Earth and Space News: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Condon Crater Honors 20th-Century American Physicist Edward Condon

Summary: Condon Crater honors 20th-century American physicist Edward Condon, whose interest in astronomy was sparked by Halley’s Comet’s Earth approach in 1910.

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC) 62 shows Condon Crater (center right), with adjoining Webb satellite F, in the lunar near side’s northeastern quadrant, lying along eastern Sinus Successus (Bay of Success); courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

The Lunar near side’s Condon Crater honors 20th-century American physicist Edward Condon, who traced his childhood interest in astronomy to Halley’s Comet’s Earth approach in 1910.

Condon Crater is a lunar impact crater in the lunar near side’s northeastern quadrant. The lava-flooded crater presents a nearly level interior floor. Low segments of the crater’s western and eastern rim survive despite breaks in the south-southwest and especially in the north-northwest.

Mark Tillotson and Jim Mosher’s The Moon-Wiki mentions a “bright raycraterlet on the northeastern part of Condon’s rim.” The bright craterlet is discernible in stereo pairs AS17-P-2915 and AS17-P-2920 obtained during lunar revolution 74 by Apollo 17’s 610-meter (24-inch) Itek panoramic camera.

Condon Crater is centered at 1.87 degrees north latitude, 60.36 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 2.45 degrees north and 1.3 degrees north, respectively. The eastern hemisphere crater obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 60.94 degrees east and 59.79 degrees east, respectively. Condon Crater has a diameter of 34.85 kilometers.

Condon Crater is sited on the eastern shore of Sinus Successus. The Bay of Success forms an outward bulge on the northeastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fecundity). Sinus Successus is centered at 1.12 degrees north latitude, 58.52 degrees east longitude. The equator-straddling bay registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 2.87 degrees north and 0.86 degrees south, respectively. The eastern hemisphere bay’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 60.19 degrees east and 56.52 degrees east, respectively. The bay’s diameter measures 126.65 kilometers.

Webb Crater satellite F nestles against Condon’s southeastern rim. The satellite’s parent crater, Webb Crater, lies to the southwest, in northeastern Mare Fecunditatis. Webb F is centered at 1.47 degrees north latitude, 61 degrees east longitude. F posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 1.62 degrees north and 1.32 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 61.15 degrees east and 60.85 degrees east, respectively. Webb F has a diameter of 9.54 kilometers.

Webb G sprouts from F’s northeastern rim but avoids contact with Condon. Webb G is centered at 1.67 degrees north latitude, 61.22 degrees east longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 1.82 degrees north and 1.52 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes only extend to 61.37 degrees east and 61.07 degrees east, respectively. Webb G has a diameter of 9.07 kilometers.

Prior to 1974, Condon Crater was considered as a satellite of Webb Crater. Condon’s satellite designation was Webb R.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap LTO62C4, entitled “Condon” and published August 1974, introduced the crater’s replacement name as Condon. The map’s notations under Names Information indicated Condon’s name as “provisional pending IAU approval.” “Condon (Webb R)” appeared under “New names; names in parentheses are those being replaced.”

The International Astronomical Union formally approved Webb R satellite’s upgrade to a primary crater named Condon in 1976 during the organization’s XVIth (16th) General Assembly, which was held Tuesday, Aug. 24, to Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Grenoble, France. The crater honors 20th-century American physicist Edward Uhler Condon (March 2, 1902-March 26, 1974).

In an Oct. 17, 1967, interview with Charles Weiner (died Jan. 28, 2012), director of the American Institute of Physics’ (AIP) Center for the History of Physics, Condon traced his interest in astronomy to Earth’s close passage through Halley’s Comet’s tail in March 1910. Condon guessed that his eight-year-old self read “all” of the Denver Public Library’s astronomy books.

Condon received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1926. His dissertation synthesized band spectral intensity analyses by his adviser, Raymond Thayer Birge (March 13, 1887-March 22, 1980), with German physicist James Franck’s (Aug. 26, 1882-May 21, 1964) suggestion concerning diatomic molecular disintegration to formulate his own explanation for intensity irregularities. The Franck-Condon principle pertains to spectroscopy and quantum chemistry.

