Dr. R. Todd Lines

Research Interests

• Atmospheric Physics: Simulation of light passing thorugh the Earth’s atmosphere including scattering. Instrumentation for making atmospheric measurements. Currently we are working on the conversion of the Variational Green’s Function Method code for calculation of the electrical field for small particle scattering to python.
• My team also runs a NASA AERONET site.
• High Altitude Atmospheric Research with the BYUI High Altitude Research Team. BYU-I HART Facebook Page

• Simulation and measurement of Microwave Scattering:
• Atmospheric and topograpic Lidar BYUI Lidar Research Team

Draft Text Books

Over the last few years, I have kind of disappeared from the research community. I decided I wanted to try to write an introductory textbook series, something that I could modify as I experimented with my classes. And something that I could give to my students without the huge cost. Many of my students are from rural communities or from world areas where the cost of coming to college is prohibitive. The cost of textbooks only makes that more difficult. For these students, a free text that is not as perfect, but is free might be a fair trade. At this point I have rough draft version of a four-semester introductory physics textbook series. They aren’t great, maybe someday they will be. I hope to make them at least useful. And there are some quirks in what I have done.

• There are no problem sets in the textbooks. These could be used with an on-line problem set like Sapling Learning’s system or Mastering Physics. I have problem sets done for some classes, but I don’t want to publish them online at this point.
• I also take a new approach, stressing structured problem solving. Students are encouraged to subdivide physics into a set of problem types with their accompanying equations sets and solution techniques. The idea is a little like object-oriented programming where the data types and methods are grouped together. It this way, once the student recognizes a familiar problem type in a problem, a set of tools to solve that part of the problem immediately comes to mind. I believe many physicists work this way.
  

We will see how this works. Comments, suggestions, or complaints can be sent to linest@byui.edu.

• Introductory Physics I Mechanics
  
• Introductory Physics II Waves, Thermodynamics, and Optics
  
• Introductory Physics III Electric and Magnetic field theory
  
• Introductory Physics IV Modern Physics (Special Relativity and Begining Quantum Mechanics
  
• Physics for Chemists and Mechanical Engineers(Accelerated Introductory Physics for Chemistry and Engineering Students)
  
  

And here are two lab manuals, one for a first laboratory experience emphasizing experimental design teaching measurement, error analysis, and Euler’s method. The second teaching instrument design using Arduino microcontroller boards.

• Introductory Physics Lab I Experimental Design
  
• Introductory Physics Lab II Instrument Design
  
  

Perhaps these could be viewed as beta versions. You are welcome to look through the drafts, offer suggestions, or even try them for a class. For any commercial use, please contact me. All are copyright R. Todd Lines with permission granted to BYU-Idaho for educational use. Use permissions might change for the final versions (but probably won’t).

Books I recommend

Scientific Writing 2.0 by Jean-Luc Lebrun
How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk by John Van Epp
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton, and Sands
How to teach quantum physis to your dog by Chad Orzel
The Emperor’s New Mind by Rodger Penrose

BYU-I thesis format

For my senior thesis class: Here is the BYUI thesis template (the BYU template with modificatoins for BYUI) OrbitThesisTemplate. And this is what you should get when you compile the LaTeX OrbitThesisFile.

Publications

Lines, Raymond T., Darryl G. Murdock, David M. Brown, Trevis J. Gigliotti, C. Russell Philbrick, Hazardous Liquids Airborne Lidar Observation Study (HALOS) Real World Flight Test Report. Department of Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety, Contract number DTRS56-04-T-0012, November, 2005.

Thomas A. Sanderson, Paul Sprague, Steven L. Smith, Rulon E. Simmons, and Raymond T. Lines, “A mechanism for the management and optimization of imaging systems with non-uniform imaging quality,” Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 5784, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XVI, Gerald C. Holst, Editor, May 2005, pp. 91-102

Jeffrey S. Owen, Dr. Steven V. Stearns, Dr. Darryl G. Murdock Raymond T. Lines, Joseph L. Lippert, Dr. Michael L. Jacobs, Simulated Leak Test Report: Hazardous Liquids Airborne Lidar Observation Study (HALOS), Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Office of Pipeline Safety Contract number: DTRS56-04-T-0012, 14 July 2005

