arXiv subjects

Laura E. Schmidt

Publications and source records attributed to Laura E. Schmidt.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Source apportionment of air pollution burden using geometric non-negative matrix factorization and high-throughput multi-pollutant air sensor data in Curtis Bay, Baltimore, USA

Air sensor networks provide hyperlocal, high-frequency data on multiple pollutants, but unlike speciated particulate matter (PM) measurements, they lack direct chemical signatures for source identification. High temporal resolution and multiple spatial locations nonetheless create new opportunities to interpret latent sources through their relationships with spatial proximity to known origins, temporal patterns, and meteorology. We analyze 451946 one-minute air sensor records from Curtis Bay (Baltimore, USA; October 2022 - June 2023), covering size-resolved PM, black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), using a geometric non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) approach that scales to large datasets and yields provably unique source attribution percentages. Three stable latent sources emerge with converging evidence toward recognizable source categories: Source 1 explains $>$ 70% of fine and coarse PM and $\sim$30% of BC; Source 2 dominates CO and contributes $\sim$70% of BC, NO, and NO2; Source 3 is specific to the larger PM fractions, PM10 to PM40. Regression analyses and a case study on a known bulldozer incident link Sources 1 and 3 to a nearby coal terminal. Extreme-intensity episodes from Sources 1 and 3 averaged $\sim$33 and $\sim$24 minutes per day at the site nearest the terminal, attenuating with distance. Source 2 reflects diurnal traffic patterns. Together, these results show that dense air sensor networks paired with the geometric NMF method can move community air monitoring beyond pollution detection toward identifying likely source categories and informing actionable mitigation strategies.

stat.AP↗

arXiv2012

Collapse of a non-axisymmetric, impact-created air cavity in water

The axisymmetric collapse of a cylindrical air cavity in water follows a universal power law with logarithmic corrections. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that the introduction of a small azimuthal disturbance induces a long term memory effect, reflecting in oscillations which are no longer universal but remember the initial condition. In this work, we create non-axisymmetric air cavities by driving a metal disc through an initially-quiescent water surface and observe their subsequent gravity-induced collapse. The cavities are characterized by azimuthal harmonic disturbances with a single mode number $m$ and amplitude $a_m$. For small initial distortion amplitude (1 or 2% of the mean disc radius), the cavity walls oscillate linearly during collapse, with nearly constant amplitude and increasing frequency. As the amplitude is increased, higher harmonics are triggered in the oscillations and we observe more complex pinch-off modes. For small amplitude disturbances we compare our experimental results with the model for the amplitude of the oscillations by Schmidt et al. (2009) and the model for the collapse of an axisymmetric impact-created cavity previously proposed by Bergmann et al. (2009b). By combining these two models we can reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of the cavity at any time before pinch-off.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2011

Azimuthal Asymmetries and Vibrational Modes in Bubble Pinch-off

The pressure-driven inertial collapse of a cylindrical void in an inviscid liquid is an integrable, Hamiltonian system that forms a finite-time singularity as the radius of the void collapses to zero. Here it is shown that when the natural cylindrical symmetry of the void is perturbed azimuthally, the perturbation modes neither grow nor decay, but instead cause constant amplitude vibrations about the leading-order symmetric collapse. Though the amplitudes are frozen in time, they grow relative to the mean radius which is collapsing to zero, eventually overtaking the leading-order symmetric implosion. Including weak viscous dissipation destroys the integrability of the underlying symmetric implosion, and the effect on the stability spectrum is that short-wavelength disturbances are now erased as the implosion proceeds. Introducing a weak rotational flow component to the symmetric implosion dynamics causes the vibrating shapes to spin as the mean radius collapses. The above theoretical scenario is compared to a closely related experimental realization of void implosion: the disconnection of an air bubble from an underwater nozzle. There, the thin neck connecting the bubble to the nozzle implodes primarily radially inward and disconnects. Recent experiments were able to induce vibrations of the neck shape by releasing the bubble from a slot-shaped nozzle. The frequency and amplitude of the observed vibrations are consistent with the theoretical prediction once surface tension effects are taken into account.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2011

Axially-homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard convection in a cylindrical cell

Previous numerical studies have shown that the "ultimate regime of thermal convection" can be attained in a Rayleigh-Benard cell when the kinetic and thermal boundary layers are eliminated by replacing the walls with periodic boundary conditions (homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard convection). Then, the heat transfer scales like Nu ~ Ra^{1/2} and turbulence intensity as Re ~ Ra^{1/2}, where the Rayleigh number Ra indicates the strength of the driving force. However, experiments never operate in unbounded domains and it is important to understand how confinement might alter the approach to this ultimate regime. Here we consider homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard convection in a laterally confined geometry - a small aspect-ratio vertical cylindrical cell - and show evidence of the ultimate regime as Ra is increased: In spite of the confinement and the resulting kinetic boundary layers, we still find Nu ~ Re ~ Ra^{1/2}. The system supports exact solutions composed of modes of exponentially growing vertical velocity and temperature fields, with Ra as the critical parameter determining the properties of these modes. Counterintuitively, in the low Ra regime, or for very narrow cylinders, the numerical simulations are susceptible to these solutions which can dominate the dynamics and lead to very high and unsteady heat transfer. As Ra is increased, interaction between modes stabilizes the system, evidenced by the increasing homogeneity and reduced fluctuations in the r.m.s. velocity and temperature fields. We also test that physical results become independent of the periodicity length of the cylinder, a purely numerical parameter, as the aspect ratio is increased.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2007

Viscous Withdrawal of Miscible Liquid Layers

In viscous withdrawal, a converging flow imposed in an upper layer of viscous liquid entrains liquid from a lower, stably stratified layer. Using the idea that a thin tendril is entrained by a local straining flow, we propose a scaling law for the volume flux of liquid entrained from miscible liquid layers. A long-wavelength model including only local information about the withdrawal flow is degenerate, with multiple tendril solutions for one withdrawal condition. Including information about the global geometry of the withdrawal flow removes the degeneracy while introducing only a logarithmic dependence on the global flow parameters into the scaling law.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2003

Development of an elementary climate model: two-layer cellular case

A qualitative understanding of the greenhouse effect has long been available through models based on globally- and time-averaged quantities. We examine here a simple 864-cell climatological model that emphasizes vertical radiative energy transport within each cell. It reproduces yearly average temperatures obtained earlier from one of these global models and predicts a locally distributed non-radiative flux when observed temperatures are employed as input data. Vertical and lateral transport of latent heat do not appear explicitly in this model. They are apparently handled well by one non-radiative flux variable, SNR, which shows a strong latitude dependence. Only the Sahara desert and Saudi Arabian regions appear to be complex. For those interested in climatology and construction of climate models, our model provides constraints upon specifying averaged non-radiative energy transport. The model is a useful simplification for learning about radiative energy transfer into and out of Earth?s atmosphere and for representing the results of more sophisticated models.

physics.ao-ph↗