The takeaways for the lunar near side’s Condon Crater, which honors 20th-century American physicist Edward Condon, are that the lava-flooded lunar impact crater occupies the northeastern quadrant, lying along the eastern Sinus Successus (Bay of Success); that, prior to 1976, Condon was thought to be a satellite of the southeastern quadrant’s Webb Crater; and that the crater’s namesake was an American physicist who credited Halley’s Comet’s close passage in 1910 with inspiring his interest, as an eight-year-old, in astronomy.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows lunar near side’s Condon Crater (upper right) along eastern Sinus Successus; prior to 1976, Condon Crater, under the designation of Webb R, was considered a satellite of Webb Crater (center right): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Condon, E.U. (Edward Uhler). “The Franck-Condon Principle and Related Topics.” American Journal of Physics, vol. 15, no. 5 (September-October 1947): 365-374.
Available @ https://web.chem.ucsb.edu/~devries/chem218/Condon%20on%20Franck-Condon.pdf

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: The Moon.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MOON/target

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Webb.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6504

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Webb F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13829

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Webb G.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13830

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Near Side Lunar Crater Swift Honors American Astronomer Lewis Swift.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/01/near-side-lunar-crater-swift-honors.html

The Moon Wiki. “Condon.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > C Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Condon

The Moon Wiki. “IAU Directions.” The Moon.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_directions

The Moon Wiki. “Sinus Successus.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > S Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Sinus_Successus

The Moon Wiki. “Webb.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > W Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Webb

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Morse, Philip M. Edward Uhler Condon 1902-1974. National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir. Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1976.
Available via NAS (National Academy of Sciences) Online @ http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/condon-edward-u-1902-1974.pdf

Müller, E. (Edith); and A. (Arnost) Jappel, eds. XVIth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XVI B Proceedings of the 16th General Assembly Grenoble, France, August 24-September 21, 1976. Cambridge UK: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Jan. 1, 1977.
Available via IAU @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Weiner, Charles. “Edward Condon -- Session I.” IP American Institute of Physics > Programs and Resources > History Programs > Niels Bohr Library and Archives > Oral Histories. Oct. 17, 1967.
Available @ https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4997-1

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Giordano Bruno Crater Honors Italian Cosmologist Giordano Bruno

Summary: Giordano Bruno Crater honors Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno, whose contributions included affirming the sun-centered universe of Copernicus.

Detail of Apollo 11 Hasselblad camera image shows bright ray system centered on the lunar far side’s Giordano Bruno Crater (top center); July 1969; NASA ID AS11-44-6665: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

The lunar far side’s Giordano Bruno Crater honors Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno, whose 16th-century astronomical contributions included affirming the sun-centered model of the universe formulated by Renaissance-era Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Giordano Bruno is a lunar impact crater in the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant. A high albedo, symmetrical ray system of ejecta centers on the northern hemisphere crater. Conspicuous brightness characterizes the crater’s rim.

Giordano Bruno Crater is centered at 35.97 degrees north latitude, 102.89 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 36.33 degrees north and 35.6 degrees north, respectively. The crater obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 103.34 degrees east and 102.44 degrees east, respectively. Giordano Bruno has a diameter of 22.13 kilometers.

Giordano Bruno is positioned between two large named craters. Rays from Giordano Bruno Crater extend across Szilard Crater, which lies to the southeast. Harkhebi is Giordano Bruno’s northwestern neighbor.

Szilard Crater is centered at 33.71 degrees north latitude, 105.78 degrees east longitude. The impact-eroded crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend from 35.8 degrees north to 31.61 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 108.3 degrees east and 103.26 degrees east, respectively. Szilard Crater’s diameter measures 127.22 kilometers.

Harkhebi Crater is centered at 40.87 degrees north latitude, 98.74 degrees east longitude. The worn crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 46.36 degrees north and 35.34 degrees north, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 104.6 degrees east and 92.94 degrees east, respectively. Harkhebi Crater’s diameter spans 337.14 kilometers.

Two of Harkhebi’s six satellites frame Giordano Bruno Crater in their overlying positions on their parent’s southeastern rim. Satellite J lies to the north-northeast of Giordano Bruno. Satellite K is positioned to the west of Giordano Bruno.

