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The QUANT study represents the most extensive open-access evaluation of commercial air quality sensor systems to date. This comprehensive study assessed 49 systems from 14 manufacturers across three urban sites in the UK over a three-year period. The resulting open-access dataset captures high time-resolution measurements of a variety of gasses (NO, NO2, O3, CO, CO2), particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), and key meteorological parameters (humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure). The quality and scope of the dataset is enhanced by reference monitors' data and calibrated products from sensor manufacturers across the three sites. This publicly accessible dataset serves as a robust and transparent resource that details the methods used for data collection and procedures to ensure dataset integrity. It provides a valuable tool for a wide range of stakeholders to analyze the performance of air quality sensors in real-world settings. Policymakers can leverage this data to refine sensor deployment guidelines and develop standardized protocols, while manufacturers can utilize it as a benchmark for technological innovation and product certification. Moreover, the dataset has supported the development of a UK code of practice, and the certification of one of the participating companies, underscoring the dataset's utility and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of growing concern about the impacts of air pollution across the globe, lower-cost sensor technology is giving the first steps in helping to enhance our understanding and ability to manage air quality issues, particularly in regions without established monitoring networks. While the benefits of greater spatial coverage and real-time measurements that these systems offer are evident, challenges still need to be addressed regarding sensor reliability and data quality. Given the limitations imposed by intellectual property, commercial implementations are often "black boxes", which represents an extra challenge as it limits end users' understanding of the data production process. In this paper we present an overview of the QUANT (Quantification of Utility of Atmospheric Network Technologies) study, a comprehensive 3-year assessment across a range of urban environments in the United Kingdom, evaluating 43 sensor devices, including 119 gas sensors and 118 particulate matter (PM) sensors, from multiple companies. QUANT stands out as one of the most comprehensive studies of commercial air quality sensor systems carried out to date, encompassing a wide variety of companies in a single evaluation and including two generations of sensor technologies. Integrated into an extensive dataset open to the public, it was designed to provide a long-term evaluation of the precision, accuracy and stability of commercially available sensor systems. To attain a nuanced understanding of sensor performance, we have complemented commonly used single-value metrics (e.g. coefficient of determination, R2 ; root mean square error, RMSE; mean absolute error, MAE) with visual tools. These include regression plots, relative expanded uncertainty (REU) plots and target plots, enhancing our analysis beyond traditional metrics. This overview discusses the assessment methodology and key findings showcasing the significance of the study. While more comprehensive analyses are reserved for future detailed publications, the results shown here highlight the significant variation between systems, the incidence of corrections made by manufacturers, the effects of relocation to different environments and the long-term behaviour of the systems. Additionally, the importance of accounting for uncertainties associated with reference instruments in sensor evaluations is emphasised. Practical considerations in the application of these sensors in real-world scenarios are also discussed, and potential solutions to end-user data challenges are presented. Offering key information about the sensor systems' capabilities, the QUANT study will serve as a valuable resource for those seeking to implement commercial solutions as complementary tools to tackle air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive, publicly available dataset is presented—the LAR Broccoli dataset—which contains 20,000 manually annotated images of broccoli heads captured from a moving tractor at an organic farm in the UK. The dataset contains images of the same row of broccoli heads recorded at 30 frames per second (fps) with three different cameras. Two off-the-shelf, relatively low-cost depth-sensing cameras were used, with the tractor moving at a speed of around 1 km/h, in addition to a webcam, with the tractor moving twice as fast. The utility of the dataset is demonstrated in four ways. First, three different state-of-the-art detector models were trained on the dataset, achieving an overall mean Average Precision (mAP) score of over 95% for the best-performing detector. The results validate the utility of the dataset for the standard task of in-field broccoli head recognition. Second, experiments with transfer learning were conducted, initialised with a smaller pre-trained broccoli detection model, and refined with the LAR Broccoli dataset. Third, we assessed the advantages of transfer learning not only using mAP but also according to time and space requirements for training models, which provides a proxy metric for energy efficiency, a practical consideration for real-world model training. Fourth, the cross-camera generalisation among the three camera systems was compared. The results highlight that testing and training detector models using different camera systems can lead to reduced performance, unless the training set also includes some images captured in the same manner