Fly through erupting volcano's ash clouds
By KACEY DEAMER
LIVESCIENCE.COM
April 20, 2017, 5:09 PM
Drones can do more than capture high-flying footage, and researchers have recently put the unmanned vehicles to work studying a volcano as it erupted.
During a research trip to Guatemala, a team of volcanologists and engineers used customized drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs) to investigate Volcán de Fuego.
Fuego is known for its near constant low-level activity, with smoke escaping from its top daily. However, the summit vent is difficult to access – the volcano has an elevation of 12,346 feet – and scientists have not been able to collect accurate gas measurements.
Using drones equipped with a range of sensors, researchers were able to collect data directly from the volcano’s ash clouds.
“These sensors not only help to understand emissions from volcanoes, they could also be used in the future to help alert local communities of impending eruptions – particularly if the flights can be automated,” Emma Liu, a volcanologist from the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.
The researchers flew the drones beyond their visual line-of-sight, up to an altitude of 10,000 feet and nearly 5 miles away, into the volcano’s ash clouds. A so-called multiGAS sensor gathered data on carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and another sensor collected samples of the ash. The drones also had thermal and visual cameras attached to observe the volcanic activity.
While these initial flights served as a proof-of-concept, the drones have already provided the researchers with new information about the volcano. For instance, the drones captured Fuego’s changing summit topography. This showed the scientists that the volcano is erupting from two vents and not one, as was previously thought.
“Initial analysis of the sensor and flight data tells us that we will be able to automatically identify when we are in for volcanic emissions,” said Ben Schellenberg, a first-year doctoral student in aerospace engineering at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
“I can’t wait to return to test out this hypothesis,” he said.
Watch the video to learn more about this project:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drones-armed-with-sensors-fly-through-erupting-volcanos-ash-clouds/
Exercise 6. Try to enrich your vocabulary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKDa52iTRFQ
http://open.lib.umn.edu/writingforsuccess/chapter/4-4-prefixes-and-suffixes/
|
|
|
A. Analyze the following words with different suffixes, divide them into two groups: nouns and adjectives.
Model:
| nouns | adjectives |
| Capacity … … | Industrial … … |
Essence, remote, controller, association, measurement, civilian, controversial, technology, formality, autonomous, technological, activity, scientific, visual, formal, doctoral, essential, information, personality, accurateness, conjunction, elevation, volcanic, intelligent, surveillance, thermal, firefighter, identification, hypothetical, collection, constant, eruption, observation, volcanologist, active, previous, scientist, particular, researcher, informative, statement, difficulty, observer, investigation, recent.
B. Add the suffixes to form new words from those given below:
-ER, -TION, -IBLE, -TY, -IST, -MENT
Customized, access, active, to investigate, to collect, volcano, science, to research, to measure, to erupt, to observe, to inform, to identify.
Exercise 7. Match the phrases 1-10 with the meanings a-j. It will help you understand the ideas expressed in the text deeper. Memorize the word combinations which appear in the text.
1. to be in for volcanic emissions; 2. to provide the researchers with new information; 3. as was previously thought; 4. to alert local communities of impending eruptions; 5. beyond the visual line-of-sight; 6. drones equipped with a range of sensors; 7. to collect accurate measurements; 8. to put the unmanned vehicles to work; 9. wide range of civilian roles; 10. working in conjunction with onboard sensors.
a. за пределами видимости; b. широкий спектр гражданских задач; c. (кому-либо) предстоят вулканические выбросы; d. как считалось ранее; e. оповестить местное население о предстоящих извержениях; f. дроны, оборудованные целым набором датчиков; g. применять беспилотные аппараты; h. обеспечивать исследователей новой информацией; i. взаимодействующий с бортовыми датчиками; j. сделать точные измерения.
|
|
|
Exercise 8. Match the nouns and their descriptive attributes (remember how they were used in the text, or make up your own word combinations):
| vehicles | near constant |
| aircraft | customized |
| sensors | low-level |
| flight | initial |
| drone | accurate |
| activity | impending |
| measurements | automated |
| communities | local |
| eruptions | software-controlled |
| cameras | thermal |
| onboard | |
| unmanned | |
| visual |
Exercise 9. Give the English equivalents for the following. Find and read out the sentences in the text. Make up and write down your own sentences, using the given phrases:
1. автоматизировать полеты; 2. прикреплять камеры; 3. вулканическая активность; 4. собирать образцы; 5. заснять изменяющуюся топографию вершины вулкана; 6. определять автоматически; 7. данные полета; 8. самые первые полеты; 9. так называемый; 10. проверить гипотезу; 11. cложно досягаемый; 12. облака вулканической пыли (пепла); 13. низкая активность; 14. изучить (расследовать) вулкан; 15. производить съемки на высоте птичьего полета; 16. углекислый газ; 17. сероводород; 18. диоксид серы; 19. собранные на заказ дроны; 20. собирать данные.
Exercise 10.
A. In pairs, agree or disagree with the statements using the information from the text and the following phrases:
Of course (not). — Конечно (нет).
Certainly ( not ). — Конечно (нет).
Absolutely ! – Совершенно верно!
Naturally (Hardly). — Конечно (Вряд ли).
|
|
|
All right (I am afraid not). — Да (Боюсь, что нет).
I ( don ’ t ) agree with you . — Я (не) согласен с Вами.
You are (not) right. — Вы (не) правы.
I (don’t) think so. — Я так (не) думаю.
Far from it. — Это совершенно неверно.
You are mistaken. — Вы ошибаетесь.
Not at all. — Вовсе нет.
Nothing of the kind. — Ничего подобного.
It goes without saying. — Безусловно.
On the contrary. — Наоборот.
1. Drones are more formally known as unmanned terrestrial vehicles.
2. The aircrafts may be remotely controlled or can fly autonomously.
3. To operate a drone one should download a special application onto their i-phone.
4. Once the drone is beyond your visual line-of-sight you can’t control it.
5. The initial flights of drones were merely a proof-of-concept and served no other purpose.
6. Using drones the scientists discovered that the volcano was erupting from two vents and not one.
7. The drones had thermal and visual cameras to detect the changes in the topography of the summit.
8. By analyzing volcanic gases and ash the scientists could identify when they were in for volcanic emissions.
9. The scientists never meant to alert the locals about the impending eruptions.
10. Fuego has always been known for its constant high-level activity and the summit vent being extremely easy to access.
B. Mark the sentences as true or false:
1. Drones can only capture high-flying footage. – TRUE/FALSE
2. Collecting flight data, the sensors enable the researchers to identify the impending eruption. – TRUE/FALSE
3. The volcano was previously thought to have only one summit vent. – TRUE/FALSE
4. Neither visual nor thermal cameras are attached to the drones. – TRUE/FALSE
5. Although these initial flights served as a proof-of-concept, the drones have already provided the researchers with important information about the volcano. – TRUE/FALSE
6. The summit vent is not very difficult to access. – TRUE/FALSE
|
|
|
7. Fuego is very active, with smoke escaping from its summit vents daily. – TRUE/FALSE
8. One sensor collected samples of the ash and another one tested the gases emitted. – TRUE/FALSE
9. The data collected by the drones might be useful to make eruptions forecasts if the flights can be automated. – TRUE/FALSE
10. Volcanologists and engineers used customized drones to stimulate volcano activity. – TRUE/FALSE
Дата добавления: 2019-02-13; просмотров: 146; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!