Harkhebi J is centered at 37.42 degrees north latitude, 103.36 degrees east longitude, respectively. It marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 38.11 degrees north and 36.73 degrees north, respectively. The satellite finds its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 104.23 degrees east and 102.49 degrees east, respectively. Harkhebi J’s diameter measures 43.11 kilometers.

Harkhebi K is centered at 35.81 degrees north latitude, 100.76 degrees east longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes touch 36.23 degrees north and 35.38 degrees north, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 101.29 degrees east and 100.24 degrees east, respectively. Harkhebi K has a diameter of 25.92 kilometers.

Harkhebi K’s diameter qualifies it as the smaller of the two Harkhebi satellites that neighbor Giordano Bruno. Its diameter is 15 percent larger than Giordano Bruno’s 22.13-kilometer diameter.

Giordano Bruno Crater is named in honor of 16th-century Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno (January? 1548-Feb. 17, 1600). The International Astronomical Union’s approval of the crater’s official name occurred in 1961 during the organization’s XIth (11th) General Assembly, held in Berkeley, California, from Tuesday, Aug. 15, to Thursday, Aug. 24.

Giordano Bruno’s astronomical contributions include his support of the heliocentric (“sun-centered”) model of the universe formulated by Renaissance-era Polish polymath Nicolaus Copernicus (Feb. 19, 1473-May 24, 1543). Bruno also expressed his understanding of the universe as infinite and of relativity’s inertial reference frames.

The 16th-century Dominican friar presented his cosmological model in a trilogy, beginning with Cena de le Ceneri (The Ash Wednesday Supper), published in London, England, in 1584. De la Causa, Principio et Uno (Cause, Principle and Unity) and De l’Infinito, Universo et Mondi (On the Infinite Universe and Worlds) comprised the trilogy’s second and third installments. Bruno’s ship illustrated relativity’s inertia, termed by Bruno as virtù (“power, quality”), in the third of five dialogues presented in La Cena de le Ceneri. He also discussed soli innumerabili ("innumerable suns") orbited by terre infinite ("an infinite number of earths") in the third dialogue.

The takeaways for the lunar far side’s Giordano Bruno Crater, which honors Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno, are that the bright-rimmed lunar impact crater is located in the far side’s northwestern quadrant; that Giordano Bruno Crater lies between two larger impact craters, Harkhebi and Szilard; and that the crater’s namesake, 16th-century Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno, tackled relativity’s inertia via Bruno’s ship, a sun-centered universe and infinite universes of earths orbiting suns in his writings.

Oblique view, obtained by Apollo 16 mapping camera, shows bright-rimmed Giordano Bruno Crater; April 1972; NASA ID AS16-M-3008: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Oblique view, obtained by Apollo 16 mapping camera, shows bright-rimmed Giordano Bruno Crater; April 1972; NASA ID AS16-M-3008: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giordano_Bruno_crater_AS16-M-3008_ASU.jpg

For further information:

Andersson, Leif E.; and Ewen A. Whitaker. NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA Reference Publication 1097. Washington DC: NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Branch, October 1982.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19830003761.pdf

Bruno, Giordano. De la Causa, Principio et Uno. A Cura di Giovanni Aquilecchia. Nuova Raccolta di Classici Italiani Annotati 8. Torino [Turin, Italy]: Einaudi, 1973.
Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20150404053441/http://www.liberliber.it/mediateca/libri/b/bruno/de_la_causa_principio_et_uno/pdf/de_la__p.pdf

Bruno, Giordano. De l’Infinito, Universo e Mondi. Stampato in Venezia, Anno MDLXXXIV. In: Michele Ciliberto, cur., Dialoghi Filosofici Italiani. Letteratura Italiana Einaudi. Milano [Milan, Italy]: Mondadori, 2000.
Available @ http://www.esolibri.it/testi/alchimia/alchi%20ita/ITA%20Dell'Infinito%20Universo%20e%20Mondi%20-%20Giordano%20Bruno%20(E-Book).pdf

