Abstract: A system is provided for detecting accumulation of material concurrently on multiple areas of a surface in real time. In one embodiment, it is used for detecting icing of airframes while in use or on the ground while awaiting use. It may use either Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) or Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FM-CW) sources to provide a known energizing signal to a transmission line sensor. The system ascertains the signal's round trip travel time in the transmission line. As material accumulates around the transmission line sensor, the medium through which the signal propagates is indicated by the change in time for the signal to propagate in relation to propagation in a reference medium, e.g., air. By employing pre-specified spectral analysis algorithms and referencing to the dielectric constant of media of interest, a determination of the occurrence, location, and the rate and type of material accumulation can be made.

Abstract: A system removes a pre-specified amount of material from a body of water to facilitate continued operation thereof. A particular embodiment envisions a sled-like device that, assisted with floats, suitable connectors and a hand winch may be positioned anywhere in the body of water. In operation, it is pulled along the bottom of the body of water at a pre-specified rate via a cable and winch affixed to a ground-anchored cable located on shore. The device is symmetric so that it may be pulled in either direction. At each end of the device is a scoop arranged to dislodge material on the bottom and transfer it to a central pump chamber from which an onboard submersible pump transfers it via a hose to a remote repository for further disposition. The system is compact and simple, both in design and operation, facilitating use and maintenance by existing operations personnel.

Abstract: A device for placing survey flags, and similar devices having stems, is operated so that the stem is locked or otherwise held to an elongated shaft or similar aligning device. Pressure on the shaft or aligning device forces a portion of the flag stem into the soil or other sound substrate. Then, an operator can carry out an operation to separate the placing device from the stem.

Abstract: A mycoherbicidal composition prepared from a microsclerotium of a fungal pathogen in an aquatic weed population control effective amount to achieve aquatic weed population and growth control in combination with a suitable carrier. The present invention is further directed to a method of using the composition to control aquatic weed populations and a method of preparing the fungal microsclerotium.

Abstract: A method for reducing error (when compared to conventional methods) in estimates of radiance inferred from measurements of irradiance provided by detectors in an array of a sensor. By using measurement data from each cluster in a set of nested clusters in the neighborhood of a selected detector and applying selected mathematical relationships, an accurate estimate is obtained. A source of this error springs from the non-uniformity of illumination that occurs within the finite solid angle field of view (FOV) of a detector in a sensor array due, at least in part, to intrinsic unpredictable characteristics of the scene being viewed by the sensor array. To achieve fine resolution with reasonably sized detector FOVs, this non-uniformity makes impractical the use of average values of illumination within the solid angle defining the detector's FOV, the conventional method for deriving estimates of radiance.

Abstract: An alerting mechanism is integrated into a physical support device for use in the event of an accident or emergency. The device provides a signal that alerts potential rescuers about emergency events such as man overboard. In one alternative. it uses a pre-programmed code to provide a positive identification of the individual or object involved. In a typical application, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) module is incorporated into a secure pocket of a life vest, the vest having at least one conformable antenna sewn into its upper portion as well as connections from the PLB to the antenna. The alerting mechanism may be used in a cooperative system using special receivers that utilize high temperature superconductor (HTS) RF bandpass filters for minimizing RF interference so that low signal levels may be received reliably. The system may also provide access to a database through common interfaces to wireless communications devices, telephone lines, the Internet, and satellites.

Abstract: A system for efficiently and cost effectively monitoring the status of the interface between two dissimilar media is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the system uses principles applied from the theory of time domain reflectometry (TDR), together with novel circuitry and low cost narrow band telemetry, to provide real time monitoring on a continuous basis, as needed. The circuitry involved permits operation of the system without relying on relative values of signal amplitude while employing a novel feedback function that sets the pulse repetition frequency instantaneously to permit an optimum data collection rate as well as a separate measure of the status based on the system operating parameters. It has particular application to real time monitoring and alerting to the effect of scour events in waterways.

