Radio and gamma-ray properties of extragalactic jets from the TANAMI sample

DOE PAGES

Böck, M.; Kadler, M.; Müller, C.; ...

2016-05-04

The TANAMI program has been observing parsec-scale radio jets of southern (declination south of - 30°) γ-ray bright AGN, simultaneously with Fermi/LAT monitoring of their γ-ray emission, via high-resolution radio imaging with Very Long Baseline Interferometry techniques. In this paper, we present the radio and γ-rayproperties of the TANAMI sources based on one year of contemporaneous TANAMI and Fermi/LAT data. A large fraction (72%) of the TANAMI sample can be associated with bright γ-ray sources for this time range. Association rates differ for different optical classes with all BL Lacs, 76% of quasars, and just 17% of galaxies detected bymore » the LAT. Upper limits were established on the γ-ray flux from TANAMI sources not detected by LAT. This analysis led to the identification of three new Fermi sources whose detection was later confirmed. The γ-ray and radio luminosities are related by L γ ∝ L r 0.89±0.04. The brightness temperatures of the radio cores increase with the average γ-ray luminosity and the presence of brightness temperatures above the inverse Compton limit implies strong Doppler boosting in those sources. The undetected sources have lower γ/radio luminosity ratios and lower contemporaneous brightness temperatures. Finally, unless the Fermi/LAT-undetected blazars are much γ-ray-fainter than the Fermi/LAT-detected sources, their γ-ray luminosity should not be significantly lower than the upper limits calculated here.« less

Snow stratigraphic heterogeneity within ground-based passive microwave radiometer footprints: implications for emission modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandells, M.; Rutter, N.; Derksen, C.; Langlois, A.; Lemmetyinen, J.; Montpetit, B.; Pulliainen, J. T.; Royer, A.; Toose, P.

2012-12-01

Remote sensing of snow mass remains a challenging area of research. Scattering of electromagnetic radiation is sensitive to snow mass, but is also affected by contrasts in the dielectric properties of the snow. Although the argument that errors from simple algorithms average out at large scales has been used to justify current retrieval methods, it is not obvious why this should be the case. This hypothesis needs to be tested more rigorously. A ground-based field experiment was carried out to assess the impact of sub-footprint snow heterogeneity on microwave brightness temperature, in Churchill, Canada in winter in early 2010. Passive microwave measurements of snow were made using sled-mounted radiometers at 75cm intervals over a 5m transect. Measurements were made at horizontal and vertical polarizations at frequencies of 19 and 37 GHz. Snow beneath the radiometer footprints was subsequently excavated, creating a snow trench wall along the centrepoints of adjacent footprints. The trench wall was carefully smoothed and photographed with a near-infrared camera in order to determine the positions of stratigraphic snow layer boundaries. Three one-dimensional vertical profiles of snowpack properties (density and snow specific surface area) were taken at 75cm, 185cm and 355cm from the left hand side of the trench. These profile measurements were used to derive snow density and grain size for each of the layers identified from the NIR image. Microwave brightness temperatures for the 2-dimensional map of snow properties was simulated with the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) model at 1cm intervals horizontally across the trench. Where each of five ice lenses was identified in the snow stratigraphy, a decrease in brightness temperature was simulated. However, the median brightness temperature simulated across the trench was substantially higher than the observations, of the order of tens of Kelvin, dependent on frequency and polarization. In order to understand and quantify possible sources of error in the simulations, a number of experiments were carried out to investigate the sensitivity of the brightness temperature to: 1) uncertainties in field observations, 2) representation of ice lenses, 3) model layering structure, and 4) near-infrared derived grain size representing snow grain size at microwave wavelengths. Field measurement error made little difference to the simulated brightness temperature, nor did the representation of ice lenses as crusts of high density snow. As the number of layers in the snow was reduced to 3, 2, or 1, the simulated brightness temperature increased slightly. However, scaling of snow grain size had a dramatic effect on the simulated brightness temperatures, reducing the median bias of the simulations to within measurement error for the statistically different brightness temperature distributions. This indicated that further investigation is required to define what is meant by the microwave grain size, and how this relates to the grain size that is used in the microwave emission model.

Seasonal Changes in Titan's Surface Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennins, Donald E.; Cottini, V.; Nixon, C. A.; Flasar, F. M.; Kunde, V. G.; Samuelson, R. E.; Romani, P. N.; Hesman, B. E.; Carlson, R. C.; Gorius, N. J. P.;

Model development for MODIS thermal band electronic cross-talk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Tiejun; Wu, Aisheng; Geng, Xu; Li, Yonghong; Brinkmann, Jake; Keller, Graziela; Xiong, Xiaoxiong (Jack)

2016-10-01

MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has 36 bands. Among them, 16 thermal emissive bands covering a wavelength range from 3.8 to 14.4 μm. After 16 years on-orbit operation, the electronic crosstalk of a few Terra MODIS thermal emissive bands develop substantial issues which cause biases in the EV brightness temperature measurements and surface feature contamination. The crosstalk effects on band 27 with center wavelength at 6.7 μm and band 29 at 8.5 μm increased significantly in recent years, affecting downstream products such as water vapor and cloud mask. The crosstalk issue can be observed from nearly monthly scheduled lunar measurements, from which the crosstalk coefficients can be derived. Most of MODIS thermal bands are saturated at moon surface temperatures and the development of an alternative approach is very helpful for verification. In this work, a physical model was developed to assess the crosstalk impact on calibration as well as in Earth view brightness temperature retrieval. This model was applied to Terra MODIS band 29 empirically for correction of Earth brightness temperature measurements. In the model development, the detector nonlinear response is considered. The impacts of the electronic crosstalk are assessed in two steps. The first step consists of determining the impact on calibration using the on-board blackbody (BB). Due to the detector nonlinear response and large background signal, both linear and nonlinear coefficients are affected by the crosstalk from sending bands. The crosstalk impact on calibration coefficients was calculated. The second step is to calculate the effects on the Earth view brightness temperature retrieval. The effects include those from affected calibration coefficients and the contamination of Earth view measurements. This model links the measurement bias with crosstalk coefficients, detector nonlinearity, and the ratio of Earth measurements between the sending and receiving bands. The correction of the electronic crosstalk can be implemented empirically from the processed bias at different brightness temperature. The implementation can be done through two approaches. As routine calibration assessment for thermal infrared bands, the trending over select Earth scenes is processed for all the detectors in a band and the band averaged bias is derived for certain time. In this case, the correction of an affected band can be made using the regression of the model with band averaged bias and then corrections of detector differences are applied. The second approach requires the trending for individual detectors and the bias for each detector is used for regression with the model. A test using the first approach was made for Terra MODIS band 29 with the biases derived from long-term trending of sea surface temperature and Dome-C surface temperature.

Assimilation of SMOS brightness temperatures in the ECMWF EKF for the analysis of soil moisture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz-Sabater, Joaquin

2012-07-01

Since November 2nd 2009, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has being monitoring, in Near Real Time (NRT), L-band brightness temperatures measured by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The main objective of the monitoring suite for SMOS data is to systematically monitor the difference between SMOS observed brightness temperatures and the corresponding model equivalent simulated by the Community Microwave Emission Model (CMEM), the so-called first guess departures. This is a crucial step, as first guess departures is the quantity used in the analysis. The ultimate goal is to investigate how the assimilation of SMOS brightness temperatures over land improves the weather forecast skill, through a more accurate initialization of the global soil moisture state. In this presentation, some significant results from the activities preparing for the assimilation of SMOS data are shown. Among these activities, an effective data thinning strategy, a practical approach to reduce noise from the observed brightness temperatures and a bias correction scheme are of special interest. Firstly, SMOS data needs to be significantly thinned as the data volume delivered for a single orbit is too large for the current operational capabilities in any Numerical Weather Prediction system. Different thinning strategies have been analysed and tested. The most suitable one is the assimilation of SMOS brightness temperatures which match the ECMWF T511 (~40 km) reduced Gaussian Grid. Secondly, SMOS observational noise is reduced significantly by averaging the data in angular bins. In addition, this methodology contributes to further thinning of the SMOS data before the analysis. Finally, a bias correction scheme based on a CDF matching is applied to the observations to ensure an unbiased dataset ready for assimilation in the ECMWF surface analysis system. The current ECMWF operational soil moisture analysis system is based on a point-wise Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). This system assimilates proxy surface observations, i.e., 2 m air temperature and relative humidity to analyse the soil moisture state. Recent developments have also made it possible to assimilate remote sensing data coming from active and passive instruments. In particular, the ECMWF EKF can also assimilate data from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) onboard METOP-A and, more recently, from SMOS brightness temperatures observations. The first preliminary assimilation results will be shown. The analysis fields will be evaluated through comparison to in-situ data from different regions.

Remote sensing of the lightning heating effect duration with ground-based microwave radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Sulin; Pan, Yun; Lei, Lianfa; Ma, Lina; Li, Qing; Wang, Zhenhui

2018-06-01

Artificially triggered lightning events from May 26, 2017 to July 16, 2017 in Guangzhou Field Experiment Site for Lightning Research and Test (GFESL) were intentionally remotely sensed with a ground-based microwave radiometer for the first time in order to obtain the features of lightning heating effect. The microwave radiometer antenna was adjusted to point at a certain elevation angle towards the expected artificially triggered lightning discharging path. Eight of the 16 successfully artificially triggered lightning events were captured and the brightness temperature data at four frequencies in K and V bands were obtained. The results from data time series analysis show that artificially triggered lightning can make the radiometer generate brightness temperature pulses, and the amplitudes of these pulses are in the range of 2.0 K to 73.8 K. The brightness temperature pulses associated with 7 events can be used to estimate the duration of lightning heating effect through accounting the number of the pulses in the continuous pulse sequence and the sampling interval between four frequencies. The maximum duration of the lightning heating effect is 1.13 s, the minimum is 0.172 s, and the average is 0.63 s.

Intrinsic Brightness Temperatures of AGN Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homan, D. C.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Lister, M. L.; Ros, E.; Kellermann, K. I.; Cohen, M. H.; Vermeulen, R. C.; Zensus, J. A.; Kadler, M.

2006-05-01

We present a new method for studying the intrinsic brightness temperatures of the parsec-scale jet cores of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our method uses observed superluminal motions and observed brightness temperatures for a large sample of AGNs to constrain the characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature of the sample as a whole. To study changes in intrinsic brightness temperature, we assume that the Doppler factors of individual jets are constant in time, as justified by their relatively small changes in observed flux density. We find that in their median-low brightness temperature state, the sources in our sample have a narrow range of intrinsic brightness temperatures centered on a characteristic temperature, Tint~=3×1010 K, which is close to the value expected for equipartition, when the energy in the radiating particles equals the energy stored in the magnetic fields. However, in their maximum brightness state, we find that sources in our sample have a characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature greater than 2×1011 K, which is well in excess of the equipartition temperature. In this state, we estimate that the energy in radiating particles exceeds the energy in the magnetic field by a factor of ~105. We suggest that the excess of particle energy when sources are in their maximum brightness state is due to injection or acceleration of particles at the base of the jet. Our results suggest that the common method of estimating jet Doppler factors by using a single measurement of observed brightness temperature, the assumption of equipartition, or both may lead to large scatter or systematic errors in the derived values.

Retrieval of Ocean Surface Windspeed and Rainrate from the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) Brightness Temperature Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biswas, Sayak K.; Jones, Linwood; Roberts, Jason; Ruf, Christopher; Ulhorn, Eric; Miller, Timothy

2012-01-01

The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is a new airborne synthetic aperture passive microwave radiometer capable of wide swath imaging of the ocean surface wind speed under heavy precipitation e.g. in tropical cyclones. It uses interferometric signal processing to produce upwelling brightness temperature (Tb) images at its four operating frequencies 4, 5, 6 and 6.6 GHz [1,2]. HIRAD participated in NASA s Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) mission during 2010 as its first science field campaign. It produced Tb images with 70 km swath width and 3 km resolution from a 20 km altitude. From this, ocean surface wind speed and column averaged atmospheric liquid water content can be retrieved across the swath. The column averaged liquid water then could be related to an average rain rate. The retrieval algorithm (and the HIRAD instrument itself) is a direct descendant of the nadir-only Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer that is used operationally by the NOAA Hurricane Research Division to monitor tropical cyclones [3,4]. However, due to HIRAD s slant viewing geometry (compared to nadir viewing SFMR) a major modification is required in the algorithm. Results based on the modified algorithm from the GRIP campaign will be presented in the paper.

Bright carbonate deposits as evidence of aqueous alteration on (1) Ceres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Sanctis, M. C.; Raponi, A.; Ammannito, E.; Ciarniello, M.; Toplis, M. J.; McSween, H. Y.; Castillo-Rogez, J. C.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Carrozzo, F. G.; Marchi, S.; Tosi, F.; Zambon, F.; Capaccioni, F.; Capria, M. T.; Fonte, S.; Formisano, M.; Frigeri, A.; Giardino, M.; Longobardo, A.; Magni, G.; Palomba, E.; McFadden, L. A.; Pieters, C. M.; Jaumann, R.; Schenk, P.; Mugnuolo, R.; Raymond, C. A.; Russell, C. T.

2016-08-01

The typically dark surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is punctuated by areas of much higher albedo, most prominently in the Occator crater. These small bright areas have been tentatively interpreted as containing a large amount of hydrated magnesium sulfate, in contrast to the average surface, which is a mixture of low-albedo materials and magnesium phyllosilicates, ammoniated phyllosilicates and carbonates. Here we report high spatial and spectral resolution near-infrared observations of the bright areas in the Occator crater on Ceres. Spectra of these bright areas are consistent with a large amount of sodium carbonate, constituting the most concentrated known extraterrestrial occurrence of carbonate on kilometre-wide scales in the Solar System. The carbonates are mixed with a dark component and small amounts of phyllosilicates, as well as ammonium carbonate or ammonium chloride. Some of these compounds have also been detected in the plume of Saturn’s sixth-largest moon Enceladus. The compounds are endogenous and we propose that they are the solid residue of crystallization of brines and entrained altered solids that reached the surface from below. The heat source may have been transient (triggered by impact heating). Alternatively, internal temperatures may be above the eutectic temperature of subsurface brines, in which case fluids may exist at depth on Ceres today.

Evaluation of Cognitive Development with Piaget-Type Tests: Study of Young Bright, Average, and Retarded Children. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeVries, Rheta

A study was conducted to clarify a number of issues related to Piaget's theory of invariant sequantiality in child cognitive development. Ss were 143 middle-class white children of bright, average and retarded psychometric abilities (measured by performance on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test). Bright and average Ss were chronologically aged…

High brightness phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes on transparent and flexible cellulose films.

PubMed

Purandare, Sumit; Gomez, Eliot F; Steckl, Andrew J

2014-03-07

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) were fabricated on flexible and transparent reconstituted cellulose obtained from wood pulp. Cellulose is naturally available, abundant, and biodegradable and offers a unique substrate alternative for the fabrication of flexible OLEDs. Transparent cellulose material was formed by dissolution of cellulose in an organic solvent (dimethyl acetamide) at elevated temperature (165 °C) in the presence of a salt (LiCl). The optical transmission of 40-μm thick transparent cellulose sheet averaged 85% over the visible spectrum. High brightness and high efficiency thin film OLEDs were fabricated on transparent cellulose films using phosphorescent Ir(ppy)3 as the emitter material. The OLEDs achieved current and luminous emission efficiencies as high as 47 cd A(-1) and 20 lm W(-1), respectively, and a maximum brightness of 10,000 cd m(-2).

High brightness phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes on transparent and flexible cellulose films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purandare, Sumit; Gomez, Eliot F.; Steckl, Andrew J.

2014-03-01

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) were fabricated on flexible and transparent reconstituted cellulose obtained from wood pulp. Cellulose is naturally available, abundant, and biodegradable and offers a unique substrate alternative for the fabrication of flexible OLEDs. Transparent cellulose material was formed by dissolution of cellulose in an organic solvent (dimethyl acetamide) at elevated temperature (165 °C) in the presence of a salt (LiCl). The optical transmission of 40-μm thick transparent cellulose sheet averaged 85% over the visible spectrum. High brightness and high efficiency thin film OLEDs were fabricated on transparent cellulose films using phosphorescent Ir(ppy)3 as the emitter material. The OLEDs achieved current and luminous emission efficiencies as high as 47 cd A-1 and 20 lm W-1, respectively, and a maximum brightness of 10 000 cd m-2.

Microwave Radiometer Observations of Snowpack Properties and Comparison of U.S. Japanese Results. [Hokkaido, Japan and Vermont and North Dakota test sites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, A. T. C.

1985-01-01

Microwave data collected by field experiments over Vermont and Hokkaido and Nimbus-7 SMMR over North Dakota and Hokkaido were studied. The measured 37 GHz brightness temperatures show considerable effect of volume scattering by snow grains. The 37 GHz brightness for a new snowpack with average grain radius of 0.25 mm is generally about 40 K higher than the naturally compacted pack with average grain radius of 0.4 mm. The scattering effect is much less distinct for the 6.6 GHz. However, the layering effect is much stronger at the longer wavelength. For 10.7 and 18 GHz, the effect of layering and scattering vary due to different combinations of internal snow grain distribution and layering structures. Over the Hokkaido test site, the SMMR data are too coarse for the snow field. A better spatial resolution is required to study these snow fields.

Radio Thermal Emission from Pluto and Charon during the New Horizons Encounter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, Michael; Linscott, Ivan; Hinson, David; Tyler, G. L.; Strobel, Darrell F.; New Horizons Science Team

2017-10-01

As part of the New Horizons Radio-Science Experiment REX, radio thermal emission from Pluto and Charon (wavelength: 4.2 cm) was observed during the encounter on 14 July 2015. The primary REX measurement, a determination of the atmospheric height profile from the surface up to about 100 km, was conducted during an uplink radio occultation at both ingress and egress (Hinson et al., Icarus 290, 96-111, 2017). During the interval between ingress and egress, when the Earth and the REX uplink signals were occulted by the Pluto disk, the spacecraft antenna continued to point toward Earth and thus scanned diametrically across the Pluto nightside. The average diameter of the HGA 3 dB beam was ≈1100 km at the surface during this opportunity, thereby providing crudely resolved measurements of the radio brightness temperature across Pluto. The best resolution for the REX radiometry observations occurred shortly after closest approach, when the HGA was scanned twice across Pluto. These observations will be reported elsewhere (Linscott et al., Icarus, submitted, 2017). In addition to the resolved observations, full disk brightness temperature measurements of both bodies were performed during the approach (dayside) and departure (nightside) phases of the encounter. We present the results of these observations and provide a preliminary interpretation of the measured brightness temperatures.

Satellite and airborne IR sensor validation by an airborne interferometer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gumley, L.E.; Delst, P.F. van; Moeller, C.C.

1996-11-01

The validation of in-orbit longwave IR radiances from the GOES-8 Sounder and inflight longwave IR radiances from the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is described. The reference used is the airborne University of Wisconsin High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS). The calibration of each sensor is described. Data collected during the Ocean Temperature Interferometric Survey (OTIS) experiment in January 1995 is used in the comparison between sensors. Detailed forward calculations of at-sensor radiance are used to account for the difference in GOES-8 and HIS altitude and viewing geometry. MAS radiances and spectrally averaged HIS radiances are compared directly. Differences between GOES-8 andmore » HIS brightness temperatures, and GOES-8 and MAS brightness temperatures, are found to be with 1.0 K for the majority of longwave channels examined. The same validation approach will be used for future sensors such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). 11 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Studies of snowpack properties by passive microwave radiometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, A. T. C.; Hall, D. K.; Foster, J. L.; Rango, A.; Schmugge, T. J.

1978-01-01

Research involving the microwave characteristics of snow was undertaken in order to expand the information content currently available from remote sensing, namely the measurement of snowcovered area. Microwave radiation emitted from beneath the snow surface can be sensed and thus permits information on internal snowpack properties to be inferred. The intensity of radiation received is a function of the average temperature and emissivity of the snow layers and is commonly referred to as the brightness temperature (T sub b). The T sub b varies with snow grain and crystal sizes, liquid water content and snowpack temperature. The T sub b of the 0.8 cm wavelength channel was found to decrease moreso with increasing snow depth than the 1.4 cm channel. More scattering of the shorter wavelength radiation occurs thus resulting in a lower T sub b for shorter wavelengths in a dry snowpack. The longer 21.0 cm wavelength was used to assess the condition of the underlying ground. Ultimately it may be possible to estimate snow volume over large areas using calibrated brightness temperatures and consequently improve snowmelt runoff predictions.

S193 radiometer brightness temperature precision/accuracy for SL2 and SL3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pounds, D. J.; Krishen, K.

1975-01-01

The precision and accuracy with which the S193 radiometer measured the brightness temperature of ground scenes is investigated. Estimates were derived from data collected during Skylab missions. Homogeneous ground sites were selected and S193 radiometer brightness temperature data analyzed. The precision was expressed as the standard deviation of the radiometer acquired brightness temperature. Precision was determined to be 2.40 K or better depending on mode and target temperature.

Arctic sea ice signatures: L-band brightness temperature sensitivity comparison using two radiation transfer models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Friedrich; Drusch, Matthias; Kaleschke, Lars; Maaß, Nina; Tian-Kunze, Xiangshan; Mecklenburg, Susanne

2018-03-01

Sea ice is a crucial component for short-, medium- and long-term numerical weather predictions. Most importantly, changes of sea ice coverage and areas covered by thin sea ice have a large impact on heat fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere. L-band brightness temperatures from ESA's Earth Explorer SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) have been proven to be a valuable tool to derive thin sea ice thickness. These retrieved estimates were already successfully assimilated in forecasting models to constrain the ice analysis, leading to more accurate initial conditions and subsequently more accurate forecasts. However, the brightness temperature measurements can potentially be assimilated directly in forecasting systems, reducing the data latency and providing a more consistent first guess. As a first step towards such a data assimilation system we studied the forward operator that translates geophysical parameters provided by a model into brightness temperatures. We use two different radiative transfer models to generate top of atmosphere brightness temperatures based on ORAP5 model output for the 2012/2013 winter season. The simulations are then compared against actual SMOS measurements. The results indicate that both models are able to capture the general variability of measured brightness temperatures over sea ice. The simulated brightness temperatures are dominated by sea ice coverage and thickness changes are most pronounced in the marginal ice zone where new sea ice is formed. There we observe the largest differences of more than 20 K over sea ice between simulated and observed brightness temperatures. We conclude that the assimilation of SMOS brightness temperatures yields high potential for forecasting models to correct for uncertainties in thin sea ice areas and suggest that information on sea ice fractional coverage from higher-frequency brightness temperatures should be used simultaneously.

Analysis of Saturn's Thermal Emission at 2.2-cm Wavelength: Spatial Distribution of Ammonia Vapor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laraia, A. L.; Ingersoll, A. P.; Janssen, Michael A.; Gulkis, Samuel; Oyafuso, Fabiano A.; Allison, Michael D.

2013-01-01

This work focuses on determining the latitudinal structure of ammonia vapor in Saturn's cloud layer near 1.5 bars using the brightness temperature maps derived from the Cassini RADAR (Elachi et al., 2004) instrument, which works in a passive mode to measure thermal emission from Saturn at 2.2-cm wavelength. We perform an analysis of five brightness temperature maps that span epochs from 2005 to 2011, which are presented in a companion paper by Janssen et al. (2013a, this issue). The brightness temperature maps are representative of the spatial distribution of ammonia vapor, since ammonia gas is the only effective opacity source in Saturn's atmosphere at 2.2-cm wavelength. Relatively high brightness temperatures indicate relatively low ammonia relative humidity (RH), and vice versa. We compare the observed brightness temperatures to brightness temperatures computed using the Juno atmospheric microwave radiative transfer (JAMRT) program which includes both the means to calculate a tropospheric atmosphere model for Saturn and the means to carry out radiative transfer calculations at microwave frequencies. The reference atmosphere to which we compare has a 3x solar deep mixing ratio of ammonia (we use 1.352x10(exp -4) for the solar mixing ratio of ammonia vapor relative to H2; see Atreya, 2010) and is fully saturated above its cloud base. The maps are comprised of residual brightness temperatures-observed brightness temperature minus the model brightness temperature of the saturated atmosphere.

PROBING THE DARK AGES AT z ∼ 20: THE SCI-HI 21 cm ALL-SKY SPECTRUM EXPERIMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Voytek, Tabitha C.; Natarajan, Aravind; Peterson, Jeffrey B.

2014-02-10

We present first results from the SCI-HI experiment, which we used to measure the all-sky-averaged 21 cm brightness temperature in the redshift range 14.8 < z < 22.7. The instrument consists of a single broadband sub-wavelength size antenna and a sampling system for real-time data processing and recording. Preliminary observations were completed in 2013 June at Isla Guadalupe, a Mexican biosphere reserve located in the Pacific Ocean. The data was cleaned to excise channels contaminated by radio frequency interference, and the system response was calibrated by comparing the measured brightness temperature to the Global Sky Model of the Galaxy and bymore » independent measurement of Johnson noise from a calibration terminator. We present our results, discuss the cosmological implications, and describe plans for future work.« less

[Monitoring of brightness temperature fluctuation of water in SHF range].

PubMed

Ivanov, Yu D; Kozlov, A F; Galiullin, R A; Tatu, V Yu; Vesnin, S G; Ziborov, V S; Ivanova, N D; Pleshakova, T O

2017-01-01

The purpose of the research consisted in detection of fluctuation of brightness temperature (TSHF) of water in the area of the temperature Т = 42°С (that is critical for human) during its evaporation by SHF radiometry. Methods: Monitoring of the changes in brightness temperature of water in superhigh frequency (SHF) range (3.8-4.2 GHz) near the phase transition temperature of water Т = 42°С during its evaporation in the cone dielectric cell. The brightness temperature measurements were carried out using radiometer. Results: Fluctuation with maximum of brightness temperature was detected in 3.8-4.2 GHz frequency range near at the temperature of water Т = 42°С. It was characteristic for these TSHF fluctuations that brightness temperature rise time in this range of frequencies in ~4°С temperature range with 0.05-15°С/min gradient and a sharp decrease during 10 s connected with measuring vapor conditions. Then nonintensive fluctuation series was observed. At that, the environment temperature remained constant. Conclusion: The significant increasing in brightness temperature of water during its evaporation in SHF range near the temperature of Т ~42°С were detected. It was shown that for water, ТSHF pull with the amplitude DТSHF ~4°C are observed. At the same time, thermodynamic temperature virtually does not change. The observed effects can be used in the development of the systems for diadnostics of pathologies in human and analytical system.

Extreme Brightness Temperatures and Refractive Substructure in 3C273 with RadioAstron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Michael D.; Kovalev, Yuri Y.; Gwinn, Carl R.; Gurvits, Leonid I.; Narayan, Ramesh; Macquart, Jean-Pierre; Jauncey, David L.; Voitsik, Peter A.; Anderson, James M.; Sokolovsky, Kirill V.; Lisakov, Mikhail M.

2016-03-01

Earth-space interferometry with RadioAstron provides the highest direct angular resolution ever achieved in astronomy at any wavelength. RadioAstron detections of the classic quasar 3C 273 on interferometric baselines up to 171,000 km suggest brightness temperatures exceeding expected limits from the “inverse-Compton catastrophe” by two orders of magnitude. We show that at 18 cm, these estimates most likely arise from refractive substructure introduced by scattering in the interstellar medium. We use the scattering properties to estimate an intrinsic brightness temperature of 7× {10}12 {{K}}, which is consistent with expected theoretical limits, but which is ˜15 times lower than estimates that neglect substructure. At 6.2 cm, the substructure influences the measured values appreciably but gives an estimated brightness temperature that is comparable to models that do not account for the substructure. At 1.35 {{cm}}, the substructure does not affect the extremely high inferred brightness temperatures, in excess of {10}13 {{K}}. We also demonstrate that for a source having a Gaussian surface brightness profile, a single long-baseline estimate of refractive substructure determines an absolute minimum brightness temperature, if the scattering properties along a given line of sight are known, and that this minimum accurately approximates the apparent brightness temperature over a wide range of total flux densities.

Survey of the galactic disk from 1 = -150 deg to 1 = 82 deg in the submillimeter range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caux, Emmanuel; Serra, Guy

1987-01-01

The first almost complete survey of the galactic disk from 1 = -150 deg to 1 = 82 deg in the submillimeter range (effective wavelength = 380 microns), performed with the AGLAE balloon-borne instrument modified to include a submillimeter channel, is reported. The instrumentation and observational procedures are described, as are the signal processing and calibration. The results are presented as a profile of the submillimeter brightness of the galactic disk displayed as a function of the galactic longitude. This profile exhibits diffuse emission all along the disk with bright peaks associated with resolved sources. The averaged galactic spectrum is in agreement with a temperature distribution of the interstellar cold dust.

The prediction of tropopause height from clusters of brightness temperatures and its application in the stratified regression temperature retrievals using microwave and infrared satellite measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munteanu, M. J.; Piraino, P.; Jakubowicz, O.

1984-01-01

A total of 1575 radiosondes and the corresponding simulated brightness temperatures were used in an effort to derive a temperature retrieval based on the clusters of brightness temperatures. The 8 simulated channels, namely, 3 MSU and 5 IR of the TIROS-N satellite are used by the GLAS temperature retrieval method. The 3 MSU and 5 IR brightness temperatures were clustered into 17 cluster groups and a regression for the prediction of the tropopause height in mb was generated. The overall r.m.s. for the tropopause prediction is excellent, namely, around 16 mb for the summer and 23 mb for the winter. The correct cluster of brightness temperatures can be identified 98% of the time by the method of discriminatory classification if it is approximately a normal distribution or, in general, by the method of the nearest neighbor.

Results for Titan's atmosphere from its occultation of 28 Sagittarii

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hubbard, W. B.; Hunten, D. M.; Reitsema, H. J.; Brosch, N.; Nevo, Y.

1990-01-01

The occultation of the bright K giant star 28 Sgr by Titan was observed from three stations in the Mediterranean area, and the resulting data set is examined here. Average mesospheric temperatures of about 180 K are derived, with evidence for lateral and vertical atmospheric inhomogeneities on scales ranging from about 10-1000 km. The results are consistent with published models of Titan's atmosphere.

Red-emission phosphor's brightness deterioration by x-ray and brightness recovery phenomenon by heating.

