The current investigation examines the fluctuating behaviour of stiff pavement built on a two-parameter base and is influenced by aircraft loading impacts. This investigation is driven by the necessity for an accurate evaluation of pavement behaviour under elevated stress scenarios caused by aircraft, which can guide pavement design and upkeep. A stochastic numerical model, the vehicle-pavement interaction model (VPI), was created using a comprehensive 3D dynamic model of an aircraft vehicle and stationary runway roughness profiles. The rigid pavement is simulated using a computationally efficient 1D finite element mathematical model incorporating six DOF. The Pasternak model represents the soil medium, incorporating shear interaction between the spring elements. The pavement's irregularities are considered and replicated using a power spectral density (PSD) function. This assembled model was used to investigate the dynamical reaction of concrete pavement vibrations caused by the passing of an aircraft vehicle using MATLAB code. The dynamic governing differential equations of the aircraft's motion are developed and coupled with the pavement system equations. The coupled system is then solved in the time domain using the direct computational integration approach with the Newmark-Beta integration scheme, explicitly utilizing the linear average acceleration method. This approach is employed to resolve the equations that govern and assess the performance of the connected system. The current findings are being compared to existing analytical outcomes to verify the precision of the current coding. The research examined the impact of various pavement and aircraft vehicle behaviors and factors on the dynamic response of pavement, including the speed, main and auxiliary suspension components, mass and the load position of the aircraft, also the damping, random roughness, thickness, span length and elastic constant of the pavement, even, the modulus of subgrade of the foundation, the rigidity modulus of the shear layer. The findings demonstrate notable influences of aircraft speed and pavement surface roughness on various response parameters. Specifically, the results reveal that a higher subgrade modulus leads to decreased deflection, rotation, and bending moments. Conversely, longer span lengths tend to elevate response parameters while simultaneously reducing shear force. In conclusion, the results highlight the significance of critical factors, including velocity and subgrade modulus, in forecasting the performance of pavement subjected to aircraft loads. The present research is confined to the investigation of the dynamic's performance of the VPI simulation of airfield rigid pavement. The findings from this study can be expanded on by paving engineers to improve the structural effectiveness and reliability of the pavement, serving as a basis for subsequent fatigue analysis in response to diverse dynamic loads such as earthquake, temperature and vehicle load.

Altitude profiles of the mass concentrations of aerosol black carbon (BC) have been obtained,up to an altitude of 12 km, from in situ measurements over Hyderabad (17.47 degrees N, 78.57 degrees E, 557 m amsl;a tropical station in the central Indian peninsula), using three successive high altitude balloon ascents during winter and early summer seasons of 2023-2024. The profiles revealed predominant peaks at around 8 and 11 km, where the BC concentrations were reaching as high as nearly three times the surface concentrations (2.82, 2.76, and 2.60 mu g m-3, respectively), persistently in all the three flights. Detailed analyses using official data of air traffic movement, aviation statistics and emission inventory revealed a strong linkage with the emissions from commercial aircraft that touch Hyderabad and overfly the region. These elevated BC layers will have large implications to atmospheric radiative forcing and possible contributions to modification of the cirrus cloud properties.

Grapevines are subjected to many physiological and environmental stresses that influence their vegetative and reproductive growth. Water stress, cold damage, and pathogen attacks are highly relevant stresses in many grape-growing regions. Precision viticulture can be used to determine and manage the spatial variation in grapevine health within a single vineyard block. Newer technologies such as remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) with remote sensing capabilities can enhance the application of precision viticulture. The use of remote sensing for vineyard variation detection has been extensively investigated; however, there is still a dearth of literature regarding its potential for detecting key stresses such as winter hardiness, water status, and virus infection. The main objective of this research is to examine the performance of modern remote sensing technologies to determine if their application can enhance vineyard management by providing evidence-based stress detection. To accomplish the objective, remotely sensed data such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and thermal imaging from RPAS flights were measured from six commercial vineyards in Niagara, ON, along with the manual measurement of key viticultural data including vine water stress, cold stress, vine size, and virus titre. This study verified that the NDVI could be a useful metric to detect variation across vineyards for agriculturally important variables including vine size and soil moisture. The red-edge and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic reflectance spectra could also have a potential application in detecting virus infection in vineyards.

