International Soil Reference and Information Centre [.pdf]
http://www.isric.nl/
The International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC), which is associated with the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Berne, Switzerland, aims to "provide a better understanding of soils and to promote sustainable use of the land." The ISRIC Web site gives visitors several areas to explore, but of special note are the reports and publications link within the publications page, which contains downloadable annual and biannual reports, conference proceedings, soil briefs, technical papers, and more. These publications have been authored or co-authored by staff members, and guest researchers of ISRIC or the former International Soil Museum. [JAB]
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The National Stormwater Best Management Practices Database [.pdf]
http://www.bmpdatabase.org/
From the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers (under a cooperative agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency) comes the National Stormwater Best Management Practices Database. Information provided comes from over 190 Best Management Practice (BMP) studies conducted over the past fifteen years and, once accessed, can be viewed, printed, or exported as needed. Searches can be done using five parameters including state or country, type of BMP, water-quality issue, watershed size, and average storm volume. Although several of the attempted searches resulted in a brief overview of the entry and a statement of "BMP Summary Unavailable," the continually expanding database does give those interested a good resource for locating stormwater management practice information. [JAB]
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National Renewable Energy Laboratory: New Pubs [.pdf]
http://www.nrel.gov/publications/newpubs.html
The US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory offers a New Publications page that contains five recently published reports freely available to view or download. The documents include: NREL Institutional Plan, 2001-2005; Photovoltaic Energy Program Overview, Fiscal Year 2000; Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future: Interlaboratory Working Group on Energy-Efficient and Clean-Energy Technologies; Renewable Energy for Rural Schools; and Alternative Fuel Transit Buses: DART's (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) LNG Bus Fleet Final Results. The main page contains descriptions of each publication and the link to view each complete Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file. [JAB]
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Soil Texture Triangle: Hydraulic Properties Calculator
http://www.bsyse.wsu.edu/saxton/soilwater/
Dr. Keith E. Saxton from Washington State Universities Department of Biological Systems Engineering offers the Soil Texture Triangle-Hydraulic Properties Calculator Web site. By simply entering its percent sand and clay, this online calculator allows users to find the wilting point, field capacity, bulk density, saturation, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and available water of particular soils. A great resource for researchers and professionals, the utility can even be downloaded free of charge to use on your own computer as a MS-DOS program. This site is also reviewed in the April 19, 2002 Scout Report. [JAB]
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Scientist and Engineer Statistics Data System [.pdf]
http://srsstats.sbe.nsf.gov/
Created by the National Science Foundation, Scientist and Engineer Statistics Data System (SESTAT) is a system of information about the employment, educational, and demographic characteristics of scientists and engineers in the United States. The presented data contains information from surveys conducted in 1993, 1995, and 1997 -- covering those with a bachelor's degree (or higher) who either work in or are educated in science or engineering. After the free registration, users can view various prepared tables of information (e.g., median annual salaries of US scientists and engineers by field and level of highest degree attained). The Create Your Own Tables link was a bit cumbersome on a Mac browser; users with PC systems may have better luck with the site's new Java-based system. Nevertheless, most information can be easily viewed and downloaded as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files. [JAB]
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OMNIWeb
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/omniweb/ow.html
Containing "near-Earth" solar wind magnetic field and plasma data, energetic proton fluxes, and geomagnetic and solar activity indices, OMNIWWeb gives researchers a useful tool for gathering and comparing data. Maintained by NASA's National Space Science Data Center, the database offers several categories to view. [JAB]
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The Surfactants Virtual Library
http://surfactants.net/
Maintained by Dr. Paul Huibers, this metadata site contains links to over 1000 surfactant-related sites, including topics like manufacturers, research centers, and researchers; phenomena such as foaming, detergency, micelles, surface tension, emulsions, and microemulsions; and applications such as cleaning, cosmetics, and environmental remediation. Easily navigated and unflashy, the pages contain simple lists of sites in the various categories, making locating particular information simple and quick. Users should note, though, that a few of the links were dead. [JAB]
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Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: Acronyms of High-Energy Physics
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/ferminews/ahep.html
From the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Web site, (last mentioned in the August 2, 2000 Scout Report) comes the handy Acronyms of High-Energy Physics Web site. Organized into four categories including laboratories, accelerators, detectors and experiments, and other institutions, each acronym is followed by a brief description and a link to the site or further information. [JAB]
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