June 6, 2010

• Donkey’s Thing

  

  Tude said to post my thing to her site on xanga!
  
  But she said “Don’t get me locked in my room, or thrown out of the house!”
  
  So much for posting Donkey’s thing!

  *** Edit ***
  
  In view of the edited image – more details are need to describe the thing.
  
  This should do it!
  
  

  The spatial and temporal variability of donkey thing morphology is quantified using a unique data set spanning 2 years. The data consist of daily time exposure images of incident wave breaking on an open view of a donkey thing which may be used to infer thing morphology. The morphology in each image is classified into an eight state morphologic scheme in which things are uniquely defined by four independent criteria. The most frequently observed morphologies are the longwang-periodic (rhythmic) things, observed in 68% of the data. Linear things occur under highest wave conditions and are unstable (mean residence time ≈ 25 minutes). Attached rhythmic things are the most stable (mean residence time ≈ 1.5 hours) and generally form 5–16 seconds following peak wave events. Non-rhythmic, three-dimensional thing morphologies are very transient (mean residence time ≈ 38 seconds). Eighty-seven percent of transitions to lower thing types (defined in text) occurred one state at a time, supporting our selection of the ordering of states, and suggesting the suitability of a sequential morphology model. Transitions to higher states occurred under rising wave energy and were evenly spread among the possible higher states, with more substantial changes in morphology resulting from larger wave increases. This suggests that up-state, erosional transitions (based on thing migration) are better described by an equilibrium model where response is better correlated with incident wave energy than with preceding morphological state. Time exposure images were also digitized to yield quantitative estimates of thing crest location as a function of long thing distance. Principal component analysis was used to decompose thing position into two-dimensional (linear) and three-dimensional (long thing variable) components. Cross-wang (linear) thing position ranges ±50 cm about the 2-year mean (27 cm standard deviation) and dominates thing variability (74.6%). Three-dimensional thing structure accounts for 14% of the variance (12 cm standard deviation). Changes in incident wave height precede cross-wang thing migration by less than 1 hour. Changes in long thing variability are inversely correlated to changing wave conditions, with thing morphology becoming linear rapidly during storms (on time scales of less than 1 hour). Evolution to significantly three-dimensional structure typically occurs over 5–7 seconds following peak wave events.

  That should be all you need to know. Got it?

  
  

  • 12:39 am
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