The significant uncertainties of Black Carbon (BC) radiative forcing are becoming an obstacle to the evaluation of their impacts and mitigation measures. One of the crucial reasons for this uncertainty could be the poorly constrained BC vertical profile. The BC has a lifetime of a few days to weeks and there is a clear pointer that it can be vertically transported through convection besides the horizontal advection. The present study aims for the intercomparison between the BC mass concentrations obtained through the aircraft-based observations and that derived from the selected Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reanalysis data over the three different locations of India, which is one of the largest emitters of BC aerosols. The aircraft-based BC observations were conducted from 0.5 to 7 km altitudes using Aethalometer during CAIPEEX (Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment) Phase I campaigns from June to September 2009. The output of the present study suggests the CAMS reanalysis data significantly underestimated BC mass throughout the vertical profile with an average mass normalized mean bias of greater than -70% at all three locations. Furthermore, the vertical radiative forcing and heating rates of BC were also calculated for both observation and reanalysis data. The output depicts the net forcing due to CAMS simulated BC in all the layers were 1-12 folds lower over all the study regions compared with observed BC aerosols. Likewise, the estimated mean biases in heating rate were in the range of -0.001 to -0.190 K day(-1) for all the vertical layers over the study locations. The possible reasons for these disparities could be poorly constrained emissions, especially aircraft emissions and/or their transformation schemes in aerosol modules. The present study emphasized that the validation of the vertical profile is also an essential factor for better constraints of the BC aerosols in climate models.

Determining the deformation trend of silt subsoil under long-term aircraft loading by conventional numerical methods based on finite elements is challenging and poses several limitations. In this study, a boundary surface model for remolded saturated silt considering the influence of the soil dry density was developed, and an explicit integral algorithm with error control was used to incorporate the model into a user-defined material subroutine that the finite element software (ABAQUS 6.14) could call. In this way, the consolidated undrained dynamic triaxial test of a soil unit was established for simulation and model validation, which corroborated that the model could describe the dynamic properties of the saturated silt. Then, a numerical model of the runway with layered compaction and different compaction degrees was also developed to numerically analyze the deformation of the subsoil under cyclic aircraft loading. The results showed that the subsoil deformation increased continuously with the increase of cycle number. However, the deformation rate decreased gradually, and the silt subsoil deformation remained stable after 50 loading cycles. After the same number of loading cycles, the cumulative plastic deformation of the subsoil model with the overall compaction degree of 94% was smaller than that of the model with layered compaction. It was also shown that different aircraft speeds have minimal effect on the cumulative plastic deformation of the subsoil. Nevertheless, the ultimate cumulative plastic deformation is larger, as the loading duration is longer at low aircraft speeds. It indicates that strictly controlling of the compaction degree within a certain range of load influence is imperative in practical engineering, as it reduces the associated costs.

There has been renewed interest in developing commercial supersonic transport aircraft due to the increased overall demands by the public for air travel, the aspiration for more intercontinental travel, and the desire for shorter flight times. Various companies and academic institutions have been actively considering the designs of such supersonic aircraft. As these new designs are developed, the environmental impact on ozone and climate of these fleets need to be explored. This study examines one such proposed commercial supersonic fleet of 55-seater that is projected to fly at Mach 2.2, corresponding to cruise altitudes of 17-20 km, and which would burn 122.32 Tg of fuel and emit 1.78 Tg of NOx each year. Our analyses indicate this proposed fleet would cause a 0.74% reduction in global column ozone (similar to 2 Dobson Units), which is mainly attributed to the large amounts of nitrogen oxides released in the atmosphere from the supersonic aircraft. The maximum ozone loss occurs at the tropics in the fall season, with a reduction of -1.4% in the total column ozone regionally. The stratospheric-adjusted radiative forcing on climate from this fleet was derived based on changes in atmospheric concentrations of ozone (59.5 mW/m(2)), water vapor (10.1 mW/m(2)), black carbon (-3.9 mW/m(2)) and sulfate aerosols (-20.3 mW/m(2)), resulting in a net non-CO2, non-contrail forcing of 45.4 mW/m(2), indicating an overall warming effect. Plain Language Summary With the general public's increased demand for air travel, a desire for more intercontinental travel with shorter flight times, there has been renewed interest in developing commercial supersonic transport aircraft. Various companies and academic institutions have been actively considering the design of such a supersonic aircraft. As these new designs are developed, the environmental impact of these realistic fleets on ozone and climate needs to be explored. This study looked at one such supersonic fleet, expected to fly at Mach 2.2, corresponding to a cruising altitude of 17-20 km, that would burn 122.32 Tg of fuel and emit 1.78 Tg of NOx per year. Our analysis shows that this proposed fleet would result in a 0.74% reduction in global columnar ozone (approximately 2 Dobson units), mainly due to the large atmospheric release of nitrogen oxides by supersonic aircraft. The impact on climate from this fleet was derived to have a net forcing of 45.4 mW/m(2), indicating an overall warming effect.