as those in the test set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of growing concern about the impacts of air pollution across the globe, lower-cost sensor technology is giving the first steps in helping to enhance our understanding and ability to manage air quality issues. While the benefits of greater spatial coverage and real-time measurements that these systems offer are evident, challenges still need to be addressed regarding sensor reliability and data quality. Given the limitations imposed by intellectual property, commercial implementations are often "black boxes", which represents an extra challenge as it limits end-users' understanding of the data production process. In this paper we present an overview of the QUANT (Quantification of Utility of Atmospheric Network Technologies) study, a comprehensive 3-year assessment across a range of urban environments in the United Kingdom. QUANT stands out as one of the most comprehensive studies of commercial air quality sensor systems carried out to date, encompassing a wide variety of companies in a single evaluation and including two generations of sensor technologies. Integrated into an extensive data set open to the public, it was designed to provide a long-term evaluation of the precision, accuracy, and stability of commercially available sensor systems. This overview discusses the assessment methodology, and key findings showcasing the significance of the study. The results shown here highlight the significant variation between systems, the incidence of corrections made by manufacturers, the effects of relocation to different environments and the long-term behaviour of the systems. Additionally, the importance of accounting for uncertainties associated with reference instruments in sensor evaluations is emphasised. Practical considerations in the application of these sensors in real-world scenarios are also discussed, and potential solutions to end-users data challenges are presented. Offering key information about the sensor systems' capabilities the QUANT study will serve as a valuable resource for those seeking to implement commercial solutions as complementary tools to tackle air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a human activity recognition (HAR) method for frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar sensors. The method utilizes a multi-domain feature attention fusion network (MFAFN) model that addresses the limitation of relying on a single range or velocity feature to describe human activity. Specifically, the network fuses time-Doppler (TD) and time-range (TR) maps of human activities, resulting in a more comprehensive representation of the activities being performed. In the feature fusion phase, the multi-feature attention fusion module (MAFM) combines features of different depth levels by introducing a channel attention mechanism. Additionally, a multi-classification focus loss (MFL) function is applied to classify confusable samples. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves 97.58% recognition accuracy on the dataset provided by the University of Glasgow, UK. Compared to existing HAR methods for the same dataset, the proposed method showed an improvement of about 0.9–5.5%, especially in the classification of confusable activities, showing an improvement of up to 18.33%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High frequency ultraviolet – visible (UV–VIS) sensors offer a way of improving dissolved organic carbon (DOC) load estimates in rivers as they can be calibrated to DOC concentration. This is an improvement on periodic grab sampling, or the use of pumped sampling systems which store samples in-field before collection. We hypothesised that the move to high frequency measurements would increase the load estimate based on grab sampling due to systemic under-sampling of high flows. To test our hypotheses, we calibrated two sensors in contrasting catchments (Exe and Bow Brook, UK) against weekly grab sampled DOC measurements and then created an hourly time series of DOC for the two sites. Taking this measurement as a 'true' value of DOC load, we simulated 1,000 grab sampling campaigns at weekly, fortnightly and monthly frequency to understand the likely distribution of load and error estimates. We also performed an analysis of daily grab samples collected using a pumped storage sampling system with weekly collection. Our results show that: a) grab sampling systemically underestimates DOC loads and gives positively skewed distributions of results, b) this under-estimation and positive skew decreases with increasing sampling frequency, c) commonly used estimates of error in the load value are also systemically lowered by the oversampling of low, stable flows due to their dependence on the variance in the flow-weighted mean concentration, and d) that pumped storage systems may lead to under-estimation of DOC and over estimation of specific ultra-violet absorbance (SUVA), a proxy for aromaticity, due to biodegradation during storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Occlusal splints with sensors help in the bruxism diagnosis and monitoring, by recording the patient's bite force. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a pressure sensor when it is covered with different thicknesses of a 3D printing resin (Anycubic 405nm Translucent Green UV Resin, Anycubic, UK). Methods. In this preliminary study, the evaluated sensor (FlexiForce A201 Sensor, Tekscan) was firstly calibrated without any type of cover material, and later tested with 3D printing resin with different thicknesses (1 mm, 1.15 mm, 1.4 mm and 1.6 mm). The load tests were performed by a force tester (MultiTest 2.5 dV, Mecmesin). Results. When the pressure sensor was covered with resin of 1mm and 1.6 mm thick specimens, a higher difference was found between the applied load and the corresponding sensor reading. Conclusion. It was concluded that it is possible to use this type of pressure sensor and that it showed better accuracy with the 1.15 mm and 1.4 mm 3D printing resin covering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive dataset intended to evaluate passive Human Activity Recognition (HAR) and localization techniques with measurements obtained from synchronized Radio-Frequency (RF) devices and vision-based sensors. The dataset consists of RF data including Channel State Information (CSI) extracted from a WiFi Network Interface Card (NIC), Passive WiFi Radar (PWR) built upon a Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform, and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signals acquired via commercial off-the-shelf hardware. It also consists of vision/Infra-red based data acquired from Kinect sensors. Approximately 8 hours of annotated measurements are provided, which are collected across two rooms from 6 participants performing 6 daily activities. This dataset can be exploited to advance WiFi and vision-based HAR, for example, using pattern recognition, skeletal representation, deep learning algorithms or other novel approaches to accurately recognize human activities. Furthermore, it can potentially be used to passively track a human in an indoor environment. Such datasets are key tools required for the development of new algorithms and methods in the context of smart homes, elderly care, and surveillance applications. Measurement(s) Human physical activity • Human location Technology Type(s) WiFi sensing device • ultra-wideband impulse radar • passive WiFi radar • Kinect motion sensor Factor Type(s) Human location • Human physical activity • Room geometry • Participant demographics • Contactless sensing devices Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Sample Characteristic - Environment Office building Sample Characteristic - Location United Kingdom [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensity of cosmic ray neutrons is inversely correlated with the amount of water present in the surrounding environment. This effect is already employed by around 50 neutron sensors in the COSMOS‐UK network to provide daily estimates of soil moisture across the UK. Here, these same sensors are used to automatically provide estimates of snow water equivalent (SWE). Lying snow is typically ephemeral and of shallow depth for most parts of the UK. Moreover, soil moisture is usually high and variable, which acts to increase uncertainties in the SWE estimate. Nevertheless, even under such challenging conditions, both above ground and buried cosmic ray neutron sensors are still able to produce potentially useful SWE estimates. Triple collocation analysis suggests typical uncertainties of less than around 4 mm under UK snow conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of a clearer understanding of the causes and consequences of environmental change is an important issue globally. The consequent demand for objective, reliable and up-to-date environmental information has led to the establishment of long-term integrated environmental monitoring programmes, including the UK's Environmental Change Network (ECN). Databases form the core information resource for such programmes. The UK Environmental Change Network Data Centre manages data on behalf of ECN (as well as other related UK integrated environmental monitoring networks) and provides a robust and integrated system of information management. This paper describes how data are captured – through standardised protocols and data entry systems – as well more recent approaches such as wireless sensors. Data are managed centrally through a database and GIS. Quality control is built in at all levels of the system. Data are then made accessible through a variety of data access methods – through bespoke web interfaces, as well as third-party data portals. This paper describes the informatics approach of the ECN Data Centre which aims to develop a seamless system of data capture, management and data access interfaces to support research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of a low-energy passive acoustic vessel detector to work as part of a wireless underwater monitoring network. The vessel detection method is based on a low-energy implementation of Detection of Envelope Modulation On Noise (DEMON). Vessels produce a broad spectrum modulated noise during propeller cavitation, which the DEMON method aims to extract for the purposes of automated detection. The vessel detector design has different approaches with mixtures of analogue and digital processing, as well as continuous and duty-cycled sampling/processing. The detector re-purposes an existing acoustic modem platform to achieve a low-cost and long-deployment wireless sensor network. This integrated communication platform enables the detector to switch between detection/communication mode seamlessly within software. The vessel detector was deployed at depth for a total of 84 days in the North Sea, providing a large data set, which the results are based on. Open sea field trial results have shown detection of single and multiple vessels with a 94% corroboration rate with local Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Results showed that additional information about the detected vessel such as the number of propeller blades can be extracted solely based on the detection data. The attention to energy efficiency led to an average power consumption of 11.4 mW, enabling long term deployments of up to 6 months using only four alkaline C cells. Additional battery packs and a modified enclosure could enable a longer deployment duration. As the detector was still deployed during the first UK lockdown, the impact of COVID-19 on North Sea fishing activity