Space Center at the AGU

The Fall 2003 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Fransico was attended by several members of the space center. 

Glen Mattioli of the Geosciences Department and several collaborators presented a paper “CALIPSO Borehole Instrumentation Project at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, BWI: Data Acquisition, Telemetry, Integration, and Archival Systems”.  The CALIPSO Project (Caribbean Andesite Lava Island-volcano Precision Seismo-geodetic Observatory) has greatly enhanced the monitoring and scientific infrastructure at the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat with the recent installation of an integrated array of borehole and surface geophysical instrumentation at four sites.  The sensor package at each site includes a strainmeter, a seismometer, a tiltmeter, and a surface CGPS station.

Henry Turner, Walton Doctoral Fellow in the space center reported on his work with Pam Jansma in the Geosciences Department in a paper entitled “GPS Velocity Field in the Nicaraguan Forearc: Results from 2000-2003”.  Oblique convergence between the Cocos and Caribbean plates along the Middle America Trench is being investigated.  The team presented results from the first detailed GPS geodetic survey of surface velocities in the Nicaraguan forearc.  The observed horizontal velocities for campaign sites in the Nicaraguan forearc have an average magnitude of 15.7- 4.0 mm/yr with azimuths ranging from 280 deg to 325 deg.  The observed horizontal velocities for campaign sites in the near backarc region are also directed to the northwest, but the average magnitude of these velocities is only 2.6-1.8 mm/yr; essentially near zero within error.  The continuous GPS site MANA is located along the arc and has a northwest directed velocity of 8.4 - 2.4 mm/yr; intermediate in magnitude between the forearc and backarc sites; lending robustness to the campaign veloctiy solutions.  The surface velocity field observed in the Nicaraguan forearc strongly supports the previously proposed northwest-directed movement with respect to the stable Caribbean plate of the forearc sliver models and is indicative of strain/slip partitioning along this section of the Middle America Trench.

Tom Dougan, who was an undergraduate research student with Dr. Larry Roe in the space center at UArk, recently contacted the center to let us know of his activities since graduation.  He is now enlisted with the U.S. Navy and working on nuclear reactors.  His position is mainly managerial but he is also learning a lot about reactors.  His wish now is that he can get involved with a joint Navy-NASA project to develop reactors for use in space.  As many readers of Space Notes will know, NASA has a major program for developing reactors to power spacecraft for use in deep space.  Many of the ambitious missions to the outer solar system advocated in the recent NRC decadal survey will require nuclear propulsion.

Amber Straughn, undergraduate student with the space center and physics major at the University of Arkansas, recently appeared in an advertisement in Sky and Telescope.

In the advertisement, Amber appears floating during weightlessness on the NASA KC-135 aircraft as it climbs and free-falls to simulate microgravity.  Amber was a member of a four student team from the space center under the direction of Derek Sears exploring the behavior of regolith on the surface of asteroids.

Seminars  take place via video conference (UArk: Chemistry Bldg., Rm. 226; OSU: Life Sciences East, Rm 216)
Alternative venues have asterisks beside them.

Wed., Sep 24, 3:30 pm
Dr. Derek Sears, University of Arkansas
“Water on Mars” 

Mon., Sep 29, 7:00 pm
Dr. Bruce Hapke, University of Pittsburgh
“Dark Moon”
The Barringer Lecture Series
*Giffels Auditorium

Wed., Oct 22, 3:30 pm
Dr. Regina Kalchgruber, Oklahoma State University
“Luminescence dating on Mars:  Why martian sediments should use sun  cream!”

Wed., Nov 5, 3:30 pm
Dr. Albert Grauer, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
“Physical Characterization of Near-Earth Objects”
  
Wed., Nov 19, 3:30 pm
Dr. Richard Marston, Oklahoma State University
“Rock Glaciers on Mars”

Wed., Dec 3, 3:30 pm
Dr. Larry Roe, University of Arkansas
“The Hera Sample Collector”