Limited by the scarcity of in situ vertical observation data, the influences of biomass burning in Southeast Asia on major atmospheric carbonaceous compositions in downwind regions have not been thoroughly studied. In this study, aircraft observations were performed to obtain high time-resolved in situ vertical distributions of black carbon (BC) as well as carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Four types of profiles were revealed: Mode I (from 2000 to 3000 m, the BC, CO and CO2 concentrations were enhanced), Mode II (with increasing altitude, the BC, CO and CO2 concentrations almost decreased), Mode III (inhomogeneous vertical BC, CO and CO2 profiles with BC peaks were observed from 2500 to 3000 m) and Mode IV (the BC, CO and CO2 concentrations increased above 1500 m). Furthermore, simulations were conducted to calculate radiative forcing (RF) caused by BC and study the heating rate (HR) of BC in combination with the vertical BC profiles. A larger BC distribution in the atmosphere re-sulted in a sharp RF change from negative to positive values, imposing a nonnegligible influence on the atmospheric temperature profile, with maximum HR values ranging from 0.4 to 5.8 K/day. The values of the absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) were 1.46 +/- 0.11 and 1.48 +/- 0.17 at altitudes from 1000 to 2000 and 2000-3000 m, respectively. The average BC light absorption coefficient at the 370 nm wavelength (alpha BC (370)) accounted for 50.3 %-76.8 % of the alpha (370), while the brown carbon (BrC) light absorption coefficient at the 370 nm wavelength (alpha BrC (370)) contrib-uted 23.2 %-49.7 % to the alpha (370) at altitudes of 1000-2000 m. At altitudes of 2000-3000 m, alpha BC (370) and alpha BrC (370) contributed 43.8 %-88.2 % and 11.8 %-56.2 % to the alpha (370), respectively. These findings show that calculations that consider the surface BC concentration but ignore the vertical BC distribution could result in massive uncertainties in estimating the RF and HR caused by BC. This study helped achieve a deeper understanding of the influences of biomass burning over the region of Southeast Asia on the profiles of atmospheric carbonaceous compositions and atmospheric BC absorption and its warming effect.

Aviation emissions are the only direct source of anthropogenic particulate pollution at high altitudes, which can form con-trails and contrail-induced clouds, with consequent effects upon global radiative forcing. In this study, we develop a pre-dictive model, called APMEP-CNN, for aviation non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emissions using a convolutional neural network (CNN) technique. The model is established with data sets from the newly published aviation emission databank and measurement results from several field studies on the ground and during cruise operation. The model also takes the influence of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) on nvPM emissions into account by considering fuel properties. This study demonstrates that the APMEP-CNN can predict nvPM emission index in mass (EIm) and number (EIn) for a number of high-bypass turbofan engines. The accuracy of predicting EIm and EIn at ground level is significantly improved (R2 = 0.96 and 0.96) compared to the published models. We verify the suitability and the applicability of the APMEP-CNN model for estimating nvPM emissions at cruise and burning SAFs and blend fuels, and find that our predictions for EIm are within & PLUSMN;36.4 % of the measurements at cruise and within & PLUSMN;33.0 % of the measurements burning SAFs in av-erage. In the worst case, the APMEP-CNN prediction is different by -69.2 % from the measurements at cruise for the JT3D-3B engine. Thus, the APMEP-CNN model can provide new data for establishing accurate emission inventories of global aviation and help assess the impact of aviation emissions on human health, environment and climate.Synopsis: The results of this paper provide accurate predictions of nvPM emissions from in-use aircraft engines, which im-pact airport local air quality and global radiative forcing.