PubMed

Nakamura, Masaaki; Chida, Koichi; Inaba, Yohei; Kobayashi, Ryota; Zuguchi, Masayuki

2017-06-26

There are no feasible real-time and direct skin dosimeters for interventional radiology. One would be available if there were x-ray phosphors that had no brightness change caused by x-ray irradiation, but the emission of the Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu phosphors investigated in our previous study was reduced by x-ray irradiation. We found that the brightness of those phosphors recovered, and the purpose of this study is to investigate their recovery phenomena. It is expected that more kinds of phosphors could be used in x-ray dosimeters if the brightness changes caused by x-rays are elucidated and prevented. Three kinds of phosphors-Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu-were irradiated by x-rays (2 Gy) to reduce their brightness. After the irradiation, brightness changes occurring at room temperature and at 80 °C were investigated. The irradiation reduced the brightness of all the phosphors by 5%-10%, but the brightness of each recovered immediately both at room temperature and at 80 °C. The recovery at 80 °C was faster than that at room temperature, and at both temperatures the recovered brightness remained at 95%-98% of the brightness before the x-ray irradiation. The brightness recovery phenomena of Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu phosphors occurring after brightness deterioration due to x-ray irradiation were found to be more significant at 80 °C than at room temperature. More kinds of phosphors could be used in x-ray scintillation dosimeters if the reasons for the brightness changes caused by x-rays were elucidated.

IRTM brightness temperature maps of the Martian south polar region during the polar night: The cold spots don't move

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paige, D. A.; Crisp, D.; Santee, M. L.; Richardson, M. I.

1993-01-01

A series of infrared thermal mapper (IRTM) south polar brightness temperature maps obtained by Viking Orbiter 2 during a 35-day period during the southern fall season in 1978 was examined. The maps show a number of phenomena that have been identified in previous studies, including day to day brightness temperature variations in individual low temperature regions and the tendency for IRTM 11-micron channel brightness temperatures to also decrease in regions where low 20-micron channel brightness temperatures are observed. The maps also show new phenomena, the most striking of which is a clear tendency for the low brightness temperature regions to occur at fixed geographic regions. During this season, the coldest low brightness temperatures appear to be concentrated in distinct regions, with spatial scales ranging from 50 to 300 km. There are approximately a dozen of these concentrations, with the largest centered near the location of the south residual polar cap. Other concentrations are located at Cavi Angusti and close to the craters Main, South, Lau, and Dana. Broader, less intense regions appear to be well correlated with the boundaries of the south polar layered deposits and the Mountains of Mitchell. No evidence for horizontal motion of any of these regions has been detected.

Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Tilted Convective Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hong, Ye; Haferman, Jeffrey L.; Olson, William S.; Kummerow, Christian D.

1998-01-01

Aircraft and ground-based radar data from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled-Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) show that convective systems are not always vertical. Instead, many are tilted from vertical. Satellite passive microwave radiometers observe the atmosphere at a viewing angle. For example, the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) on Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) on the TRMM satellite have an incident angle of about 50deg. Thus, the brightness temperature measured from one direction of tilt may be different than that viewed from the opposite direction due to the different optical depth. This paper presents the investigation of passive microwave brightness temperatures of tilted convective systems. To account for the effect of tilt, a 3-D backward Monte Carlo radiative transfer model has been applied to a simple tilted cloud model and a dynamically evolving cloud model to derive the brightness temperature. The radiative transfer results indicate that brightness temperature varies when the viewing angle changes because of the different optical depth. The tilt increases the displacements between high 19 GHz brightness temperature (Tb(sub 19)) due to liquid emission from lower level of cloud and the low 85 GHz brightness temperature (Tb(sub 85)) due to ice scattering from upper level of cloud. As the resolution degrades, the difference of brightness temperature due to the change of viewing angle decreases dramatically. The dislocation between Tb(sub 19) and Tb(sub 85), however, remains prominent.

Synthesizing SMOS Zero-Baselines with Aquarius Brightness Temperature Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colliander, A.; Dinnat, E.; Le Vine, D.; Kainulainen, J.

2012-01-01

SMOS [1] and Aquarius [2] are ESA and NASA missions, respectively, to make L-band measurements from the Low Earth Orbit. SMOS makes passive measurements whereas Aquarius measures both passive and active. SMOS was launched in November 2009 and Aquarius in June 2011.The scientific objectives of the missions are overlapping: both missions aim at mapping the global Sea Surface Salinity (SSS). Additionally, SMOS mission produces soil moisture product (however, Aquarius data will eventually be used for retrieving soil moisture too). The consistency of the brightness temperature observations made by the two instruments is essential for long-term studies of SSS and soil moisture. For resolving the consistency, the calibration of the instruments is the key. The basis of the SMOS brightness temperature level is the measurements performed with the so-called zero-baselines [3]; SMOS employs an interferometric measurement technique which forms a brightness temperature image from several baselines constructed by combination of multiple receivers in an array; zero-length baseline defines the overall brightness temperature level. The basis of the Aquarius brightness temperature level is resolved from the brightness temperature simulator combined with ancillary data such as antenna patterns and environmental models [4]. Consistency between the SMOS zero-baseline measurements and the simulator output would provide a robust basis for establishing the overall comparability of the missions.

Properties of bright solitons in averaged and unaveraged models for SDG fibres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Ajit; Kumar, Atul

1996-04-01

Using the slowly varying envelope approximation and averaging over the fibre cross-section the evolution equation for optical pulses in semiconductor-doped glass (SDG) fibres is derived from the nonlinear wave equation. Bright soliton solutions of this equation are obtained numerically and their properties are studied and compared with those of the bright solitons in the unaveraged model.

[Retrieval of the Optical Thickness and Cloud Top Height of Cirrus Clouds Based on AIRS IR High Spectral Resolution Data].

PubMed

Cao, Ya-nan; Wei, He-li; Dai, Cong-ming; Zhang, Xue-hai

2015-05-01

A study was carried out to retrieve optical thickness and cloud top height of cirrus clouds from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) high spectral resolution data in 1070~1135 cm-1 IR band using a Combined Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model (CART) by brightness temperature difference between model simulation and AIRS observation. The research is based on AIRS LIB high spectral infrared observation data combined with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud product data. Brightness temperature spectra based, on the retrieved cirrus optical thickness and cloud top height were simulated and compared with brightness temperature spectra of AIRS observation in the 650~1150 cm-1 band. The cirrus optical thickness and cloud top height retrieved were compared with brightness temperature of AIRS for channel 760 (900.56 cm-1, 11. 1 µm) and cirrus reflectance of MODIS cloud product. And cloud top height retrieved was compared with cloud top height from MODIS. Results show that the brightness temperature spectra simulated were basically consistent with AIRS observation under the condition of retrieval in the 650~1150 cm-1 band. It means that CART can be used to simulate AIRS brightness temperature spectra. The retrieved cirrus parameters are consistent with brightness temperature of AIRS for channel 11. 1 µm with low brightness temperature corresponding to large cirrus optical thickness and high cloud top height. And the retrieved cirrus parameters are consistent with cirrus reflectance of MODIS cloud product with high cirrus reflectance corresponding to large cirrus optical thickness and high cloud top height. Correlation coefficient of brightness temperature between retrieved cloud top height and MODIS cloud top height was relatively high. They are mostly located in the range of 8. 5~11.5 km, and their probability distribution trend is approximately identical. CART model is feasible to retrieve cirrus properties, and the retrieval is reliable.

Lunar brightness temperature from Microwave Radiometers data of Chang'E-1 and Chang'E-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, J.-Q.; Su, Y.; Zheng, L.; Liu, J.-J.

2011-10-01

Both of the Chinese lunar orbiter, Chang'E-1 and Chang'E-2 carried Microwave Radiometers (MRM) to obtain the brightness temperature of the Moon. Based on the different characteristics of these two MRMs, modified algorithms of brightness temperature and specific ground calibration parameters were proposed, and the corresponding lunar global brightness temperature maps were made here. In order to analyze the data distributions of these maps, normalization method was applied on the data series. The second channel data with large deviations were rectified, and the reasons of deviations were analyzed in the end.

Physical Models of Layered Polar Firn Brightness Temperatures from 0.5 to 2 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tan, Shurun; Aksoy, Mustafa; Brogioni, Marco; Macelloni, Giovanni; Durand, Michael; Jezek, Kenneth C.; Wang, Tian-Lin; Tsang, Leung; Johnson, Joel T.; Drinkwater, Mark R.;

Phase-shifting human circadian rhythms: influence of sleep timing, social contact and light exposure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duffy, J. F.; Kronauer, R. E.; Czeisler, C. A.

1996-01-01

1. Both the timing of behavioural events (activity, sleep and social interactions) and the environmental light-dark cycle have been reported to contribute to entrainment of human circadian rhythms to the 24 h day. Yet, the relative contribution of those putative behavioural synchronizers to that of light exposure remains unclear. 2. To investigate this, we inverted the schedule of rest, sedentary activity and social contact of thirty-two young men either with or without exposure to bright light. 3. On this inverted schedule, the endogenous component of the core temperature rhythm of subjects who were exposed to bright light showed a significant phase shift, demonstrating that they were adapting to the new schedule. In contrast, the core temperature rhythm of subjects who were not exposed to bright light moved on average 0.2 h later per day and after 10 days had not significantly adapted to the new schedule. 4. The direction of phase shift in the groups exposed to bright light was dependent on the time of bright light exposure, while control subjects drifted to a later hour regardless of the timing of their schedule of sleep timing, social contact and meals. 5. These results support the concept that the light-dark cycle is the most important synchronizer of the human circadian system. They suggest that inversion of the sleep-wake, rest-activity and social contact cycles provides relatively minimal drive for resetting the human circadian pacemaker. 6. These data indicate that interventions designed to phase shift human circadian rhythms for adjustment to time zone changes or altered work schedules should focus on properly timed light exposure.

New Observations of Subarcsecond Photospheric Bright Points

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berger, T. E.; Schrijver, C. J.; Shine, R. A.; Tarbell, T. D.; Title, A. M.; Scharmer, G.

1995-01-01

We have used an interference filter centered at 4305 A within the bandhead of the CH radical (the 'G band') and real-time image selection at the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma to produce very high contrast images of subarcsecond photospheric bright points at all locations on the solar disk. During the 6 day period of 15-20 Sept. 1993 we observed active region NOAA 7581 from its appearance on the East limb to a near-disk-center position on 20 Sept. A total of 1804 bright points were selected for analysis from the disk center image using feature extraction image processing techniques. The measured FWHM distribution of the bright points in the image is lognormal with a modal value of 220 km (0.30 sec) and an average value of 250 km (0.35 sec). The smallest measured bright point diameter is 120 km (0.17 sec) and the largest is 600 km (O.69 sec). Approximately 60% of the measured bright points are circular (eccentricity approx. 1.0), the average eccentricity is 1.5, and the maximum eccentricity corresponding to filigree in the image is 6.5. The peak contrast of the measured bright points is normally distributed. The contrast distribution variance is much greater than the measurement accuracy, indicating a large spread in intrinsic bright-point contrast. When referenced to an averaged 'quiet-Sun' area in the image, the modal contrast is 29% and the maximum value is 75%; when referenced to an average intergranular lane brightness in the image, the distribution has a modal value of 61% and a maximum of 119%. The bin-averaged contrast of G-band bright points is constant across the entire measured size range. The measured area of the bright points, corrected for pixelation and selection effects, covers about 1.8% of the total image area. Large pores and micropores occupy an additional 2% of the image area, implying a total area fraction of magnetic proxy features in the image of 3.8%. We discuss the implications of this area fraction measurement in the context of previously published measurements which show that typical active region plage has a magnetic filling factor on the order of 10% or greater. The results suggest that in the active region analyzed here, less than 50% of the small-scale magnetic flux tubes are demarcated by visible proxies such as bright points or pores.

The Influence of Microphysical Cloud Parameterization on Microwave Brightness Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skofronick-Jackson, Gail M.; Gasiewski, Albin J.; Wang, James R.; Zukor, Dorothy J. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The microphysical parameterization of clouds and rain-cells plays a central role in atmospheric forward radiative transfer models used in calculating passive microwave brightness temperatures. The absorption and scattering properties of a hydrometeor-laden atmosphere are governed by particle phase, size distribution, aggregate density., shape, and dielectric constant. This study identifies the sensitivity of brightness temperatures with respect to the microphysical cloud parameterization. Cloud parameterizations for wideband (6-410 GHz observations of baseline brightness temperatures were studied for four evolutionary stages of an oceanic convective storm using a five-phase hydrometeor model in a planar-stratified scattering-based radiative transfer model. Five other microphysical cloud parameterizations were compared to the baseline calculations to evaluate brightness temperature sensitivity to gross changes in the hydrometeor size distributions and the ice-air-water ratios in the frozen or partly frozen phase. The comparison shows that, enlarging the rain drop size or adding water to the partly Frozen hydrometeor mix warms brightness temperatures by up to .55 K at 6 GHz. The cooling signature caused by ice scattering intensifies with increasing ice concentrations and at higher frequencies. An additional comparison to measured Convection and Moisture LA Experiment (CAMEX 3) brightness temperatures shows that in general all but, two parameterizations produce calculated T(sub B)'s that fall within the observed clear-air minima and maxima. The exceptions are for parameterizations that, enhance the scattering characteristics of frozen hydrometeors.

PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS OF SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chakrabarti, Sukanya; Magnelli, Benjamin; Lutz, Dieter

2013-08-20

We use the photometric redshift method of Chakrabarti and McKee to infer photometric redshifts of submillimeter galaxies with far-IR (FIR) Herschel data obtained as part of the PACS Evolutionary Probe program. For the sample with spectroscopic redshifts, we demonstrate the validity of this method over a large range of redshifts (4 {approx}> z {approx}> 0.3) and luminosities, finding an average accuracy in (1 + z{sub phot})/(1 + z{sub spec}) of 10%. Thus, this method is more accurate than other FIR photometric redshift methods. This method is different from typical FIR photometric methods in deriving redshifts from the light-to-gas mass (L/M)more » ratio of infrared-bright galaxies inferred from the FIR spectral energy distribution, rather than dust temperatures. To assess the dependence of our photometric redshift method on the data in this sample, we contrast the average accuracy of our method when we use PACS data, versus SPIRE data, versus both PACS and SPIRE data. We also discuss potential selection effects that may affect the Herschel sample. Once the redshift is derived, we can determine physical properties of infrared-bright galaxies, including the temperature variation within the dust envelope, luminosity, mass, and surface density. We use data from the GOODS-S field to calculate the star formation rate density (SFRD) of submillimeter bright sources detected by AzTEC and PACS. The AzTEC-PACS sources, which have a threshold 850 {mu}m flux {approx}> 5 mJy, contribute 15% of the SFRD from all ultraluminous infrared galaxies (L{sub IR} {approx}> 10{sup 12} L{sub Sun }), and 3% of the total SFRD at z {approx} 2.« less

Extreme Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling at the Plasmapause: a - In-A Bright SAR Arc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgardner, J.; Wroten, J.; Semeter, J.; Mendillo, M.; Kozyra, J.

2007-05-01

Heat conduction from the ring current - plasmapause interaction region generates high electron temperature within the ionosphere that drive stable auroral red (SAR) arc emission at 6300 A. On the night of 29 October 1991, a SAR arc was observed using an all-sky imager and meridional imaging spectrograph at Millstone Hill. At xxxx UT, the SAR arc was south of Millstone at approximate L = 2 and reached emission levels of 13,000 rayleighs (R). Over two solar cycle of imaging observations have been made at Millstone Hill, and SAR arc brightness levels (excluding this event) averaged ~ 500 R. Simultaneous observations using the incoherent scatter radar (ISR), a DMSP satellite pass, the MSIS neutral atmosphere and SAR arc modeling using the Rees and Roble formalism succeeded in simulations of the observed emission. The reason for the unusual brightness was not the extreme temperatures achieved (and therefore heat conduction input), but the fact that the end of the plasmapause field line where the elevated Te values were measured did not occur in the ionospheric trough, but equatorward of it, thereby having far more ambient electrons to heat and subsequently collide with atomic oxygen. This unusual spatial geometry probably resulted from unusual convection patterns early in a superstorm scenario.

Assimilation of Global Radar Backscatter and Radiometer Brightness Temperature Observations to Improve Soil Moisture and Land Evaporation Estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; Verhoest, N. E. C.; Hahn, S.; Reichle, R. H.; Miralles, D. G.

2017-01-01

Active radar backscatter (s?) observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and passive radiometer brightness temperature (TB) observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated either individually or jointly into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) to improve its simulations of soil moisture and land evaporation. To enable s? and TB assimilation, GLEAM is coupled to the Water Cloud Model and the L-band Microwave Emission from the Biosphere (L-MEB) model. The innovations, i.e. differences between observations and simulations, are mapped onto the model soil moisture states through an Ensemble Kalman Filter. The validation of surface (0-10 cm) soil moisture simulations over the period 2010-2014 against in situ measurements from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) shows that assimilating s? or TB alone improves the average correlation of seasonal anomalies (Ran) from 0.514 to 0.547 and 0.548, respectively. The joint assimilation further improves Ran to 0.559. Associated enhancements in daily evaporative flux simulations by GLEAM are validated based on measurements from 22 FLUXNET stations. Again, the singular assimilation improves Ran from 0.502 to 0.536 and 0.533, respectively for s? and TB, whereas the best performance is observed for the joint assimilation (Ran = 0.546). These results demonstrate the complementary value of assimilating radar backscatter observations together with brightness temperatures for improving estimates of hydrological variables, as their joint assimilation outperforms the assimilation of each observation type separately.

Titan's Surface Temperatures Maps from Cassini - CIRS Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cottini, Valeria; Nixon, C. A.; Jennings, D. E.; Anderson, C. M.; Samuelson, R. E.; Irwin, P. G. J.; Flasar, F. M.

2009-09-01

The Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observations of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, are providing us with the ability to detect the surface temperature of the planet by studying its outgoing radiance through a spectral window in the thermal infrared at 19 μm (530 cm-1) characterized by low opacity. Since the first acquisitions of CIRS Titan data the instrument has gathered a large amount of spectra covering a wide range of latitudes, longitudes and local times. We retrieve the surface temperature and the atmospheric temperature profile by modeling proper zonally averaged spectra of nadir observations with radiative transfer computations. Our forward model uses the correlated-k approximation for spectral opacity to calculate the emitted radiance, including contributions from collision induced pairs of CH4, N2 and H2, haze, and gaseous emission lines (Irwin et al. 2008). The retrieval method uses a non-linear least-squares optimal estimation technique to iteratively adjust the model parameters to achieve a spectral fit (Rodgers 2000). We show an accurate selection of the wide amount of data available in terms of footprint diameter on the planet and observational conditions, together with the retrieved results. Our results represent formal retrievals of surface brightness temperatures from the Cassini CIRS dataset using a full radiative transfer treatment, and we compare to the earlier findings of Jennings et al. (2009). In future, application of our methodology over wide areas should greatly increase the planet coverage and accuracy of our knowledge of Titan's surface brightness temperature. References: Irwin, P.G.J., et al.: "The NEMESIS planetary atmosphere radiative transfer and retrieval tool" (2008). JQSRT, Vol. 109, pp. 1136-1150, 2008. Rodgers, C. D.: "Inverse Methods For Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice". World Scientific, Singapore, 2000. Jennings, D.E., et al.: "Titan's Surface Brightness Temperatures." Ap. J. L., Vol. 691, pp. L103-L105, 2009.

Classification of sea ice types with single-band (33.6 GHz) airborne passive microwave imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eppler, Duane T.; Farmer, L. Dennis; Lohanick, Alan W.; Hoover, Mervyn

1986-09-01

During March 1983 extensive high-quality airborne passive Ka band (33.6 GHz) microwave imagery and coincident high-resolution aerial photography were obtained of ice along a 378-km flight line in the Beaufort Sea. Analysis of these data suggests that four classes of winter surfaces can be distinguished solely on the basis of 33.6-GHz brightness temperature: open water, frazil, old ice, and young/first-year ice. New ice (excluding frazil) and nilas display brightness temperatures that overlap the range of temperatures characteristic of old ice and, to a lesser extent, young/first-year ice. Scenes in which a new ice or nilas are present in appreciable amounts are subject to substantial errors in classification if static measures of Ka band radiometric brightness temperature alone are considered. Textural characteristics of nilas and new ice, however, differ significantly from textural features characteristic of other ice types and probably can be used with brightness temperature data to classify ice type in high-resolution single-band microwave images. In any case, open water is radiometrically the coldest surface observed in any scene. Lack of overlap between brightness temperatures characteristic of other surfaces indicates that estimates of the areal extent of open water based on only 33.6-GHz brightness temperatures are accurate.

Extremely Low Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures Due to Thunderstorms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cecil, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

Extreme events by their nature fall outside the bounds of routine experience. With imperfect or ambiguous measuring systems, it is appropriate to question whether an unusual measurement represents an extreme event or is the result of instrument errors or other sources of noise. About three weeks after the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite began collecting data in Dec 1997, a thunderstorm was observed over northern Argentina with 85 GHz brightness temperatures below 50 K and 37 GHz brightness temperatures below 70 K (Zipser et al. 2006). These values are well below what had previously been observed from satellite sensors with lower resolution. The 37 GHz brightness temperatures are also well below those measured by TRMM for any other storm in the subsequent 16 years. Without corroborating evidence, it would be natural to suspect a problem with the instrument, or perhaps an irregularity with the platform during the first weeks of the satellite mission. Automated quality control flags or other procedures in retrieval algorithms could treat these measurements as errors, because they fall outside the expected bounds. But the TRMM satellite also carries a radar and a lightning sensor, both confirming the presence of an intense thunderstorm. The radar recorded 40+ dBZ reflectivity up to about 19 km altitude. More than 200 lightning flashes per minute were recorded. That same storm's 19 GHz brightness temperatures below 150 K would normally be interpreted as the result of a low-emissivity water surface (e.g., a lake, or flood waters) if not for the simultaneous measurements of such intense convection. This paper will examine records from TRMM and related satellite sensors including SSMI, AMSR-E, and the new GMI to find the strongest signatures resulting from thunderstorms, and distinguishing those from sources of noise. The lowest brightness temperatures resulting from thunderstorms as seen by TRMM have been in Argentina in November and December. For SSMI sensors carried on five DMSP satellites examined so far, the lowest thunderstorm-related brightness temperatures have been from Argentina in November - December and from Minnesota in June-July. The Minnesota cases were associated with spotter reports of large hail, significant severe wind, and tornadoes. Those locations have the record-holders for each satellite. The lowest AMSR-E 36.5 GHz brightness temperatures associated with deep convection have been in Argentina; the lowest 89.0 GHz brightness temperatures were from Typhoon Bolaven in the Philippine Sea. This paper will show examples of cases with the lowest brightness temperatures, and map the locations of these and other storms with brightness temperatures nearly as low. The study is largely motivated by the new GMI sensor on the Global Precipitation Mission core satellite, launched in February 2014, with its high resolution expected to reveal unprecedented low brightness temperatures when extreme events are encountered.

Cloud top structure of Venus revealed by Subaru/COMICS mid-infrared images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, T. M.; Sagawa, H.; Kouyama, T.; Mitsuyama, K.; Satoh, T.; Ohtsuki, S.; Ueno, M.; Kasaba, Y.; Nakamura, M.; Imamura, T.

2014-11-01

We have investigated the cloud top structure of Venus by analyzing ground-based images taken at the mid-infrared wavelengths of 8.66 μm and 11.34 μm. Venus at a solar phase angle of ∼90°, with the morning terminator in view, was observed by the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS), mounted on the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, during the period October 25-29, 2007. The disk-averaged brightness temperatures for the observation period are ∼230 K and ∼238 K at 8.66 μm and 11.34 μm, respectively. The obtained images with good signal-to-noise ratio and with high spatial resolution (∼200 km at the sub-observer point) provide several important findings. First, we present observational evidence, for the first time, of the possibility that the westward rotation of the polar features (the hot polar spots and the surrounding cold collars) is synchronized between the northern and southern hemispheres. Second, after high-pass filtering, the images reveal that streaks and mottled and patchy patterns are distributed over the entire disk, with typical amplitudes of ∼0.5 K, and vary from day to day. The detected features, some of which are similar to those seen in past UV images, result from inhomogeneities of both the temperature and the cloud top altitude. Third, the equatorial center-to-limb variations of brightness temperatures have a systematic day-night asymmetry, except those on October 25, that the dayside brightness temperatures are higher than the nightside brightness temperatures by 0-4 K under the same viewing geometry. Such asymmetry would be caused by the propagation of the migrating semidiurnal tide. Finally, by applying the lapse rates deduced from previous studies, we demonstrate that the equatorial center-to-limb curves in the two spectral channels give access to two parameters: the cloud scale height H and the cloud top altitude zc. The acceptable models for data on October 25 are obtained at H = 2.4-4.3 km and zc = 66-69 km; this supports previous results determined from spacecraft observations.

Effects of evening bright light exposure on melatonin, body temperature and sleep.

PubMed

Bunnell; Treiber; Phillips; Berger

1992-03-01

Five male subjects were exposed to a single 2-h period of bright (2500 lux) or dim (<100 lux) light prior to sleep on two consecutive nights. The two conditions were repeated the following week in opposite order. Bright light significantly suppressed salivary melatonin and raised rectal temperature 0.3 degrees C (which remained elevated during the first 1.5 h of sleep), without affecting tympanic temperature. Bright light also increased REM latency, NREM period length, EEG spectral power in low frequency, 0.75-8 Hz and sigma, 12-14 Hz (sleep spindle) bandwidths during the first hour of sleep, and power of all frequency bands (0.5-32 Hz) within the first NREMP. Potentiation of EEG slow wave activity (0.5-4.0 Hz) by bright light persisted through the end of the second NREMP. The enhanced low-frequency power and delayed REM sleep after bright light exposure could represent a circadian phase-shift and/or the effect of an elevated rectal temperature, possibly mediated by the suppression of melatonin.

The Seasat scanning multichannel microwave radiometer /SMMR/: Antenna pattern corrections - Development and implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Njoku, E. G.; Christensen, E. J.; Cofield, R. E.

1980-01-01

The antenna temperatures measured by the Seasat scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) differ from the true brightness temperatures of the observed scene due to antenna pattern effects, principally from antenna sidelobe contributions and cross-polarization coupling. To provide accurate brightness temperatures convenient for geophysical parameter retrievals the antenna temperatures are processed through a series of stages, collectively known as the antenna pattern correction (APC) algorithm. A description of the development and implementation of the APC algorithm is given, along with an error analysis of the resulting brightness temperatures.

New Observations of Subarcsecond Photospheric Bright Points

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berger, T. E.; Schrijver, C. J.; Shine, R. A.; Tarbell, T. D.; Title, A. M.; Scharmer, G.

1995-01-01

We have used an interference filter centered at 4305 A within the bandhead of the CH radical (the 'G band') and real-time image selection at the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma to produce very high contrast images of subarcsecond photospheric bright points at all locations on the solar disk. During the 6 day period of 1993 September 15-20 we observed active region NOAA 7581 from its appearance on the East limb to a near-disk-center position on September 20. A total of 1804 bright points were selected for analysis from the disk center image using feature extraction image processing techniques. The measured Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) distribution of the bright points in the image is lognormal with a modal value of 220 km (0 sec .30) and an average value of 250 km (0 sec .35). The smallest measured bright point diameter is 120 km (0 sec .17) and the largest is 600 km (O sec .69). Approximately 60% of the measured bright points are circular (eccentricity approx. 1.0), the average eccentricity is 1.5, and the maximum eccentricity corresponding to filigree in the image is 6.5. The peak contrast of the measured bright points is normally distributed. The contrast distribution variance is much greater than the measurement accuracy, indicating a large spread in intrinsic bright-point contrast. When referenced to an averaged 'quiet-Sun' area in the image, the modal contrast is 29% and the maximum value is 75%; when referenced to an average intergranular lane brightness in the image, the distribution has a modal value of 61% and a maximum of 119%. The bin-averaged contrast of G-band bright points is constant across the entire measured size range. The measured area of the bright points, corrected for pixelation and selection effects, covers about 1.8% of the total image area. Large pores and micropores occupy an additional 2% of the image area, implying a total area fraction of magnetic proxy features in the image of 3.8%. We discuss the implications of this area fraction measurement in the context of previously published measurements which show that typical active region plage has a magnetic filling factor on the order of 10% or greater. The results suggest that in the active region analyzed here, less than 50% of the small-scale magnetic flux tubes are demarcated by visible proxies such as bright points or pores.

Diurnal Variations of Titan's Surface Temperatures From Cassini -CIRS Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cottini, Valeria; Nixon, Conor; Jennings, Don; Anderson, Carrie; Samuelson, Robert; Irwin, Patrick; Flasar, F. Michael

The Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observations of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, are providing us with the ability to detect the surface temperature of the planet by studying its outgoing radiance through a spectral window in the thermal infrared at 19 m (530 cm-1) characterized by low opacity. Since the first acquisitions of CIRS Titan data the in-strument has gathered a large amount of spectra covering a wide range of latitudes, longitudes and local times. We retrieve the surface temperature and the atmospheric temperature pro-file by modeling proper zonally averaged spectra of nadir observations with radiative transfer computations. Our forward model uses the correlated-k approximation for spectral opacity to calculate the emitted radiance, including contributions from collision induced pairs of CH4, N2 and H2, haze, and gaseous emission lines (Irwin et al. 2008). The retrieval method uses a non-linear least-squares optimal estimation technique to iteratively adjust the model parameters to achieve a spectral fit (Rodgers 2000). We show an accurate selection of the wide amount of data available in terms of footprint diameter on the planet and observational conditions, together with the retrieved results. Our results represent formal retrievals of surface brightness temperatures from the Cassini CIRS dataset using a full radiative transfer treatment, and we compare to the earlier findings of Jennings et al. (2009). The application of our methodology over wide areas has increased the planet coverage and accuracy of our knowledge of Titan's surface brightness temperature. In particular we had the chance to look for diurnal variations in surface temperature around the equator: a trend with slowly increasing temperature toward the late afternoon reveals that diurnal temperature changes are present on Titan surface. References: Irwin, P.G.J., et al.: "The NEMESIS planetary atmosphere radiative transfer and retrieval tool" (2008). JQSRT, Vol. 109, pp. 1136-1150, 2008. Rodgers, C. D.: "Inverse Methods For Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice". World Scientific, Singapore, 2000. Jennings, D.E., et al.: "Titan's Surface Brightness Temperatures." Ap. J. L., Vol. 691, pp. L103-L105, 2009.

Anisotropy of thermal infrared remote sensing over urban areas : assessment from airborne data and modeling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hénon, A.; Mestayer, P.; Lagouarde, J.-P.; Lee, J. H.