was captured. Future work includes deploying this technology en masse to operate as part of a network. This could afford the possibility of adding vessel tracking to the abilities of the vessel detection technology when deployed as a network of sensor nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes the analysis of the spatial properties of ocean waves using measurements from an array of four directional wave buoys installed in a square formation, with side 500m, in the Celtic Sea, UK. Wave measurements in this area have been installed to support resource assessment and design for wave energy devices at the Wave Hub site off the North Cornwall coast. This unique deployment of multiple directional sensors provides high quality direct measurements of the spatial properties of the wave field. Spectral parameters measured simultaneously by all four buoys within the array are compared and it is demonstrated that wave conditions cannot be considered stationary across the measurement area. Differences in the measured wave fields were observed primarily in the low frequencies and are observed to be of a level sufficient to impact the assessment of site characteristics. Theoretical estimations of refraction and bottom friction indicate that these physical processes contribute to the observed measurements. The results demonstrate the potential effect of spatial variability in wave fields on the monitoring of wave energy sites, and highlight the requirement for accurate evaluation of physical processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In my previous article [1] I discussed some of the innovations that are taking place at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in improving high temperature measurement Starting with the current defined temperature scale ITS-90 [2, 3], I introduced the concepts of high-temperature fixed points [4], new types of thermocouple for use to 1500°C [5, 6] and developments in self-validation for contact thermometry sensors [7] and showed that high temperature measurement is undergoing a quiet revolution throughout the measurement chain. Here I want to set the work at NPL in a broader context of developments in the European Union (EU), again led from NPL, through the European Metrology Research Programme project "HiTeMS: High Temperature Measurement Solutions for Industry" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of energy consumption and carbon emission in the UK poses a grave challenge. This challenge is particularly high amongst residents of university campuses, where usage of electricity and carbon emission remain invisible to the students. In student residential accommodation, personal choices and social influences affect electricity consumption and ultimately the resultant reduction in carbon emissions. Therefore, innovative solutions are required to change students' energy consumption behavior, and one promising part of the solution is to present real-time electricity consumption data to students in real-time via a dedicated web platform, while, at the same time, appointing an energy delegate in each hall to induce motivation among the students. The results of some interventions show that immediate energy feedback from smart meters or display devices can provide savings of 5%--15%. However, the situation is different; with the complexity in behavior of our target groups "the students who are living in the halls of residence", there are economical and environmental aspects to be addressed in these issues, in the campus halls of residence. Therefore, we propose a system to address this issue, by applying smart sensors (real-time electricity data capture), integration of dedicated visual web interface (real-time electricity feedback display) and an appointed energy delegate in each hall (a motivator). It is expected that this will motivate students living in the halls of residence to reduce their electricity wastage and, therefore, control the energy cost and also reduce the carbon emissions released into the environment. In the present research, we focus on the University of Kent, Canterbury campus to study energy conservation and carbon emission reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The move towards network enabled capability (NEC) by the UK Ministry of Defence is designed to achieve enhanced military effect through the networking and coherent integration of existing and future resources including sensors, weapon systems and decision-makers to achieve a more flexible and responsive military. This article addresses the existing reliability and sustainability issues of large-scale military systems and proposes new architectural approaches of dynamic service integration for NEC to adapt to evolution occurring in services and capability for constructing next-generation software-intensive military systems. The reliability and performance of the proposed architectural approaches have been verified through modelling and simulation of service-oriented architecture for NEC and demonstrated through developing and testing a NEC system for a region surveillance capability scenario. The experimental results indicate that the proposed architectural approaches provide a high level of reliability and sustainability in the provision of NEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometric and radiometric quality of the DMC-Nigeriasat-1, including sensor inter-calibration of datasets acquired at different dates in the year 2005, were evaluated over different targets in the UK. The purpose of this study is to test the consistency and adequacy of the DMC-Nigeriasat-1 datasets for quantitative analysis of time-series environmental change. The results show that DMC-Nigeriasat-1 has a good geometric fidelity with root mean square errors (RMSE) of less than 0.5 pixels, strong linearity and high coefficient of determination, R, of the sensor inter-calibration equations with mean value of 0.87, which is promising since they were statistically significant at 95% confidence level. The results obtained indicate that the DMC satellites, having the characteristics of high temporal resolution of daily revisits and spatial resolution of 32 m, may provide the first time-series datasets at medium spatial resolution for applications in climate change assessment, quantitative phenology, as well as agricultural and natural resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: ‘Mapping the Underworld’ is a UK-based project, which aims to create a multi-sensor device that combines complementary technologies for remote buried utility service detection and location. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and techniques for detecting buried infrastructure, in particular plastic water pipes, are being investigated. One of the proposed techniques involves excitation of the pipe at some known location with concurrent vibrational mapping of the ground surface in order to infer the location of the remainder of the pipe. In this paper, measurements made on a dedicated pipe rig are reported. Frequency response measurements relating vibrational velocity on the ground to the input excitation were acquired. Contour plots of the unwrapped phase revealed the location of the pipe to within 0.1–0.2m. Magnitude contour plots revealed the excitation point and also the location of the pipe end. By examining the unwrapped phase gradients along a line above the pipe, it was possible to identify the wave-type within the pipe responsible for the ground surface vibration. Furthermore, changes in the ground surface phase speed computed using this method enabled the location of the end of the pipe to be confirmed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study describes the design and testing of a dual-lane electric drive for a prototype, electromechanically actuated, nose wheel steering system for a commercial aircraft. The drive features two independent motor controllers, each operating one-half of a dual three-phase motor, resulting in an actuator capable of full performance following an electrical fault. An isolated communications link between controllers allows parameter consolidation to identify faults and to synchronise outputs, ensuring even load sharing. A selection of results is presented from motor dynamometer performance analysis and from fully loaded output tests, performed on a hydraulic load rig at Airbus, UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several millions of kilometres of pipes and cables are buried beneath our streets in the UK. As they are not visible and easily accessible, the monitoring of their integrity as well as the quality of their contents is a challenge. Any information of these properties aids the utility owners in their planning and management of their maintenance regime. Traditionally, expensive and very localised sensors are used to provide irregular measurements of these properties. In order to have a complete picture of the utility network, cheaper sensors need to be investigated which would allow large numbers of small sensors to be incorporated into (or near to) the pipe leading to so-called smart pipes. This paper focuses on a novel trial where a short section of a prototype smart pipe was buried using mainly off-the-shelf sensors and communication elements. The challenges of such a burial are presented together with the limitations of the sensor system. Results from the sensors were obtained during and after burial indicating that off-the-shelf sensors can be used in a smart pipes system although further refinements are necessary in order to miniaturise these sensors. The key challenges identified were the powering of these sensors and the communication of the data to the operator using a range of different methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that 3 to 5% of total lung cancer deaths in the UK may be associated with elevated radon concentration. Radon gas levels can be assessed using CR-39 plastic detectors which are often assessed by 2-D image analysis of surface images. 3-D analysis has the potential to provide information relating to the angle at which alpha particles impinge on the detector. In this study we used a "LEXT" OLS3100 confocal laser scanning microscope (Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) to image tracks on five CR-39 detectors. We were able to identify several patterns of single and coalescing tracks from 3-D visualisation. Thus this method may provide a means of detailed 3-D analysis of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Radar studies of nocturnal insect migration have often found that the migrants tend to form well-defined horizontal layers at a particular altitude. 2 In previous short-term studies, nocturnal layers were usually observed to occur at the same altitude as certain meteorological features, most notably at the altitudes of temperature inversion tops or nocturnal wind jets. 3 Statistical analyses are presented of 4 years of data that compared the presence, sharpness and duration of nocturnal layer profiles, observed using continuously-operating entomological radar, with meteorological variables at typical layer altitudes over the U.K. 4 Analysis of these large datasets demonstrated that temperature was the foremost meteorological factor that was persistently associated with the presence and formation of longer-lasting and sharper layers of migrating insects over southern U.K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MCBEND is a well-established Monte Carlo code from The ANSWERS Software Service in the United Kingdom. It is being continually developed to meet the needs of its users. Recent developments to MCBEND are