R. Todd Lines, Hoosmand Kalayeh, Joseph Lippert, Viking Concentration Length Basic Algorithm Error Analysis, ITT Industries Space Systems Division Technical Report, 1447 St. Paul Street, PO Box 60488, Rochester, NY 14606-0488, 27 October 2004

Steven V. Stearns, Raymond T. Lines, Christian J. Grund, C. Russell Philbrick, Technology Status Report on Active Remote Detection of Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks, U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory Morgantown, WV, Contract Number: DE-FC26-03NT41877, February, 2004 (http://www.netl.doe.gov/scngo/NaturalGas/TD&S/Status_Assessments/DOENETL%20Technology%20Status%20ReportFINAL.pdf)

R. Todd Lines, CMIS Systems Engineering Report No. ALG-016: System Performance Analysis - Cloud Ice Water Path, Ball Aerospace, 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, Colorado, 1999

R. Todd Lines, CMIS Systems Engineering Report No. ALG-013: System Performance Analysis - Ice Surface Temperature, Ball Aerospace, 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, Colorado, 1999

R. Todd Lines, CMIS Systems Engineering Report No. ALG-012: System Performance Analysis - Sea Ice Age, Ball Aerospace, 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, Colorado, 1999

R. Todd Lines, CMIS Systems Engineering Report No. ALG-011: System Performance Analysis - Sea Surface Wind Direction, Ball Aerospace, 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, Colorado, 1999

R. Todd Lines, CMIS Systems Engineering Report No. ALG-010: System Performance Analysis - Sea Surface Wind Speed, Ball Aerospace, 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, Colorado, 1999

R. C. Savage and R. T. Lines and J. Cole and G. G. Koenig, “A Passive Microwave Icing Avoidance System MIAS), Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology, 10-15 January, Dallas, Texas, American Meteorological Society, pages 457-461,1999

R. T. Lines and R. C. Savage and J. Cole, A Passive Microwave Icing Avoidance System (MIAS) Final Report, Raytheon Systems Company, 16800 E. CentreTech Parkway, Aurora CO, 80011, 10 March, 1999

R. Todd Lines, Preliminary Wind Vector Algorithm, Raytheon Systems Company Technical Report, 16800 E. CentreTech Parkway, Aurora CO, 80011, 10 November, 1997

R. Todd Lines and Young P. Yee, “Temperature Profile of the Nocturnal Stable Boundary Layer over Homogeneous Desert Using LA-TEAMS,” Proceedings of the 1994 Battlefield Atmospherics Conference, US Army Research Laboratory Battlefield Environment Directorate, White Sands, NM, M. E. Creegan and J. R. Elrick, ed., 1994

G. Goedecke and R. Loveland and R. Lines and R. Gonzalez and J. Thompson and Y. Yee, “Lidar Inversion Technique Using Total Attenuation and the Lidar System Constant,” Proceedings, SPIE Atmospheric Propagation and Remote Sensing, 21-23 April 1992 Orlando FL, Anton Kohnle and Walter B. Miller, ed., pages 171-177, 1992

Presentations

R. Todd Lines, Steven Turcotte, Brian Pyper, Brian Tonks, “Physics and Leadership: Managing Chaos,” Presentation at Brigham Young University - Idaho, February 22, 2015

R. Todd Lines, Airborne Natural Gas Emission Lidar (ANGEL) Service: Detecting Natural Gas with an Airborne DIAL System, Colloquium Address to the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, 16 September, 2005

R. Todd Lines, “Detection of Cloud Ice Water Path Using Passive Microwave Devices,” Presentation to the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Satellite System Integrated Program Office, System Integration Team Meeting, December 18, 1997

R. Todd Lines, “The Detection of Ocean Wind Vectors Using the Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder,” Presentation to the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Satellite System Integrated Program Office, System Integration Team Meeting, October 1, 1997

R. Todd Lines and Richard C. Savage, “Detectability of Icing Conditions Using Passive Microwave Devices,” 1997 In-flight Remote Sensing Icing Avoidance Workshop, April 1-2, NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, 1997

R. Todd Lines, “Detectability of Cloud Properties Using the Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder: Trade Study Results,” Presentation to the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Satellite System Integrated Program Office, November 6, 1996

Patents

US 6,489,915, Microwave icing avoidance system US 7,508,520, System and method for multi-target fluid concentration detection and mapping