2009-09-01

Due to the morphological complexity of the urban canopy and to the variability in thermal properties of the building materials, the heterogeneity of the surface temperatures generates a strong directional anisotropy of thermal infrared remote sensing signal. Thermal infrared (TIR) data obtained with an airborne FLIR camera over Toulouse (France) city centre during the CAPITOUL experiment (feb. 2004 - feb. 2005) show brightness temperature anisotropies ranging from 3 °C by night to more than 10 °C by sunny days. These data have been analyzed in view of developing a simple approach to correct TIR satellite remote sensing from the canopy-generated anisotropy, and to further evaluate the sensible heat fluxes. The methodology is based on the identification of 6 different classes of surfaces: roofs, walls and grounds, sunlit or shaded, respectively. The thermo-radiative model SOLENE is used to simulate, with a 1 m resolution computational grid, the surface temperatures of an 18000 m² urban district, in the same meteorological conditions as during the observation. A pixel-by-pixel comparison with both hand-held temperature measurements and airborne camera images allows to assess the actual values of the radiative and thermal parameters of the scene elements. SOLENE is then used to simulate a generic street-canyon geometry, whose sizes average the morphological parameters of the actual streets in the district, for 18 different geographical orientations. The simulated temperatures are then integrated for different viewing positions, taking into account shadowing and masking, and directional temperatures are determined for the 6 surface classes. The class ratios in each viewing direction are derived from images of the district generated by using the POVRAY software, and used to weigh the temperatures of each class and to compute the resulting directional brightness temperature at the district scale for a given sun direction (time in the day). Simulated and measured anisotropies are finally compared for several flights over Toulouse in summer and winter. An inverse method is further proposed to obtain the surface temperatures from the directional brightness temperatures, which may be extended to deduce the sensible heat fluxes separately from the buildings and from the ground.

Evaluation and analysis of Seasat-A scanning multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Antenna Pattern Correction (APC) algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kitzis, J. L.; Kitzis, S. N.

1979-01-01

The brightness temperature data produced by the SMMR final Antenna Pattern Correction (APC) algorithm is discussed. The algorithm consisted of: (1) a direct comparison of the outputs of the final and interim APC algorithms; and (2) an analysis of a possible relationship between observed cross track gradients in the interim brightness temperatures and the asymmetry in the antenna temperature data. Results indicate a bias between the brightness temperature produced by the final and interim APC algorithm.

Environmental Effects on the Metallicities of Early-Type Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Christine; Oliversen, Ronald (Technical Monitor)

2004-01-01

We completed and published two papers in the Astrophysical Journal based on research from grant. In the first paper we analyzed nine X-ray-bright Virgo early-type galaxies observed by both ASCA and ROSAT. Through spatially resolved spectroscopy, we determined the radial temperature profiles and abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe for six galaxies. The temperature profiles are consistent with isothermal temperatures outside of cooler regions at the galaxies' centers. We present new evidence for iron abundance gradients in NGC 4472 and NGC 4649 and confirm the previous results on NGC 4636. Mg and Si abundance gradients on average are flatter than those of iron and correspond to an underabundance of α-process elements at high Fe values, while at low iron the element ratios favor enrichment by Type II supernovae (SNe). We explain the observed trend using the metallicity dependence of SN Ia metal production and present constraints on the available theoretical modeling for low-metallicity inhibition of SNe Ia. In the second paper We analyzed nine X-ray-bright Virgo early-type galaxies observed by both ASCA and ROSAT. Through spatially resolved spectroscopy, we determined the radial temperature profiles and abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe for six galaxies. The temperature profiles are consistent with isothermal temperatures outside of cooler regions at the galaxies' centers. We present new evidence for iron abundance gradients in NGC 4472 and NGC 4649 and confirm the previous results on NGC 4636. Mg and Si abundance gradients on average are flatter than those of iron and correspond to an underabundance of α-process elements at high Fe values, while at low iron the element ratios favor enrichment by Type I1 supernovae (SNe). We explain the observed trend using the metallicity dependence of SN Ia metal production and present constraints on the available theoretical modeling for low-metallicity inhibition of SNe Ia.

Study of the model of calibrating differences of brightness temperature from geostationary satellite generated by time zone differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Weidong; Shan, Xinjian; Qu, Chunyan

2010-11-01

In comparison with polar-orbiting satellites, geostationary satellites have a higher time resolution and wider field of visions, which can cover eleven time zones (an image covers about one third of the Earth's surface). For a geostationary satellite panorama graph at a point of time, the brightness temperature of different zones is unable to represent the thermal radiation information of the surface at the same point of time because of the effect of different sun solar radiation. So it is necessary to calibrate brightness temperature of different zones with respect to the same point of time. A model of calibrating the differences of the brightness temperature of geostationary satellite generated by time zone differences is suggested in this study. A total of 16 curves of four positions in four different stages are given through sample statistics of brightness temperature of every 5 days synthetic data which are from four different time zones (time zones 4, 6, 8, and 9). The above four stages span January -March (winter), April-June (spring), July-September (summer), and October-December (autumn). Three kinds of correct situations and correct formulas based on curves changes are able to better eliminate brightness temperature rising or dropping caused by time zone differences.

Calculation of gyrosynchrotron radiation brightness temperature for outer bright loop of ICME

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Weiying; Wu, Ji; Wang, C. B.; Wang, S.

:Solar polar orbit radio telescope (SPORT) is proposed to detect the high density plasma clouds of outer bright loop of ICMEs from solar orbit with large inclination. Of particular interest is following the propagation of the plasma clouds with remote sensor in radio wavelength band. Gyrosynchrotron emission is a main radio radiation mechanism of the plasma clouds and can provide information of interplanetary magnetic field. In this paper, we statistically analyze the electron density, electron temperature and magnetic field of background solar wind in time of quiet sun and ICMEs propagation. We also estimate the fluctuation range of the electron density, electron temperature and magnetic field of outer bright loop of ICMEs. Moreover, we calculate and analyze the emission brightness temperature and degree of polarization on the basis of the study of gyrosynchrotron emission, absorption and polarization characteristics as the optical depth is less than or equal to 1.

Modelling CLPX IOP3 Radiometric Data by Means of the Dense Media Theory: Preliminary Results for the LSOS Test Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tedesco, Marco; Kim, Edward J.; Cline, Don; Graf, Tobias; Koike, Toshio; Armstrong, Richard; Brodzik, Mary Jo; Hardy, Janet

2003-01-01

The capabilities of the Dense Media Radiative Transfer model using the Quasi Crystalline Approximation with Coherent Potential (QCA-CP) to reproduce measured radiometric data were tested using the University of Tokyo Ground Based Microwave Radiometer (GBMR-7) during the third Intensive Observation Period (IOP3) of the NASA Cold-land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX). The data were collected at the Local-Scale Observation Site (LSOS), a 0.8-ha study site consisting of two open meadows separated by trees. Intensive measurements were also made of snow depth and temperature, density, and grain size profiles. A DMRT model is needed to describe radiative transfer in a medium such as snow because the assumption of independent scattering used in classical radiative transfer theory (CRT) is not valid. Validation of the DMRT approach requires a relationship between measured snow grain size and the DMRT approximation of snow grain radius as spherical particles with a mean radius of the log-normal particle-size distribution. This relationship is very important for a better understanding of snow modelling and for practical applications. DMRT simulations were compared with observations of microwave brightnesses at 18.7, 36.5 and 89-GHz (V and H polarizations) collected on February-1 9-25, 2003. Observation angles ranged from 30\\deg to 70\\deg. Model inputs included measured snow parameters except mean grain size. The average snow temperature, fractional volume and depth were held constant, together with the ice and soil permittivities. The minimum and maximum measured mean grain sizes were used to test the capabilities of the DMRT to reproduce the brightnesses as upper and lower limits. The sensitivity to the largest and smallest measured grain size in the three classes of minimum, medium and maximum observed grain sizes was also investigated. DMRT particle sizes yielding a best-fit to the experimental data for each date were computed. Results show that the measured brightnesses fall within the range of simulated brightnesses using the smallest and largest measured grain size values. The DMRT best-fit radii are comparable to the average radii for the medium observed grain sizes.

Heavy thunderstorms observed over land by the Nimbus 7 scanning multichannel microwave radiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spencer, R. W.; Olson, W. S.; Martin, D. W.; Weinman, J. A.; Santek, D. A.; Wu, R.

1983-01-01

Brightness temperatures obtained through examination of microwave data from the Nimbus 7 satellite are noted to be much lower than those expected on the strength of radiation emanating from rain-producing clouds. Very cold brightness temperature cases all coincided with heavy thunderstorm rainfall, with the cold temperatures being attributable to scattering by a layer of ice hydrometeors in the upper parts of the storms. It is accordingly suggested that brightness temperatures observed by satellite microwave radiometers can sometimes distinguish heavy rain over land.

Carbon monoxide line emission from photon dominated regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koester, B.; Stoerzer, H.; Stutzki, J.; Sternberg, A.

1994-04-01

We present a theoretical study of (12)CO and (13)CO rotational line emission from photon dominated regions (PDRs). We incorporate the effects of clumpy cloud structure by computing the physical structures of plane-parallel photo dominated PDRs with finite thickness which are illuminated by UV-radiation fields from either one or both sides. We examine the influence of the gas density (no (H) = 10 4/cu cm to 107/cu cm), the UV intensity (chi = 103 to 106 times the intensity of the average interstellar UV field), the cloud thickness (measured in units of the visual extinction (AV, 2 less than or = AV less than or = 10) and the Doppler width (1 km/s and 3 km/s) on the emergent CO line center brightness temperatures. We explicitly include the effects of the C-13 chemistry on the line intensities. The high brightness temperatures of the (13)CO J = 6 to 5 line observed in several sources can be explained as originating in high density PDRs (n(H) greater than or = 106/cu cm) which are illuminated from two sides and under the assumption that several PDR clumps lie along the line of sight. To model the observed low-J (12)CO and (13)CO line ratios the models require densities of close to 105/cu cm or higher. Due to chemical fractionation the isotopic line intensity ratios for (12)CI/(13)CI can be a factor 2 to 3 lower than the intrinsic isotopic C-12/C-13 ratio. The high-J (12)CO brightness temperatures that we find are in general agreement with earlier PDR models.

Suppression of melatonin secretion in some blind patients by exposure to bright light.

PubMed

Czeisler, C A; Shanahan, T L; Klerman, E B; Martens, H; Brotman, D J; Emens, J S; Klein, T; Rizzo, J F

1995-01-05

Complete blindness generally results in the loss of synchronization of circadian rhythms to the 24-hour day and in recurrent insomnia. However, some blind patients maintain circadian entrainment. We undertook this study to determine whether some blind patients' eyes convey sufficient photic information to entrain the hypothalamic circadian pacemaker and suppress melatonin secretion, despite an apparently complete loss of visual function. We evaluated the input of light to the circadian pacemaker by testing the ability of bright light to decrease plasma melatonin concentrations in 11 blind patients with no conscious perception of light and in 6 normal subjects. We also evaluated circadian entrainment over time in the blind patients. Plasma melatonin concentrations decreased during exposure to bright light in three sightless patients by an average (+/- SD) of 69 +/- 21 percent and in the normal subjects by an average of 66 +/- 15 percent. When two of these blind patients were tested with their eyes covered during exposure to light, plasma melatonin did not decrease. The three blind patients reported no difficulty sleeping and maintained apparent circadian entrainment to the 24-hour day. Plasma melatonin concentrations did not decrease during exposure to bright light in seven of the remaining blind patients; in the eighth, plasma melatonin was undetectable. These eight patients reported a history of insomnia, and in four the circadian temperature rhythm was not entrained to the 24-hour day. The visual subsystem that mediates light-induced suppression of melatonin secretion remains functionally intact in some sightless patients. The absence of photic input to the circadian system thus constitutes a distinct form of blindness, associated with periodic insomnia, that afflicts most but not all patients with no conscious perception of light.

Characterization and Correction of Aquarius Long Term Calibration Drift Using On-Earth Brightness Temperature Refernces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Shannon; Misra, Sidharth

2013-01-01

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission was launched on June 10, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Aquarius consists of an L-band radiometer and scatterometer intended to provide global maps of sea surface salinity. One of the main mission objectives is to provide monthly global salinity maps for climate studies of ocean circulation, surface evaporation and precipitation, air/sea interactions and other processes. Therefore, it is critical that any spatial or temporal systematic biases be characterized and corrected. One of the main mission requirements is to measure salinity with an accuracy of 0.2 psu on montly time scales which requires a brightness temperature stability of about 0.1K, which is a challenging requirement for the radiometer. A secondary use of the Aquarius data is for soil moisture applications, which requires brightness temperature stability at the warmer end of the brightness temperature dynamic range. Soon after launch, time variable drifts were observed in the Aquarius data compared to in-situ data from ARGO and models for the ocean surface salinity. These drifts could arise from a number of sources, including the various components of the retrieval algorithm, such as the correction for direct and reflected galactic emission, or from the instrument brightness temperature calibration. If arising from the brightness temperature calibration, they could have gain and offset components. It is critical that the nature of the drifts be understood before a suitable correction can be implemented. This paper describes the approach that was used to detect and characterize the components of the drift that were in the brightness temperature calibration using on-Earth reference targets that were independent of the ocean model.

The estimation of the propagation delay through the troposphere from microwave radiometer data. [very long base interferometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moran, J. M.; Rosen, B. R.

1980-01-01

The uncertainity in propagation delay estimates is due primarily to tropospheric water, the total amount and vertical distribution of which is variable. Because water vapor both delays and attenuates microwave signals, the propagation delay, or wet path length, can be estimated from the microwave brightness temperature near the 22.235 GHz transition of water vapor. The data from a total of 240 radiosonde launches taken simultaneously were analyzed. Estimates of brightness temperature at 19 and 22 GHz and wet path length were made from these data. The wet path length in the zenith direction could be estimated from the surface water vapor density to an accuracy of 5 cm for the summer data and 2 cm for winter data. Using the brightness temperatures, the wet path could be estimated to an accuracy of 0.3 cm. Two dual frequency radiometers were refurbished in order to test these techniques. These radiometers were capable of measuring the difference in the brightness temperature at 30 deg elevation angle and at the zenith to an accuracy of about 1 K. In August 1975, 45 radiosondes were launched over an 11 day period. Brightness temperature measurements were made simultaneously at 19 and 22 GHz with the radiometers. The rms error for the estimation of wet path length from surface meteorological parameters was 3.2 cm, and from the radiometer brightness temperatures, 1.5 cm.

Thin Sea-Ice Thickness as Inferred from Passive Microwave and In Situ Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naoki, Kazuhiro; Ukita, Jinro; Nishio, Fumihiko; Nakayama, Masashige; Comiso, Josefino C.; Gasiewski, Al

2007-01-01

Since microwave radiometric signals from sea-ice strongly reflect physical conditions of a layer near the ice surface, a relationship of brightness temperature with thickness is possible especially during the early stages of ice growth. Sea ice is most saline during formation stage and as the salinity decreases with time while at the same time the thickness of the sea ice increases, a corresponding change in the dielectric properties and hence the brightness temperature may occur. This study examines the extent to which the relationships of thickness with brightness temperature (and with emissivity) hold for thin sea-ice, approximately less than 0.2 -0.3 m, using near concurrent measurements of sea-ice thickness in the Sea of Okhotsk from a ship and passive microwave brightness temperature data from an over-flying aircraft. The results show that the brightness temperature and emissivity increase with ice thickness for the frequency range of 10-37 GHz. The relationship is more pronounced at lower frequencies and at the horizontal polarization. We also established an empirical relationship between ice thickness and salinity in the layer near the ice surface from a field experiment, which qualitatively support the idea that changes in the near-surface brine characteristics contribute to the observed thickness-brightness temperature/emissivity relationship. Our results suggest that for thin ice, passive microwave radiometric signals contain, ice thickness information which can be utilized in polar process studies.

Polar Chromospheric Signatures of the Subdued Cycle 23/24 Solar Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, N.; Yashiro, S.; Makela, P.; Shibasaki, K.; Hathaway, D.

2010-01-01

Coronal holes appear brighter than the quiet Sun in microwave images, with a brightness enhancement of 500 to 2000 K. The brightness enhancement corresponds to the upper chromosphere, where the plasma temperature is about 10000 K. We constructed a microwave butterfly diagram using the synoptic images obtained by the Nobeyama radioheliograph (NoRH) showing the evolution of the polar and low latitude brightness temperature. While the polar brightness reveals the chromospheric conditions, the low latitude brightness is attributed to active regions in the corona. When we compared the microwave butterfly diagram with the magnetic butterfly diagram, we found a good correlation between the microwave brightness enhancement and the polar field strength. The microwave butterfly diagram covers part of solar cycle 22, whole of cycle 23, and part of cycle 24, thus enabling comparison between the cycle 23/24 and cycle 22/23 minima. The microwave brightness during the cycle 23/24 minimum was found to be lower than that during the cycle 22/23 minimum by approximately 250 K. The reduced brightness temperature is consistent with the reduced polar field strength during the cycle 23/24 minimum seen in the magnetic butterfly diagram. We suggest that the microwave brightness at the solar poles is a good indicator of the speed of the solar wind sampled by Ulysses at high latitudes.

Satellite microwave and in situ observations of the Weddell Sea ice cover and its marginal ice zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiso, J. C.; Sullivan, C. W.

1986-01-01

The radiative and physical characteristics of the Weddell Sea ice cover and its marginal ice zone are analyzed using multichannel satellite passive microwave data and ship and helicopter observations obtained during the 1983 Antarctic Marine Ecosystem Research. Winter and spring brightness temperatures are examined; spatial variability in the brightness temperatures of consolidated ice in winter and spring cyclic increases and decrease in brightness temperatures of consolidated ice with an amplitude of 50 K at 37 GHz and 20 K at 18 GHz are observed. The roles of variations in air temperature and surface characteristics in the variability of spring brightness temperatures are investigated. Ice concentrations are derived using the frequency and polarization techniques, and the data are compared with the helicopter and ship observations. Temporal changes in the ice margin structure and the mass balance of fresh water and of biological features of the marginal ice zone are studied.

Application of the CCD Fabry-Perot Annular Summing Technique to Thermospheric O(1)D.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coakley, Monica Marie

1995-01-01

This work will detail the verification of the advantages of the Fabry-Perot charge coupled device (CCD) annular summing technique, the development of the technique for analysis of daysky spectra, and the implications of the resulting spectra for neutral temperature and wind measurements in the daysky thermosphere. The daysky spectral feature of interest is the bright (1 kilo-Rayleigh) thermospheric (OI) emission at 6300 A which had been observed in the nightsky in order to determine winds and temperatures in the vicinity of the altitude of 250 km. In the daysky, the emission line sits on top of a bright Rayleigh scattered continuum background which significantly complicates the observation. With a triple etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer, the continuum background can be reduced while maintaining high throughput and high resolution. The inclusion of a CCD camera results in significant savings in integration time over the two more standard scanning photomultiplier systems that have made the same wind and temperature measurements in the past. A comparable CCD system can experience an order of magnitude savings in integration time over a PMT system. Laboratory and field tests which address the advantages and limitations of both the Fabry-Perot CCD annular summing technique and the daysky CCD imaging are included in Chap. 2 and Chap. 3. With a sufficiently large throughput associated with the spectrometer and a CCD detector, rapid observations (~4 minute integrations) can be made. Extraction of the line width and line center from the daysky near-continuum background is complicated compared to the nightsky case, but possible. Methods of fitting the line are included in Chap. 4. The daysky O ^1D temperatures are consistent with a lower average emission height than predicted by models. The data and models are discussed in Chap. 5. Although some discrepancies exist between resulting temperatures and models, the observations indicate the potential for other direct measurements of bright neutral species in the daysky as well as the potential for twenty-four hour coverage.

Effect of morning bright light on body temperature, plasma cortisol and wrist motility measured during 24 hour of constant conditions.

PubMed

Foret, J; Aguirre, A; Touitou, Y; Clodoré, M; Benoit, O

1993-06-11

Using 24 h constant conditions, time course of body temperature, plasma cortisol and wrist motility was measured in response to a 3 day morning 2 h bright light pulse. This protocol demonstrated that a 2000 lux illumination was sufficient to elicit a shift of about 2 h of temperature minimum and cortisol peak. In reference session, actimetric recordings showed a circadian time course, closely in relation with core temperature. Bright light pulse resulted in a decrease of amplitude and a disappearance of circadian pattern of actimetry.

The response of the SSM/I to the marine environment. I - An analytic model for the atmospheric component of observed brightness temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.; Katsaros, Kristina B.

1992-01-01

A detailed parameterization is developed for the contribution of the nonprecipitating atmosphere to the microwave brightness temperatures observed by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). The atmospheric variables considered include the viewing angle, the integrated water vapor amount and scale height, the effective tropospheric lapse rate and near-surface temperature, the total cloud liquid water, the effective cloud height, and the surface pressure. The dependence of the radiative variables on meteorological variables is determined for each of the SSM/I frequencies 19.35, 22.235, 37.0, and 85.5 GHz, based on the values computed from 16,893 maritime temperature and humidity profiles representing all latitude belts and all seasons. A comparison of the predicted brightness temperatures with brightness temperatures obtained by direct numerical integration of the radiative transfer equation for the radiosonde-profile dataset yielded rms differences well below 1 K for all four SSM/I frequencies.

Energy and Emission Characteristics of a Short-Arc Xenon Flash Lamp Under "Saturated" Optical Brightness Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamrukov, A. S.; Kireev, S. G.; Kozlov, N. P.; Shashkovskii, S. G.

2017-09-01

We present the results of a study of the electrical, energy, and spectral brightness characteristics of an experimental three-electrode high-pressure xenon flash lamp under conditions ensuring close to maximum possible spectral brightness for the xenon emission. We show that under saturated optical brightness conditions (brightness temperature in the visible region of the spectrum 30,000 K), emission of a pulsed discharge in xenon is quite different from the emission from an ideal blackbody: the maximum brightness temperatures are 24,000 K in the short-wavelength UV region and 19,000 K in the near IR range. The relative fraction of UV radiation in the emission spectrum of the lamp is >50%, which lets us consider such lamps as promising broadband sources of radiation with high spectral brightness for many important practical applications.

RadioAstron Observations of the Quasar 3C273: A Challenge to the Brightness Temperature Limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, Y. Y.; Kardashev, N. S.; Kellermann, K. I.; Lobanov, A. P.; Johnson, M. D.; Gurvits, L. I.; Voitsik, P. A.; Zensus, J. A.; Anderson, J. M.; Bach, U.; Jauncey, D. L.; Ghigo, F.; Ghosh, T.; Kraus, A.; Kovalev, Yu. A.; Lisakov, M. M.; Petrov, L. Yu.; Romney, J. D.; Salter, C. J.; Sokolovsky, K. V.

2016-03-01

Inverse Compton cooling limits the brightness temperature of the radiating plasma to a maximum of 1011.5 K. Relativistic boosting can increase its observed value, but apparent brightness temperatures much in excess of 1013 K are inaccessible using ground-based very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at any wavelength. We present observations of the quasar 3C 273, made with the space VLBI mission RadioAstron on baselines up to 171,000 km, which directly reveal the presence of angular structure as small as 26 μas (2.7 light months) and brightness temperature in excess of 1013 K. These measurements challenge our understanding of the non-thermal continuum emission in the vicinity of supermassive black holes and require a much higher Doppler factor than what is determined from jet apparent kinematics.

Average and Bright Adults with Parents with Mild Cognitive Difficulties: The Huck Finn Syndrome 20 Years Later

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Audrey Myerson

2011-01-01

Background: This longitudinal study of 20 average and bright adults with parents with cognitive difficulties follows a study 20 years earlier of their childhood adaptation to their parents. Method: Semistructured interviews about life situation and changes and perception of family-of-origin. Results: The participants' socioeconomic status changed…

Chromospheric Signatures of the Subdued Cycle 23/24 Solar Minimum in Microwaves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yashiro, S.; Makela, P.; Shibasaki, K.; Hathaway, D.

2011-01-01

Coronal holes appear brighter than the quiet Sun in microwave images, with a brightness enhancement of 500 to 2000 K. The brightness enhancement corresponds to the upper chromosphere, where the plasma temperature is about 10000 K. We constructed a microwave butterfly diagram using the synoptic images obtained by the Nobeyama radio-heliograph (NoRH) showing the evolution of the polar and low latitude brightness temperature. While the polar brightness reveals the chromospheric conditions, the low latitude brightness is attributed to active regions in the corona. When we compared the microwave butterfly diagram with the magnetic butterfly diagram, we found a good correlation between the microwave brightness enhancement and the polar field strength. The microwave butterfly diagram covers part of solar cycle 22, whole of cycle 23, and part of cycle 24, thus enabling comparison between the cycle 23/24 and cycle 22/23 minima. The microwave brightness during the cycle 23/24 minimum was found to be lower than that during the cycle 22/23 minimum by approx.250 K. The reduced brightness temperature is consistent with the reduced polar field strength during the cycle 23/24 minimum seen in the magnetic butterfly diagram. We suggest that the microwave brightness at the solar poles is a good indicator of the speed of the solar wind sampled by Ulysses at high latitudes.

Circadian rhythm adaptation to simulated night shift work: effect of nocturnal bright-light duration.

PubMed

Eastman, C I; Liu, L; Fogg, L F

1995-07-01

We compared bright-light durations of 6, 3 and 0 hours (i.e. dim light) during simulated night shifts for phase shifting the circadian rectal temperature rhythm to align with a 12-hour shift of the sleep schedule. After 10 baseline days there were 8 consecutive night-work, day-sleep days, with 8-hour sleep (dark) periods. The bright light (about 5,000 lux, around the baseline temperature minimum) was used during all 8 night shifts, and dim light was < 500 lux. This was a field study in which subjects (n = 46) went outside after the night shifts and slept at home. Substantial circadian adaptation (i.e. a large cumulative temperature rhythm phase shift) was produced in many subjects in the bright light groups, but not in the dim light group. Six and 3 hours of bright light were each significantly better than dim light for phase shifting the temperature rhythm, but there was no significant difference between 6 and 3 hours. Thus, durations > 3 hours are probably not necessary in similar shift-work situations. Larger temperature rhythm phase shifts were associated with better subjective daytime sleep, less subjective fatigue and better overall mood.

Aquarius Instrument Science Calibration During the Risk Reduction Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruf, Christopher S.

2004-01-01

This final report presents the results of work performed under NASA Grant NAG512726 during the period 15 January 2003 through 30 June 2004. An analysis was performed of a possible vicarious calibration method for use by Aquarius to monitor and stabilize the absolute and relative calibration of its microwave radiometer. Stationary statistical properties of the brightness temperature (T(sub B)) measured by a low Earth orbiting radiometer operating at 1.4135 GHz are considered as a means of validating its absolute calibration. The global minimum, maximum, and average T(sub B) are considered, together with a vicarious cold reference method that detects the presence of a sharp lower bound on naturally occurring values for T(sub B). Of particular interest is the reliability with which these statistics can be extracted from a realistic distribution of T(sub B) measurements that would be observed by a typical sensor. Simulations of measurements are performed that include the effects of instrument noise and variable environmental factors such as the global water vapor and ocean surface temperature, salinity and wind distributions. Global minima can vary widely due to instrument noise and are not a reliable calibration reference. Global maxima are strongly influenced by several environmental factors as well as instrument noise and are even less stationary. Global averages are largely insensitive to instrument noise and, in most cases, to environmental conditions as well. The global average T(sub B) varies at only the 0.1 K RMS level except in cases of anomalously high winds, when it can increase considerably more. The vicarious cold reference is similarly insensitive to instrument effects and most environmental factors. It is not significantly affected by high wind conditions. The stability of the vicarious reference is, however, found to be somewhat sensitive (at the several tenths of Kelvins level) to variations in the background cold space brightness, T(sub c). The global average is much less sensitive to this parameter and so using two approaches together can be mutually beneficial.

Does Stevens's Power Law for Brightness Extend to Perceptual Brightness Averaging?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauer, Ben

2009-01-01

Stevens's power law ([Psi][infinity][Phi][beta]) captures the relationship between physical ([Phi]) and perceived ([Psi]) magnitude for many stimulus continua (e.g., luminance and brightness, weight and heaviness, area and size). The exponent ([beta]) indicates whether perceptual magnitude grows more slowly than physical magnitude ([beta] less…

Acute effects of bright light and caffeine on nighttime melatonin and temperature levels in women taking and not taking oral contraceptives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, K. P. Jr; Myers, B. L.; Plenzler, S. C.; Drake, C. L.; Badia, P.; Czeisler, C. A. (Principal Investigator)

2000-01-01

Caffeine and bright light effects on nighttime melatonin and temperature levels in women were tested during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (n=30) or the pseudo luteal phase for oral contraceptive users (n=32). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either bright (5000 lux) or dim room light (<88 lux) between 20:00 and 08:00 h under a modified constant routine protocol. Half the subjects in each lighting condition were administered either caffeine (100 mg) or placebo in a double-blind manner at 20:00, 23:00, 02:00 and 05:00 h. Results showed that the combination of bright light and caffeine enhanced nighttime temperature levels to a greater extent than did either caffeine or bright light alone. Both of the latter groups had higher temperature levels relative to the dim light placebo condition and the two groups did not differ. Temperature levels in the bright light caffeine condition were maintained at near peak circadian levels the entire night in the luteal and pseudo luteal phase. Melatonin levels were reduced throughout the duration of bright light exposure for all women. Caffeine reduced the onset of melatonin levels for women in the luteal phase, but it had little effect on melatonin levels for oral contraceptive users. The results for women in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle are consistent with our previous findings in men. The results also suggest that oral contraceptives may alter the effects of caffeine on nighttime melatonin levels.

An Exploration of the Emission Properties of X-Ray Bright Points Seen with SDO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saar, S. H.; Elsden, T.; Muglach, K.

2012-01-01

We present preliminary results of a study of X-ray Bright Point (XBP) EUV emission and its dependence on other properties. The XBPs were located using a new, automated XBP finder for AlA developed as part of the Feature Finding Team for SDO Computer Vision. We analyze XBPs near disk center, comparing AlA EUV fluxes, HMI LOS magnetic fields, and photospheric flow fields (derived from HMI data) to look for relationships between XBP emission, magnetic flux, velocity fields, and XBP local environment. We find some evidence for differences in the mean XBP temperature with environment. Unsigned magnetic flux is correlated with XBP emission, though other parameters play a role. The majority of XBP footpoints are approaching each other, though at a slight angle from head-on on average. We discuss the results in the context of XBP heating.