described here. These cover improvements to the underlying physics and data libraries, improvements in calculation efficiency, and improvements to the usability of the code. Recent developments include a Unified Tally option for scoring, including enhanced methods for scoring by material; extension of point energy adjoint calculations to include detailed thermal treatment; incorporation of a covariance library for detector cross sections; a number of new "hole" geometries in which Woodcock tracking takes place, including a tetrahedral mesh hole that imports a converted computer-aided design file; a new collision processor; and automatic meshing for acceleration of gamma-ray calculations. These developments have resulted in more flexibility in scoring, for example, the ability to score by material in regions incorporating Woodcock tracking; potentially more accurate adjoint calculations utilizing thermal detectors; automatic calculation of uncertainty due to detector cross sections; greater flexibility in geometry modeling; improved collision processing, for example, the ability to utilize bound data for thermal neutron transport in graphite; and less user input for efficient calculation acceleration. Some recent developments of MCBEND are described and examples of their use given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TT and DTE2 campaigns at JET are expected to produce large 14 MeV neutron fluxes that will enable the expansion of activation detection ranges. The calculation results of the activation and dose rates induced in Li 2 CO 3 pellets and diamond detector materials are presented in this research. The MCNP code was used in order to produce corresponding neutron flux densities and spectra. The FISPACT code with the EAF-2010 library was used to estimate the activation and dose rates. • TT and the DTE2 campaigns are expected to produce large 14 MeV neutron fluxes. • The detailed irradiation scenarios for a day to day basis were considered for the analysis. • Neutron-induced activities on the diamond detectors and LI pellets were calculated. • Li pellets classify as LLWR in UK as long-lived H-3 dominates in pellets activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecare services based on sensors that provide an early and identified warning of an emergency in the homes of vulnerable people are being established quickly across the UK. More advanced systems based on lifestyle monitoring (LM) are being proposed that will be both reactive and responsive in nature. They will require the recording of much more data and will involve more system intelligence in order to analyse changes in a dynamic manner. Data will be collected both continuously from a battery of sensors, and intermittently from a variety of sources including monitoring centres and specialist medical devices. Many new applications will be possible ranging from an automatic assessment of risks and needs through to long-term detection of a decline in well-being and interventions using reminders and remotely controlled electrical equipment. Most of these applications will not be possible in a reliable manner using simple systems with few sensor inputs and limited or no system intelligence. More sophisticated systems will be capable of measuring subtle changes of relevance to many medical conditions. However, they will require significant attention to issues of ethics, consent, data ownership, storage and access because of their potentially intrusive nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports developments related to engineering and technology in Great Britain. Expedia.co.uk, an online travel agent, asked the help of scientists from the National Physical Laboratory to identify the bluest sky in the world. OptiMedica Corp. developed a technology called Pattern Scan Laser that would remove painful eye treatment. Researchers in different universities and colleges in the country will start the development of Pervasive Mobile Environmental Sensor Grids.

A summary of the simulation studies currently underway by the UK based Acoustic Cosmic Ray Neutrino Experiment (ACoRNE) collaboration is presented. Ideas for future development are also discussed. The work described here has been developed for simulations of large scale hydrophone arrays but many of the same considerations apply for other detection techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Chemical Nuclear Reconnaissance System (CNRS) has been developed by the British Ministry of Defence to make chemical and radiation measurements on contaminated terrain using appropriate sensors and recording equipment installed in a land rover. A research programme is under way to develop and validate a predictive capability to calculate the build-up of contamination on the vehicle, radiation detector performance and dose rates to the occupants of the vehicle. This paper describes the geometric model of the vehicle and the methodology used for calculations of detector response. Calculated dose rates obtained using the MCBEND Monte Carlo radiation transport computer code in adjoint mode are presented. These address the transient response of the detectors as the vehicle passes through a contaminated area. Calculated dose rates were found to agree with the measured data to be within the experimental uncertainties, thus giving confidence in the shielding model of the vehicle and its application to other scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features several non-destructive testing products in Great Britain Distinct features of the new 360 kV 5 mA directional X-ray system, SITE-X 360, from Euroteck System UK Ltd.; System requirements of the new high-speed focus and stage control system, SynchroScan, from Syncroscopy company; Description of the L-PAD solid-state detector from Lambda Advanced Technology company.

