the point cloud error. We found that the time required to place GCPs was significantly more than the time required to capture images, so optimizing GCP density is important. We found that we needed to mask water and areas related to distant regions and sky in images used for model creation. This is because water, objects in the far oblique distance, and sky confuse the algorithms that match points among images. Our sonar point clouds, while self-consistent, were not accurately georeferenced. We demonstrate a method using cross-sections of the transition between the above-water clouds and sonar clouds to geo-locate the sonar data and accurately knit the two data sets. Shore line topography models and integration of sonar and drone data is a niche area that leverages current advances in data collection and processing. Our work was applied at three different reservoirs to show that accurate post-construction reservoir bathometry maps can assist with reservoir management. A report is included that compares historical bathymetric maps with the current bathymetric maps at each of the three different reservoirs. A guide to perform the drone surveys is included in the report's appendix.