[en] Hawaii plans that geothermal will be a significant part of its energy mix to reduce its 90% dependency on imported oil for its electricity. The resource on the Big Island of Hawaii appears promising. However, the geothermal program in Hawaii continues to face stiff opposition from a few people who are determined to stop development at any cost. The efforts of geothermal developers, together with the State and County regulatory framework have inadvertently created situations that have impeded progress. However, after a 20-year effort the first increment of commercial geothermal energy is expected on line in 1992

[en] I first stepped through the doorway of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in 1976, and I was impressed by what I saw: A dozen people working out of a stone-and-metal building perched at the edge of a high cliff with a spectacular view of a vast volcanic plain. Their primary purpose was to monitor the island's two active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa. I joined them, working for six weeks as a volunteer and then, years later, as a staff scientist. That gave me several chances to ask how the observatory had started.

[en] During the period 22--29 June 1978, meteorological data were collected at six stations arranged in nearly linear transection extending from the coast at Anaehoomalu, Hawaii to Waimea Airport, 25 km inland and 800 m higher. Sea breeze response to synoptic-scale weather patterns was documented

[en] Tholeiitic basalts of the Napali Formation comprise the bulk of the Kauai shield volcano. Potassium-argon ages measured on 16 samples from three separate areas in this formation lie in the range 5.14 +- 0.20 to 3.81 +- 0.06 m.y. The scatter in the measured ages in each area is greater than that expected from experimental error alone, and variable loss of radiogenic argon is regarded as at least partly responsible. Nevertheless an interval of eruption in the order of 0.8 m.y. is deduced for the Napali Formation. The results from the Napali Formation taken togehter with K-Ar ages measured earlier on basalts of the Makaweli Formation, the youngest formation of the dome-building phase, yield a mean age of 4.43 +- 0.45 m.y. for the construction of the main subaerial shield volcano of Kauai. (orig./ME)

[en] We developed a fully autonomous underwater gamma-spectrometer for long-term coastal submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) monitoring. The instrument represents a significant improvement over previous submarine gamma-spectrometers in that it is very robust, has high sensitivity allowing high temporal resolution, and is completely autonomous. Here we describe the technical parameters of the new instrument as well as data collected over its 9-month deployment in Kiholo Bay, HI, USA. We also present methods to convert the measured activities to SGD rates. In Kiholo Bay, the derived SGD matched previous estimates but in addition it revealed previously undocumented short- and long-term patterns in SGD. (author)

No abstract available

[en] This report presents data on the distribution and status of forest bird species found within the vicinity of proposed geothermal resource development on the Island of Hawaii. Potential impacts of the proposed development on the native bird populations found in the project are are addressed

[en] Summarizes project to design and build aileron retrofit blades for a 600 kW upwind, teetered rotor, full-span pitch control, horizontal-axis wind turbine

[en] Continuous measurements of radon have been made at an altitude of 3400m at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. Concentrations ranged from about 20 to more than 700mBq m^-3. These were similar to values at remote Macquarie I., some 2000 km south of Australia in the Southern Ocean. At Mauna Loa, the radon concentrations could usually be separated into free tropospheric and island influenced categories on the basis of local meteorological observations. On one occasion a long range transport event from Asia brought relatively high radon concentrations to Mauna Loa and persisted for several days. The Asian origin of this event was supported by wind trajectories. This measurement program demonstrates the value of radon data in evaluating air transport models and the influence of transport from distant continents on baseline atmospheric measurements. (author)

[en] The purpose of this study was to use insurance claims and tumor registry data to examine determinants of breast conserving surgery (BCS) in women with early stage breast cancer. Breast cancer cases registered in the Hawaii Tumor Registry (HTR) from 1995 to 1998 were linked with insurance claims from a local health plan. We identified 722 breast cancer cases with stage I and II disease. Surgical treatment patterns and comorbidities were identified using diagnostic and procedural codes in the claims data. The HTR database provided information on demographics and disease characteristics. We used logistic regression to assess determinants of BCS vs. mastectomy. The linked data set represented 32.8% of all early stage breast cancer cases recorded in the HTR during the study period. Due to the nature of the health plan, 79% of the cases were younger than 65 years. Women with early stage breast cancer living on Oahu were 70% more likely to receive BCS than women living on the outer islands. In the univariate analysis, older age at diagnosis, lower tumor stage, smaller tumor size, and well-differentiated tumor grade were related to receiving BCS. Ethnicity, comorbidity count, menopausal and marital status were not associated with treatment type. In addition to developing solutions that facilitate access to radiation facilities for breast cancer patients residing in remote locations, future qualitative research may help to elucidate how women and oncologists choose between BCS and mastectomy