NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Dip-meter again
From: Bruce J. Pennino
Date: 2013 Apr 13, 09:55 -0400
From: Bruce J. Pennino
Date: 2013 Apr 13, 09:55 -0400
Bruce
Hi Marcel,
I just scanned the paper and "Bookmarked"
it. I'll read it more carefully when we return from Cape Cod. Our van
is filled with normal things plus my surveying equipment TO MEASURE
DIP......strange stuff.
Your attached pictures are just
stunning. I recommend that readers look at the substantial visual change.
Most interesting. Have a good day.
Regards
Bruce
----- Original Message -----From: Marcel TschudinSent: Saturday, April 13, 2013 4:52 AMSubject: [NavList] Re: Dip-meter again
Bruce, A precise horizontal distance alone is not sufficient for observing the dip variations. You also need a "fixed" horizontal reference line, e.g. a fence, a border or a roof within a short distance e.g. 100m to 300m where refraction is likely still negligible. For my observations I did not have a horizontal reference line. In a few cases I could however observe a remarkable change in refraction between horizon and a feature protruding from behind it. The attached picture shows two such situations where the apparent horizon differs by about 5 moa compared to the island behind it. Victor Reijs shows on his Web-page here http://www.iol.ie/~geniet/eng/refract.htm#limiting a plot with published refraction measurements near the horizon. One series of measurements (Seidelmann) show a systematic difference between sunrise and sunset of about 6 moa. This difference may be specific to the location where the measurements were made. Marcel On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 6:25 AM, Bruce J. Penninowrote: > ________________________________ > > Hi Frank and All: > > Frank, you've mentioned this thought (vanishing buildings) before. I hate > to admit it, measuring refraction in this manner is intriguing. Maybe my > next thought fits. Now that we know that we can get precise horizontal > distances between objects (I'm now thinking tall slender building or towers > in a row.....oil rigs or wind turbines). We also know that with my common > theodolite I can measure vertical angles to 3 seconds or so of vertical arc. > I really don't believe +/- 3 seconds because I still don't have operator and > collimation errors totally sorted out. Say I really can confidently measure > to +/- 10 seconds. > > I could set up someplace where I can see these two or three > buildings/towers several miles apart. How much does the meteorological > conditions have to change for me to measure the CHANGE in refraction based > on the apparent change in vertical heights of the building? Does the > temperature have to change 30F; weather front come through going from > relatively low atmospheric pressure to high pressure; where does relative > humidity come in? How about the azimuth of viewing; time of the year, angle > of the sun , and I'm sure many things I have not considered? Doable? > > Or, how about setting up a camera with a special lens or a stadia type > attachment and monitoring the buildings . Monitor weather at the same time. > By stadia eyepiece I mean several horizontal index lines or equivalent. > Knowing the height of the camera and buildings, and changes in apparent > height of the buildings, I believe you wrote that we could calculate > refraction change. Just thinking and trying to relate your thoughts and > those presented by Marcel. Seems difficult to quantify? > > Probably should rename this topic? > > Bruce > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Frank Reed > To: bpennino.ce---net > Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 1:53 PM > Subject: [NavList] Re: Dip-meter again > > ________________________________ > > Gary, you wrote: > " I realized that I could get an accurate measurement of the width of the > channel by using Google Earth and that I could measure the angle below the > horizon to the waterline on the opposite breakwater and with this > information calculate my accurate height of eye." > > If I've understood your description correctly, essentially you're using "dip > short" to get height of eye. And yes, this works exceptionally well in cases > like this where you can figure out the exact linear distance to some feature > with a clearly defined waterline. > > Next, suppose you have several objects with clearly defined waterlines at > exactly known distances between you and the horizon (ideally, these would be > at regular intervals, e.g. a mile apart). If you measure the angles from > their waterlines to the horizon, it should be possible to solve for height > of eye AND the terrestrial refraction constant k (the rotation of a light > ray in minutes of arc per nautical mile). And if you return to the same site > under different weather conditions, you should find that the angles change > as k changes. Visually, the more distant objects would appear to group > together or spread apart vertically as the refraction changes. I'm still > hoping someone will make a great time-lapse video of this showing the > refracted view of objects towards the horizon breathing in and out during > the course of a day. > > -FER > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList > Members may optionally receive posts by email. > To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=123545 > > : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=123548 : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=123549