Bruno, Giordano. La Cena de le Ceneri The Ash Wednesday Supper. Edited and translated by Edward A. Gosselin and Lawrence S. Lerner. Hamden CT: Archon Books, 1977.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000722284

Bruno, Giordano. La Cena de le Ceneri The Ash Wednesday Supper. Edited and translated by Edward A. Gosselin and Lawrence S. Lerner. Renaissance Society of America reprint texts 4. Toronto, Canada; Buffalo NY; London UK: University of Toronto Press in association with the Renaissance Society of America, 1995.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=T6QMNmJNYssC

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

De Angelis, Alessandro; and Catarina Espirito Santo. “The Contribution of Giordano Bruno to the Principle of Relativity.” Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, vol. 18, no. 3 (November / December 2015): 241-248.
Available @ http://www.narit.or.th/en/files/2015JAHHvol18/2015JAHH...18..241D.pdf

Fitzgerald, Timothy. “English Historical Documents, 1660-1832.” Pages 231-265. In: Discourse on Civility and Barbarity: A Critical History of Religion and Related Categories. New York NY: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=b67p1VdF_OoC&pg=PA239

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Giordano Bruno.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2172

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Harkhebi.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2365

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Harkhebi J.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9725

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Harkhebi K.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9726

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Szilard.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5799

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Szilard Crater Honors Hungarian-American Physicist Leo Szilard.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/szilard-crater-honors-hungarian.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Szilard Crater Parents Two Satellites on Lunar Far Side.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/szilard-crater-parents-two-satellites.html

Martel, Linda M.V. “How Young Is the Lunar Crater Giordano Bruno?” PSRD Planetary Science Research Discoveries. Feb. 17, 2010.
Available @ http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Feb10/GiordanoBrunoCrater.html

The Moon Wiki. “IAU Directions.” The Moon.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_directions

The Moon Wiki. “Giordano Bruno.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > G Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Giordano_Bruno

The Moon Wiki. “Harkhebi.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > H Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Harkhebi

The Moon Wiki. “Szilard.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > S Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Szilard

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Sadler, D. (Donald) H., ed. XIth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XI B Proceedings of the 11th General Assembly Berkeley CA, August 15-24, 1961. Oxford UK: Blackwell Scientific Publications, Jan. 1, 1962.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Singer, Dorothea Waley. Giordano Bruno: His Life and Thought. With Annotated Translation of His Work On the Infinite Universe and Worlds. New York NY: Henry Schuman, 1950.
Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20120914163935/http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bruno00.htm#TOC

Tessicini, Dario. “Giordano Bruno on Copernican Harmony, Circular Uniformity and Spiral Motions.” Pages 117-156. In: M.A. Granada, P. Boner and D. Tessicini. Unifying Heaven and Earth: Essays in the History of Early Modern Cosmology. Barcelona, Catalonia: Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2016.
Available via Durham Research Online @ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/18284/1/18284.pdf?DDC115+DDD36+dml0dt+d700tmt

Wright, Alex. “Bruno’s Heresy.” Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages: 128-131.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=OtyRAw2ZLCUC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees

Summary: The qualitative tree risk assessment matrix pegs risk levels to failure and impact likelihood or unlikelihood and to severity of associated consequences.

A blocked road with a tangle of downed utility poles and trees represents a significant consequence in tree risk assessment categorizations of tree failure and impact likelihoods; Flintstone, Walker County, northwestern Georgia; Thursday, April 28, 2011, 13:10:26: Duane Tate, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The article Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment in the February 2012 Arborist News arrives at risk levels by ascertaining event likelihood and consequence ratings and at risk level evaluations by applying qualitative criteria.

The likelihoods of branch or tree failure and of specific target zone impacts become the "combined likelihood of a failure impacting a target" within given timelines. The terms unlikely, somewhat likely, likely, very likely communicate combinations of failure and impact for single and for "multiple targets with different values and occupancy rates." The derivative qualitative risk rating matrix designates the estimated consequences "based on the value of the target and the harm that may be done to it."

Consequences express "factors that may protect the risk target from harm," fall characteristics and distance, monetary and non-monetary target values from client perspectives and part size.

