Posts Tagged 'Geophysics'

The Miraculous Spiral on Booterstown Strand

Published August 16, 2018 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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We all know what a spiral looks like. Or do we? Ask your friends to describe one and they will probably trace out the form of a winding staircase. But that is actually a helix, a curve in three-dimensional space. A spiral is confined to a plane – it is a flat curve. In general terms, a spiral is formed by a point moving around a fixed centre while its distance increases or decreases as it revolves [see TM145, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Terra-Nova-Bootertown-C

The spiral sandbank on Booterstown strand (satellite image digitally enhanced by Andrew Lynch).

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Tides: a Tug-of-War between Earth, Moon and Sun

Published August 2, 2018 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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All who set a sail, cast a hook or take a dip have a keen interest in the water level, and the regular ebb and flow of the tides. At most places the tidal variations are semi-diurnal, with high and low water twice each day  [see TM144, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

TidePrediction-NewYork-KurilIslands

Animation of tide prediction machine, showing outputs for New York (semi-diurnal tides) and Kuril Islands (diurnal tides) [Source: American Mathematical Society (see below)].

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Trigonometric Comfort Blankets on Hilltops

Published July 5, 2018 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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On a glorious sunny June day we reached the summit of Céidín, south of the Glen of Imall, to find a triangulation station or trig pillar. These concrete pillars are found on many prominent peaks throughout Ireland, and were erected to aid in surveying the country  [see TM142, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

TrigPillar-CroaghanMoire

Trig pillar on summit of Croaghan Moira, Wicklow [Image from https://mountainviews.ie/%5D.

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Waves Packed in Envelopes

Published April 26, 2018 Occasional Leave a Comment
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In this article we take a look at group velocity and at the extraction of the envelope of a wave packet using the ideas of the Hilbert transform.

Hovmoeller-Arrows

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Geodesics on the Spheroidal Earth-II

Published April 19, 2018 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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Geodesy is the study of the shape and size of the Earth, and of variations in its gravitational field. The Earth was originally believed to be flat, but many clues, such as the manner in which ships appear and disappear at the horizon, and the changed perspective from an elevated vantage point, as well as astronomical phenomena, convinced savants of its spherical shape. In the third century BC, Eratosthenes accurately estimated the circumference of the Earth [TM137 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Singapore-Quito-Open

Geodesic at bearing of 60 degrees from Singapore. Passes close to Quito, Ecuador. Note that it is not a closed curve: it does not return to Singapore.

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Geodesics on the Spheroidal Earth – I

Published April 12, 2018 Occasional Leave a Comment
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Both Quito in Ecuador and Singapore are on the Equator. One can fly due eastward from Singapore and reach Quito in due course. However, this is not the shortest route. The equatorial trans-Pacific route from Singapore to Quito is not a geodesic on Earth! Why not?

FlatEllipsoid

A drastically flattened spheroid. Clearly, the equatorial route between the blue and red points is not the shortest path.

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Staying Put or Going with the Flow

Published February 1, 2018 Irish Times Leave a Comment
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The atmospheric temperature at a fixed spot may change in two ways. First, heat sources or sinks may increase or decrease the thermal energy; for example, sunshine may warm the air or radiation at night may cool it. Second, warmer or cooler air may be transported to the spot by the air flow in a process called advection. Normally, the two mechanisms act together, sometimes negating and sometimes reinforcing each other. What is true for temperature is also true for other quantities: pressure, density, humidity and even the flow velocity itself. This last effect may be described by saying that “the wind blows the wind” [TM132 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Ophelia-20171016-1200

Hurricane Ophelia approaching Ireland, 16 October 2017, 1200Z. Image from https://earth.nullschool.net/

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