Several studies have attempted to determine the lower limit of atmospheric oxygen under which combustion can occur; however, none have been conducted within a fully controlled and realistic atmospheric environment. We performed experimental burns (using pine wood, moss, matches, paper, and a candle) at 20 degrees C in O2 concentrations ranging from 9 to 21% and at ambient and high CO2 (2000 par...

Charged particles of extensive air showers (EAS), mainly electrons and positrons, initiate the emission of fluorescence light in the Earth’s atmosphere. This light provides a calorimetric measurement of the energy of cosmic rays. For reconstructing the primary energy from an observed light track of an EAS, the fluorescence yield in air has to be known in dependence on atmospheric conditions, li...

Hygroinduced motion is a fundamental process of energy conversion that is essential for applications that require contactless actuation in response to the day-night rhythm of atmospheric humidity. Here we demonstrate that mechanical bistability caused by rapid and anisotropic adsorption and desorption of water vapour by a flexible dynamic element that harnesses the chemical potential across ver...

A gray TiO₂/SrTiO₃ composite nanocrystalline sensor with narrow band-gap was successfully prepared through a facile wet chemical method. The precursor was calcined in N₂ flow under atmospheric pressure and thereafter, a humidity sensor based on the composite was fabricated. The sensor showed high resistive sensitivity and varied by more than four orders of magnitude with an increase in relative...

Each year, droughts cause significant economic and agricultural losses across the world. The early warning and onset detection of drought is of particular importance for effective agriculture and water resource management. Previous studies show that the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), a measure of precipitation deficit, detects drought onset earlier than other indicators. Here we show that ...

Recent progress is reviewed in the understanding of convective interaction with water vapor, and changes associated with water vapor in warmer climates. Progress includes new observing techniques (including isotopic methods) that are helping to illuminate moistureconvection interaction, better-observed humidity trends, new modeling approaches, and clearer expectations as to the hydrological con...

In the near infrared and visible bandpass, optical propagation theory conventionally assumes that humidity does not contribute to the effects of atmospheric turbulence on optical beams. While this assumption may be reasonable for dry locations, we demonstrate in this paper that there is an unequivocal effect due to the presence of humidity upon the strength of turbulence parameter, C n, from da...