Low-value, personal injury-free, repairable, replaceable damages from small-, medium-, large-sized branches and power disruptions impacting beds, fences, landscape lighting and structures fetch categorizations as negligible consequences. Low to moderate damage from branches impacting decks, roofs or structures, slight disruptions to neighborhood traffic and residential power or very minor injuries garner minor categorizations. Disruption of distribution primary or secondary voltage power lines or secondary-street traffic, moderate- to high-value damage to structures or vehicles and personal injury have significant consequences. Death or hospitalizable injuries, disrupted arterial traffic, high-voltage distribution and transmission power lines or motorways and high-value damage to occupied houses or vehicles invoke severe consequences.

Qualitative tree risk assessment judges whole-tree risk aggregations of failure modes and risk targets as independent events since individual risk ratings cannot be added or multiplied.

Tree risk assessors know overall, whole-tree risk ratings for individual trees with multiple failure modes and risk targets as the "failure mode having the greatest risk." Mitigation of high-risk failure modes leaves overall risk ratings higher, lower or unchanged because of "residual risk associated with that tree, including the remaining risk factors."

The tree risk assessment matrix mentions low risk levels for minor consequences from somewhat likely failure and impact likelihoods and for negligible consequences from unlikely likelihoods. It notes moderate levels for minor consequences from likely or very likely failure and impact likelihoods and for severe or significant consequences from somewhat likely likelihoods.

Qualitative tree risk assessment matrices observe high levels for significant consequences from likely or very likely failures and impacts and for severe consequences from likely likelihoods.

Severe consequences from imminent failure and very likely impact likelihoods prompt categories of extreme risk and recommendations that "mitigation measures be taken as soon as possible."

Subjective perceptions of mitigation aesthetics, costs and inconveniences, risk and safety quell or quicken intolerance or tolerance of high-risk trees and risk tolerance and action thresholds. Because of subjective intolerances and variable tolerances, authorities such as councils, municipalities, property managers and utilities typically reveal acceptable risk thresholds in their risk management plans. Aesthetic, budget, geo-historical and safety-related concerns by tree risk managers and tree-related benefit and loss concerns by tree risk assessors sculpt risk tolerance and mitigation thresholds.

The qualitative tree risk assessment matrix translates target and tree zone vulnerabilities into mitigation thresholds, according to co-authors Sharon Lilly, Nelda Matheny and E. Thomas Smiley.

A large tree in extreme closeness to a picnic area could pose the severe consequences of hospitalizations and/or fatalities according to a qualitative risk assessment of tree failure and impact likelihoods: Joseph OBrien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Smiley, E. Thomas; Matheny, Nelda; and Lilly, Sharon. February 2012. "Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment." Arborist News 21(1): 12-18.
Available @ http://html5.epaperflip.com/Viewer.aspx?docid=8b0e5722-c46f-47d0-b61c-a2bc00f5ce1c#page=14

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets

Summary: The qualitative tree risk assessment matrix examines likelihood or unlikelihood of failed branches or trees impacting specific target zone targets.

A tree risk assessment eventually could determine that a 600-year-old white oak tree (Quercus alba) has sufficient decay and rot to pose tree failure likelihood that would damage Revolutionary War headstones in the surrounding cemetery; Basking Ridge white oak on the grounds of Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards Township, Somerset County, north central New Jersey; Monday, Jan. 1, 2007, 00:02: Jared Kofsky, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Context parameters, as communication flow, evaluation method, legal requirements or policies, limitations and objectives, antecede tree risk assessment, according to the article Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment in Arborist News for February 2012.

Probability and consequence formulas beg comparing other risks and trees in quantitative approaches to tree risk assessment's "systematic process to identify, analyze, and evaluate tree risk." Quantitative approaches calculate estimates from accurate, precise data and methods even though "little systematically collected data on which to base probabilities" compromise quantitative tree risk assessments.

Inherent ambiguity and subjectivity daunt qualitative approaches whose determinations and evaluations of risk levels depend upon clear terminology and defined ratings of likelihood, consequences and risks. Qualitative numerical tree risk assessment systems entertain incorrect mathematics by estimating relative risk ratings from risk factors expressed as categorizations numbered ordinally for addition or multiplication.

