Ground Penetrating Radar to Help Aid in Structural Damage Reporting After Natural Disasters

One of the major problems that allow destruction scene controllers to reopen areas after an event unfolds is determining which buildings can be safely reentered and which ones cannot. It is a very time consuming process, and can hold back reconstructive processes for quite some time. However, researchers are testing a new method with old technology that may speed this process up. It involves using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). GPR is already used to conduct tests on geological surveys to detect cracks and voids in rocks. The technology is currently being examined to help determine voids in wood and steel found in buildings. If the idea pans out, then stress points can be located in already standing structures prior to an event, and after an event buildings can quickly be examined for their integrity. The researchers admit that there is still much work needed to help spread this new technology into this field of use, but greatly anticipate the time that it can be used.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110425081305.htm

Volcano Eruption Captured by Satellite Imagery

On the morning of April 14, 2011 Russia’s Benzmianny Volcano erupted. The Joint Air Force & Army Weather Information Network reported ash to be as high as 25,000 feet into the atmosphere at the time of the eruption. What makes this eruption even more exciting is the fact that a satellite, the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite, just happened to be in range of the eruption. The satellite was equipped with the Advanced Land Imager, and took some amazing aerial photos of the eruption.

In the normal colored pictures, dark volcanic deposits (a mix of pyroclastic flows and lahars) stretch as far as 4.5 miles away from the volcano. The ash and snow of the surrounding area can be seen.

In the false-colored images, more activity of the volcano is revealed. A hot spot where the lave is flowing can be observed, as well as active hot lava flows. Rock appears as grey, and everything else appears as cyan.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=50220&src=nha

Ceramic Coating to Protect Volcano Stricken Planes

Last year the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of led to a shut of airlines that cost an estimated $2 billion dollars. Airlines since have been rushing to invent new ways to protect their planes against damage that would be sustained from the volcanic ash that is thrown into the atmosphere during an eruption. While many would view ash to be a powder soft substance like one could find in the bottom of a grill, they are in fact wrong, and ash is essentially mini rocks. They can be incredibly sharp objects, which in an essence can sand blast the outside of a plane and completely damage the internal workings of a jet engine. Researchers believe they have found a new ceramic coating that can protect the planes from these issues.

 "Of course, it's best for jets to avoid ash in the first place," said Nitin Padture, College of Engineering Distinguished Professor at the Ohio State University, who led the study. "That's not always possible. We determined that these coatings could offer sufficient protection against small amounts of ash ingested by the engine over time." The article explains.

Photograph of the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud. Ohio State University researchers have discovered that a new class of ceramic coatings could offer jet engines special protection against volcanic ash damage in the future.

The researchers compared different ash samples and ceramic samples on jet engines, then would disassemble them to see how the two variations would interact. From the research they learned valuable insight into what causes the damage to the planes. When asked if they had learned anything else by conducting the study, one researcher replied, “We also learned how to pronounce 'Eyjafjallajökull.'"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110413120957.htm

Ozone Layer Hole Causes Weather Changes in Southern Hemisphere

     Located in the Earth’s stratosphere, the ozone absorbs most of the harmful UV rays produced by the sun. Over the last 50 years, heavy use of human made compounds (most specifically household and commercial products using CFC’s) has broken down the ozone layer. A hole was actually discovered in the mid 80’s above Antarctica, which led to it becoming illegal to produce products containing CFC’s. Scientists believe that the ban on the products has greatly reduced the size of the hole, and is actually reversing. But was it too late? It is still early to tell.

The ozone hole above Antarctica as of Oct. 12, 2006. The ozone hole has affected the entire circulation of the Southern Hemisphere all the way to the equator.

     What can be tracked at this point in time is that the effects of the hole can be located at far away as the equator. The article points out, “scientists used two different state-of-the-art climate models to show the ozone hole effect. They first calculated the atmospheric changes in the models produced by creating an ozone hole. They then compared these changes with the ones that have been observed in the last few decades: the close agreement between the models and the observations shows that ozone has likely been responsible for the observed changes in Southern Hemisphere.”

Scientists are crossing their fingers in anticipation that the hole closing, expected to happen by this mid century, will reverse these weather abnormalities.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110421141630.htm

Europe Sinking Under Africa?

For millions of years the African Plate has been moving towards the Eurasian Plate at a speed of an inch every 2.5 years (a centimeter a year). The plate contains with it the Mediterranean Sea. New studies of earthquakes are suggesting that a new subduction zone is forming between Algeria and Sicily. This formation of a new subduction zone is extremely rare. According to Rinus Wortel, a geologist from Utrecht University, the African Plate has been subducting under the Eurasian plate for almost 30 million years. Over this time, Africa has moved so far north that its seabed was left in the Mediterranean; all that was left was continental rock, which is far less dense than oceanic rock and will not subduct. However, these two plates have continued to move towards each other and build up immense pressure. Geologists believe the subduction is starting up again, only this time the Eurasia Plate is subducting under the African Plate.

The Mediterranean Sea stretches eastward from the Strait of Gibraltar in a 1994 astronaut photograph.

This area is not considered to be one of major seismic activity, though with this plate Subduction geologists fear that this may change. With the tsunami striking Japan that was caused by an earthquake, this idea is not being taken lightly. In 1908, the article points out, that a earthquake triggered a 40 foot tall tsunami that killed 70,000 people in Messina, Italy.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110419-europe-africa-mediterranean-earthquake-risk-increasing-earth-science/