Thermometric- and Acoustic-Based Beam Power Monitor for Ultra-Bright X-Rays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bentsen, Gregory; /Rochester U. /SLAC

2010-08-25

A design for an average beam power monitor for ultra-bright X-ray sources is proposed that makes simultaneous use of calorimetry and radiation acoustics. Radiation incident on a solid target will induce heating and ultrasonic vibrations, both of which may be measured to give a fairly precise value of the beam power. The monitor is intended for measuring ultra-bright Free-Electron Laser (FEL) X-ray beams, for which traditional monitoring technologies such as photo-diodes or scintillators are unsuitable. The monitor consists of a Boron Carbide (B{sub 4}C) target designed to absorb most of the incident beam's energy. Resistance temperature detectors (RTD) and piezoelectricmore » actuators are mounted on the outward faces of the target to measure the temperature changes and ultrasonic vibrations induced by the incident beam. The design was tested using an optical pulsed beam (780 nm, 120 and 360 Hz) from a Ti:sapphire oscillator at several energies between 0.8 and 2.6 mJ. The RTDs measured an increase in temperature of about 10 K over a period of several minutes. The piezoelectric sensors recorded ringing acoustic oscillations at 580 {+-} 40 kHz. Most importantly, the amplitude of the acoustic signals was observed to scale linearly with beam power up to 2 mJ of pulse energy. Above this pulse energy, the vibrational signals became nonlinear. Several causes for this nonlinearity are discussed, including amplifier saturation and piezoelectric saturation. Despite this nonlinearity, these measurements demonstrate the feasibility of such a beam power measurement device. The advantage of two distinct measurements (acoustic and thermometric) provides a useful method of calibration that is unavailable to current LCLS diagnostics tools.« less

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of SMAP Brightness Temperatures for Use in Level 1 TB Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, E. J.

2015-12-01

1. IntroductionThe recent launch of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission [Entekhabi, et al] has opened the door to improved brightness temperature (TB) calibration of satellite L-band microwave radiometers, through the use of SMAP's lower noise performance and better immunity to man-made interference (vs. ESA's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission [Kerr, et al]), better spatial resolution (vs. NASA's Aquarius sea surface salinity mission [Le Vine, et al]), and cleaner antenna pattern (vs. SMOS). All three radiometers use/used large homogeneous places on Earth's surface as calibration targets—parts of the ocean, Antarctica, and tropical forests. Despite the recent loss of Aquarius data, there is still hope for creating a longer-term L-band data set that spans the timeframe of all 3 missions. 2. Description of Analyses and Expected Results In this paper, we analyze SMAP brightness temperature data to quantify the spatial and temporal characteristics of external target areas in the oceans, Antarctica, forests, and other areas. Existing analyses have examined these targets in terms of averages, standard deviations, and other basic statistics (for Aquarius & SMOS as well). This paper will approach the problem from a signal processing perspective. Coupled with the use of SMAP's novel RFI-mitigated TBs, and the aforementioned lower noise and cleaner antenna pattern, it is expected that of the 3 L-band missions, SMAP should do the best job of characterizing such external targets. The resulting conclusions should be useful to extract the best possible TB calibration from all 3 missions, helping to inter-compare the TB from the 3 missions, and to eventually inter-calibrate the TBs into a single long-term dataset.

Thermodynamics of the Coma Cluster Outskirts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Urban, O.; Allen, S. W.; Fabian, A. C.; Mantz, A.; Matsushita, K.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Sanders, J. S.; Sasaki, T.; Sato, T.; Takei, Y.; Walker, S. A.

2013-09-01

We present results from a large mosaic of Suzaku observations of the Coma Cluster, the nearest and X-ray brightest hot (~8 keV), dynamically active, non-cool core system, focusing on the thermodynamic properties of the intracluster medium on large scales. For azimuths not aligned with an infalling subcluster toward the southwest, our measured temperature and X-ray brightness profiles exhibit broadly consistent radial trends, with the temperature decreasing from about 8.5 keV at the cluster center to about 2 keV at a radius of 2 Mpc, which is the edge of our detection limit. The southwest merger significantly boosts the surface brightness, allowing us to detect X-ray emission out to ~2.2 Mpc along this direction. Apart from the southwestern infalling subcluster, the surface brightness profiles show multiple edges around radii of 30-40 arcmin. The azimuthally averaged temperature profile, as well as the deprojected density and pressure profiles, all show a sharp drop consistent with an outwardly-propagating shock front located at 40 arcmin, corresponding to the outermost edge of the giant radio halo observed at 352 MHz with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. The shock front may be powering this radio emission. A clear entropy excess inside of r 500 reflects the violent merging events linked with these morphological features. Beyond r 500, the entropy profiles of the Coma Cluster along the relatively relaxed directions are consistent with the power-law behavior expected from simple models of gravitational large-scale structure formation. The pressure is also in agreement at these radii with the expected values measured from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data from the Planck satellite. However, due to the large uncertainties associated with the Coma Cluster measurements, we cannot yet exclude an entropy flattening in this system consistent with that seen in more relaxed cool core clusters.

Integration of SMAP and SMOS L-Band Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bindlish, Rajat; Jackson, Thomas J.; Chan, Steven; Colliander, Andreas; Kerr, Yaan

2017-01-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and the ESA Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) missions provide brightness temperature and soil moisture estimates every 2-3 days. SMAP brightness temperature observations were compared with SMOS observations at 40 Degrees incidence angle. The brightness temperatures from the two missions are not consistent and have a bias of about 2.7K over land with respect to each other. SMAP and SMOS missions use different retrieval algorithms and ancillary datasets which result in further inconsistencies between the soil moisture products. The reprocessed constant-angle SMOS brightness temperatures were used in the SMAP soil moisture retrieval algorithm to develop a consistent multi-satellite product. The integrated product will have an increased global revisit frequency (1 day) and period of record that would be unattainable by either one of the satellites alone. Results from the development and validation of the integrated product will be presented.

First analysis of solar structures in 1.21 mm full-disc ALMA image of the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brajša, R.; Sudar, D.; Benz, A. O.; Skokić, I.; Bárta, M.; Pontieu, B. De; Kim, S.; Kobelski, A.; Kuhar, M.; Shimojo, M.; Wedemeyer, S.; White, S.; Yagoubov, P.; Yan, Y.

2018-05-01

Context. Various solar features can be seen in emission or absorption on maps of the Sun in the millimetre and submillimetre wavelength range. The recently installed Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is capable of observing the Sun in that wavelength range with an unprecedented spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. To interpret solar observations with ALMA, the first important step is to compare solar ALMA maps with simultaneous images of the Sun recorded in other spectral ranges. Aims: The first aim of the present work is to identify different structures in the solar atmosphere seen in the optical, infrared, and EUV parts of the spectrum (quiet Sun, active regions, prominences on the disc, magnetic inversion lines, coronal holes and coronal bright points) in a full-disc solar ALMA image. The second aim is to measure the intensities (brightness temperatures) of those structures and to compare them with the corresponding quiet Sun level. Methods: A full-disc solar image at 1.21 mm obtained on December 18, 2015, during a CSV-EOC campaign with ALMA is calibrated and compared with full-disc solar images from the same day in Hα line, in He I 1083 nm line core, and with various SDO images (AIA at 170 nm, 30.4 nm, 21.1 nm, 19.3 nm, and 17.1 nm and HMI magnetogram). The brightness temperatures of various structures are determined by averaging over corresponding regions of interest in the calibrated ALMA image. Results: Positions of the quiet Sun, active regions, prominences on the disc, magnetic inversion lines, coronal holes and coronal bright points are identified in the ALMA image. At the wavelength of 1.21 mm, active regions appear as bright areas (but sunspots are dark), while prominences on the disc and coronal holes are not discernible from the quiet Sun background, despite having slightly less intensity than surrounding quiet Sun regions. Magnetic inversion lines appear as large, elongated dark structures and coronal bright points correspond to ALMA bright points. Conclusions: These observational results are in general agreement with sparse earlier measurements at similar wavelengths. The identification of coronal bright points represents the most important new result. By comparing ALMA and other maps, it was found that the ALMA image was oriented properly and that the procedure of overlaying the ALMA image with other images is accurate at the 5 arcsec level. The potential of ALMA for physics of the solar chromosphere is emphasised.

Imaging the spotty surface of Betelgeuse in the H band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haubois, X.; Perrin, G.; Lacour, S.; Verhoelst, T.; Meimon, S.; Mugnier, L.; Thiébaut, E.; Berger, J. P.; Ridgway, S. T.; Monnier, J. D.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Traub, W.

2009-12-01

Aims. This paper reports on H-band interferometric observations of Betelgeuse made at the three-telescope interferometer IOTA. We image Betelgeuse and its asymmetries to understand the spatial variation of the photosphere, including its diameter, limb darkening, effective temperature, surrounding brightness, and bright (or dark) star spots. Methods: We used different theoretical simulations of the photosphere and dusty environment to model the visibility data. We made images with parametric modeling and two image reconstruction algorithms: MIRA and WISARD. Results: We measure an average limb-darkened diameter of 44.28 ± 0.15 mas with linear and quadratic models and a Rosseland diameter of 45.03 ± 0.12 mas with a MARCS model. These measurements lead us to derive an updated effective temperature of 3600 ± 66 K. We detect a fully-resolved environment to which the silicate dust shell is likely to contribute. By using two imaging reconstruction algorithms, we unveiled two bright spots on the surface of Betelgeuse. One spot has a diameter of about 11 mas and accounts for about 8.5% of the total flux. The second one is unresolved (diameter < 9 mas) with 4.5% of the total flux. Conclusions: Resolved images of Betelgeuse in the H band are asymmetric at the level of a few percent. The MOLsphere is not detected in this wavelength range. The amount of measured limb-darkening is in good agreement with model predictions. The two spots imaged at the surface of the star are potential signatures of convective cells.

The ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Implications for Spectral Line Intensity Mapping at Millimeter Wavelengths and CMB Spectral Distortions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carilli, C. L.; Chluba, J.; Decarli, R.; Walter, F.; Aravena, M.; Wagg, J.; Popping, G.; Cortes, P.; Hodge, J.; Weiss, A.; Bertoldi, F.; Riechers, D.

2016-12-01

We present direct estimates of the mean sky brightness temperature in observing bands around 99 and 242 GHz due to line emission from distant galaxies. These values are calculated from the summed line emission observed in a blind, deep survey for spectral line emission from high redshift galaxies using ALMA (the ALMA spectral deep field observations “ASPECS” survey). In the 99 GHz band, the mean brightness will be dominated by rotational transitions of CO from intermediate and high redshift galaxies. In the 242 GHz band, the emission could be a combination of higher order CO lines, and possibly [C II] 158 μm line emission from very high redshift galaxies (z ˜ 6-7). The mean line surface brightness is a quantity that is relevant to measurements of spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background, and as a potential tool for studying large-scale structures in the early universe using intensity mapping. While the cosmic volume and the number of detections are admittedly small, this pilot survey provides a direct measure of the mean line surface brightness, independent of conversion factors, excitation, or other galaxy formation model assumptions. The mean surface brightness in the 99 GHZ band is: T B = 0.94 ± 0.09 μK. In the 242 GHz band, the mean brightness is: T B = 0.55 ± 0.033 μK. These should be interpreted as lower limits on the average sky signal, since we only include lines detected individually in the blind survey, while in a low resolution intensity mapping experiment, there will also be the summed contribution from lower luminosity galaxies that cannot be detected individually in the current blind survey.

Dark goggles and bright light improve circadian rhythm adaptation to night-shift work.

PubMed

Eastman, C I; Stewart, K T; Mahoney, M P; Liu, L; Fogg, L F

1994-09-01

We compared the contributions of bright light during the night shift and dark goggles during daylight for phase shifting the circadian rhythm of temperature to realign with a 12-hour shift of sleep. After 10 baseline days there were 8 night-work/day-sleep days. Temperature was continuously recorded from 50 subjects. There were four groups in a 2 x 2 design: light (bright, dim), goggles (yes, no). Subjects were exposed to bright light (about 5,000 lux) for 6 hours on the first 2 night shifts. Dim light was < 500 lux. Both bright light and goggles were significant factors for producing circadian rhythm phase shifts. The combination of bright light plus goggles was the most effective, whereas the combination of dim light and no goggles was the least effective. The temperature rhythm either phase advanced or phase delayed when it aligned with daytime sleep. However, when subjects did not have goggles only phase advances occurred. Goggles were necessary for producing phase delays. The most likely explanation is that daylight during the travel-home window after a night shift inhibits phase-delay shifts, and goggles can prevent this inhibition. Larger temperature-rhythm phase shifts were associated with better subjective daytime sleep, less subjective fatigue and better mood.

Relationship of magnetic field strength and brightness of fine-structure elements in the solar temperature minimum region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, J. W.; Ewing, J. A.

1990-01-01

A quantitative relationship was determined between magnetic field strength (or magnetic flux) from photospheric magnetograph observations and the brightness temperature of solar fine-structure elements observed at 1600 A, where the predominant flux source is continuum emission from the solar temperature minimum region. A Kitt Peak magnetogram and spectroheliograph observations at 1600 A taken during a sounding rocket flight of the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph from December 11, 1987 were used. The statistical distributions of brightness temperature in the quiet sun at 1600 A, and absolute value of magnetic field strength in the same area were determined from these observations. Using a technique which obtains the best-fit relationship of a given functional form between these two histogram distributions, a quantitative relationship was determined between absolute value of magnetic field strength B and brightness temperature which is essentially linear from 10 to 150 G. An interpretation is suggested, in which a basal heating occurs generally, while brighter elements are produced in magnetic regions with temperature enhancements proportional to B.

Bright light and thermoregulatory responses to exercise.

PubMed

Atkinson, G; Barr, D; Chester, N; Drust, B; Gregson, W; Reilly, T; Waterhouse, J

2008-03-01

The thermoregulatory responses to morning exercise after exposure to different schedules of bright light were examined. At 07:00 h, six males ran on two occasions in an environmental chamber (temperature = 31.4 +/- 1.0 degrees C, humidity = 66 +/- 6 %) for 40 min at 60 % of maximal oxygen uptake. Participants were exposed to bright light (10,000 lux) either between 22:00 - 23:00 h (BT (low)) or 06:00 - 07:00 h (BT (high)). Otherwise, participants remained in dim light (< 50 lux). It was hypothesized that BT (low) attenuates core temperature during morning exercise via the phase-delaying properties of evening bright light and by avoiding bright light in the morning. Evening bright light in BT (low) suppressed (p = 0.037) the increase in melatonin compared to dim light (1.1 +/- 11.4 vs. 15.2 +/- 19.7 pg x ml (-1)) and delayed (p = 0.034) the core temperature minimum by 1.46 +/- 1.24 h. Core temperature was 0.20 +/- 0.17 degrees C lower in BT (low) compared to BT (high) during the hour before exercise (p = 0.036), with evidence (p = 0.075) that this difference was maintained during exercise. Conversely, mean skin temperature was 1.0 +/- 1.7 degrees C higher during the first 10 min of exercise in BT (low) than in BT (high) (p = 0.030). There was evidence that the increase in perceived exertion was attenuated in BT (low) (p = 0.056). A chronobiologically-based light schedule can lower core temperature before and during morning exercise in hot conditions.

The Peculiar Solar Minimum 23/24 Revealed by the Microwave Butterfly Diagram

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk; Yashiro, Seiji; Makela, Pertti; Shibasaki, Kiyoto; Hathaway, David

2010-01-01

The diminished polar magnetic field strength during the minimum between cycles 23 and 24 is also reflected in the thermal radio emission originating from the polar chromosphere. During solar minima, the polar corona has extended coronal holes containing intense unipolar flux. In microwave images, the coronal holes appear bright, with a brightness enhancement of 500 to 2000 K with respect to the quiet Sun. The brightness enhancement corresponds to the upper chromosphere, where the plasma temperature is approx.10000 K. We constructed a microwave butterfly diagram using the synoptic images obtained by the Nobeyama radioheliograph (NoRH) showing the evolution of the polar and low latitude brightness temperature. While the polar brightness reveals the chromospheric conditions, the low latitude brightness is attributed to active regions in the corona. When we compared the microwave butterfly diagram with the magnetic butterfly diagram, we found a good correlation between the microwave brightness enhancement and the polar field strength. The microwave butterfly diagram covers part of solar cycle 22, whole of cycle 23, and part of cycle 24, thus enabling comparison between the cycle 23/24 and cycle 22/23 minima. The microwave brightness during the cycle 23/24 minimum was found to be lower than that during the cycle 22/23 minimum by approx.250 K. The reduced brightness temperature is consistent with the reduced polar field strength during the cycle 23/24 minimum seen in the magnetic butterfly diagram. We suggest that the microwave brightness at the solar poles is a good indicator of the speed of the solar wind sampled by Ulysses at high latitudes..

Inferring Land Surface Model Parameters for the Assimilation of Satellite-Based L-Band Brightness Temperature Observations into a Soil Moisture Analysis System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reichle, Rolf H.; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.

2012-01-01

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission provides global measurements of L-band brightness temperatures at horizontal and vertical polarization and a variety of incidence angles that are sensitive to moisture and temperature conditions in the top few centimeters of the soil. These L-band observations can therefore be assimilated into a land surface model to obtain surface and root zone soil moisture estimates. As part of the observation operator, such an assimilation system requires a radiative transfer model (RTM) that converts geophysical fields (including soil moisture and soil temperature) into modeled L-band brightness temperatures. At the global scale, the RTM parameters and the climatological soil moisture conditions are still poorly known. Using look-up tables from the literature to estimate the RTM parameters usually results in modeled L-band brightness temperatures that are strongly biased against the SMOS observations, with biases varying regionally and seasonally. Such biases must be addressed within the land data assimilation system. In this presentation, the estimation of the RTM parameters is discussed for the NASA GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, which is based on the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the Catchment land surface model. In the GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, soil moisture and brightness temperature biases are addressed in three stages. First, the global soil properties and soil hydraulic parameters that are used in the Catchment model were revised to minimize the bias in the modeled soil moisture, as verified against available in situ soil moisture measurements. Second, key parameters of the "tau-omega" RTM were calibrated prior to data assimilation using an objective function that minimizes the climatological differences between the modeled L-band brightness temperatures and the corresponding SMOS observations. Calibrated parameters include soil roughness parameters, vegetation structure parameters, and the single scattering albedo. After this climatological calibration, the modeling system can provide L-band brightness temperatures with a global mean absolute bias of less than 10K against SMOS observations, across multiple incidence angles and for horizontal and vertical polarization. Third, seasonal and regional variations in the residual biases are addressed by estimating the vegetation optical depth through state augmentation during the assimilation of the L-band brightness temperatures. This strategy, tested here with SMOS data, is part of the baseline approach for the Level 4 Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture data product from the planned Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission.

Extreme Thunderstorms as Seen by Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cecil, Daniel J.

2014-01-01

Extreme events by their nature fall outside the bounds of routine experience. With imperfect or ambiguous measuring systems, it is appropriate to question whether an unusual measurement represents an extreme event or is the result of instrument errors or other sources of noise. About three weeks after the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite began collecting data in Dec 1997, a thunderstorm was observed over northern Argentina with 85 GHz brightness temperatures below 50 K and 37 GHz brightness temperatures below 70 K (Zipser et al. 2006). These values are well below what had previously been observed from satellite sensors with lower resolution. The 37 GHz brightness temperatures are also well below those measured by TRMM for any other storm in the subsequent 16 years. Without corroborating evidence, it would be natural to suspect a problem with the instrument, or perhaps an irregularity with the platform during the first weeks of the satellite mission. But the TRMM satellite also carries a radar and a lightning sensor, both confirming the presence of an intense thunderstorm. The radar recorded 40+ dBZ (decibels relative to Z) reflectivity up to about 19 km altitude. More than 200 lightning flashes per minute were recorded. That same storm's 19 GHz brightness temperatures below 150 K would normally be interpreted as the result of a low-emissivity water surface (e.g., a lake, or flood waters) if not for the simultaneous measurements of such intense convection. This paper will examine records from TRMM and related satellite sensors including SSMI and AMSR-E to find the strongest signatures resulting from thunderstorms, and distinguishing those from sources of noise. The lowest brightness temperatures resulting from thunderstorms as seen by TRMM have been in Argentina in November and December. For SSMI sensors carried on five DMSP satellites examined so far, the lowest thunderstorm-related brightness temperatures have been from Argentina in November - December and from Minnesota in June-July. The Minnesota cases were associated with spotter reports of large hail, significant severe wind, and tornadoes. Those locations have the record holders for each satellite. This paper will show examples of cases with the lowest brightness temperatures, and map the locations of these and other storms with brightness temperatures nearly as low. Higher resolution data from the field program MC3E and possibly from IPHEX will be considered for context.

Brightness field distributions of microlens arrays using micro molding.

PubMed

Cheng, Hsin-Chung; Huang, Chiung-Fang; Lin, Yi; Shen, Yung-Kang

2010-12-20

This study describes the brightness field distributions of microlens arrays fabricated by micro injection molding (μIM) and micro injection-compression molding (μICM). The process for fabricating microlens arrays used room-temperature imprint lithography, photoresist reflow, electroforming, μIM, μICM, and optical properties measurement. Analytical results indicate that the brightness field distribution of the molded microlens arrays generated by μICM is better than those made using μIM. Our results further demonstrate that mold temperature is the most important processing parameter for brightness field distribution of molded microlens arrays made by μIM or μICM.

Effect of bright light at night on core temperature, subjective alertness and performance as a function of exposure time.

PubMed

Foret, J; Daurat, A; Tirilly, G

1998-01-01

This simulated night shift study measured the effects of moderate bright light (a 4-hour pulse starting at 2000 or 0400) during the exposure night and subsequent night (dim light). Eight young males remained confined with little physical activity to a laboratory in groups of 4. After a night of reference, they were active for 24 hours; then after a morning recovery sleep, they were active again for 16 hours. Continuously measured rectal temperature proved to be immediately sensitive to 4 hours of bright light, particularly when given at the end of the night. Self-assessed alertness and also performance on a task with a high requirement for short-term memory were improved by the exposure to bright light. During the subsequent night the subjects were exposed only to dim light. Core temperature, subjective alertness and performance continued to show a time course depending on the preceding bright light exposure. Probably because evening exposure to bright light and morning sleep both had a phase-delaying effect, the effects on the circadian pacemaker were more pronounced. Thus, for practical applications in long night shifts, bright light can be considered to improve mood and alertness immediately but the possibility of modifying the circadian "clock" during subsequent nights should be taken into consideration, in particular after exposure to bright light in the evening.

Estimation of sea surface temperature from remote measurements in the 11-13 micron window region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prabhakara, C.; Conrath, B. J.; Kunde, V. G.

1972-01-01

The Nimbus-4 IRIS data was examined in the spectral region 775 to 1250/cm (8-13 microns) for useful information to determine the sea surface temperature. The high spectral resolution data of IRIS was degraded to low resolution by averaging to simulate a multi-channel radiometer in the window region. These simulated data show that within the region 775-975/cm (12.9-10.25 microns) the brightness temperatures are linearly related to the absorption parameters. Such a linear relationship is observed over cloudy as well as clear regions and over a wide range of latitudes. From this linear relationship it is feasible to correct for the atmospheric attenuation and get the sea surface temperature, accurate to within 1 K, in a cloud free field of view. The information about the cloud cover is taken from the TV pictures and BUV albedo measurements on board the Nimbus-4 satellite.

Bias correction for rainrate retrievals from satellite passive microwave sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, David A.

1990-01-01

Rainrates retrieved from past and present satellite-borne microwave sensors are affected by a fundamental remote sensing problem. Sensor fields-of-view are typically large enough to encompass substantial rainrate variability, whereas the retrieval algorithms, based on radiative transfer calculations, show a non-linear relationship between rainrate and microwave brightness temperature. Retrieved rainrates are systematically too low. A statistical model of the bias problem shows that bias correction factors depend on the probability distribution of instantaneous rainrate and on the average thickness of the rain layer.

35 GHz Measurements of CO2 Crystals for Simulating Observations of the Martian Polar Caps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, J. L.; Chang, A. T. C.; Hall, D. K.; Tait, A. B.; Barton, J. S.

1998-01-01

In order to learn more about the Martian polar caps, it is important to compare and contrast the behavior of both frozen H2O and CO2 in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Relatively little attention has been given, thus far, to observing the thermal microwave part of the spectrum. In this experiment, passive microwave radiation emanating from within a 33 cm snowpack was measured with a 35 GHz hand-held radiometer, and in addition to the natural snow measurements, the radiometer was used to measure the microwave emission and scattering from layers of manufactured CO2 (dry ice). A 1 m x 2 m plate of aluminum sheet metal was positioned beneath the natural snow so that microwave emissions from the underlying soil layers would be minimized. Compared to the natural snow crystals, results for the dry ice layers exhibit lower' microwave brightness temperatures for similar thicknesses, regardless of the incidence angle of the radiometer. For example, at 50 degree H (horizontal polarization) and with a covering of 21 cm of snow and 18 cm of dry ice, the brightness temperatures were 150 K and 76 K, respectively. When the snow depth was 33 cm, the brightness temperature was 144 K, and when the total thickness of the dry ice was 27 cm, the brightness temperature was 86 K. The lower brightness temperatures are due to a combination of the lower physical temperature and the larger crystal sizes of the commercial CO2 Crystals compared to the snow crystals. As the crystal size approaches the size of the microwave wavelength, it scatters microwave radiation more effectively, thus lowering the brightness temperature. The dry ice crystals in this experiment were about an order of magnitude larger than the snow crystals and three orders of magnitude larger than the CO2 Crystals produced in the cold stage of a scanning electron microscope. Spreading soil, approximately 2 mm in thickness, on the dry ice appeared to have no effect on the brightness temperatures.

MIRO Continuum Calibration for Asteroid Mode

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Seungwon

2011-01-01

MIRO (Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter) is a lightweight, uncooled, dual-frequency heterodyne radiometer. The MIRO encountered asteroid Steins in 2008, and during the flyby, MIRO used the Asteroid Mode to measure the emission spectrum of Steins. The Asteroid Mode is one of the seven modes of the MIRO operation, and is designed to increase the length of time that a spectral line is in the MIRO pass-band during a flyby of an object. This software is used to calibrate the continuum measurement of Steins emission power during the asteroid flyby. The MIRO raw measurement data need to be calibrated in order to obtain physically meaningful data. This software calibrates the MIRO raw measurements in digital units to the brightness temperature in Kelvin. The software uses two calibration sequences that are included in the Asteroid Mode. One sequence is at the beginning of the mode, and the other at the end. The first six frames contain the measurement of a cold calibration target, while the last six frames measure a warm calibration target. The targets have known temperatures and are used to provide reference power and gain, which can be used to convert MIRO measurements into brightness temperature. The software was developed to calibrate MIRO continuum measurements from Asteroid Mode. The software determines the relationship between the raw digital unit measured by MIRO and the equivalent brightness temperature by analyzing data from calibration frames. The found relationship is applied to non-calibration frames, which are the measurements of an object of interest such as asteroids and other planetary objects that MIRO encounters during its operation. This software characterizes the gain fluctuations statistically and determines which method to estimate gain between calibration frames. For example, if the fluctuation is lower than a statistically significant level, the averaging method is used to estimate the gain between the calibration frames. If the fluctuation is found to be statistically significant, a linear interpolation of gain and reference power is used to estimate the gain between the calibration frames.

High-resolution maps of Jupiter at five microns.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keay, C. S. L.; Low, F. J.; Rieke, G. H.; Minton, R. B.

1973-01-01

The distribution of 5-micron radiation, emitted from a large number of discrete sources from Jupiter, was observed during the 1972 apparition. These sources are less bright than those observed by Westphal (1969). At least 50 discrete sources having brightness temperatures exceeding 227 K were revealed which were mainly located within three narrow-latitude bands. Strong correlation exists between the 5-micron brightness temperatures of Jovian features and their colors as recorded photographically.

High frequency thermal emission from the lunar surface and near surface temperature of the Moon from Chang’E-2 microwave radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Tuo; Fa, Wenzhe

2014-04-01

Near surface temperature of the Moon and thermal behaviors of the lunar regolith can provide important information for constraining thermal and magmatic evolution models of the Moon and engineering constrains for in situ lunar exploration system. In this study, China’s Chang’E-2 (CE-2) microwave radiometer (MRM) data at high frequency channels are used to investigate near surface temperature of the Moon given the penetration ability of microwave into the desiccated and porous lunar regolith. Factors that affect high frequency brightness temperature (TB), such as surface slope, solar albedo and dielectric constant, are analyzed first using a revised Racca’s temperature model. Radiative transfer theory is then used to model thermal emission from a semi-infinite regolith medium, with considering dielectric constant and temperature profiles within the regolith layer. To decouple the effect of diurnal temperature variation in the uppermost lunar surface, diurnal averaged brightness temperatures at high frequency channels are used to invert mean diurnal surface and subsurface temperatures based on their bilinear profiles within the regolith layer. Our results show that, at the scale of the spatial resolution of CE-2 MRM, surface slope of crater wall varies typically from about 20° to 30°, and this causes a variation in TB about 10-15 K. Solar albedo can give rise to a TB difference of about 5-10 K between maria and highlands, whereas a ∼2-8 K difference can be compensated by the dielectric constant on the other hand. Inversion results indicate that latitude (ϕ) variations of the mean diurnal surface and subsurface temperatures follow simple rules as cos0.30ϕ and cos0.36ϕ, respectively. The inverted mean diurnal temperature profiles at the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites are also compared with the Apollo heat flow experiment data, showing an inversion uncertainty <4 K for surface temperature and <1 K for subsurface temperature.

Variations in West Antarctic Ice Front and Passive Microwave Brightness Temperature for 8 Years Duration in 2000s

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J.; Yu, J.; Wang, L.; Liu, H.

2017-12-01

Changes in Antarctic ice sheet are caused by various reasons such as changes in Holocene climate, precipitation, and ocean temperature. Such issues of changes in ice sheet has been mainly focused on the Antarctic peninsula, and it is known that ice retreat of the area is caused by changes in atmospheric and ocean temperatures. For the case of West Antarctica, ice front change research is relatively rarely conducted except the Pine island glacier area. This study has monitored ice front changes of West Antarctica and compared the patterns with the changes in brightness temperature based on remote sensing techniques. We used 2000 Radarsat-1 and 2008 Rasarsat-2 SAR data to delineate coastlines of whole West Antarctica based on the locally thresholding adaptive algorithm. The delineated coast lines are analyzed to figure out ice front change patterns between the duration. The variations in brightness temperature for the same duration are calculated based on Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)'s Special Sensor Microwave/Images-Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSM/I-SSMIS) passive microwave data. The results show ice front of West Antarctica shows advancing trend except the pine island glacier area. The brightness temperature had decreasing trend during the study period. It infers that changes in ice front and brightness temperature of West Antarctica have considerable relationships. It is expected that a long term monitoring of the relationship would contribute understanding ice dynamics of West Antarctica significantly.