Abstract: Provided is a fabrication that is simple to make and cost effective in optimizing performance for moderately extended high velocity missions of high performance airborne vehicles. To counter rapid thermal loading while providing a relatively low cost structure, a laminate, in a preferred embodiment an intermediate modulus carbon fiber laminated as fabric layers in a resin matrix, is stitched through with glass fiber material. This laminate is then cured and formed as a section of skin of a supersonic missile, enabling extended supersonic operation, nominally some minutes after the laminate's Tg has been reached or exceeded. Additionally, an airframe and airframe members constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention are disclosed. Compared to existing materials, it reduces cost and weight, increases thermal stability, and maximizes internal payload.

Abstract: In a shooting range for training personnel in the use of firearms, a bullet trap that prevents rebounding bullets or flying debris from injuring shooters, has a central section of stacked cylindrical logs, or logs having a trapezoidal cross section, supported by stacked rectangular supporting blocks on each side. The stacked cylindrical logs have conical end sections at the end facing the shooter. These conical end sections direct incoming bullets to passageways between the cylindrical logs. Bullets passing through these passageways then strike a backstop panel. In a preferred embodiment, both the cylindrical logs and the backstop panel are made of shock-absorbing foamed fiber-reinforced concrete.

Abstract: A biofilter reactor includes a housing, an axial pipe rotatably supported in the housing and including a plurality of perforations that open into the interior of the housing for collecting a treated fluid. The axial pipe includes an outlet in communication with the interior thereof for removing the treated fluid from the housing. A porous medium is disposed about the axial pipe and is rotatable therewith. The porous medium is made of a microbial foam.

Abstract: Disclosed, in a preferred embodiment, is a switching circuit incorporating a Field Effect Transistor (FET), two series dual-tap gas tube surge arrestors, and high-voltage resistors as part of a high voltage switch of a fireset for initiating an exploding foil initiator (EFI). Until energizing the FET via a firing command, an operating voltage of 1000 V is held off by a combination of the surge arrestors and high-voltage resistors. Upon receipt of a firing signal, a 28 V source is used to energize the FET that, in turn, decreases the voltage across the one surge arrestor connected directly to ground and increases the voltage across the other surge arrestor. Upon reaching the breakdown voltage of the ionizable gas within the second surge arrestor, the gas ionizes, becomes electrically conductive, and dumps the second surge arrestor's voltage across the first surge arrestor. This causes the first surge arrestor to also break down. Both surge arrestors are now conducting.

Abstract: A modular mobile power converter provides filtered and regulated power to specialized electronic systems not able to use local commercial power sources or attain ready access to the required special power source. A particular example is a manually maneuvered power cart that provides 400 Hz power, converted from a 60 Hz source, to specialized avionics and shipborne equipment at locations remote from an appropriate 400 Hz power source.

Abstract: Provided is a system, and general method of use that may be applied to the specific system, that overlays appropriately selected impulse response maps of the response of a weapon system's optical detector over successive detailed supercomputer-generated imaged scenes. Each of the impulse response maps have been pre-calculated and stored in addressable memory in preparation for running a simulation. A preferred embodiment then convolves the response maps with the appropriately selected imaged scene in cooperation with a gyro model and, optionally, a model of the airframe on which the detector is carried. Errors determined from the gyro model are used to calculate and provide an address offset to modify values of the response map's base address for the appropriate map pixels. Scene pixel values that undergo convolution are selected using portions of these modified base address values.

Abstract: A convenient apparatus and method for inserting surrogate metal-entraining aerosols into exhaust stacks for the purpose of realistic dynamic testing of an emissions monitor. The aerosols contain elements required to be detected by the monitor. The 14 metals regulated by the EPA as hazardous air pollutants are of particular interest. The method requires less time and fewer skilled technicians than conventional testing methods. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a burner (e.g., propane or kerosene) is combined with a combustion chamber, a fan, an air compressor, at least one peristaltic pump, at least one surrogate reservoir, and the necessary ductwork for connection to an exhaust stack. The amount of surrogate aerosol to be introduced to the stack is adjusted at the peristaltic pump. After heating by the burner and subsequent introduction into the hot stack, the surrogate homogeneously mixes with the exhaust stream and is presented to the sensor as a dry gas component of the exhaust stream.

