Systems and methods are provided for estimating a quality of air in proximity to a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes: determining a radius of the vehicle; estimating a number of vehicles within the radius of the vehicle; estimating the quality of air based on the number of vehicles; and selectively generating a control signal to an air inlet valve based on the quality of air.

A method for measuring pollution that includes providing a plurality of analyte sensors arranged in a grid over a sensing area, wherein the analyte sensors measure a pollutant, and positioning at least one current sensor in the sensing area. A pollution source is localized using a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.

A method for estimating a wind speed at a wind turbine is disclosed, said wind turbine comprising a rotor carrying a set of wind turbine blades, each wind turbine blade having a variable pitch angle. A blade torsion contribution, representing torsion introduced in the wind turbine blades, is derived, based on an obtained rotational speed, ω, of the rotor, and an obtaining a pitch angle, θ, of the wind turbine blades. An adjusted pitch angle, θ′, is calculated as a sum of the obtained pitch angle, θ, and the derived blade torsion contribution, and a wind speed, v.sub.est, is estimated, based on the obtained rotational speed, ω, and the calculated adjusted pitch angle, θ′. An accurate and reliable estimate for the wind speed is thereby obtained. The wind turbine may be controlled in accordance with the estimated wind speed, v.sub.est.

A method for estimating a wind speed at a wind turbine is disclosed, said wind turbine comprising a rotor carrying a set of wind turbine blades, each wind turbine blade having a variable pitch angle. A blade torsion contribution, representing torsion introduced in the wind turbine blades, is derived, based on an obtained rotational speed, ω, of the rotor, and an obtaining a pitch angle, θ, of the wind turbine blades. An adjusted pitch angle, θ′, is calculated as a sum of the obtained pitch angle, θ, and the derived blade torsion contribution, and a wind speed, v.sub.est, is estimated, based on the obtained rotational speed, ω, and the calculated adjusted pitch angle, θ′. An accurate and reliable estimate for the wind speed is thereby obtained. The wind turbine may be controlled in accordance with the estimated wind speed, v.sub.est.

In-line holography to create images of a specimen, such as one or more particles dispersed in a transparent medium. Analyzing these images with results from light scattering theory yields the particles' sizes with nanometer resolution, their refractive indexes to within one part in a thousand, and their three dimensional positions with nanometer resolution. This procedure can rapidly and directly characterize mechanical, optical and chemical properties of the specimen and its medium.

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for close formation flight are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of sensing three dimensional (3D) airflow by an aircraft includes: collecting measurements characterizing airflow near the aircraft; analyzing the collected measurements; creating, by a processor, a computer model predicting one or more 3D airflow patterns parameter values based on the analyzing; obtaining one or more additional measurements characterizing airflow near an aircraft of the plurality of aircraft, and evaluating an error between an airflow parameter value predicted by the computer model and the one or more additional measurement.

Systems and methods are provided for determining a velocity or an inflation rate of a droplet in a microfluidic channel. The droplet is exposed to two or more temporally separated flashes of light, each flash including light of one wavelength band, and imaged using a detector configured to distinguish light in the wavelength bands. Two or more images of the droplet are acquired, each corresponding to one of the flashes, and all within a single video frame or photographic exposure. The images can be processed separately and the position or size of the droplet in each image is calculated. A velocity or inflation rate is then determined by dividing the change in position or size by the amount of time allowed to pass between the flashes.

The disclosure generally relates to a wind indicating device. In various embodiments, the device can be used for wind detection and wind direction determination. The device can, in various embodiments, produce visible vapor and/or smoke. The visible smoke can interact with wind such that an operator can see which direction the wind is traveling and/or swirling. This can be beneficial for operators in the pursuit of game for hunting purposes, or in more general application in military actions.

A measuring system (10) and method measure a concentration of components of a gas mixture of gas/aerosol. A reaction support (14) has a flow channel (42) that forms a reaction chamber (46) with an optically detectable reactant (48) that reacts with at least one component or with a reaction product of the component. The flow channel (42) is at least partially filled with particles (100, 102, 104, 110) which have a pre-flow starting position and to which a gas flow is applied through the flow channel (42) in a flow position. The particles (100, 102, 104, 110) are designed (configured) in such a manner that the particles (100, 102, 104, 110) in the starting position and the particles (100, 102, 104, 110) in the flow position can be optically distinguished. The invention also relates to an optical flow sensor (109) for determining a flow of a fluid.

A system for collecting and managing seismic data via an external communications network comprises one or more seismic stations, each including a seismic measurement apparatus producing seismic signals, a station processor converting the signals to seismic data, a station memory securely storing the seismic data on site and a station communication interface transmitting the seismic data onto an external network. The system further comprises one or more data servers, each including a server computing device, a server communication interface receiving the seismic data from the seismic stations and a server memory storing the received seismic data. The data server can determine if the received seismic data satisfies predetermined conditions for certification and/or triggering a payout in accordance with a contract, and can thereafter transmit the appropriate data signals to another location on the external communications network.