Effect of terrestrial radiation on brightness temperature at lunar nearside: Based on theoretical calculation and data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Guangfei; Li, Xiongyao; Wang, Shijie

2015-02-01

Terrestrial radiation is another possible source of heat in lunar thermal environment at its nearside besides the solar illumination. On the basis of Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data products, the effect of terrestrial radiation on the brightness temperature (TBe) of the lunar nearside has been theoretically calculated. It shows that the mafic lunar mare with high TBe is more sensitive to terrestrial radiation than the feldspathic highland with low TBe value. According to the synchronous rotation of the Moon, we extract TBe on lunar nearside using the microwave radiometer data from the first Chinese lunar probe Chang'E-1 (CE-1). Consistently, the average TBe at Mare Serenitatis is about 1.2 K while the highland around the Geber crater (19.4°S, 13.9°E) is relatively small at ∼0.4 K. Our results indicate that there is no significant effect of terrestrial radiation on TBe at the lunar nearside. However, to extract TBe accurately, effects of heat flow, rock abundance and subsurface rock fragments which are more significant should be considered in the future work.

Microwave attenuation and brightness temperature due to the gaseous atmosphere: A comparison of JPL and CCIR values

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, E. K.; Waters, J. W.

1981-01-01

A sophisticated but flexible radiative transfer program designed to assure internal consistency was used to produce brightness temperature (sky noise temperature in a given direction) and gaseous attenuation curves. The curves, derived from atmospheric models, were compared and a new set was derived for a specified frequency range.

Passive microwave studies of snowpack properties. [Walden and Steamboat Spring, Colorado

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, D. K.; Chang, A. T. C.; Foster, J. L.; Rango, A.; Schmugge, T.

1978-01-01

Microwave brightness temperatures were measured for the snowpacks at Walden and Steamboat Springs, Colorado during 1976 and 1977 aircraft experiments. Variations in measured brightness temperatures are attributed to snow grain and crystal sizes, liquid water content, and snowpack temperature. Results demonstrate that shorter wavelength radiation is scattered more strongly than longer wavelength radiation.

Measurements of the dielectric properties of sea water at 1.43 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ho, W. W.; Love, A. W.; Vanmelle, M. J.

1974-01-01

Salinity and temperature of water surfaces of estuaries and bay regions are determined to accuracies of 1 ppt salinity and 0.3 kelvin surface temperature. L-band and S-band radiometers are used in combination as brightness temperature detectors. The determination of the brightness temperature versus salinity, with the water surface temperature as a parameter for 1.4 GHz, is performed with a capillary tube inserted into a resonance cavity. Detailed analysis of the results indicates that the measured values are accurate to better than 0.2 percent in the electric property epsilon' and 0.4 percent in epsilon''. The calculated brightness temperature as a function of temperature and salinity is better than 0.2 kelvin. Thus it is possible to reduce the measured data obtained with the two-frequency radiometer system with 1 ppt accuracy to values in the salinity range 5 to 40 ppt.

Response of noctilucent cloud brightness to daily solar variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalin, P.; Pertsev, N.; Perminov, V.; Dubietis, A.; Zadorozhny, A.; Zalcik, M.; McEachran, I.; McEwan, T.; Černis, K.; Grønne, J.; Taustrup, T.; Hansen, O.; Andersen, H.; Melnikov, D.; Manevich, A.; Romejko, V.; Lifatova, D.

2018-04-01

For the first time, long-term data sets of ground-based observations of noctilucent clouds (NLC) around the globe have been analyzed in order to investigate a response of NLC to solar UV irradiance variability on a day-to-day scale. NLC brightness has been considered versus variations of solar Lyman-alpha flux. We have found that day-to-day solar variability, whose effect is generally masked in the natural NLC variability, has a statistically significant effect when considering large statistics for more than ten years. Average increase in day-to-day solar Lyman-α flux results in average decrease in day-to-day NLC brightness that can be explained by robust physical mechanisms taking place in the summer mesosphere. Average time lags between variations of Lyman-α flux and NLC brightness are short (0-3 days), suggesting a dominant role of direct solar heating and of the dynamical mechanism compared to photodissociation of water vapor by solar Lyman-α flux. All found regularities are consistent between various ground-based NLC data sets collected at different locations around the globe and for various time intervals. Signatures of a 27-day periodicity seem to be present in the NLC brightness for individual summertime intervals; however, this oscillation cannot be unambiguously retrieved due to inevitable periods of tropospheric cloudiness.

Photometric study of fine structure of a sunspot penumbra (in French)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muller, R.

1973-10-01

The microphotometric analysis of the fime structure of a sunspot penumbra, photographed in white hight with the 38 cm refractor of the Pic du Midi Observatory with a resolution very close to 0.3'', allows to give from it, at lambda 5280, the following picture: the penumbra appears to consist of bright grains, lined up in the form of filaments, with am average brightness I/sub beta //I = 0.95 of average width 0.36''(270 km) and which cover 43% of its surface, show-ing up a dark background of brightness I/sub beta //I = 0.6 nearly uniform. (auth)

MSG SEVIRI Applications for Weather and Climate: Cloud Properties and Calibrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minnis, Patrick; Nguyen, Louis; Smith, William L.; Palikonda, Rabindra; Doelling, David R.; Ayers, J. Kirk; Trepte, Qing Z.; Chang, Fu-Lung

2006-01-01

SEVIRI data are cross-calibrated against the corresponding Aqua and Terra MODIS channels. Compared to Terra MODIS, no significant trends are evident in the 0.65, 0.86, and 1.6 micron channel gains between May 2004 and May 2006, indicating excellent stability in the solar-channel sensors. On average, the corresponding Terra reflectances are 12, 14, and 1% greater than the their SEVIRI counterparts. The Terra 3.8- micron channel brightness temperatures T are 7 and 4 K greater than their SEVIRI counterparts during day and night, respectively. The average differences between T for MODIS and SEVIRI 8.6, 10.8, 12.0, and 13.3- micron channels are between 0.5 and 2 K. The cloud properties are being derived hourly over Europe and, in initial comparisons, agree well with surface observations. Errors caused by residual calibration uncertainties, terminator conditions, and inaccurate temperature and humidity profiles are still problematic. Future versions will address those errors and the effects of multilayered clouds.

Investigation of the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect using wide-gamut display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Semin; Kwak, Youngshin

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect exists among the images having various luminance and chroma levels. Firstly, five images were selected. Then each image was adjusted to have 4 different average CIECAM02 C and 5 different average CIECAM02 J. In total 20 test images were generated per each image for the psychophysical experiment. The psychophysical experiment was done in a dark room using a LCD display. To evaluate the overall perceived brightness of images a magnitude estimation method was used. Fifteen participants evaluated the brightness of each image comparing with the reference image. As a result, participants tended to evaluate the brightness higher as the average CIECAM02 J and also CIECAM02 C of the image increases proving the Helmholtz- Kohlrausch effect in images.

The effect of precipitation on measuring sea surface salinity from space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Xuchen; Pan, Delu; He, Xianqiang; Wang, Difeng; Zhu, Qiankun; Gong, Fang

2017-10-01

The sea surface salinity (SSS) can be measured from space by using L-band (1.4 GHz) microwave radiometers. The L-band has been chosen for its sensitivity of brightness temperature to the change of salinity. However, SSS remote sensing is still challenging due to the low sensitivity of brightness temperature to SSS variation: for the vertical polarization, the sensitivity is about 0.4 to 0.8 K/psu with different incident angles and sea surface temperature; for horizontal polarization, the sensitivity is about 0.2 to 0.6 K/psu. It means that we have to make radiometric measurements with accuracy better than 1K even for the best sensitivity of brightness temperature to SSS. Therefore, in order to retrieve SSS, the measured brightness temperature at the top of atmosphere (TOA) needs to be corrected for many sources of error. One main geophysical source of error comes from atmosphere. Currently, the atmospheric effect at L-band is usually corrected by absorption and emission model, which estimate the radiation absorbed and emitted by atmosphere. However, the radiation scattered by precipitation is neglected in absorption and emission models, which might be significant under heavy precipitation. In this paper, a vector radiative transfer model for coupled atmosphere and ocean systems with a rough surface is developed to simulate the brightness temperature at the TOA under different precipitations. The model is based on the adding-doubling method, which includes oceanic emission and reflection, atmospheric absorption and scattering. For the ocean system with a rough surface, an empirical emission model established by Gabarro and the isotropic Cox-Munk wave model considering shadowing effect are used to simulate the emission and reflection of sea surface. For the atmospheric attenuation, it is divided into two parts: For the rain layer, a Marshall-Palmer distribution is used and the scattering properties of the hydrometeors are calculated by Mie theory (the scattering hydrometeors are assumed to be spherical). For the other atmosphere layers, which are assumed to be clear sky, Liebe's millimeter wave propagation model (MPM93) is used to calculate the absorption coefficients of oxygen, water vapor, and cloud droplets. To simulate the change of brightness temperature caused by different rain rate (0-50 mm/h), we assume a 26-layer precipitation structure corresponding to NCEP FNL data. Our radiative transfer simulations showed that the brightness temperature at TOA can be influenced significantly by the heavy precipitation, the results indicate that the atmospheric attenuation of L-band at incidence angle of 42.5° should be a positive bias, and when rain rate rise up to 50 mm/h, the brightness temperature increases are close to 0.6 K and 0.8 K for horizontally and vertically polarized brightness temperature, respectively. Thus, in the case of heavy precipitation, the current absorption and emission model is not accurate enough to correct atmospheric effect, and a radiative transfer model which considers the effect of radiation scattering should be used.

Does the Sun Have a Full-Time Chromosphere?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalkofen, Wolfgang; Ulmschneider, Peter; Avrett, Eugene H.

1999-08-01

The successful modeling of the dynamics of H2v bright points in the nonmagnetic chromosphere by Carlsson & Stein gave as a by-product a part-time chromosphere lacking the persistent outward temperature increase of time-average empirical models, which is needed to explain observations of UV emission lines and continua. We discuss the failure of the dynamical model to account for most of the observed chromospheric emission, arguing that their model uses only about 1% of the acoustic energy supplied to the medium. Chromospheric heating requires an additional source of energy in the form of acoustic waves of short period (P<2 minutes), which form shocks and produce the persistent outward temperature increase that can account for the UV emission lines and continua.

STEREOSCOPIC DETERMINATION OF HEIGHTS OF EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET BRIGHT POINTS USING DATA TAKEN BY SECCHI/EUVI ABOARD STEREO

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kwon, Ryun-Young; Chae, Jongchul; Zhang Jie

2010-05-01

We measure the heights of EUV bright points (BPs) above the solar surface by applying a stereoscopic method to the data taken by the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory/SECCHI/Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI). We have developed a three-dimensional reconstruction method for point-like features such as BPs using the simple principle that the position of a point in the three-dimensional space is specified as the intersection of two lines of sight. From a set of data consisting of EUVI 171 A, 195 A, 284 A, and 304 A images taken on 11 days arbitrarily selected during a period of 14 months, we havemore » identified and analyzed 210 individual BPs that were visible on all four passband images and smaller than 30 Mm. The BPs seen in the 304 A images have an average height of 4.4 Mm, and are often associated with the legs of coronal loops. In the 171 A, 195 A, and 284 A images the BPs appear loop-shaped, and have average heights of 5.1, 6.7, and 6.1 Mm, respectively. Moreover, there is a tendency that overlying loops are filled with hotter plasmas. The average heights of BPs in 171 A, 195 A, and 284 A passbands are roughly twice the corresponding average lengths. Our results support the notion that an EUV BP represents a system of small loops with temperature stratification like flaring loops, being consistent with the magnetic reconnection origin.« less

Posterior uncertainty of GEOS-5 L-band radiative transfer model parameters and brightness temperatures after calibration with SMOS observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Lannoy, G. J.; Reichle, R. H.; Vrugt, J. A.

2012-12-01

Simulated L-band (1.4 GHz) brightness temperatures are very sensitive to the values of the parameters in the radiative transfer model (RTM). We assess the optimum RTM parameter values and their (posterior) uncertainty in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) land surface model using observations of multi-angular brightness temperature over North America from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. Two different parameter estimation methods are being compared: (i) a particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach, and (ii) an MCMC simulation procedure using the differential evolution adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm. Our results demonstrate that both methods provide similar "optimal" parameter values. Yet, DREAM exhibits better convergence properties, resulting in a reduced spread of the posterior ensemble. The posterior parameter distributions derived with both methods are used for predictive uncertainty estimation of brightness temperature. This presentation will highlight our model-data synthesis framework and summarize our initial findings.

Surface-induced brightness temperature variations and their effects on detecting thin cirrus clouds using IR emission channels in the 8-12 microns region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gao, Bo-Cai; Wiscombe, W. J.

1994-01-01

A method for detecting cirrus clouds in terms of brightness temperature differences between narrowbands at 8, 11, and 12 microns has been proposed by Ackerman et al. In this method, the variation of emissivity with wavelength for different surface targets was not taken into consideration. Based on state-of-the-art laboratory measurements of reflectance spectra of terrestrial materials by Salisbury and D'Aria, it is found that the brightness temperature differences between the 8- and 11-microns bands for soils, rocks, and minerals, and dry vegetation can vary between approximately -8 and +8 K due solely to surface emissivity variations. The large brightness temperature differences are sufficient to cause false detection of cirrus clouds from remote sensing data acquired over certain surface targets using the 8-11-12-microns method directly. It is suggested that the 8-11-12-microns method should be improved to include the surface emissivity effects. In addition, it is recommended that in the future the variation of surface emissivity with wavelength should be taken into account in algorithms for retrieving surface temperatures and low-level atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles.

Variability of OH rotational temperatures on time scales from hours to 15 years by kinetic temperature variations, emission layer changes, and non-LTE effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noll, Stefan

2016-07-01

Rotational temperatures derived from hydroxyl (OH) line emission are frequently used to study atmospheric temperatures at altitudes of about 87 km. While the measurement only requires intensities of a few bright lines of an OH band, the interpretation can be complicated. Ground-based temperatures are averages for the entire, typically 8 km wide emission layer. Variations in the rotational temperature are then caused by changes of the kinetic temperature and the OH emission profile. The latter can also be accompanied by differences in the layer-averaged efficiency of the thermalisation of the OH rotational level populations. Since this especially depends on the frequency of collisions with O_2, which is low at high altitudes, the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) contribution to the measured temperatures can be significant and variable. In order to understand the impact of the different sources of OH rotational temperature variations from time scales of hours to a solar cycle, we have studied spectra from the astronomical echelle spectrographs X-shooter and UVES located at Cerro Paranal in Chile. While the X-shooter data spanning 3.5 years allowed us to measure temperatures for 25 OH and two O_2 bands, the UVES spectra cover no more than 10 OH bands simultaneously but a period of about 15 years. These data have been complemented by kinetic temperature and OH and O_2 emission profiles from the multi-channel radiometer SABER on the TIMED satellite. Taking the O_2 and SABER kinetic temperatures as reference and considering the different band-dependent emission profiles, we could evaluate the contribution of non-LTE effects to the measured OH rotational temperatures depending on line set, band, and time. Non-LTE contributions are significant for most bands and can exceed 10 K. The amplitudes of their average nocturnal and seasonal variation are of the order of 1 to 2 K.

The effects of correlated noise in phased-array observations of radio sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dewey, Rachel J.

1994-01-01

Arrays of radio telescopes are now routinely used to provide increased signal-to-noise when observing faint point sources. However, calculation of the achievable sensitivity is complicated if there are sources in the field of view other than the target source. These additional sources not only increase the system temperatures of the individual antennas, but may also contribute significant 'correlated noise' to the effective system temperature of the array. This problem has been of particular interest in the context of tracking spacecraft in the vicinity of radio-bright planets (e.g., Galileo at Jupiter), but it has broader astronomical relevance as well. This paper presents a general formulation of the problem, for the case of a point-like target source in the presence of an additional radio source of arbitrary brightness distribution. We re-derive the well known result that, in the absence of any background sources, a phased array of N indentical antennas is a factor of N more sensitive than a single antenna. We also show that an unphased array of N identical antennas is, on average, no more sensitive than a single antenna if the signals from the individual antennas are combined prior to detection. In the case where a background source is present we show that the effects of correlated noise are highly geometry dependent, and for some astronomical observations may cause significant fluctuations in the array's effective system temperature.

Pyrite Stability Under Venus Surface Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, E.; Craig, P.; Port, S.; Chevrier, V.; Johnson, N.

2015-12-01

Radar mapping of the surface of Venus shows areas of high reflectivity in the Venusian highlands, increasing to 0.35 ± 0.04 to 0.43 ± 0.05 in the highlands from the planetary average of 0.14 ± 0.03. Iron sulfides, specifically pyrite (FeS2), can explain the observed high reflectivity. However, several studies suggest that pyrite is not stable under Venusian conditions and is destroyed on geologic timescales. To test the stability of pyrite on the Venusian surface, pyrite was heated in the Venus simulation chamber at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to average Venusian surface conditions, and separately to highland conditions under an atmosphere of pure CO2 and separately under an atmosphere of 96.5% CO2, 3.5% N2 and 150 ppm SO2. After each run, the samples were weighed and analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to identify possible phase changes and determine the stability of pyrite under Venusian surface conditions. Under a pure CO2 atmosphere, the Fe in pyrite oxidizes to form hematite which is more stable at higher temperatures corresponding to the Venusian lowlands. Magnetite is the primary iron oxide that forms at lower temperatures corresponding to the radar-bright highlands. Our experiments also showed that the presence of atmospheric SO2 inhibits the oxidation of pyrite, increasing its stability under Venusian conditions, especially those corresponding to the highlands. This indicates that the relatively high level of SO2 in the Venusian atmosphere is key to the stability of pyrite, making it a possible candidate for the bright radar signal in the Venusian highlands.

Development of microwave rainfall retrieval algorithm for climate applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KIM, J. H.; Shin, D. B.

2014-12-01

With the accumulated satellite datasets for decades, it is possible that satellite-based data could contribute to sustained climate applications. Level-3 products from microwave sensors for climate applications can be obtained from several algorithms. For examples, the Microwave Emission brightness Temperature Histogram (METH) algorithm produces level-3 rainfalls directly, whereas the Goddard profiling (GPROF) algorithm first generates instantaneous rainfalls and then temporal and spatial averaging process leads to level-3 products. The rainfall algorithm developed in this study follows a similar approach to averaging instantaneous rainfalls. However, the algorithm is designed to produce instantaneous rainfalls at an optimal resolution showing reduced non-linearity in brightness temperature (TB)-rain rate(R) relations. It is found that the resolution tends to effectively utilize emission channels whose footprints are relatively larger than those of scattering channels. This algorithm is mainly composed of a-priori databases (DBs) and a Bayesian inversion module. The DB contains massive pairs of simulated microwave TBs and rain rates, obtained by WRF (version 3.4) and RTTOV (version 11.1) simulations. To improve the accuracy and efficiency of retrieval process, data mining technique is additionally considered. The entire DB is classified into eight types based on Köppen climate classification criteria using reanalysis data. Among these sub-DBs, only one sub-DB which presents the most similar physical characteristics is selected by considering the thermodynamics of input data. When the Bayesian inversion is applied to the selected DB, instantaneous rain rate with 6 hours interval is retrieved. The retrieved monthly mean rainfalls are statistically compared with CMAP and GPCP, respectively.

A search for p-mode oscillations of Jupiter - Serendipitous observations of nonacoustic thermal wave structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deming, Drake; Mumma, Michael J.; Espenak, Fred; Jennings, Donald E.; Kostiuk, Theodor; Wiedemann, Gunter

1989-01-01

Frequencies for the p-mode oscillations of Jupiter have been determined, and infrared brightness temperature fluctuations are used to search for the modes. Measurements of the infrared intensity of the Jovian disk were obtained in a broad bandwidth using a 20-element linear array. No p-mode oscillations were observed at the 0.07-K level in the 8-13-micron brightness temperature. The results suggest that Jovian p modes are not likely to have observable amplitudes. A prominent nonacoustic wave-like structure in the 8-13-micron brightness temperature is found both at 20 deg N and at the equator.

Solar Prominence Modelling and Plasma Diagnostics at ALMA Wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodger, Andrew; Labrosse, Nicolas

2017-09-01

Our aim is to test potential solar prominence plasma diagnostics as obtained with the new solar capability of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We investigate the thermal and plasma diagnostic potential of ALMA for solar prominences through the computation of brightness temperatures at ALMA wavelengths. The brightness temperature, for a chosen line of sight, is calculated using the densities of electrons, hydrogen, and helium obtained from a radiative transfer code under non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) conditions, as well as the input internal parameters of the prominence model in consideration. Two distinct sets of prominence models were used: isothermal-isobaric fine-structure threads, and large-scale structures with radially increasing temperature distributions representing the prominence-to-corona transition region. We compute brightness temperatures over the range of wavelengths in which ALMA is capable of observing (0.32 - 9.6 mm), however, we particularly focus on the bands available to solar observers in ALMA cycles 4 and 5, namely 2.6 - 3.6 mm (Band 3) and 1.1 - 1.4 mm (Band 6). We show how the computed brightness temperatures and optical thicknesses in our models vary with the plasma parameters (temperature and pressure) and the wavelength of observation. We then study how ALMA observables such as the ratio of brightness temperatures at two frequencies can be used to estimate the optical thickness and the emission measure for isothermal and non-isothermal prominences. From this study we conclude that for both sets of models, ALMA presents a strong thermal diagnostic capability, provided that the interpretation of observations is supported by the use of non-LTE simulation results.

Skin Temperature Rhythms in Humans Respond to Changes in the Timing of Sleep and Light.

PubMed

Cuesta, Marc; Boudreau, Philippe; Cermakian, Nicolas; Boivin, Diane B

2017-06-01

Body temperature is known to vary with circadian phase and to be influenced by factors that can mask its circadian expression. We wanted to test whether skin temperature rhythms were sensitive to an abrupt shift of the sleep schedule and to the resetting effects of light. Nineteen healthy subjects spent 6 days in time isolation and underwent a simulated night-shift procedure. They were assigned to either a control group ( n = 10) or bright light group ( n = 9) and measurements were taken under a baseline day-oriented schedule and during the 4 th cycle of a night-oriented schedule. In the bright light group, participants were exposed to a 3-cycle 8-h exposure of ~6,500 lux at night, while the control group remained in dim light conditions (~3 lux). Skin temperature was recorded in 10 and 4 participants from the control and bright light groups, respectively. We found significant circadian rhythms of plasma melatonin, core body temperature (CBT), and skin temperature at baseline for both groups ( p < 0.001 for all). Rhythms of melatonin, CBT, and skin temperature following night shifts were significantly phase delayed by about 7 to 9 h ( p < 0.05) in response to bright light at night, whereas there was no shift in the control group. In addition, we found that at bedtime melatonin does not consistently increase before the increase in distal skin temperature and subsequent decrease in CBT, in contrast to what has been previously reported. The present study shows that, in constant posture conditions, skin temperature rhythms have an evoked component sensitive to abrupt changes in the timing of sleep. They also comprise an endogenous component that is sensitive to the resetting effects of bright light exposure. These results have applications for the determination of circadian phase, as skin temperature is less intrusive than rectal temperature recordings.

L band brightness temperature observations over a corn canopy during the entire growth cycle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

During a field campaign covering the 2002 corn growing season, a dual polarized tower mounted L-band (1.4 GHz) radiometer (LRAD) provided brightness temperature (T¬B) measurements at preset intervals, incidence and azimuth angles. These radiometer measurements were supported by an extensive characte...

Sea ice and oceanic processes on the Ross Sea continental shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, S. S.; Comiso, J. C.

1989-12-01

We have investigated the spatial and temporal variability of Antarctic sea ice concentrations on the Ross Sea continental shelf, in relation to oceanic and atmospheric forcing. Sea ice data were derived from Nimbus 7 scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) brightness temperatures from 1979-1986. Ice cover over the shelf was persistently lower than above the adjacent deep ocean, averaging 86% during winter with little month-to-month or interannual variability. The large spring Ross Sea polynya on the western shelf results in a longer period of summer insolation, greater surface layer heat storage, and later ice formation in that region the following autumn. Newly identified Pennell and Ross Passage polynyas near the continental shelf break appear to be maintained in part by divergence above a submarine bank and by upwelling of warmer water near the slope front. Warmer subsurface water enters the shelf region year-round and will retard ice growth and enhance heat flux to the atmosphere when entrained in the strong winter vertical circulation. Temperatures at 125-m depth on a mooring near the Ross Ice Shelf during July 1984 averaged 0.15°C above freezing, sufficient to support a vertical heat flux above 100 W/m2. Monthly average subsurface ocean temperatures along the Ross Ice Shelf lag the air temperature cycle and begin to rise several weeks before spring ice breakout. The coarse SMMR resolution and dynamic ice shelf coastlines can compromise the use of microwave sea ice data near continental boundaries.

The XMM-Newton View of Stellar Coronae: High-Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of Capella

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Audard, M.; Behar, E.; Guedel, M.; Raassen, A. J. J.; Porquet, D.; Mewe, R.; Foley, C. A.; Bromage, G. E.

2000-01-01

We present the high-resolution RGS spectrum of the bright stellar binary Capella observed by the XMM-Newton satellite. A multi-thermal approach has been applied to fit the data and derive elemental abundances. The differential emission measure distribution is reconstructed using a Chebychev polynomial fit. The DEM shape is found to display a sharp peak around 7 MK, consistent with previous EUVE and ASCA results. A small but significant amount of emission measure is required around 1.8 MK in order to explain the O VII He-like triplet and the C VI Ly(alpha) line. Using the sensitivity to temperature of dielectronic recombination lines from O VI around 22 A, we confirm that the cool plasma temperature needs to be higher than 1.2 MK. In the approximation of a cool plasma described by one temperature, we used line ratios from the forbidden, intercombination, and resonance lines of the O VII triplet and derived an average density for the cool coronal plasma at the low density limit. A tentative study of line ratios from the M XI triplet gives an average temperature close to the sharp peak in emission measure and an average density of the order of 10(exp 12)cu cm, three orders of magnitude higher than for O VII. Implications for the coronal physics of Capella are discussed. We complement this paper with a discussion of the importance of the atomic code uncertainties on the spectral fitting procedure.

Structure and Dynamics of the Solar Chromosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalkofen, Wolfgang

1998-01-01

The problem of chromospheric dynamics and heating consists of two problems: one, concerning the magnetic network on the boundary of supergranulation cells (CB), where the oscillation period is seven minutes, and the other, concerning the cell interior (CI), where the oscillation period is three minutes. The observational data on the oscillations and the emission of radiation can be used to determine the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere provided answers are known to three critical questions, concerning: the nature of the waves powering the bright points, the origin of the observed oscillation periods and the mechanism of chromospheric heating. The recent modeling of the dynamics of the CI, which combines a sophisticated treatment of gas dynamics and radiative transfer in a one-dimensional model with empirical velocity input from the observations, answered the first of these questions: the waves powering K(sub 2upsilon), bright points are propagating acoustic waves. This firm conclusion declares invalid the model of Leibacher & Stein, which explains the observed period with standing acoustic waves in a chromospheric cavity. On the third question, the heating of the chromosphere in the CI, their model predicts that the temperature in the chromosphere is declining in the outward direction up to a height of at least I Mm most of the time, so even the time-average temperature is dropping monotonically in the outward direction, implying that lines formed in the chromosphere up to a height of at least 1 Mm appear in absorption most of the time and everywhere in the CI. The problem of the CI can be resolved with a two-component model, which combines a model for K(sub 2upsilon), bright points with a model for the background. The bright point model has the same aims as the CS94 model, except that the empirical driving from the LRK93 observations is replaced by impulsive excitation, as suggested by the properties of the Klein-Gordon equation.

Modulation of SSM/I microwave soil radiances by rainfall

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heymsfield, Gerald M.; Fulton, Richard

1992-01-01

The feasibility of using SSM/I satellite data for estimating the soil moisture content was investigated by correlating the rainfall and soil moisture data with values of the SSM/I microwave brightness temperature obtained for the lower Great Plains in the United States during 1987. It was found that the areas of lowest brightness temperatures coincided with regions of bare soil which had received significant rainfall. The time-history plots of the brightness temperature and the antecedent precipitation index during an extremely large rain event indicated a slow recovery period (about 15 days) back to the dry soil state. However, regions covered with vegetation showed smaller temperature drops and much weaker correlation with rain events, questioning the feasibility of using SSM/I measurements for estimations of soil moisture in regions containing vegetation-covered soil.

Observations and analysis of lunar radio emission at 3.09 mm wavelength

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulich, B. L.; Cogdell, J. R.; Davis, J. H.; Calvert, T. A.

1974-01-01

An analysis of data on lunar radio emission at 3.09 mm wavelength is presented. The data were obtained during a single lunation in a manner that facilitates their comparison with a calculated model. Specific regions of the moon (Copernicus, Sea of Serenity, Sea of Tranquillity, Ocean of Storms, and an highland region near the mean center) were studied with enough angular resolution to distinguish between different types of terrain. The data were absolutely calibrated and yield a new measurement of the lunation average brightness temperature of the center of the moon.

Improved VAS regression soundings of mesoscale temperature features observed during the atmospheric variability experiment on 6 March 1982. [VISSR Atmospheric Sounder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chesters, Dennis; Keyser, Dennis A.; Larko, David E.; Uccellini, Louis W.

1988-01-01

In 1982, the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) on the GOES satellite performed the Atmospheric Variability Experiment (AVE) to verify VAS's mesoscale-sounding capabilities. Attention is given to the AVE network in the late afternoon of March 6, 1982, after a winter storm had passed over Texas, in order to ascertain whether such temperature profile deviations from the average lapse rate as a midlevel cold pool (which should decrease the brightness of several IR channels) can be retrieved from VAS radiances. Two simple enhancements are introduced: the regression matrix is calculated using the AVE asynoptic radiosondes launched from NWS sites in the region, and a change of the statistical conditioning factor from the conservative 10/1 SNR to a more optimistic 100/1 for those VAS channels that are more sensitive to tropospheric temperature.

Measuring the global distribution of intense convection over land with passive microwave radiometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spencer, R. W.; Santek, D. A.

