1,720,987 research outputs found

    Influence of weather parameters on a fireball’s dark flight

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    The computation of the dark flight of a bright fireball requires knowledge of the atmospheric parameters. In particular wind and wind direction as a function of height are crucial for an accurate trajectory. In this paper we compare different sources of sounding balloon and model data, and study the effect on the dark flight.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Planetary Exploratio

    Conceptual approach to community-involved, drone-assisted meteorite searching: strategy to find fusion-crusted meteorites

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    Meteorites offer valuable insights into the composition of asteroids and geological processes contributing to planet formation inside the solar system. Their rapid retrieval after fireball sightings allows this science potential to be used. Finding new meteorites is notoriously difficult due to various complicating factors. A promising search strategy can involve the aerial vantage point of drones (aka: UAV, RPAS). However, drone regulations by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and complex zonation of airspace will impact flight operations, which makes drone-assisted searching in Europe more complex than in e.g. desert environments. Here we present the results of an interdisciplinary desk study, which aimed at proposing a conceptual framework for drone-assisted meteorite searching. We propose the development of an open-source detection and coordination tool to improve aerial assistance by drones during field searches. The design provides drone enthusiasts (referred to as ‘community drones’) and researchers with a platform to coordinate joint drone-based search operations. Image processing is envisioned to take place via a convolutional neural network pipeline, after which high-likelihood locations are identified and manually verified to recover a potential meteorite. This approach will require the development of multiple models to account for variations in soils and vegetation. The tool supports multi-drone coordination, providing path planning functionality and support for a broad range of (commercially) available drone models (e.g. DJI) and sensor types (e.g. RGB, thermal). Considering EASA drone regulations, the use of the DJI Mini 3 Pro is favoured as an accessible community drone. Follow-up research, implementing the proposed conceptual approach, should validate the design presented here and highlight practical areas of improvement.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Planetary Exploratio

    Morphometrics of regmaglypts based on a 3D Model of the fusion-crusted ordinary chondrite Broek in Waterland (L6)

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    Regmaglypts are shallow depressions on meteorite surfaces formed by ablation processes during atmospheric entry. These features can potentially offer insights in breakup events. However, quantitative methods to analyse regmaglypts have not yet been proposed to date. Here we present the results of a study to evaluate breakup processes during the luminous flight by analysing regmaglypt morphometrics. We developed a novel approach based on a 3D shape model of the Broek in Waterland meteorite that was generated using photogrammetry. We converted sections of the 3D model into a smoothed Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that contained the fracture surfaces adorned with regmaglypts. Lending techniques from terrain analyses, we extracted Land Surface Parameters (LSP) and delineated regmaglypts based on the mean curvature inflection point. The outliers of the regmaglypt population were discarded based on mean and total curvature scatter plots. The mean, profile, tangential, total and Gaussian curvatures were found to be most descriptive of regmaglypt morphologies. Various other curvature types were tested and found to be consistent across the studied regmaglypt population. Using this initial framework, we found that the two regmaglypted surfaces of the Broek in Waterland meteorite appear to be similar. This would reflect similar formative conditions, which we interpret to be most consistent with formation from the same breakup event. Future studies will aim to expand the presented method to regmaglypt populations of other L6 meteorites to understand how surface characteristics can inform us on ablation and breakup processes.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Planetary Exploratio

    Urban Meteor Map: a map-based forecast of hourly rates for visual observers

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    The visible rate of meteors is dependent on various local viewing condition during shower peak nights. The interrelationship of the visible fraction of the night sky, radiant elevation and effects of the light pollution on sky brightness confounds outreach efforts to manage realistic expectations for visual meteor observations by the public. The Urban Meteor Map offers a map-based forecast of hourly rates to help make the effects of local viewing conditions more insightful. The project generates maps based on raster data for parameters in the Zenithal Hourly Rate formula. A Digital Surface Model (DSM) covering the Netherlands was used to generate maps of the visible percentage of the sky. At 5 m resolution this DSM offers insights into obstruction by buildings, vegetation and topography. To incorporate effects of light pollution, a national sky brightness map for cloudless nights was converted into Naked Eye Limiting Magnitudes (NELM). Combined with known shower parameters such as population index and radiant height, maps were generated with hourly rates forecasts at local and national scales. Ultimately, observing conditions will remain dependent on the individual observers, their night adaptation and local light interference. The Urban Meteor Map aims to helps raise awareness for the effects of light pollution, and thus promotes exploration of local living environment to seek the best viewing spots for meteor showers.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Planetary Exploratio

    Delft Meteorite Lab: a virtual environment to explore meteorites and meteorWrongs

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    Assessing and classifying rocks on the basis of their visual traits has been a long standing practise for geoscience fields. For planetary geoscience the interaction with astrogeological materials such as meteorites and impactites contributes to the comprehension of their properties, alteration and, ultimately, solar system formation processes. In the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic we explored alternative options to involve meteorites and impactites in remote teaching. Simultaneously, this opened up the integration of meteorites in teaching activities for large groups of learners. We have developed a workflow using Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry to render high-resolution digital 3D models of meteorites and impact rocks. This procedure was used to create a virtual collection with tens of examples that were made publicly accessible in an online environment. The digital 3D models can be inspected by rotating and zooming, while annotations in clickable pop-ups direct users to key features or provide background information and data. We evaluated the user experience and discuss how virtual collections can be created and used for blended learning. Meanwhile, we have explored the use of models in the ‘Delft Meteorite Lab’ in academic teaching, public outreach and science applications. The virtual collection also offers a potential resource to aid the identification of putative meteorite finds by the general public. Looking towards the future, a new ‘Dutch Meteorite Lab’ aims become a national hub for education and research to explore meteorites and meteorite taxonomy based on specimen available in various study collections across the Netherlands.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Planetary Exploratio

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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