Abstract: A preferred embodiment permits the safe navigation of a channel or harbor by a ship. A preferred embodiment includes a ship-borne system having a first global positioning system (GPS) receiver and a second fixed reference station with a GPS receiver. Both GPS receivers have GPS signal receiving antennas. Earth orbiting satellites of the GPS maintain communication at both locations via the two receive antennas. A broadcast radio transmitter at the reference station transmits a received GPS signal to the ship-based GPS antenna for receipt by the ship's separate radio receiver and processing by a computer. Using known navigation chart information on the water depths within a body of water, channel or harbor, known marine surveyor data, including the phase center of the ship-borne GPS receive antenna, and the two separately received GPS signals, the ship's keel clearance referenced to a known chart datum is calculated at one second intervals.

Abstract: Filter elements for draining wastewater into the soil in leach fields comprise net sacks filled with scrap rubber or plastic chips and supplied with fabric filter cloth. Leach fields are constructed by excavating trenches, placing a first row of filter elements at the bottom of the trenches, installing a drain pipe on top of the row of filter elements, placing a second row of filter elements on top of the first row and the drain pipe, overlapping the pieces of filter cloth to provide a barrier to the surrounding soil, and backfilling the trench with soil.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for installing a groundwater sampling device into the ground includes a generally cylindrical housing open at top and bottom end portions and defining a recess therein. An expendable tip member is removably connected to the bottom and portion of the housing. A well tubing or casing is positioned generally centrally in the recess and includes top and bottom end portions. An elongated spiral-wound cylinder is slidably positioned in the recess of the housing and in a surrounding relationship to the tubing. The tubing is attached to the tip member at the bottom end portion thereof and includes a lower section having a plurality of perforations about the periphery thereof to allow fluid to enter the interior of the tubing.

Abstract: In a preferred embodiment, a spiral or helical antenna offering expanded operation at low frequencies while retaining a package size roughly equivalent to an unmodified antenna having a bandwidth not extended in low frequency. A preferred embodiment is a planar spiral antenna incorporating a pair of spiral arms, one arm of which has been modified to incorporate a capacitance at selected intervals along upper and lower surfaces of that arm so as to cause a phase shift in one of the input signals to the antenna. The input signal is provided by splitting at a balun a single signal into two equal amplitude signals 180° out of phase with each other. The subsequent phase shift permits the two out of phase input signals to be brought back into phase at calculated intervals prior to termination of the signals at the arms' ends.

Abstract: Provided is an apparatus, system, method of use, and method of manufacturing said apparatus, for securing an object having an irregular outer contour, including those objects having a discontinuous contour, in a standard fixture. While secured in the standard fixture modified as in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a secured object can easily be accessed at any point as pre-determined by the user.

Abstract: A thermal barrier fabricated from pumice, or pumice-like material, and a suitable binder is provided. It may be formed as a self-supporting or load-bearing structural member, or as a thick coating for IR signature reduction. A first embodiment may be used to build a structure, e.g., a room onboard a ship that serves as an effective thermal barrier. Should a fire start in the room, the thermal barrier prevents rapid spreading of the fire and provides crews additional time to fight the fire. A second embodiment, as a thick coating, reduces the IR signature of a radiating body, such as an exhaust stack, by a factor of four. This thick coating helps shield an object from IR surveillance devices or seekers, resulting in much shorter acquisition and tracking times for these IR devices and seekers. In addition to benefits as a thermal barrier, structural members using concepts disclosed for this invention may provide inherent blast and shock resistance.