1985-01-01

The global distribution of intense convective activity over land is shown to be measurable with satellite passive-microwave methods through a comparison of an empirical rain rate algorithm with a climatology of thunderstorm days for the months of June-August. With the 18 and 37 GHz channels of the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), the strong volume scattering effects of precipitation can be measured. Even though a single frequency (37 GHz) is responsive to the scattering signature, two frequencies are needed to remove most of the effect that variations in thermometric temperatures and soil moisture have on the brightness temperatures. Because snow cover is also a volume scatterer of microwave energy at these microwavelengths, a discrimination procedure involving four of the SMMR channels is employed to separate the rain and snow classes, based upon their differences in average thermometric temperature.

Microwave brightness temperature of a windblown sea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, F. G.

1972-01-01

A mathematical model is developed for the apparent temperature of the sea at all microwave frequencies. The model is a numerical model in which both the clear water structure and white water are accounted for as a function of wind speed. The model produces results similar to Stogryn's model at 19.35 GHz for wind speeds less than 8 m/sec; it can use radiosonde data to calculate atmospheric effects and can incorporate an empirically determined antenna gain pattern. The corresponding computer program is of modular design and the logic of the main program is capable of treating a horizontally inhomogeneous surface or atmosphere. It is shown that a variation of microwave brightness temperature with zenith angle is necessary to produce the wind sensitivity of the horizontally polarized brightness temperature; the variation of sky temperature with frequency is sufficient to produce a frequency dependent wind sensitivity.

A Parallel, High-Fidelity Radar Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 . TCMB is the temperature due to the cosmic microwave background ...per unit area, per unit frequency. In the microwave regime, this is usually given the name brightness temperature, . There are various sources...which contribute to the brightness temperature. They include external sources outside of the earth’s atmosphere (e.g. cosmic or galactic noise

Remote sensing of soil moisture content over bare fields at 1.4 GHz frequency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, J. R.; Choudhury, B. J.

1980-01-01

A simple method of estimating moisture content (W) of a bare soil from the observed brightness temperature (T sub B) at 1.4 GHz is discussed. The method is based on a radiative transfer model calculation, which has been successfully used in the past to account for many observational results, with some modifications to take into account the effect of surface roughness. Besides the measured T sub B's, the three additional inputs required by the method are the effective soil thermodynamic temperature, the precise relation between W and the smooth field brightness temperature T sub B and a parameter specifying the surface roughness characteristics. The soil effective temperature can be readily measured and the procedures of estimating surface roughness parameter and obtaining the relation between W and smooth field brightness temperature are discussed in detail. Dual polarized radiometric measurements at an off-nadir incident angle are sufficient to estimate both surface roughness parameter and W, provided that the relation between W and smooth field brightness temperature at the same angle is known. The method of W estimate is demonstrated with two sets of experimental data, one from a controlled field experiment by a mobile tower and the other, from aircraft overflight. The results from both data sets are encouraging when the estimated W's are compared with the acquired ground truth of W's in the top 2 cm layer. An offset between the estimated and the measured W's exists in the results of the analyses, but that can be accounted for by the presently poor knowledge of the relationship between W and smooth field brightness temperature for various types of soils. An approach to quantify this relationship for different soils and thus improve the method of W estimate is suggested.

Inference of Ice Cloud Properties from High-spectral Resolution Infrared Observations. Appendix 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Hung-Lung; Yang, Ping; Wei, Heli; Baum, Bryan A.; Hu, Yongxiang; Antonelli, Paolo; Ackerman, Steven A.

2005-01-01

The theoretical basis is explored for inferring the microphysical properties of ice crystal from high-spectral resolution infrared observations. A radiative transfer model is employed to simulate spectral radiances to address relevant issues. The extinction and absorption efficiencies of individual ice crystals, assumed as hexagonal columns for large particles and droxtals for small particles, are computed from a combination of the finite- difference time-domain (FDTD) technique and a composite method. The corresponding phase functions are computed from a combination of FDTD and an improved geometric optics method (IGOM). Bulk scattering properties are derived by averaging the single- scattering properties of individual particles for 30 particle size distributions developed from in situ measurements and for additional four analytical Gamma size distributions for small particles. The non-sphericity of ice crystals is shown to have a significant impact on the radiative signatures in the infrared (IR) spectrum; the spherical particle approximation for inferring ice cloud properties may result in an overest&ation of the optical thickness and an inaccurate retrieval of effective particle size. Furthermore, we show that the error associated with the use of the Henyey-Greenstein phase function can be as larger as 1 K in terms of brightness temperature for larger particle effective size at some strong scattering wavenumbers. For small particles, the difference between the two phase functions is much less, with brightness temperatures generally differing by less than 0.4 K. The simulations undertaken in this study show that the slope of the IR brightness temperature spectrum between 790-960/cm is sensitive to the effective particle size. Furthermore, a strong sensitivity of IR brightness temperature to cloud optical thickness is noted within the l050-1250/cm region. Based on this spectral feature, a technique is presented for the simultaneous retrieval of the visible optical thickness and effective particle size from high spectral resolution infrared data under ice cloudy con&tion. The error analysis shows that the uncertainty of the retrieved optical thickness and effective particle size has a small range of variation. The error for retrieving particle size in conjunction with an uncertainty of 5 K in cloud'temperature, or a surface temperature uncertainty of 2.5 K, is less than 15%. The corresponding e m r in the uncertainty of optical thickness is within 5-2096, depending on the value of cloud optical thickness. The applicability of the technique is demonstrated using the aircraft-based High- resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) data from the Subsonic Aircraft: Contrail and Cloud Effects Special Study (SUCCESS) in 1996 and the First ISCCP Regional Experiment - Arctic Clouds Experiment (FIRE-ACE) in 1998.

The effect of monomolecular surface films on the microwave brightness temperature of the sea surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alpers, W.; Blume, H.-J. C.; Garrett, W. D.; Huehnerfuss, H.

1982-01-01

It is pointed out that monomolecular surface films of biological origin are often encountered on the ocean surface, especially in coastal regions. The thicknesses of the monomolecular films are of the order of 3 x 10 to the -9th m. Huehnerfuss et al. (1978, 1981) have shown that monomolecular surface films damp surface waves quite strongly in the centimeter to decimeter wavelength regime. Other effects caused by films are related to the reduction of the gas exchange at the air-sea interface and the decrease of the wind stress. The present investigation is concerned with experiments which reveal an unexpectedly large response of the microwave brightness temperature to a monomolecular oleyl alcohol slick at 1.43 GHz. Brightness temperature is a function of the complex dielectric constant of thy upper layer of the ocean. During six overflights over an ocean area covered with an artificial monomolecular alcohol film, a large decrease of the brightness temperature at the L-band was measured, while at the S-band almost no decrease was observed.

Titan's surface from the Cassini RADAR radiometry data during SAR mode

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paganelli, F.; Janssen, M.A.; Lopes, R.M.; Stofan, E.; Wall, S.D.; Lorenz, R.D.; Lunine, J.I.; Kirk, R.L.; Roth, L.; Elachi, C.

2008-01-01

We present initial results on the calibration and interpretation of the high-resolution radiometry data acquired during the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode (SAR-radiometry) of the Cassini Radar Mapper during its first five flybys of Saturn's moon Titan. We construct maps of the brightness temperature at the 2-cm wavelength coincident with SAR swath imaging. A preliminary radiometry calibration shows that brightness temperature in these maps varies from 64 to 89 K. Surface features and physical properties derived from the SAR-radiometry maps and SAR imaging are strongly correlated; in general, we find that surface features with high radar reflectivity are associated with radiometrically cold regions, while surface features with low radar reflectivity correlate with radiometrically warm regions. We examined scatterplots of the normalized radar cross-section ??0 versus brightness temperature, outlining signatures that characterize various terrains and surface features. The results indicate that volume scattering is important in many areas of Titan's surface, particularly Xanadu, while other areas exhibit complex brightness temperature variations consistent with variable slopes or surface material and compositional properties. ?? 2007.

The impact of morning light intensity and environmental temperature on body temperatures and alertness.

PubMed

Te Kulve, Marije; Schlangen, Luc J M; Schellen, Lisje; Frijns, Arjan J H; van Marken Lichtenbelt, Wouter D

2017-06-01

Indoor temperature and light exposure are known to affect body temperature, productivity and alertness of building occupants. However, not much is known about the interaction between light and temperature exposure and the relationship between morning light induced alertness and its effect on body temperature. Light intensity and room temperature during morning office hours were investigated under strictly controlled conditions. In a randomized crossover study, two white light conditions (4000K, either bright 1200lx or dim 5lx) under three different room temperatures (26, 29 and 32°C) were investigated. A lower room temperature increased the core body temperature (CBT) and lowered skin temperature and the distal-proximal temperature gradient (DPG). Moreover, a lower room temperature reduced the subjective sleepiness and reaction time on an auditory psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), irrespective of the light condition. Interestingly, the morning bright light exposure did affect thermophysiological parameters, i.e. it decreased plasma cortisol, CBT and proximal skin temperature and increased the DPG, irrespective of the room temperature. During the bright light session, subjective sleepiness decreased irrespective of the room temperature. However, the change in sleepiness due to the light exposure was not related to these physiological changes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scale Dependence of Cirrus Horizontal Heterogeneity Effects on TOA Measurements. Part I; MODIS Brightness Temperatures in the Thermal Infrared

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fauchez, Thomas; Platnick, Steven; Meyer, Kerry; Cornet, Celine; Szczap, Frederic; Varnai, Tamas

2017-01-01

This paper presents a study on the impact of cirrus cloud heterogeneities on MODIS simulated thermal infrared (TIR) brightness temperatures (BTs) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) as a function of spatial resolution from 50 meters to 10 kilometers. A realistic 3-D (three-dimensional) cirrus field is generated by the 3DCLOUD model (average optical thickness of 1.4, cloudtop and base altitudes at 10 and 12 kilometers, respectively, consisting of aggregate column crystals of D (sub eff) equals 20 microns), and 3-D thermal infrared radiative transfer (RT) is simulated with the 3DMCPOL (3-D Monte Carlo Polarized) code. According to previous studies, differences between 3-D BT computed from a heterogenous pixel and 1-D (one-dimensional) RT computed from a homogeneous pixel are considered dependent at nadir on two effects: (i) the optical thickness horizontal heterogeneity leading to the plane-parallel homogeneous bias (PPHB); and the (ii) horizontal radiative transport (HRT) leading to the independent pixel approximation error (IPAE). A single but realistic cirrus case is simulated and, as expected, the PPHB mainly impacts the low-spatial resolution results (above approximately 250 meters), with averaged values of up to 5-7 K (thousand), while the IPAE mainly impacts the high-spatial resolution results (below approximately 250 meters) with average values of up to 1-2 K (thousand). A sensitivity study has been performed in order to extend these results to various cirrus optical thicknesses and heterogeneities by sampling the cirrus in several ranges of parameters. For four optical thickness classes and four optical heterogeneity classes, we have found that, for nadir observations, the spatial resolution at which the combination of PPHB and HRT effects is the smallest, falls between 100 and 250 meters. These spatial resolutions thus appear to be the best choice to retrieve cirrus optical properties with the smallest cloud heterogeneity-related total bias in the thermal infrared. For off-nadir observations, the average total effect is increased and the minimum is shifted to coarser spatial resolutions.

Comparison of measured brightness temperatures from SMOS with modelled ones from ORCHIDEE and H-TESSEL over the Iberian Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barella-Ortiz, Anaïs; Polcher, Jan; de Rosnay, Patricia; Piles, Maria; Gelati, Emiliano

2017-01-01

L-band radiometry is considered to be one of the most suitable techniques to estimate surface soil moisture (SSM) by means of remote sensing. Brightness temperatures are key in this process, as they are the main input in the retrieval algorithm which yields SSM estimates. The work exposed compares brightness temperatures measured by the SMOS mission to two different sets of modelled ones, over the Iberian Peninsula from 2010 to 2012. The two modelled sets were estimated using a radiative transfer model and state variables from two land-surface models: (i) ORCHIDEE and (ii) H-TESSEL. The radiative transfer model used is the CMEM. Measured and modelled brightness temperatures show a good agreement in their temporal evolution, but their spatial structures are not consistent. An empirical orthogonal function analysis of the brightness temperature's error identifies a dominant structure over the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula which evolves during the year and is maximum in autumn and winter. Hypotheses concerning forcing-induced biases and assumptions made in the radiative transfer model are analysed to explain this inconsistency, but no candidate is found to be responsible for the weak spatial correlations at the moment. Further hypotheses are proposed and will be explored in a forthcoming paper. The analysis of spatial inconsistencies between modelled and measured TBs is important, as these can affect the estimation of geophysical variables and TB assimilation in operational models, as well as result in misleading validation studies.

LRO Diviner Nonlinear Response and Opposition Effect Corrections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gyalay, S.; Aye, K. M.; Paige, D. A.

2016-12-01

Aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment measures thermal radiation to determine the brightness temperature of the lunar surface. As with the Mars Climate Sounder (upon which Diviner is based), we use pre-flight calibration data to correct for the nonlinear response in Diviner's detectors, which in-turn accounts for much of the detector non-uniformity within channels. Furthermore, channels 8 and 9 exhibit unexpectedly high brightness temperatures close to the equator around midday, with even higher brightness temperatures when observing lunar highlands as opposed to maria. Unexpectedly high brightness temperatures around midday at the equator is reminiscent of the opposition effect known to exist on the Moon at low phase angles in Visual to Near Infra-Red (VNIR) wavelengths. Diviner channel 2 data (which detects solar radiation reflected by the Moon) shows this opposition effect, which is more pronounced in the highlands than the maria. We interpret a correlation we observe between channel 2 detected radiance and channel 8 and 9 brightness temperature as due to incomplete blocking of reflected solar radiation. This leads us to an opposition effect correction for Diviner channels 8 and 9 dependent on Diviner's solar channel data. Whether this is a direct leak of VNIR light upon the detectors, or solar heating of blocking filters, which then radiate infrared radiation upon the detectors, is yet to be determined. We can use the nonlinearity and opposition effect corrections to recharacterize the spectral emissivity of the lunar regolith, which we can then compare to laboratory spectra.

Coronal Bright Points Associated with Minifilament Eruptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Junchao; Jiang, Yunchun; Yang, Jiayan; Bi, Yi; Li, Haidong; Yang, Bo; Yang, Dan

2014-12-01

Coronal bright points (CBPs) are small-scale, long-lived coronal brightenings that always correspond to photospheric network magnetic features of opposite polarity. In this paper, we subjectively adopt 30 CBPs in a coronal hole to study their eruptive behavior using data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. About one-quarter to one-third of the CBPs in the coronal hole go through one or more minifilament eruption(s) (MFE(s)) throughout their lifetimes. The MFEs occur in temporal association with the brightness maxima of CBPs and possibly result from the convergence and cancellation of underlying magnetic dipoles. Two examples of CBPs with MFEs are analyzed in detail, where minifilaments appear as dark features of a cool channel that divide the CBPs along the neutral lines of the dipoles beneath. The MFEs show the typical rising movements of filaments and mass ejections with brightenings at CBPs, similar to large-scale filament eruptions. Via differential emission measure analysis, it is found that CBPs are heated dramatically by their MFEs and the ejected plasmas in the MFEs have average temperatures close to the pre-eruption BP plasmas and electron densities typically near 109 cm-3. These new observational results indicate that CBPs are more complex in dynamical evolution and magnetic structure than previously thought.

A Physically Based Algorithm for Non-Blackbody Correction of Cloud-Top Temperature and Application to Convection Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Chunpeng; Lou, Zhengzhao Johnny; Chen, Xiuhong; Zeng, Xiping; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Huang, Xianglei

2014-01-01

Cloud-top temperature (CTT) is an important parameter for convective clouds and is usually different from the 11-micrometers brightness temperature due to non-blackbody effects. This paper presents an algorithm for estimating convective CTT by using simultaneous passive [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)] and active [CloudSat 1 Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO)] measurements of clouds to correct for the non-blackbody effect. To do this, a weighting function of the MODIS 11-micrometers band is explicitly calculated by feeding cloud hydrometer profiles from CloudSat and CALIPSO retrievals and temperature and humidity profiles based on ECMWF analyses into a radiation transfer model.Among 16 837 tropical deep convective clouds observed by CloudSat in 2008, the averaged effective emission level (EEL) of the 11-mm channel is located at optical depth; approximately 0.72, with a standard deviation of 0.3. The distance between the EEL and cloud-top height determined by CloudSat is shown to be related to a parameter called cloud-top fuzziness (CTF), defined as the vertical separation between 230 and 10 dBZ of CloudSat radar reflectivity. On the basis of these findings a relationship is then developed between the CTF and the difference between MODIS 11-micrometers brightness temperature and physical CTT, the latter being the non-blackbody correction of CTT. Correction of the non-blackbody effect of CTT is applied to analyze convective cloud-top buoyancy. With this correction, about 70% of the convective cores observed by CloudSat in the height range of 6-10 km have positive buoyancy near cloud top, meaning clouds are still growing vertically, although their final fate cannot be determined by snapshot observations.

THE ALMA SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY IN THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD: IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECTRAL LINE INTENSITY MAPPING AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS AND CMB SPECTRAL DISTORTIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carilli, C. L.; Walter, F.; Chluba, J.

We present direct estimates of the mean sky brightness temperature in observing bands around 99 and 242 GHz due to line emission from distant galaxies. These values are calculated from the summed line emission observed in a blind, deep survey for spectral line emission from high redshift galaxies using ALMA (the ALMA spectral deep field observations “ASPECS” survey). In the 99 GHz band, the mean brightness will be dominated by rotational transitions of CO from intermediate and high redshift galaxies. In the 242 GHz band, the emission could be a combination of higher order CO lines, and possibly [C ii]more » 158 μ m line emission from very high redshift galaxies ( z  ∼ 6–7). The mean line surface brightness is a quantity that is relevant to measurements of spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background, and as a potential tool for studying large-scale structures in the early universe using intensity mapping. While the cosmic volume and the number of detections are admittedly small, this pilot survey provides a direct measure of the mean line surface brightness, independent of conversion factors, excitation, or other galaxy formation model assumptions. The mean surface brightness in the 99 GHZ band is: T{sub B}  = 0.94 ± 0.09 μ K. In the 242 GHz band, the mean brightness is: T{sub B}  = 0.55 ± 0.033 μ K. These should be interpreted as lower limits on the average sky signal, since we only include lines detected individually in the blind survey, while in a low resolution intensity mapping experiment, there will also be the summed contribution from lower luminosity galaxies that cannot be detected individually in the current blind survey.« less

A physically based algorithm for non-blackbody correction of the cloud top temperature for the convective clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, C.; Luo, Z. J.; Chen, X.; Zeng, X.; Tao, W.; Huang, X.

2012-12-01

Cloud top temperature is a key parameter to retrieval in the remote sensing of convective clouds. Passive remote sensing cannot directly measure the temperature at the cloud tops. Here we explore a synergistic way of estimating cloud top temperature by making use of the simultaneous passive and active remote sensing of clouds (in this case, CloudSat and MODIS). Weighting function of the MODIS 11μm band is explicitly calculated by feeding cloud hydrometer profiles from CloudSat retrievals and temperature and humidity profiles based on ECMWF ERA-interim reanalysis into a radiation transfer model. Among 19,699 tropical deep convective clouds observed by the CloudSat in 2008, the averaged effective emission level (EEL, where the weighting function attains its maximum) is at optical depth 0.91 with a standard deviation of 0.33. Furthermore, the vertical gradient of CloudSat radar reflectivity, an indicator of the fuzziness of convective cloud top, is linearly proportional to, d_{CTH-EEL}, the distance between the EEL of 11μm channel and cloud top height (CTH) determined by the CloudSat when d_{CTH-EEL}<0.6km. Beyond 0.6km, the distance has little sensitivity to the vertical gradient of CloudSat radar reflectivity. Based on these findings, we derive a formula between the fuzziness in the cloud top region, which is measurable by CloudSat, and the MODIS 11μm brightness temperature assuming that the difference between effective emission temperature and the 11μm brightness temperature is proportional to the cloud top fuzziness. This formula is verified using the simulated deep convective cloud profiles by the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model. We further discuss the application of this formula in estimating cloud top buoyancy as well as the error characteristics of the radiative calculation within such deep-convective clouds.

High-brightness 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot tapered laser with high temperature stability.

PubMed

Cao, Yulian; Ji, Haiming; Xu, Pengfei; Gu, Yongxian; Ma, Wenquan; Yang, Tao

2012-10-01

We demonstrate high-brightness 1.3 μm tapered lasers with high temperature stability by using p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) as the active region. It is found that the beam quality factor M(2) for the devices is almost unchanged as the light power and temperature increase. The almost constant M(2) results from the p-doped QD active region.

Probing Pluto's underworld: Ice temperatures from microwave radiometry decoupled from surface conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leyrat, Cedric; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Le Gall, Alice

2016-04-01

Present models admit a wide range of 2015 surface conditions at Pluto and Charon, where the atmospheric pressure may undergo dramatic seasonal variation and for which measurements are imminent from the New Horizons mission. One anticipated observation is the microwave brightness temperature, heretofore anticipated as indicating surface conditions relevant to surface-atmosphere equilibrium. However, drawing on recent experience with Cassini observations at Iapetus and Titan, we call attention to the large electrical skin depth of outer Solar System materials such as methane, nitrogen or water ice, such that this observation may indicate temperatures averaged over depths of several or tens of meters beneath the surface. Using a seasonally-forced thermal model to determine microwave emission we predict that the southern hemisphere observations (in polar night) of New Horizons in July 2015 will suggest effective temperatures of ∼40 K, reflecting deep heat buried over the last century of summer, even if the atmospheric pressure suggests that the surface nitrogen frost point may be much lower.

THERMODYNAMICS OF THE COMA CLUSTER OUTSKIRTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Urban, O.

2013-09-20

We present results from a large mosaic of Suzaku observations of the Coma Cluster, the nearest and X-ray brightest hot ({approx}8 keV), dynamically active, non-cool core system, focusing on the thermodynamic properties of the intracluster medium on large scales. For azimuths not aligned with an infalling subcluster toward the southwest, our measured temperature and X-ray brightness profiles exhibit broadly consistent radial trends, with the temperature decreasing from about 8.5 keV at the cluster center to about 2 keV at a radius of 2 Mpc, which is the edge of our detection limit. The southwest merger significantly boosts the surface brightness,more » allowing us to detect X-ray emission out to {approx}2.2 Mpc along this direction. Apart from the southwestern infalling subcluster, the surface brightness profiles show multiple edges around radii of 30-40 arcmin. The azimuthally averaged temperature profile, as well as the deprojected density and pressure profiles, all show a sharp drop consistent with an outwardly-propagating shock front located at 40 arcmin, corresponding to the outermost edge of the giant radio halo observed at 352 MHz with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. The shock front may be powering this radio emission. A clear entropy excess inside of r{sub 500} reflects the violent merging events linked with these morphological features. Beyond r{sub 500}, the entropy profiles of the Coma Cluster along the relatively relaxed directions are consistent with the power-law behavior expected from simple models of gravitational large-scale structure formation. The pressure is also in agreement at these radii with the expected values measured from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data from the Planck satellite. However, due to the large uncertainties associated with the Coma Cluster measurements, we cannot yet exclude an entropy flattening in this system consistent with that seen in more relaxed cool core clusters.« less

SMOS and AMSR-2 soil moisture evaluation using representative monitoring sites in southern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, J. P.; Mei Sun, M. S.; Rudiger, C.; Parinussa, R.; Koike, T.; Kerr, Y. H.

2016-12-01

The performance of soil moisture products from AMSR-2 and SMOS were evaluated against representative surface soil moisture stations within the Yanco study area in the Murrumbidgee Catchment, in southeast Australia. AMSR-2 Level 3 (L3) soil moisture products retrieved from two sets of brightness temperatures using the Japanese Aerospace exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) algorithms were included. For the LPRM algorithm, two different parameterization methods were applied. In the case of SMOS, two versions of the SMOS L3 soil moisture product were assessed. Results based on using "random" and representative stations to evaluate the products were contrasted. The latest versions of the JAXA (JX2) and LPRM (LP3) products were found to perform better than the earlier versions (JX1, LP1 and LP2). Moreover, soil moisture retrieval based on the latter version of brightness temperature and parameterization scheme improved when C-band observations were used, as opposed to the X-band data. Yet, X-band retrievals were found to perform better than C-band. Inter-comparing AMSR-2 X-band products from different acquisition times showed a better performance for 1:30 pm overpasses whereas SMOS 6:00 am retrievals were found to perform the best. The mean average error (MAE) goal accuracy of the AMSR-2 mission (MAE < 0.08 m3/m3) was met by both versions of the JAXA products, the LPRM X-band products retrieved from the reprocessed version of brightness temperatures, and both versions of SMOS products. Nevertheless, none of the products achieved the SMOS target accuracy of 0.04 m3/m3. Finally, the product performance depended on the statistics used in their evaluation; based on temporal and absolute accuracy JX2 is recommended, whereas LP3 X-band 1:30 pm and SMOS2 6:00 am are recommended based on temporal accuracy alone.

A Method to Retrieve Rainfall Rate over Land from TRMM Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prabhakara, C.; Iacovazzi, R., Jr.; Yoo, J.-M.

2002-01-01

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) observations over mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) reveal that there are localized maxima in the rain rate with a scale of about 10 to 20 km that represent thunderstorms (Cbs). Some of these Cbs are developing or intense, while others are decaying or weak. These Cbs constitute only about 20 % of the rain area of a given MCS. Outside of Cbs, the average rain rate is much weaker than that within Cbs. From an analysis of the PR data, we find that the spatial distribution of rain and its character, convective or stratiform, is highly inhomogeneous. This complex nature of rain exists on a scale comparable to that of a Cb. The 85 GHz brightness temperature, T85, observations of the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) radiometer taken over an MCS reflect closely the PR rain rate pattern over land. Local maxima in rain rate shown by PR are observed as local minima in T85. Where there are no minima in T85, PR observations indicate there is light rain. However, the TMI brightness temperature measurements (Tbs) have poor ability to discriminate convective rain from stratiform rain. For this reason, a TMI rain retrieval procedure that depends primarily on the magnitude of Tbs performs poorly. In order to retrieve rain rate from TMI data on land one has to include the spatial distribution information deduced from the T85 data in the retrieval method. Then, quantitative estimation of rain rate can be accomplished. A TMI rain retrieval method developed along these lines can yield estimates of rain rate and its frequency distribution which agree closely with that given by PR. We find the current TRMM project TMI (Version 5) rain retrieval algorithm on land could be improved with the retrieval scheme developed here. To support the conceptual frame work of the rain retrieval method developed here, a theoretical analysis of the TMI brightness temperatures in convective and stratiform regions is presented.

Results of soil moisture flights during April 1974

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmugge, T. J.; Blanchard, B. J.; Burke, W. J.; Paris, J. F.; Swang, J. R.

1976-01-01

The results presented here are derived from measurements made during the April 5 and 6, 1974 flights of the NASA P-3A aircraft over the Phoenix, Arizona agricultural test site. The purpose of the mission was to study the use of microwave techniques for the remote sensing of soil moisture. These results include infrared (10-to 12 micrometers) 2.8-cm and 21-cm brightness temperatures for approximately 90 bare fields. These brightness temperatures are compared with surface measurements of the soil moisture made at the time of the overflights. These data indicate that the combination of the sum and difference of the vertically and the horizontally polarized brightness temperatures yield information on both the soil moisture and surface roughness conditions.

Impact of Conifer Forest Litter on Microwave Emission at L-Band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurum, Mehmet; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Lang, Roger H.; Cosh, Michael H.; Joseph, Alicia T.; Jackson, Thomas J.

2011-01-01

This study reports on the utilization of microwave modeling, together with ground truth, and L-band (1.4-GHz) brightness temperatures to investigate the passive microwave characteristics of a conifer forest floor. The microwave data were acquired over a natural Virginia Pine forest in Maryland by a ground-based microwave active/passive instrument system in 2008/2009. Ground measurements of the tree biophysical parameters and forest floor characteristics were obtained during the field campaign. The test site consisted of medium-sized evergreen conifers with an average height of 12 m and average diameters at breast height of 12.6 cm. The site is a typical pine forest site in that there is a surface layer of loose debris/needles and an organic transition layer above the mineral soil. In an effort to characterize and model the impact of the surface litter layer, an experiment was conducted on a day with wet soil conditions, which involved removal of the surface litter layer from one half of the test site while keeping the other half undisturbed. The observations showed detectable decrease in emissivity for both polarizations after the surface litter layer was removed. A first-order radiative transfer model of the forest stands including the multilayer nature of the forest floor in conjunction with the ground truth data are used to compute forest emission. The model calculations reproduced the major features of the experimental data over the entire duration, which included the effects of surface litter and ground moisture content on overall emission. Both theory and experimental results confirm that the litter layer increases the observed canopy brightness temperature and obscure the soil emission.

Optimization of a Radiative Transfer Forward Operator for Simulating SMOS Brightness Temperatures over the Upper Mississippi Basin, USA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lievens, H.; Verhoest, N. E. C.; Martens, B.; VanDenBerg, M. J.; Bitar, A. Al; Tomer, S. Kumar; Merlin, O.; Cabot, F.; Kerr, Y.; DeLannoy, G. J. M.;

Shock-heated NH3 in a Molecular Jet Associated with a High-Mass Young Star.

PubMed

Zhang; Hunter; Sridharan; Cesaroni

1999-12-20

We present the discovery of shock-excited NH3 in a well-collimated jet associated with the extremely young high-mass star IRAS 20126+4104. The NH3 (3, 3) and (4, 4) emission is dominated by three clumps along the SiO jet. At the end of the jet, there exists strong and broad (+/-10 km s-1) NH3 (3, 3) emission. With typical brightness temperatures greater than 500 K, the overall emission indicates a weakly inverted population and appears in an arc, consistent with the excitation by bow shocks. There are two bright spots in the NH3 (3, 3) emission with brightness temperatures of approximately 2000 K. The narrow line width (1.5 km s-1 FWHM), the small sizes (<0&farcs;3), and the unusually high brightness temperature of the features are indicative of maser emission. Our observations provide clear evidence that NH3 (3, 3) masers are excited in shock regions in molecular outflows.

