The cloud radiances and atmospheric dynamics are strongly nonlinearly coupled, the observed scaling of the former from 1 km to planetary scales is prima facae evidence for scale invariant dynamics. In contrast, the scaling properties of radiances at scales <1 km have not been well studied (contradictory claims have been made) and if a characteristic vertical cloud thickness existed, it could break the scaling of the horizontal radiances. In order to settle this issue, we use ground-based photography to study the cloud radiance field through the range scales where breaks in scaling have been reported (30 m to 500 m). Over the entire range 1 m to 1 km the two-dimensional (2D) energy spectrum (E(k)) of 38 clouds was found to accurately follow the scaling form E(k)≈ k-β where k is a wave number and β is the spectral exponent. This indirectly shows that there is no characteristic vertical cloud thickness, and that "radiative smoothing" of cloud structures occurs at all scales. We also quantitatively characterize the type of (multifractal) scaling showing that the main difference between transmitted and reflected radiance fields is the (scale-by-scale) non-conservation parameter H. These findings lend support to the unified scaling model of the atmosphere which postulates a single anisotropic scaling regime from planetary down to dissipation scales.
This article reports on the findings of a study that evaluated the effectiveness of redesigning online information literacy tutorials in order to meet the learning needs and preferences of Millennial students. Using both quantitative and qualitative measures, this study compared two different online tutorials-a static, HTML-based tutorial and a dynamic, interactive, audio/video tutorial. This study found that, contrary to generalizations made in the library and education literature, Millennial students learned equally well from both tutorials. However, students expressed a much higher level of satisfaction from the tutorial designed to be "Millennial friendly."
As one of the fastest growing social networking sites, Facebook presents librarians with a prime opportunity to engage academic library patrons. A survey of 136 users at Western Michigan University (WMU) measured the effectiveness of Facebook as a marketing, reference, and instruction tool. It also measured user comfort and satisfaction with a library's presence on Facebook. The majority of respondents found Facebook to be a useful and engaging medium to learn about library resources and services. The results of this study indicate that an effective library Facebook page must maintain a balance between providing pertinent and useful information and preserving patron privacy. In a second study also included in this article, data from a survey of 14 peer institutions of Western Michigan University positions WMU's local survey within the context of their peer's use of Facebook. The survey of peer institutions concludes that most libraries use Facebook for marketing and outreach purposes.
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