Risk assessment method choice fancies data and information availability, level of detail, needs of decision makers, requisite expertise and resource availability and reasonability for potential consequences.

Risk managers and tree owners gather uncertainty sources from limited predictability of decay progression, response-grown wood, traffic and occupancy rates, tree failure consequences and weather events. Their qualitative tree risk assessment report has a comparative matrix of tree risk rating by likelihood and by consequences for clients, controlling authorities or societal standards. Their risk assessor identifies tree risk categorizations by the impact consequences of tree failure likelihood from anticipated loads and tree defects, response growth and structural conditions.

Compounded effects and problem-mitigating growth variably jeopardize stability in qualitative tree risk assessment since "Not all conditions and defects have a significant impact on tree structure."

Risk assessors know of tree failures from critically combined conditions, defects and triggers, such as rain, snow and wind loading events beyond the site's seasonal norms. They list as the timespan for imminent, improbable, possible or probable tree failure likelihood either as a one-year interval or as an inspection interval until re-inspection.

Inspection and time intervals mention improbable failure likelihoods for branches or trees unlikely to fail during normal weather conditions and possibly in many severe weather conditions. They note as possible likelihoods unlikely failures of branches and trees during normal weather conditions and as probable likelihoods woody plant failures under normal weather conditions.

Qualitative tree risk assessment offers branches and trees already or "most likely" failing around the corner, even without increased load or significant winds, as imminent likelihoods.

Target occupancy rates for risk assessors and, with aggravations or mitigations of falling trees for arborists, provide estimated tree failure impact likelihoods for target zone targets.

A remote chance of impacting a specified target in the target zone qualifies the failed branch or tree for categorization as very low likelihood of impact. The failed branch or tree with an unlikely chance of impacting a specified target in the target zone receives the categorization of low likelihood of impact. Almost equal likelihood and unlikelihood and great likelihood of impacting specified target zone targets respectively summon failed branches and trees medium and high likelihoods of impact.

The qualitative tree risk assessment matrix ties target impact and tree failure likelihoods and unlikelihoods, according to co-authors Sharon Lilly, Nelda Matheny and E. Thomas Smiley.

Qualitative tree risk assessment could offer tree failure likelihoods for paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) with multiple defects overlooking playground: Joseph OBrien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

A tree risk assessment eventually could determine that a 600-year-old white oak tree (Quercus alba) has sufficient decay and rot to pose tree failure likelihood that would damage Revolutionary War headstones in the surrounding cemetery; the Basking Ridge white oak is on the grounds of Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards Township, Somerset County, north central New Jersey; Monday, Jan. 1, 2007, 00:02: Jared Kofsky, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Tree_in_Basking_Ridge.JPG

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Szilard Crater Parents Two Satellites on Lunar Far Side

Summary: Szilard Crater parents two satellites on the lunar far side in the crater jumble northeast of the northwestern quadrant’s Mare Marginis.

Szilard Crater parents two satellites on the lunar far side in the crater jumble northeast of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge) in the northwestern quadrant.

The Szilard system’s primary crater is centered at 33.71 degrees north latitude, 105.78 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 35.8 degrees north and 31.61 degrees north, respectively. The impact-eroded crater records easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 108.3 degrees east and 103.26 degrees east, respectively. Szilard Crater’s diameter measures 127.22 kilometers.

Parental Szilard is credited with two satellites. Szilard H makes an inward bulge on its parent’s southeastern rim. Szilard M neighbors near its parent’s south-southeastern rim.

Szilard H is centered at 32.65 degrees north latitude, 108.23 degrees east longitude. H’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 33.46 degrees north and 31.84 degrees north, respectively. The satellite obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 109.19 degrees east and 107.26 degrees east, respectively. Szilard H’s diameter spans 49.25 kilometers and equates to approximately 40 percent of its parent’s diameter.

Szilard M features a craterlet on its northwestern rim. Szilard M is centered at 31.25 degrees north latitude, 106.71 degrees east longitude. M posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 31.64 degrees north and 30.85 degrees north, respectively. The satellite marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 107.18 degrees east and 106.25 degrees east, respectively. With a diameter of 24.06 kilometers, Szilard M qualifies as the smaller of the Szilard Crater system’s two satellites.

Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge) lies to the southwest of the Szilard Crater system. The lunar mare wraps around the lunar near side’s eastern limb in its occupancy of both sides of the moon.

Mare Marginis is centered at 12.7 degrees north latitude, 86.52 degrees east longitude. The northern hemisphere lunar mare’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from 18.59 degrees north to 9.81 degrees north, respectively. The irregularly shaped, dark basaltic plain’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 93.35 degrees east and 81.15 degrees east, respectively. Mare Marginis has a diameter of 357.63 kilometers.

Szilard Crater and its two satellites are named in honor of Leo Szilard (Feb. 11, 1898-May 30, 1964). The 20th-century Hungarian-American physicist numbered among the World War II era’s (Sept. 1, 1939-Sept. 2, 1945) pioneers of nuclear fission and of the nuclear chain reaction.

The Szilard Crater system’s location to the east-northeast of the lunar far side’s Maxwell Crater makes neighbors of Leo Szilard’s namesake crater and the crater named after the hypothesizer of Maxwell’s demon, the subject of Szilard’s doctoral dissertation at Friedrich Wilhelm University (German: Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität) in Mitte, central Berlin, Germany. Nineteenth-century Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell (June 13, 1831-Nov. 5, 1879) had conceived Maxwell’s demon as a thought experiment illustrating a possible contradiction of the second law of thermodynamics’ statement of thermodynamic equilibrium. (Thermodynamics is the branch of physics concerned with relations between heat, energy and matter.)

Szilard’s intellectual fascination with nuclear fission chain reactions and his concern over Germany’s nuclear weapon project motivated the Einstein-Szilard letter. German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879-April 18, 1955) addressed the Aug. 2, 1939, letter to 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Jan. 30, 1882-April 12, 1945). In actuality, the text of the letter was drafted by Szilard and Hungarian-American theoretical physicists Edward Teller (Jan. 15, 1908-Sept. 9, 2003) and Eugene Paul “E.P.” Wigner (Nov. 17, 1902-Jan. 1, 1995). The letter urged the development of a U.S. nuclear program.

Despite his critical involvement in nuclear development, Szilard was sensitive to nuclear weaponry’s unparalleled, seemingly limitless destructiveness. Thus, on July 17, 1945, Szilard drafted A Petition to the President of the United States, known as the Szilárd petition. The document, addressed to 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884-Dec. 26, 1972), was signed by Szilard and 69 scientists working on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. The Szilárd petition, which did not reach its addressee, urged against the use of atomic bombs against Japan.

In 1961, Simon and Schuster published The Voice of the Dolphins, a book of six, Cold War-themed short stories by Szilard. The title story’s international biology research laboratory, set in Central Europe, inspired the establishment of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in 1974. The intergovernment organization comprises six sites: Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany; Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, East England; Grenoble, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, southeastern France; Hamburg, northern Germany; Rome, Lazio region, central Italy; and Barcelona, Catalonia, northeast Spain. The international research laboratory’s Szilárd Library, named in honor of Leo Szilard, is housed in EMBL’s main site in Heidelberg.

The takeaways for Szilard Crater’s parentage of two satellites on the lunar far side are that Szilard H gouges its parent’s southeastern rim; that Szilard M neighbors near its parent’s south-southeastern rim; that a large craterlet on the northwestern rim distinguishes Szilard M; that, with a diameter approximating 40 percent of its parent’s diameter, Szilard M is the larger of the system’s two satellites; and that the Szilard Crater system honors 20th-century Hungarian-American physicist and nuclear pioneer Leo Szilard.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Szilard Crater system (upper right) and northwestern neighbor Maxwell Crater (upper center) in crater jumble northeast of Mare Marginis (lower left corner) in the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant: U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Details of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 29 (left), 30 (right) and 46 (below) show the Szilard Crater system of parent Szilard and satellites H and M in the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant; courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac-29_wac.pdf; https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac-30_wac.pdf; and https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac-46_wac.pdf

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3681

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5027

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13351

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Szilard M.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
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