First detection of thermal radio emission from solar-type stars with the Karl G. Jansky very large array

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Villadsen, Jackie; Hallinan, Gregg; Bourke, Stephen

2014-06-20

We present the first detections of thermal radio emission from the atmospheres of solar-type stars τ Cet, η Cas A, and 40 Eri A. These stars all resemble the Sun in age and level of magnetic activity, as indicated by X-ray luminosity and chromospheric emission in Ca II H and K lines. We observed these stars with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array with sensitivities of a few μJy at combinations of 10.0, 15.0, and 34.5 GHz. τ Cet, η Cas A, and 40 Eri A are all detected at 34.5 GHz with signal-to-noise ratios of 6.5, 5.2, andmore » 4.5, respectively. 15.0 GHz upper limits imply a rising spectral index greater than 1.0 for τ Cet and 1.6 for η Cas A, at the 95% confidence level. The measured 34.5 GHz flux densities correspond to stellar disk-averaged brightness temperatures of roughly 10,000 K, similar to the solar brightness temperature at the same frequency. We explain this emission as optically thick thermal free-free emission from the chromosphere, with possible contributions from coronal gyroresonance emission above active regions and coronal free-free emission. These and similar quality data on other nearby solar-type stars, when combined with Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array observations, will enable the construction of temperature profiles of their chromospheres and lower transition regions.« less

Using a Support Vector Machine and a Land Surface Model to Estimate Large-Scale Passive Microwave Temperatures over Snow-Covered Land in North America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forman, Barton A.; Reichle, Rolf Helmut

2014-01-01

A support vector machine (SVM), a machine learning technique developed from statistical learning theory, is employed for the purpose of estimating passive microwave (PMW) brightness temperatures over snow-covered land in North America as observed by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) satellite sensor. The capability of the trained SVM is compared relative to the artificial neural network (ANN) estimates originally presented in [14]. The results suggest the SVM outperforms the ANN at 10.65 GHz, 18.7 GHz, and 36.5 GHz for both vertically and horizontally-polarized PMW radiation. When compared against daily AMSR-E measurements not used during the training procedure and subsequently averaged across the North American domain over the 9-year study period, the root mean squared error in the SVM output is 8 K or less while the anomaly correlation coefficient is 0.7 or greater. When compared relative to the results from the ANN at any of the six frequency and polarization combinations tested, the root mean squared error was reduced by more than 18 percent while the anomaly correlation coefficient was increased by more than 52 percent. Further, the temporal and spatial variability in the modeled brightness temperatures via the SVM more closely agrees with that found in the original AMSR-E measurements. These findings suggest the SVM is a superior alternative to the ANN for eventual use as a measurement operator within a data assimilation framework.

Organic electroluminescent devices and method for improving energy efficiency and optical stability thereof

DOEpatents

Heller, Christian Maria

2004-04-27

An organic electroluminescent device ("OELD") has a controllable brightness, an improved energy efficiency, and stable optical output at low brightness. The OELD is activated with a series of voltage pulses, each of which has a maximum voltage value that corresponds to the maximum power efficiency when the OELD is activated. The frequency of the pulses, or the duty cycle, or both are chosen to provide the desired average brightness.

Global Average Brightness Temperature for April 2003

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-06-02

This image shows average temperatures in April, 2003, observed by AIRS at an infrared wavelength that senses either the Earth's surface or any intervening cloud. Similar to a photograph of the planet taken with the camera shutter held open for a month, stationary features are captured while those obscured by moving clouds are blurred. Many continental features stand out boldly, such as our planet's vast deserts, and India, now at the end of its long, clear dry season. Also obvious are the high, cold Tibetan plateau to the north of India, and the mountains of North America. The band of yellow encircling the planet's equator is the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a region of persistent thunderstorms and associated high, cold clouds. The ITCZ merges with the monsoon systems of Africa and South America. Higher latitudes are increasingly obscured by clouds, though some features like the Great Lakes, the British Isles and Korea are apparent. The highest latitudes of Europe and Eurasia are completely obscured by clouds, while Antarctica stands out cold and clear at the bottom of the image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00427

Simultaneous SMM flat crystal spectrometer and Very Large Array observations of solar active regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, Kenneth R.; Willson, Robert F.; Smith, Kermit L.; Strong, Keith T.

1987-01-01

High-resolution images of the quiescent emission from two solar active regions at 20 cm (VLA) and soft X-ray (SMM FCS) wavelengths are compared. There are regions where the X-ray coronal loops have been completely imaged at 20 cm wavelength. In other regions, the X-ray radiation was detected without detectable 20 cm radiation, and vice versa. The X-ray data were used to infer average electron temperatures of about 3-million K and average electron densities of about 2.5 x 10 to the 9th/cu cm for the X-ray emitting plasma in the two active regions. The thermal bremsstrahlung of the X-ray emitting plasma is optically thin at 20 cm wavelength. The 20 cm brightness temperatures were always less than T(e), which is consistent with optically thin bremsstrahlung. The low T(B) can be explained if a higher, cooler plasma covers the hotter X-ray emitting plasma. Thermal gyroresonance radiation must account for the intense 20 cm radiation near and above sunspots where no X-ray radiation is detected.

Sky brightness and twilight measurements at Jogyakarta city, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herdiwijaya, Dhani

2016-11-01

The sky brightness measurements were performed using a portable photometer. A pocket-sized and low-cost photometer has 20 degree area measurement, and spectral ranges between 320-720 nm with output directly in magnitudes per arc second square (mass) unit. The sky brightness with 3 seconds temporal resolutions was recorded at Jogyakarta city (110° 25’ E; 70° 52’ S; elevation 100 m) within 136 days in years from 2014 to 2016. The darkest night could reach 22.61 mpass only in several seconds, with mean value 18.8±0.7 mpass and temperature variation 23.1±1.2 C. The difference of mean sky brightness between before and after midnight was about -0.76 mpass or 2.0 times brighter. Moreover, the sky brightness and temperature fluctuations were more stable in after midnight than in before midnight. It is suggested that city light pollution affects those variations, and subsequently duration of twilight. By comparing twilight brightness for several places, we also suggest a 17° solar dip or about 66 minutes before sunrise for new time of Fajr prayer.

Colors and Photometry of Bright Materials on Vesta as Seen by the Dawn Framing Camera

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schroeder, S. E.; Li, J.-Y.; Mittlefehldt, D. W.; Pieters, C. M.; De Sanctis, M. C.; Hiesinger, H.; Blewett, D. T.; Russell, C. T.; Raymond, C. A.; Keller, H. U.;

Evaluation and Analysis of Seasat a Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Antenna Pattern Correction (APC) Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kitzis, S. N.; Kitzis, J. L.

1979-01-01

The accuracy of the SEASAT-A SMMR antenna pattern correction (APC) algorithm was assessed. Interim APC brightness temperature measurements for the SMMR 6.6 GHz channels are compared with surface truth derived sea surface temperatures. Plots and associated statistics are presented for SEASAT-A SMMR data acquired for the Gulf of Alaska experiment. The cross-track gradients observed in the 6.6 GHz brightness temperature data are discussed.

The ammonia absorption behavior on Jupiter during 2005-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tejfel, Victor G.; V.G.Tejfel, V.D.Vdovichenko, A.M.Karimov, P.G.Lysenko, , G.A.Kirienko, , V.A.Filippov, G.A.Kharitonova, A.S. Khozhenetz

2017-10-01

V.G.Tejfel, V.D.Vdovichenko, A.M.Karimov, P.G.Lysenko, , G.A.Kirienko, , V.A.Filippov, G.A.Kharitonova, A.S. KhozhenetzFessenkov Astrophysical Institute, Almaty, KazakhstanWe measured the intensity of the 645 and 787 nm NH3 absorption bands in five latitudinal belts of Jupiter (STrZ, SEB, EZ, NEB and NTrZ) during almost full period of its revolution around the Sun: from 2005 to 2015. The variations in the equivalent widths of the bands were investigated. The permanently lowered intensity of the 787 nm NH3 band in NEB is confirmed. There are also some systematic differences in latitudinal and temporal variations between the 645 and 787 nm ammonia bands. The equivalent width of the 787 nm NH3 band was averaged for all years of observations. Its maximum (W = 18.95 ± 0.75 A) corresponds to EZ, its minimum (W = 15.82 ± 0.68 A) corresponds to NEB. The 645 nm NH3 band shows the maximum in SEB (W = 6.78 ± 0.45 A), and the minimum in NTrZ (W = 5.38 ± 0.36 A). The weakened ammonia absorption is also observed in the Great Red Spot. However, this is due to the increased density of the clouds inside the Spot storm, but not to decreased gaseous ammonia abundance, in contrast to NEB. The brightness temperature of GRS in the infrared and millimeter ranges of thermal radiation is lower, in contrast to NEB, where an increased brightness temperature is observed. The enhanced cloud density may explain also a pretty high brightness of GRS observed in strong methane absorption bands such as the 887 nm CH4 band and more long waved ones.

Low temperature transient response and electroluminescence characteristics of OLEDs based on Alq3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Chao; Guan, Min; Zhang, Yang; Li, Yiyang; Liu, Shuangjie; Zeng, Yiping

2017-08-01

In this work, the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on Alq3 are fabricated. In order to make clear the transport mechanism of carriers in organic light-emitting devices at low temperature, detailed electroluminescence transient response and the current-voltage-luminescence (I-V-L) characteristics under different temperatures in those OLEDs are investigated. It founds that the acceleration of brightness increases with increasing temperature is maximum when the temperature is 200 K and it is mainly affected by the electron transport layer (Alq3). The MoO3 injection layer and the electroluminescent layer have great influence on the delay time when the temperature is 200 K. Once the temperature is greater than 250 K, the delay time is mainly affected by the MoO3 injection layer. On the contrary, the fall time is mainly affected by the electroluminescent material. The Vf is the average growth rate of fall time when the temperature increases 1 K which represents the accumulation rate of carriers. The difference between Vf caused by the MoO3 injection layer is 0.52 us/K and caused by the electroluminescent material Ir(ppy)3 is 0.73 us/K.

Understanding Climate Trends Using IR Brightness Temperature Spectra from AIRS, IASI and CrIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deslover, D. H.; Nikolla, E.; Knuteson, R. O.; Revercomb, H. E.; Tobin, D. C.

2016-12-01

NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) provides a data record that extends from its 2002 launch to the present. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) onboard Metop- (A launched in 2006, B in 2012), as well as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) launched in 2011, complement this data record. Future infrared sounders with similar capabilities will augment these measurements into the near future. We have created a global data set from these infrared measurements, using the nadir-most observations for each of the aforementioned instruments. We can filter the data based upon spatial, diurnal and seasonal properties to discern trends for a given spectral channel and, therefore, a specific atmospheric layer. Subtle differences between spectral sampling among the three instruments can lead significant differences in the resultant probability distribution functions for similar spectral channels. We take advantage of the higher (0.25 cm-1) IASI spectral resolution to subsample the IASI spectra onto AIRS and CrIS spectral grids to better compare AIRS/IASI and CrIS/IASI trends in the brightness temperature anomalies. To better understand the dependance of trace gases on the measured brightness temperature spectral time-series, a companion study has utilized coincident vertical profiles of stratospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor and ozone concentration are used to infer a correlation with the CrIS brightness temperatures. The goal was to investigate the role of ozone heating and carbon dioxide cooling on the observed brightness temperature spectra. Results from that study will be presented alongside the climate trend analysis.

Microwave signatures of ice hydrometeors from ground-based observations above Summit, Greenland

DOE PAGES

Pettersen, Claire; Bennartz, Ralf; Kulie, Mark S.; ...

2016-04-15

Multi-instrument, ground-based measurements provide unique and comprehensive data sets of the atmosphere for a specific location over long periods of time and resulting data compliment past and existing global satellite observations. Our paper explores the effect of ice hydrometeors on ground-based, high-frequency passive microwave measurements and attempts to isolate an ice signature for summer seasons at Summit, Greenland, from 2010 to 2013. Furthermore, data from a combination of passive microwave, cloud radar, radiosonde, and ceilometer were examined to isolate the ice signature at microwave wavelengths. By limiting the study to a cloud liquid water path of 40 g m -2more » or less, the cloud radar can identify cases where the precipitation was dominated by ice. These cases were examined using liquid water and gas microwave absorption models, and brightness temperatures were calculated for the high-frequency microwave channels: 90, 150, and 225GHz. By comparing the measured brightness temperatures from the microwave radiometers and the calculated brightness temperature using only gas and liquid contributions, any residual brightness temperature difference is due to emission and scattering of microwave radiation from the ice hydrometeors in the column. The ice signature in the 90, 150, and 225 GHz channels for the Summit Station summer months was isolated. Then, this measured ice signature was compared to an equivalent brightness temperature difference calculated with a radiative transfer model including microwave single-scattering properties for several ice habits. Furthermore, initial model results compare well against the 4 years of summer season isolated ice signature in the high-frequency microwave channels.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pettersen, Claire; Bennartz, Ralf; Kulie, Mark S.

Multi-instrument, ground-based measurements provide unique and comprehensive data sets of the atmosphere for a specific location over long periods of time and resulting data compliment past and existing global satellite observations. Our paper explores the effect of ice hydrometeors on ground-based, high-frequency passive microwave measurements and attempts to isolate an ice signature for summer seasons at Summit, Greenland, from 2010 to 2013. Furthermore, data from a combination of passive microwave, cloud radar, radiosonde, and ceilometer were examined to isolate the ice signature at microwave wavelengths. By limiting the study to a cloud liquid water path of 40 g m -2more » or less, the cloud radar can identify cases where the precipitation was dominated by ice. These cases were examined using liquid water and gas microwave absorption models, and brightness temperatures were calculated for the high-frequency microwave channels: 90, 150, and 225GHz. By comparing the measured brightness temperatures from the microwave radiometers and the calculated brightness temperature using only gas and liquid contributions, any residual brightness temperature difference is due to emission and scattering of microwave radiation from the ice hydrometeors in the column. The ice signature in the 90, 150, and 225 GHz channels for the Summit Station summer months was isolated. Then, this measured ice signature was compared to an equivalent brightness temperature difference calculated with a radiative transfer model including microwave single-scattering properties for several ice habits. Furthermore, initial model results compare well against the 4 years of summer season isolated ice signature in the high-frequency microwave channels.« less

Effect of a single 3-hour exposure to bright light on core body temperature and sleep in humans.

PubMed

Dijk, D J; Cajochen, C; Borbély, A A

1991-01-02

Seven human subjects were exposed to bright light (BL, approx. 2500 lux) and dim light (DL, approx. 6 lux) during 3 h prior to nocturnal sleep, in a cross-over design. At the end of the BL exposure period core body temperature was significantly higher than at the end of the DL exposure period. The difference in core body temperature persisted during the first 4 h of sleep. The latency to sleep onset was increased after BL exposure. Rapid-eye movement sleep (REMS) and slow-wave sleep (SWS; stage 3 + 4 of non-REMS) were not significantly changed. Eight subjects were exposed to BL from 20.30 to 23.30 h while their eyes were covered or uncovered. During BL exposure with uncovered eyes, core body temperature decreased significantly less than during exposure with covered eyes. We conclude that bright light immediately affects core body temperature and that this effect is mediated via the eyes.

Evaluation of AIRS, MODIS, and HIRS 11 Micron Brightness Temperature Difference Changes from 2002 through 2006

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Broberg, Steven E.; Aumann, Hartmut H.; Gregorich, David T.; Xiong, X.

2006-01-01

In an effort to validate the accuracy and stability of AIRS data at low scene temperatures (200-250 K range), we evaluated brightness temperatures at 11 microns with Aqua MODIS band 31 and HIRS/3 channel 8 for Antarctic granules between September 2002 and May 2006. We found excellent agreement with MODIS (at the 0.2 K level) over the full emperature range in data from early in the Aqua mission. However, in more recent data, starting in April 2005, we found a scene temperature dependence in MODIS-AIRS brightness temperature differences, with a discrepancy of 1- 1.5 K at 200 K. The comparison between AIRS and HIRS/3 (channel 8) on NOAA 16 for the same time period yields excellent agreement. The cause and time dependence of the disagreement with MODIS is under evaluation, but the change was coincident with a change in the MODIS production software from collection 4 to 5.

Monitoring of deep brain temperature in infants using multi-frequency microwave radiometry and thermal modelling.

PubMed

Han, J W; Van Leeuwen, G M; Mizushina, S; Van de Kamer, J B; Maruyama, K; Sugiura, T; Azzopardi, D V; Edwards, A D

2001-07-01

In this study we present a design for a multi-frequency microwave radiometer aimed at prolonged monitoring of deep brain temperature in newborn infants and suitable for use during hypothermic neural rescue therapy. We identify appropriate hardware to measure brightness temperature and evaluate the accuracy of the measurements. We describe a method to estimate the tissue temperature distribution from measured brightness temperatures which uses the results of numerical simulations of the tissue temperature as well as the propagation of the microwaves in a realistic detailed three-dimensional infant head model. The temperature retrieval method is then used to evaluate how the statistical fluctuations in the measured brightness temperatures limit the confidence interval for the estimated temperature: for an 18 degrees C temperature differential between cooled surface and deep brain we found a standard error in the estimated central brain temperature of 0.75 degrees C. Evaluation of the systematic errors arising from inaccuracies in model parameters showed that realistic deviations in tissue parameters have little impact compared to uncertainty in the thickness of the bolus between the receiving antenna and the infant's head or in the skull thickness. This highlights the need to pay particular attention to these latter parameters in future practical implementation of the technique.

Brightness temperature and attenuation statistics at 20.6 and 31.65 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Westwater, Edgeworth R.; Falls, M. J.

1991-01-01

Attenuation and brightness temperature statistics at 20.6 and 31.65 GHz are analyzed for a year's worth of data. The data were collected in 1988 at Denver and Platteville, Colorado. The locations are separated by 49 km. Single-station statistics are derived for the entire year. Quality control procedures are discussed and examples of their application are given.

Real Time Monitoring of Flooding from Microwave Satellite Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galantowicz, John F.; Frey, H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

In this report, we review the progress to date including results from data analyses and present a schedule of milestones for the remainder of the project. We discuss the processing of flood extent data and SSM/I brightness temperature data for the 1993 Midwest Flood. We present preliminary results from the derivation of open water fraction from brightness temperatures.

Inventory of File nam.t00z.goes24300.tm00.grib2

Science.gov Websites

of Records: 4 Number Level/Layer Parameter Forecast Valid Description 001 top of atmosphere SBT122 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 2 [K] 002 top of atmosphere SBT123 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 3 [K] 003 top of atmosphere SBT124 analysis Simulated

Inventory of File nam.t00z.goes21800.tm00.grib2

Science.gov Websites

of Records: 4 Number Level/Layer Parameter Forecast Valid Description 001 top of atmosphere SBT122 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 2 [K] 002 top of atmosphere SBT123 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 3 [K] 003 top of atmosphere SBT124 analysis Simulated

Inventory of File nam.t00z.goes22100.tm00.grib2

Science.gov Websites

of Records: 4 Number Level/Layer Parameter Forecast Valid Description 001 top of atmosphere SBT122 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 2 [K] 002 top of atmosphere SBT123 analysis Simulated Brightness Temperature for GOES 12, Channel 3 [K] 003 top of atmosphere SBT124 analysis Simulated

ACCELERATION OF COMPACT RADIO JETS ON SUB-PARSEC SCALES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Sang-Sung; Lobanov, Andrei P.; Krichbaum, Thomas P.

2016-08-01

Jets of compact radio sources are highly relativistic and Doppler boosted, making studies of their intrinsic properties difficult. Observed brightness temperatures can be used to study the intrinsic physical properties of relativistic jets, and constrain models of jet formation in the inner jet region. We aim to observationally test such inner jet models. The very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) cores of compact radio sources are optically thick at a given frequency. The distance of the core from the central engine is inversely proportional to the frequency. Under the equipartition condition between the magnetic field energy and particle energy densities, themore » absolute distance of the VLBI core can be predicted. We compiled the brightness temperatures of VLBI cores at various radio frequencies of 2, 8, 15, and 86 GHz. We derive the brightness temperature on sub-parsec scales in the rest frame of the compact radio sources. We find that the brightness temperature increases with increasing distance from the central engine, indicating that the intrinsic jet speed (the Lorentz factor) increases along the jet. This implies that the jets are accelerated in the (sub-)parsec regions from the central engine.« less

Titan's surface from Cassini RADAR SAR and high resolution radiometry data of the first five flybys

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paganelli, F.; Janssen, M.A.; Stiles, B.; West, R.; Lorenz, R.D.; Lunine, J.I.; Wall, S.D.; Callahan, P.; Lopes, R.M.; Stofan, E.; Kirk, R.L.; Johnson, W.T.K.; Roth, L.; Elachi, C.; ,

2007-01-01

The first five Titan flybys with Cassini's Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) and radiometer are examined with emphasis on the calibration and interpretation of the high-resolution radiometry data acquired during the SAR mode (SAR-radiometry). Maps of the 2-cm wavelength brightness temperature are obtained coincident with the SAR swath imaging, with spatial resolution approaching 6 km. A preliminary calibration shows that brightness temperature in these maps varies from 64 to 89 K. Surface features and physical properties derived from the SAR-radiometry maps and SAR imaging are strongly correlated; in general, we find that surface features with high radar reflectivity are associated with radiometrically cold regions, while surface features with low radar reflectivity correlate with radiometrically warm regions. We examined scatterplots of the normalized radar cross-section ??0 versus brightness temperature, finding differing signatures that characterize various terrains and surface features. Implications for the physical and compositional properties of these features are discussed. The results indicate that volume scattering is important in many areas of Titan's surface, particularly Xanadu, while other areas exhibit complex brightness temperature variations consistent with variable slopes or surface material and compositional properties. ?? 2007 Elsevier Inc.

Nist Microwave Blackbody: The Design, Testing, and Verification of a Conical Brightness Temperature Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houtz, Derek Anderson

Microwave radiometers allow remote sensing of earth and atmospheric temperatures from space, anytime, anywhere, through clouds, and in the dark. Data from microwave radiometers are high-impact operational inputs to weather forecasts, and are used to provide a vast array of climate data products including land and sea surface temperatures, soil moisture, ocean salinity, cloud precipitation and moisture height profiles, and even wind speed and direction, to name a few. Space-borne microwave radiometers have a major weakness when it comes to long-term climate trends due to their lack of traceability. Because there is no standard, or absolute reference, for microwave brightness temperature, nationally or internationally, individual instruments must each rely on their own internal calibration source to set an absolute reference to the fundamental unit of Kelvin. This causes each subsequent instrument to have a calibration offset and there is no 'true' reference. The work introduced in this thesis addresses this vacancy by proposing and introducing a NIST microwave brightness temperature source that may act as the primary reference. The NIST standard will allow pre-launch calibration of radiometers across a broad range of remote sensing pertinent frequencies between 18 GHz and 220 GHz. The blackbody will be capable of reaching temperatures ranging between liquid nitrogen boiling at approximately 77 K and warm-target temperature of 350 K. The brightness temperature of the source has associated standard uncertainty ranging as a function of frequency between 0.084 K and 0.111 K. The standard can be transferred to the calibration source in the instrument, providing traceability of all subsequent measurements back to the primary standard. The development of the NIST standard source involved predicting and measuring its brightness temperature, and minimizing the associated uncertainty of this quantity. Uniform and constant physical temperature along with well characterized and maximized emissivity are fundamental to a well characterized blackbody. The chosen geometry is a microwave absorber coated copper cone. Electromagnetic and thermal simulations are introduced to optimize the design. Experimental verifications of the simulated quantities confirm the predicted performance of the blackbody.

Can we settle with single-band radiometric temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatment of chestwall recurrence of breast cancer using a dual-mode transceiving applicator?

PubMed

Jacobsen, Svein; Stauffer, Paul R

2007-02-21

The total thermal dose that can be delivered during hyperthermia treatments is frequently limited by temperature heterogeneities in the heated tissue volume. Reliable temperature information on the heated area is thus vital for the optimization of clinical dosimetry. Microwave radiometry has been proposed as an accurate, quick and painless temperature sensing technique for biological tissue. Advantages include the ability to sense volume-averaged temperatures from subsurface tissue non-invasively, rather than with a limited set of point measurements typical of implanted temperature probes. We present a procedure to estimate the maximum tissue temperature from a single radiometric brightness temperature which is based on a numerical simulation of 3D tissue temperature distributions induced by microwave heating at 915 MHz. The temperature retrieval scheme is evaluated against errors arising from unknown variations in thermal, electromagnetic and design model parameters. Whereas realistic deviations from base values of dielectric and thermal parameters have only marginal impact on performance, pronounced deviations in estimated maximum tissue temperature are observed for unanticipated variations of the temperature or thickness of the bolus compartment. The need to pay particular attention to these latter applicator construction parameters in future clinical implementation of the thermometric method is emphasized.

Can we settle with single-band radiometric temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatment of chestwall recurrence of breast cancer using a dual-mode transceiving applicator?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsen, Svein; Stauffer, Paul R.

2007-02-01

The total thermal dose that can be delivered during hyperthermia treatments is frequently limited by temperature heterogeneities in the heated tissue volume. Reliable temperature information on the heated area is thus vital for the optimization of clinical dosimetry. Microwave radiometry has been proposed as an accurate, quick and painless temperature sensing technique for biological tissue. Advantages include the ability to sense volume-averaged temperatures from subsurface tissue non-invasively, rather than with a limited set of point measurements typical of implanted temperature probes. We present a procedure to estimate the maximum tissue temperature from a single radiometric brightness temperature which is based on a numerical simulation of 3D tissue temperature distributions induced by microwave heating at 915 MHz. The temperature retrieval scheme is evaluated against errors arising from unknown variations in thermal, electromagnetic and design model parameters. Whereas realistic deviations from base values of dielectric and thermal parameters have only marginal impact on performance, pronounced deviations in estimated maximum tissue temperature are observed for unanticipated variations of the temperature or thickness of the bolus compartment. The need to pay particular attention to these latter applicator construction parameters in future clinical implementation of the thermometric method is emphasized.

Coronal bright points at 6cm wavelength

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fu, Qijun; Kundu, M. R.; Schmahl, E. J.

1988-01-01

Results are presented from observations of bright points at a wavelength of 6-cm using the VLA with a spatial resolution of 1.2 arcsec. During two hours of observations, 44 sources were detected with brightness temperatures between 2000 and 30,000 K. Of these sources, 27 are associated with weak dark He 10830 A features at distances less than 40 arcsecs. Consideration is given to variations in the source parameters and the relationship between ephemeral regions and bright points.

Snowpack monitoring in North America and Eurasia using passive microwave satellite data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, J. L.; Rango, A.; Hall, D. K.; Chang, A. T. C.; Allison, L. J.; Diesen, B. C., III

1980-01-01

Areas of the Canadian high plains, the Montana and North Dakota high plains, and the steppes of central Russia have been studied in an effort to determine the utility of spaceborne microwave radiometers for monitoring snow depths in different geographic areas. Significant regression relationships between snow depth and microwave brightness temperatures were developed for each of these homogeneous areas. In each of the study areas investigated in this paper, Nimbus-6 (0.81 cm) ESMR data produced higher correlations than Nimbus-5 (1.55 cm) ESMR data in relating microwave brightness temperature to snow depth. It is difficult to extrapolate relationships between microwave brightness temperature and snow depth from one area to another because different geographic areas are likely to have different snowpack conditions.

Sea ice and oceanic processes on the Ross Sea continental shelf

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobs, S. S.; Comiso, J. C.

1989-01-01

The spatial and temporal variability of Antarctic sea ice concentrations on the Ross Sea continental shelf have been investigated in relation to oceanic and atmospheric forcing. Sea ice data were derived from Nimbus 7 scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) brightness temperatures from 1979-1986. Ice cover over the shelf was persistently lower than above the adjacent deep ocean, averaging 86 percent during winter with little month-to-month of interannual variability. The large spring Ross Sea polynya on the western shelf results in a longer period of summer insolation, greater surface layer heat storage, and later ice formation in that region the following autumn.

Apollo-16 far-ultraviolet spectra in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carruthers, G. R.; Page, T.

1977-01-01

Spectra in the wavelength ranges from 900 to 1600 A and 1050 to 1600 A of some OB associations in the Large Magellanic Cloud were obtained from the lunar surface by the Apollo-16 far-ultraviolet camera/spectrograph on April 22, 1972. The observed spectral distributions appear consistent with a stellar model having an effective temperature of 30,000 K, reddened by E(B-V) = 0.3, and characterized by the average far-ultraviolet extinction curve of Bless and Savage (1972). However, the absolute intensity of the far-ultraviolet spectrum of the associations NGC 2050 and 2055 seems somewhat too bright in comparison with ground-based photometry.

Global land-surface primary productivity based upon Nimbus-7 37 GHz data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, B. J.

1988-01-01

Accumulation and renewal of organic matter as quantified through net primary productivity (NPP) is considered a very major function of the biosphere, and its estimation is crucial in understanding the carbon cycle. A physically-based model relating NPP to the difference of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures (Delta T) observed at 37 GHz frequency of the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer on board the Nimbus-7 satellite is used for fitting areally averaged values of NPP and Delta T for five biomes. The land-surface NPP within 80 deg N to 55 deg S is then calculated using the Delta T data and compared with other estimates.

A cloud model-radiative model combination for determining microwave TB-rain rate relations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Szejwach, Gerard; Adler, Robert F.; Jobard, Esabelle; Mack, Robert A.

1986-01-01

The development of a cloud model-radiative transfer model combination for computing average brightness temperature, T(B), is discussed. The cloud model and radiative transfer model used in this study are described. The relations between rain rate, cloud and rain water, cloud and precipitation ice, and upwelling radiance are investigated. The effects of the rain rate relations on T(B) under different climatological conditions are examined. The model-derived T(B) results are compared to the 92 and 183 GHz aircraft observations of Hakkarinen and Adler (1984, 1986) and the radar-estimated rain rate of Hakkarinen and Adler (1986); good correlation between the data is detected.

One- to two-month oscillations in SSMI surface wind speed in western tropical Pacific Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, Michael L.; Stanford, John L.; Halpern, David

1994-01-01

The 10-m wind speed over the ocean can be estimated from microwave brightness temperature measurements recorded by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) instrument mounted on a polar-orbiting spacecraft. Four-year (1988-1991) time series of average daily 1 deg x 1 deg SSMI wind speeds were analyzed at selected sites in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. One- to two-month period wind speed oscillations with amplitudes statistically significant at the 95% confidence level were observed near Kanton, Eniwetok, Guam, and Truk. This is the first report of such an oscillation in SSMI wind speeds.

Estimates of primary productivity over the Thar Desert based upon Nimbus-7 37 GHz data - 1979-1985

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, B. J.

1987-01-01

An empirical relationship has been determined between the difference of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures noted at the 37 GHz frequency of the Nimbus-7 SMMR and primary productivity over hot arid and semiarid regions of Africa and Australia. This empirical relationship is applied to estimate the primary productivity over the Thar Desert between 1979 and 1985, giving an average value of 0.271 kg/sq m per yr. The spatial variability of the productivity values is found to be quite significant, with a standard deviation about the mean of 0.08 kg/sq m per yr.