Provides information on the ENGIN-X neutron stress diffractometer developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Great Britain. Aim of ENGIN-X; Design of the diffractometer; Measures that have been used to give the flexibility and ease of operation of the instrument; Information on the detector banks of the instrument.

Summarises the report of a Sensors Task Force which was formed as part of the UK Technology Foresight exercise. Examines the various markets for sensor technology, both globally and in the UK. Details the opportunities and challenges, market pull factors, and the most promising technologies and application areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trial was performed of an intelligent monitoring system which used sensors in the home to identify emergencies by detecting deviations from normal activity patterns. The field trial lasted three months. Twenty-two elderly people agreed to participate. Their ages ranged from early 60s to over 85, with two-thirds in the age range 75-84 years. They lived in four different localities within the UK--Ipswich, Northumberland, Merseyside and Nottingham. A total of 61 alerts was recorded, at a mean frequency about one alert per month per client. Of the 61 alerts generated, 46 were classified as false alerts and the other 15 as genuine, although no real emergencies occurred during the study. Many people in the field trial reported enhanced feelings of safety and security, which could help to stimulate independence and help them to remain living in their own homes. The monitoring system increased the care choices available to elderly people and supported and enhanced the carer's role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of pollutants are threatening our water supply, putting at risk human and environmental health. Between them, trace metals are of significant concern, due to their high toxicity at low concentrations. Abandoned mining areas are globally one of the major sources of toxic metals. Nowadays, no method can guarantee an immediate response for quantifying these pollutants. In this work, a novel technique based on microwave spectroscopy and planar sensors for in situ real-time monitoring of water quality is described. The sensors were developed to directly probe water samples, and in situ trial measurements were performed in freshwater in four polluted mining areas in the UK. Planar microwave sensors were able to detect the water pollution level with an immediate response specifically depicted at three resonant peaks in the GHz range. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first time that planar microwave sensors were tested in situ, demonstrating the ability to use this method for classifying more and less polluted water using a multiple-peak approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the problem of radio-location and air defence. Once the sound of an approaching aircraft is registered, the sound-locator equipment brought the searchlight to bear in the general direction of the target and the beam of light began to probe the night sky. Some two years later the British air defence exercises brought home these same doleful lessons though on a wider scale. The British interest in and development of radar has received very adequate coverage in both memoir and monograpbic literature. As for Germany, it fell to the German Navy to promote an interest between 1934-5 in work on radar for use in connection with gun ranging and also air surveillance.

The Multi-Blade detector has been designed to be used on the reflectometry instruments at the upcoming European Spallation Source. It is a 10B-based gaseous detector, built as a modular stack of multi-wire proportional chambers organised on a circle around the sample. The detector has been fully characterised. The gamma and fast-neutron sensitivity has been measured at the Source Testing Facility in Lund University, Sweden; the working capability in a reflectometry instrument has been demonstrated with measurements at CRISP in ISIS, UK; and the count-rate capability of the detector will be measured the summer of 2018 at the Budapest Neutron Centre, Hungary. • 10B-based detector for cold and thermal neutron. • Multi-Blade detector for neutron reflectometry. • Neutron reflectometry at the European Spallation Source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scintillating crystals coupled to SiPM array readout have been proposed to realize compact X-rays detectors for the FAMU experiment, which aims to accurately measure the hyperfine splitting of the ground state of the muonic hydrogen atom. A measurement of the transfer rate of muons from hydrogen to heavier gases is necessary for this purpose. Since 2014, in a series of test runs, a pressurized gas-target was exposed to the pulsed low-energy muon beam at the RIKEN RAL muon facility (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, U.K.). The main goal of these tests was the characterization of both the background induced by the pulsed beam and the X-ray detectors. Preliminary results are shown on the use of new Pr:LuAG and Ce:GAGG crystals, developed for PET scanners and of more conventional LaBr 3 :Ce crystals, with a SiPM array readout. Energy spectra of the X-rays produced after the de-excitation of muonic atoms formed from the interaction of the beam muons with the gas target in the FAMU apparatus are shown, demonstrating the suitability of these detectors for muonic X-rays spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]