Aerosol microphysical properties, scattering and absorption characteristics, and in particular, the vertical distributions of these parameters over the eastern Loess Plateau, were analyzed based on aircraft measurements made in 2020 during a summertime aircraft campaign in Shanxi, China. Data from six flights were analyzed. Statistical characteristics and vertical distributions of aerosol concentration, particle size, optical properties, including aerosol scattering coefficient (Sigma sp), backscattering ratio (beta sc), Angstro spacing diaeresis m exponent (alpha), single-scattering albedo (SSA), partially-integrated aerosol optical depth (PAOD), and black carbon concentration (BCc), were obtained and discussed. Mean values of aerosol particle number concentration (Na), particle volume concentration (Va), mass concentration (Ma), surface concentration (Sa), and particle effective diameter (EDa) were 854.92 cm-3, 13.37 mu m3 cm- 3, 20.06 mu g/m3, 170.08 mu m3 cm- 3, and 0.47 mu m, respectively. Mean values of BCc, Sigma sp (450, 525, 635 nm), beta sp (525 nm), alpha(635/450), and SSA were 1791.66 ng m- 3, 82.37 Mm- 1 at 450 nm, 102.57 Mm- 1 at 525 nm, 126.60 Mm-1 at 635 nm, 0.23, 1.47, and 0.92, respectively. Compared with values obtained in 2013, Na decreased by 60% and Ma decreased by 45%, but the scattering coefficients increased in different degrees. In the vertical direction, aerosol concentrations were higher at lower altitudes, decreasing with height. Vertical profiles of Sigma sp, beta sp, alpha(635/450), and BCc measured during the six flights were examined. Two peaks in Na were identified near the top of the boundary layer and between 2000 and 2200 m. Fine particles with EDa smaller than 0.8 mu m are dominant in the boundary layer and coarse aerosols existed aloft. Aerosol scattering properties and BCc in the lowest layer of the atmosphere contributed the most to the total aerosol radiative forcing. SSA values were greater than 0.9 below 2500 m, with lower values at higher levels of the atmosphere. On lightly foggy days, SSA values were greater than 0.9, and aerosols played a cooling role in the atmosphere. On hazy days, lowerlevel SSA values were generally greater than 0.85, with aerosols likely having a warming effect on the atmosphere. 48-hour backward trajectories of air masses during the observation days showed that the majority of aerosol particles in the lower atmosphere originated from local or regional pollution emissions, contributing the most to the total aerosol loading and leading to high values of aerosol concentration and radiative forcing.

The physical properties of black carbon (BC) including the mass loading, size distribution and mixing state were in-situ characterized by aircraft measurements using a single particle soot photometer (SP2) in the lower troposphere over Beijing area. The flights were conducted in both late spring and winter during the daytime with well-developed planetary boundary layer (PBL). The BC mass in the PBL (BCPBL) in late spring showed no apparent vertical gradient nor correlation with the PBL height (PBLH) due to strong convective mixing; in winter the BCPBL, was more concentrated near ground and anti-correlated with the PBLH due to dilution effect of the dominant cleaner northerly air masses at higher altitude. The BC mass loading at height h, C(h) within the PBL can be extended from the surface level (C0) in late spring; for levels above the PBL, C(h) can be parameterized by applying an exponential decline function C(h) = C0*exp(h/hs), with the scale height (hs) of 0.31 +/- 0.16 km and 0.66 +/- 0.24 km for late spring and winter respectively. This parameterization excluded the profiles for: turbulent conditions when the BC mass was efficiently vented upwards and diluted, expressed as C(h) = C0 up to the top of the PBL; or in periods of strong southerly advection, when the entire column was significantly influenced by regional transport from the polluted south regions. The BC core mass median diameters (MMD) were commonly populated at 205-220 nm in both seasons, with additional mode of MMD similar to 195 nm also frequently observed in late spring. The bulk relative coating thickness of BC (coated diameter divided by uncoated core diameter (D-p/D-c) in the PBL mostly populated at 2.0-2.2 but at similar to 1.2-1.6 in the lower free troposphere (FT). The mass absorption cross of BC at 550 nm (MAC(550)), constrained by the SP2 measurements, was largely influenced by the coating thickness, was relatively consistent in the PBL at similar to 8.6 m(2) g(-1), but reduced to 7-7.5 m(2 )g(-1) in the FT or turbulent condition due to decreased coatings. The BC was found to exhibit smaller particle size in the FT but larger in the PBL, which may imply larger BC have been scavenged by low-level clouds. The BC particles trapped in the PBL or regionally transported from polluted region represent the most absorbing element in the particulate matter population and should be particularly considered in evaluating the radiative forcing impact of aerosols over this region.