Effects of rotation on the nighttime brightness of overhead highway signs utilizing high intensity sheeting.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1974-01-01

As an initial step in the establishment of guidelines for the use of high intensity sheeting on overhead signs, a pilot study was made to investigate the effect of rotation on the average nighttime brightness of signs utilizing this material. Rotatio...

Geologic Structures in Crater Walls on Vesta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittlefehldt, David W.; Beck, A. W.; Ammannito, E.; Carsenty, U.; DeSanctis, M. C.; LeCorre, L.; McCoy, T. J.; Reddy, V.; Schroeder, S. E.

2012-01-01

The Framing Camera (FC) on the Dawn spacecraft has imaged most of the illuminated surface of Vesta with a resolution of apporpx. 20 m/pixel through different wavelength filters that allow for identification of lithologic units. The Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR) has imaged the surface at lower spatial resolution but high spectral resolution from 0.25 to 5 micron that allows for detailed mineralogical interpretation. The FC has imaged geologic structures in the walls of fresh craters and on scarps on the margin of the Rheasilvia basin that consist of cliff-forming, competent units, either as blocks or semi-continuous layers, hundreds of m to km below the rims. Different units have different albedos, FC color ratios and VIR spectral characteristics, and different units can be juxtaposed in individual craters. We will describe different examples of these competent units and present preliminary interpretations of the structures. A common occurrence is of blocks several hundred m in size of high albedo (bright) and low albedo (dark) materials protruding from crater walls. In many examples, dark material deposits lie below coherent bright material blocks. In FC Clementine color ratios, bright material is green indicating deeper 1 m pyroxene absorption band. VIR spectra show these to have deeper and wider 1 and 2 micron pyroxene absorption bands than the average vestan surface. The associated dark material has subdued pyroxene absorption features compared to the average vestan surface. Some dark material deposits are consistent with mixtures of HED materials with carbonaceous chondrites. This would indicate that some dark material deposits in crater walls are megabreccia blocks. The same would hold for bright material blocks found above them. Thus, these are not intact crustal units. Marcia crater is atypical in that the dark material forms a semi-continuous, thin layer immediately below bright material. Bright material occurs as one or more layers. In one region, there is an apparent angular unconformity between the bright material and the dark material where bright material layers appear to be truncated against the underlying dark layer. One crater within the Rheasilvia basin contains two distinct types of bright materials outcropping on its walls, one like that found elsewhere on Vesta and the other an anomalous block 200 m across. This material has the highest albedo; almost twice that of the vestan average. Unlike all other bright materials, this block has a subdued 1 micron pyroxene absorption band in FC color ratios. These data indicate that this block represents a distinct vestan lithology that is rarely exposed.

Photophysics of GaN single-photon emitters in the visible spectral range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berhane, Amanuel M.; Jeong, Kwang-Yong; Bradac, Carlo; Walsh, Michael; Englund, Dirk; Toth, Milos; Aharonovich, Igor

2018-04-01

In this work, we present a detailed photophysical analysis of recently discovered, optically stable single-photon emitters (SPEs) in gallium nitride (GaN). Temperature-resolved photoluminescence measurements reveal that the emission lines at 4 K are three orders of magnitude broader than the transform-limited width expected from excited-state lifetime measurements. The broadening is ascribed to ultrafast spectral diffusion. The photophysical study on several emitters at room temperature (RT) reveals an average brightness of (427 ±215 )kCounts /s . Finally, polarization measurements from 14 emitters are used to determine visibility as well as dipole orientation of defect systems within the GaN crystal. Our results underpin some of the fundamental properties of SPEs in GaN both at cryogenic and RT, and define the benchmark for future work in GaN-based single-photon technologies.

Hinode observations and 3D magnetic structure of an X-ray bright point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, C. E.; Del Zanna, G.; Maclean, R. C.

2011-02-01

Aims: We present complete Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), X-Ray Telescope (XRT)and EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) observations of an X-ray bright point (XBP) observed on the 10, 11 of October 2007 over its entire lifetime (~12 h). We aim to show how the measured plasma parameters of the XBP change over time and also what kind of similarities the X-ray emission has to a potential magnetic field model. Methods: Information from all three instruments on-board Hinode was used to study its entire evolution. XRT data was used to investigate the structure of the bright point and to measure the X-ray emission. The EIS instrument was used to measure various plasma parameters over the entire lifetime of the XBP. Lastly, the SOT was used to measure the magnetic field strength and provide a basis for potential field extrapolations of the photospheric fields to be made. These were performed and then compared to the observed coronal features. Results: The XBP measured ~15´´ in size and was found to be formed directly above an area of merging and cancelling magnetic flux on the photosphere. A good correlation between the rate of X-ray emission and decrease in total magnetic flux was found. The magnetic fragments of the XBP were found to vary on very short timescales (minutes), however the global quasi-bipolar structure remained throughout the lifetime of the XBP. The potential field extrapolations were a good visual fit to the observed coronal loops in most cases, meaning that the magnetic field was not too far from a potential state. Electron density measurements were obtained using a line ratio of Fe XII and the average density was found to be 4.95 × 109 cm-3 with the volumetric plasma filling factor calculated to have an average value of 0.04. Emission measure loci plots were then used to infer a steady temperature of log Te [ K] ~ 6.1. The calculated Fe XII Doppler shifts show velocity changes in and around the bright point of ±15 km s-1 which are observed to change on a timescale of less than 30 min.

Automatic brightness control of laser spot vision inspection system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Yang; Zhang, Zhaoxia; Chen, Xiaodong; Yu, Daoyin

2009-10-01

The laser spot detection system aims to locate the center of the laser spot after long-distance transmission. The accuracy of positioning laser spot center depends very much on the system's ability to control brightness. In this paper, an automatic brightness control system with high-performance is designed using the device of FPGA. The brightness is controlled by combination of auto aperture (video driver) and adaptive exposure algorithm, and clear images with proper exposure are obtained under different conditions of illumination. Automatic brightness control system creates favorable conditions for positioning of the laser spot center later, and experiment results illuminate the measurement accuracy of the system has been effectively guaranteed. The average error of the spot center is within 0.5mm.

Long-term assessment of the CALIPSO Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) calibration and stability through simulated and observed comparisons with MODIS/Aqua and SEVIRI/Meteosat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garnier, Anne; Scott, Noëlle A.; Pelon, Jacques; Armante, Raymond; Crépeau, Laurent; Six, Bruno; Pascal, Nicolas

2017-04-01

The quality of the calibrated radiances of the medium-resolution Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) on-board the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite is quantitatively evaluated from the beginning of the mission in June 2006. Two complementary relative and stand-alone approaches are used, which are related to comparisons of measured brightness temperatures and to model-to-observations comparisons, respectively. In both cases, IIR channels 1 (8.65 µm), 2 (10.6 µm), and 3 (12.05 µm) are paired with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Aqua Collection 5 companion channels 29, 31, and 32, respectively, as well as with the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI)/Meteosat companion channels IR8.7, IR10.8, and IR12, respectively. These pairs were selected before launch to meet radiometric, geometric, and space-time constraints. The prelaunch studies were based on simulations and sensitivity studies using the 4A/OP radiative transfer model and the more than 2300 atmospheres of the climatological Thermodynamic Initial Guess Retrieval (TIGR) input dataset further sorted into five air mass types. Using data from over 9.5 years of on-orbit operation, and following the relative approach technique, collocated measurements of IIR and of its companion channels have been compared at all latitudes over ocean, during day and night, and for all types of scenes in a wide range of brightness temperatures. The relative approach shows an excellent stability of IIR2-MODIS31 and IIR3-MODIS32 brightness temperature differences (BTDs) since launch. A slight trend within the IIR1-MODIS29 BTD, that equals -0.02 K yr-1 on average over 9.5 years, is detected when using the relative approach at all latitudes and all scene temperatures. For very cold scene temperatures (190-200 K) in the tropics, each IIR channel is warmer than its MODIS companion channel by 1.6 K on average. For the stand-alone approach, clear sky measurements only are considered, which are directly compared with simulations using 4A/OP and collocated ERA-Interim (ERA-I) reanalyses. The clear sky mask is derived from collocated observations from IIR and the CALIPSO lidar. Simulations for clear sky pixels in the tropics reproduce the differences between IIR1 and MODIS29 within 0.02 K and between IIR2 and MODIS31 within 0.04 K, whereas IIR3-MODIS32 is larger than simulated by 0.26 K. The stand-alone approach indicates that the trend identified from the relative approach originates from MODIS29, whereas no trend (less than ±0.004 K yr-1) is identified for any of the IIR channels. Finally, using the relative approach, a year-by-year seasonal bias between nighttime and daytime IIR-MODIS BTD was found at mid-latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. It is due to a nighttime IIR bias as determined by the stand-alone approach, which originates from a calibration drift during day-to-night transitions. The largest bias is in June and July when IIR2 and IIR3 are warmer by 0.4 K on average, and IIR1 is warmer by 0.2 K.

Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) Forward Brightness Temperature Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peng, Jinzheng; Peipmeier, Jeffrey; Kim, Edward

2012-01-01

The SMAP is one of four first-tier missions recommended by the US National Research Council's Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space (Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond, Space Studies Board, National Academies Press, 2007) [1]. It is to measure the global soil moisture and freeze/thaw from space. One of the spaceborne instruments is an L-band radiometer with a shared single feedhorn and parabolic mesh reflector. While the radiometer measures the emission over a footprint of interest, unwanted emissions are also received by the antenna through the antenna sidelobes from the cosmic background and other error sources such as the Sun, the Moon and the galaxy. Their effects need to be considered accurately, and the analysis of the overall performance of the radiometer requires end-to-end performance simulation from Earth emission to antenna brightness temperature, such as the global simulation of L-band brightness temperature simulation over land and sea [2]. To assist with the SMAP radiometer level 1B algorithm development, the SMAP forward brightness temperature simulator is developed by adapting the Aquarius simulator [2] with necessary modifications. This poster presents the current status of the SMAP forward brightness simulator s development including incorporating the land microwave emission model and its input datasets, and a simplified atmospheric radiative transfer model. The latest simulation results are also presented to demonstrate the ability of supporting the SMAP L1B algorithm development.

Radio thermal sounding of natural environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauss, Martin; Lomukhin, Yuriy

2017-11-01

At the moment, methods of sounding a status of soil, plant, forest and aquatic environments using radiometry and radar methods are intensively used. The main source of information using radar sounding is the back reflection ratio. The radiometric method is used for detection of the brightness temperature. In this paper, a communication between the back reflection ratio and the brightness temperature is described. This communication is proportional.

SMMR data set development for GARP. [impact of cross polarization and Faraday rotation on SMMR derived brightness temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kogut, J.

1981-01-01

The NIMBUS 7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data are analyzed. The impact of cross polarization and Faraday rotation on SMMR derived brightness temperatures is evaluated. The algorithms used to retrieve the geophysical parameters are tested, refined, and compared with values derived by other techniques. The technical approach taken is described and the results presented.

The Rapid Intensification of Typhoon Soudelor (2015) Explored through Next-Generation Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munsell, E.; Braun, S. A.; Zhang, F.

2017-12-01

The dynamics that govern the intensification of tropical cyclones (TC) are dominated by rapidly evolving moist convective processes in the inner-core region. Remotely sensed satellite observations are typically available but in the past have lacked the necessary resolution to sufficiently examine TC intensification processes. However, as a result of the recent launch of next-generation high-resolution satellites (JMA's Himawari-8 and NOAA/NASA's GOES-16), the spatial and temporal frequency of remotely-sensed observations of TCs have increased significantly. This study utilizes brightness temperatures observed by the Advanced Himawari Imager to examine the structure of Typhoon Soudelor (2015) throughout its rapid intensification (RI) from a tropical storm to a super typhoon. Wavenumber decompositions are performed on brightness temperature fields that correspond to channels sensitive to upper-, mid-, and lower-level water vapor, and IR longwave radiation, to study wave features associated with the inner-core region. A scale-separation is also performed to assess the degree to which the intensification processes are dominated by phenomenon of various wavelengths. Higher-order wavenumbers reveal asymmetric features that propagate outwards from the storm on short time scales ( 1-2 h). The identification of these waves and their contribution to intensification is ongoing. A deterministic forecast of Typhoon Soudelor performed using a convection-permitting WRF simulation coupled to an Ensemble Kalman Filter that assimilates brightness temperatures, accurately captures the TCs RI event. The Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) is used to produce simulated brightness temperature fields for the applicable channels. The model demonstrates the ability to reproduce the observed brightness temperatures in great detail, including smaller-scale features such as primary rainbands and the eye; however, a uniform warm bias is present. It is hypothesized that this likely results from inaccuracies in the heights and depths of the simulated upper-tropospheric clouds and is primarily related to deficiencies in the microphysics scheme. The sensitivity of various microphysics parameters is being explored to assess ways to improve the representation of the brightness temperatures within the CRTM.

The emissivities of liquid metals at their fusion temperatures.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bonnell, D. W.; Treverton, J. A.; Valerga, A. J.; Margrave , J. L.

1972-01-01

The emissivities for several transition metals and various other metals and compounds in the liquid state at their fusion temperatures have been determined in this laboratory. The technique used involves electromagnetic levitation-induction heating of the materials in an inert atmosphere. The brightness temperature of the liquid phase of the material is measured as the material is heated through fusion. Given a reliable value of the fusion temperature, which is available for most pure substances, one may readily calculate an emissivity for the liquid phase at the fusion temperature. Even in cases where melting points are poorly known, the brightness temperatures are unique parameters, independent of the temperature scale and measured for a chemically defined system at a fixed point.

Interstellar Broadening of Images in the Gravitational Lens Pks 1830-211

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, D. L.; Preston, R. A.; Murphy, D. W.; Jauncey, D. L.; Reynolds, J. E.; Tzioumis, A. K.; King, E. A.; McCulloch, P. M.; Lovell, J. E. J.; Costa, M. E.

1996-01-01

The remarkably strong radio gravitational lens PKS 1830-211 consists of a one arcsecond diameter Einstein ring with two bright compact (milliarcsecond) components located on opposite sides of the ring. We have obtained 22 GHz VLBA data on this source to determine the intrinsic angular sizes of the compact components. Previous VLBI observations at lower frequencies indicate that the brightness temperatures of these components are significantly lower than 10(exp 10) K (Jauncey, et al. 1991), less than is typical for compact synchrotron radio sources and less than is implied by the short timescales of flux density variations. A possible explanation is that interstellar scattering is broadening the apparent angular size of the source and thereby reducing the observed brightness temperature. Our VLBA data support this hypothesis. At 22 GHz the measured brightness temperature is at least 10(exp 11) K, and the deconvolved 2 size of the core in the southwest compact component is proportional to upsilon(sup -2) between 1.7 and 22 GHz. VLBI observations at still higher frequencies should be unaffected by interstellar scattering.

Effect of Different Tree canopies on the Brightness Temperature of Snowpack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mousavi, S.; De Roo, R. D.; Brucker, L.

2017-12-01

Snow stores the water we drink and is essential to grow food that we eat. But changes in snow quantities such as snow water equivalent (SWE) are underway and have serious consequences. So, effective management of the freshwater reservoir requires to monitor frequently (weekly or better) the spatial distribution of SWE and snowpack wetness. Both microwave radar and radiometer systems have long been considered as relevant remote sensing tools in retrieving globally snow physical parameters of interest thanks to their all-weather operation capability. However, their observations are sensitive to the presence of tree canopies, which in turns impacts SWE estimation. To address this long-lasting challenge, we parked a truck-mounted microwave radiometer system for an entire winter in a rare area where it exists different tree types in the different cardinal directions. We used dual-polarization microwave radiometers at three different frequencies (1.4, 19, and 37 GHz), mounted on a boom truck to observe continuously the snowpack surrounding the truck. Observations were recorded at different incidence angles. These measurements have been collected in Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado as part of the NASA SnowEx 2016-17. In this presentation, the effect of Engelmann Spruce and Aspen trees on the measured brightness temperature of snow is discussed. It is shown that Engelmann Spruce trees increases the brightness temperature of the snowpack more than Aspen trees do. Moreover, the elevation angular dependence of the measured brightness temperatures of snowpack with and without tree canopies is investigated in the context of SWE retrievals. A time-lapse camera was monitoring a snow post installed in the sensors' field of view to characterize the brightness temperature change as snow depth evolved. Also, our study takes advantage of the snowpit measurements that were collected near the radiometers' field of view.

Correction of WindScat Scatterometric Measurements by Combining with AMSR Radiometric Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Song, S.; Moore, R. K.

1996-01-01

The Seawinds scatterometer on the advanced Earth observing satellite-2 (ADEOS-2) will determine surface wind vectors by measuring the radar cross section. Multiple measurements will be made at different points in a wind-vector cell. When dense clouds and rain are present, the signal will be attenuated, thereby giving erroneous results for the wind. This report describes algorithms to use with the advanced mechanically scanned radiometer (AMSR) scanning radiometer on ADEOS-2 to correct for the attenuation. One can determine attenuation from a radiometer measurement based on the excess brightness temperature measured. This is the difference between the total measured brightness temperature and the contribution from surface emission. A major problem that the algorithm must address is determining the surface contribution. Two basic approaches were developed for this, one using the scattering coefficient measured along with the brightness temperature, and the other using the brightness temperature alone. For both methods, best results will occur if the wind from the preceding wind-vector cell can be used as an input to the algorithm. In the method based on the scattering coefficient, we need the wind direction from the preceding cell. In the method using brightness temperature alone, we need the wind speed from the preceding cell. If neither is available, the algorithm can work, but the corrections will be less accurate. Both correction methods require iterative solutions. Simulations show that the algorithms make significant improvements in the measured scattering coefficient and thus is the retrieved wind vector. For stratiform rains, the errors without correction can be quite large, so the correction makes a major improvement. For systems of separated convective cells, the initial error is smaller and the correction, although about the same percentage, has a smaller effect.

Validation of MODIS-derived bidirectional reflectivity retrieval algorithm in mid-infrared channel with field measurements.

PubMed

Tang, Bo-Hui; Wu, Hua-; Li, Zhao-Liang; Nerry, Françoise

2012-07-30

This work addressed the validation of the MODIS-derived bidirectional reflectivity retrieval algorithm in mid-infrared (MIR) channel, proposed by Tang and Li [Int. J. Remote Sens. 29, 4907 (2008)], with ground-measured data, which were collected from a field campaign that took place in June 2004 at the ONERA (Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales) center of Fauga-Mauzac, on the PIRRENE (Programme Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Radiométrie en Environnement Extérieur) experiment site [Opt. Express 15, 12464 (2007)]. The leaving-surface spectral radiances measured by a BOMEM (MR250 Series) Fourier transform interferometer were used to calculate the ground brightness temperatures with the combination of the inversion of the Planck function and the spectral response functions of MODIS channels 22 and 23, and then to estimate the ground brightness temperature without the contribution of the solar direct beam and the bidirectional reflectivity by using Tang and Li's proposed algorithm. On the other hand, the simultaneously measured atmospheric profiles were used to obtain the atmospheric parameters and then to calculate the ground brightness temperature without the contribution of the solar direct beam, based on the atmospheric radiative transfer equation in the MIR region. Comparison of those two kinds of brightness temperature obtained by two different methods indicated that the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the brightness temperatures estimated respectively using Tang and Li's algorithm and the atmospheric radiative transfer equation is 1.94 K. In addition, comparison of the hemispherical-directional reflectances derived by Tang and Li's algorithm with those obtained from the field measurements showed that the RMSE is 0.011, which indicates that Tang and Li's algorithm is feasible to retrieve the bidirectional reflectivity in MIR channel from MODIS data.

A Method for Obtaining High Frequency, Global, IR-Based Convective Cloud Tops for Studies of the TTL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pfister, Leonhard; Ueyama, Rei; Jensen, Eric; Schoeberl, Mark

2017-01-01

Models of varying complexity that simulate water vapor and clouds in the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) show that including convection directly is essential to properly simulating the water vapor and cloud distribution. In boreal winter, for example, simulations without convection yield a water vapor distribution that is too uniform with longitude, as well as minimal cloud distributions. Two things are important for convective simulations. First, it is important to get the convective cloud top potential temperature correctly, since unrealistically high values (reaching above the cold point tropopause too frequently) will cause excessive hydration of the stratosphere. Second, one must capture the time variation as well, since hydration by convection depends on the local relative humidity (temperature), which has substantial variation on synoptic time scales in the TTL. This paper describes a method for obtaining high frequency (3-hourly) global convective cloud top distributions which can be used in trajectory models. The method uses rainfall thresholds, standard IR brightness temperatures, meteorological temperature analyses, and physically realistic and documented corrections IR brightness temperature corrections to derive cloud top altitudes and potential temperatures. The cloud top altitudes compare well with combined CLOUDSAT and CALIPSO data, both in time-averaged overall vertical and horizontal distributions and in individual cases (correlations of .65-.7). An important finding is that there is significant uncertainty (nearly .5 km) in evaluating the statistical distribution of convective cloud tops even using lidar. Deep convection whose tops are in regions of high relative humidity (such as much of the TTL), will cause clouds to form above the actual convection. It is often difficult to distinguish these clouds from the actual convective cloud due to the uncertainties of evaluating ice water content from lidar measurements. Comparison with models show that calculated cloud top altitudes are generally higher than those calculated by global analyses (e.g., MERRA). Interannual variability in the distribution of convective cloud top altitudes is also investigated.

Coronal bright points associated with minifilament eruptions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hong, Junchao; Jiang, Yunchun; Yang, Jiayan

2014-12-01

Coronal bright points (CBPs) are small-scale, long-lived coronal brightenings that always correspond to photospheric network magnetic features of opposite polarity. In this paper, we subjectively adopt 30 CBPs in a coronal hole to study their eruptive behavior using data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. About one-quarter to one-third of the CBPs in the coronal hole go through one or more minifilament eruption(s) (MFE(s)) throughout their lifetimes. The MFEs occur in temporal association with the brightness maxima of CBPs and possibly result from the convergence and cancellationmore » of underlying magnetic dipoles. Two examples of CBPs with MFEs are analyzed in detail, where minifilaments appear as dark features of a cool channel that divide the CBPs along the neutral lines of the dipoles beneath. The MFEs show the typical rising movements of filaments and mass ejections with brightenings at CBPs, similar to large-scale filament eruptions. Via differential emission measure analysis, it is found that CBPs are heated dramatically by their MFEs and the ejected plasmas in the MFEs have average temperatures close to the pre-eruption BP plasmas and electron densities typically near 10{sup 9} cm{sup –3}. These new observational results indicate that CBPs are more complex in dynamical evolution and magnetic structure than previously thought.« less

Two-Component Modeling of the Solar IR CO Lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avrett, E. H.

One-dimensional hydrostatic models of quiet and active solar regions can be constructed that generally account for the observed intensities of lines and continua throughout the spectrum, except for the infrared CO lines. There is an apparent conflict between a) observations of the strongest infrared CO lines formed in LTE at low-chromospheric heights but at temperatures much cooler than the average chromospheric values, and b) observations of Ca II, UV, and microwave intensities that originate from the same chromospheric heights but at the much higher temperatures characteristic of the average chromosphere. A model M_CO has been constructed which gives a good fit to the full range of mean CO line profiles (averaged over the central area of the solar disk and over time) but this model conflicts with other observations of average quiet regions. A model L_CO which is approximately 100 K cooler than M_CO combined with a very bright network model F in the proportions 0.6L_CO+0.4F is found to be generally consistent with the CO, Ca II, UV, and microwave observations. Ayres, Testerman, and Brault found that models COOLC and FLUXT in the proportions 0.925 and 0.075 account for the CO and Ca II lines, but these combined models give an average UV intensity at 140 nm about 20 times larger than observed. The 0.6L_CO+0.4F result may give a better description of the cool and hot components that produce the space- and time-averaged spectra. Recent observations carried out by Uitenbroek, Noyes, and Rabin with high spatial and temporal resolution indicate that the faintest intensities in the strong CO lines measured at given locations usually become much brighter within 1 to 3 minutes. The cool regions thus seem to be mostly the low- temperature portions of oscillatory waves rather than cool structures that are stationary.

Two-component modeling of the solar IR CO lines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avrett, Eugene H.

1995-01-01

One-dimensional hydrostatic models of quiet and active solar regions can be constructed that generally account for the observed intensities of lines and continue throughout the spectrum, except for the infrared CO lines. There is an apparent conflict between: (1) observations of the strongest infrared CO lines formed in LTE at low-chromospheric heights but at temperatures much cooler than the average chromospheric values; and (2) observations of Ca II, UV (ultraviolet), and microwave intensities that originate from the same chromospheric heights but at the much higher temperatures characteristic of the average chromosphere. A model M(sub CO) has been constructed which gives a good fit to the full range of mean CO line profiles (averaged over the central area of the solar disk and over time) but this model conflicts with other observations of average quiet regions. A model L(sub CO) which is approximately 100 K cooler than M(sub CO) combined with a very bright network model F in the proportions 0.6 L(sub CO) + 0.4 F is found to be generally consistent with the CO, Ca II, UV, and microwave observations. Ayres, Testerman, and Brault found that models COOLC and FLUXT in the proportions 0.925 and 0.075 account for the CO and Ca II lines, but these combined models give an average UV intensity at 140 nm about 20 times larger than observed. The 0.6 L(sub CO) + 0.4 F result may give a better description of the cool and hot components that produce the space- and time-averaged spectra. Recent observations carried out by Uitenbroek, Noyes, and Rabine with high spatial and temporal resolution indicate that the faintest intensities in the strong CO lines measured at given locations usually become much brighter within 1 to 3 minutes. The cool regions thus seem to be mostly the low-temperature portions of oscillatory waves rather than cool structures that are stationary.

Control of dispersed-phase temperature in plasma flows by the spectral-brightness pyrometry method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dolmatov, A. V.; Gulyaev, I. P.; Gulyaev, P. Yu; Iordan, V. I.

2016-02-01

In the present work, we propose a new method for measuring the distribution of temperature in the ensembles of condensed-phase particles in plasma spray flows. Interrelation between the spectral temperature of the particles and the distribution of camera brightness signal is revealed. The established inter-relation enables an in-situ calibration of measuring instruments using the objects under study. The spectral-brightness pyrometry method was approbated on a Plazer plasma-arc wire spraying facility at the Paton Institute of Electrical Welding (Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev) and on the Thermoplasma 50-1 powder spraying facility at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk). The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grants Nos. 14-08-90428 and 15-48-00100).

Assessment of mesoscale convective systems using IR brightness temperature in the southwest of Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafati, Somayeh; Karimi, Mostafa

2017-07-01

In this research, the spatial and temporal distribution of Mesoscale Convective Systems was assessed in the southwest of Iran using Global merged satellite IR brightness temperature (acquired from Meteosat, GOES, and GMS geostationary satellites) and synoptic station data. Event days were selected using a set of storm reports and precipitation criteria. The following criteria are used to determine the days with occurrence of convective systems: (1) at least one station reported 6-h precipitation exceeding 10 mm and (2) at least three stations reported phenomena related to convection (thunderstorm, lightning, and shower). MCSs were detected based on brightness temperature, maximum areal extent, and duration thresholds (228 K, 10,000 km2, and 3 h, respectively). An MCS occurrence classification system is developed based on mean sea level, 850 and 500 hPa pressure patterns.

Laboratory measurement of the millimeter wave properties of liquid sulfuric acid (H2SO4). [study of microwave emission from Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fahd, Antoine K.; Steffes, Paul G.

1991-01-01

The methodology and the results of laboratory measurements of the millimeter wave properties of liquid sulfuric acid are presented. Measurements conducted at 30-40 and 90-100 GHz are reported, using different concentrations of liquid H2SO4. The measured data are used to compute the expected opacity of H2SO4 condensates and their effects on the millimeter wave emission from Venus. The cloud condensate is found to have an effect on the emission from Venus. The calculated decrease in brightness temperature is well below the observed decrease in brightness temperature found by de Pater et al. (1991). It is suggested that other constituents such as gaseous H2SO4 also affect the observed variation in the brightness temperature.

Development and Validation of The SMAP Enhanced Passive Soil Moisture Product

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, S.; Bindlish, R.; O'Neill, P.; Jackson, T.; Chaubell, J.; Piepmeier, J.; Dunbar, S.; Colliander, A.; Chen, F.; Entekhabi, D.;

A Comparison between Lightning Activity and Passive Microwave Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kevin, Driscoll T.; Hugh, Christian J.; Goodman, Steven J.

1999-01-01

A recent examination of data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) suggests that storm with the highest frequency of lightning also possess the most pronounced microwave scattering signatures at 37 and 85 GHz. This study demonstrates a clear dependence between lightning and the passive microwave measurements, and accentuates how direct the relationship really is between cloud ice and lightning activity. In addition, the relationship between the quantity of ice content and the frequency of lightning (not just the presence of lightning) , is consistent throughout the seasons in a variety of regimes. Scatter plots will be presented which show the storm-averaged brightness temperatures as a function of the lightning density of the storms (L/Area) . In the 85 GHz and 37 GHz scatter plots, the brightness temperature is presented in the form Tb = k1 x log10(L/Area) + k2, where the slope of the regression, k1, is 58 for the 85 GHz relationship and 30.7 for the 37 GHz relationship. The regression for both these fits showed a correlation of 0.76 (r2 = 0.58), which is quite promising considering the simple procedure used to make the comparisons, which have not yet even been corrected for the view angle differences between the instruments, or the polarization corrections in the microwave imager.

Polar microwave brightness temperatures from Nimbus-7 SMMR: Time series of daily and monthly maps from 1978 to 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiso, Josefino C.; Zwally, H. Jay

1989-01-01

A time series of daily brightness temperature gridded maps (October 25, 1978 through August 15, 1987) were generated from all ten channels of the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer orbital data. This unique data set can be utilized in a wide range of applications including heat flux, ocean circulation, ice edge productivity, and climate studies. Two sets of data in polar stereographic format are created for the Arctic region: one with a grid size of about 30 km on a 293 by 293 array similar to that previously utilized for the Nimbus-5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer, while the other has a grid size of about 25 km on a 448 by 304 array identical to what is now being used for the DMSP Scanning Multichannel Microwave Imager. Data generated for the Antaractic region are mapped using the 293 by 293 grid only. The general technique for mapping, and a quality assessment of the data set are presented. Monthly and yearly averages are also generated from the daily data and sample geophysical ice images and products derived from the data are given. Contour plots of monthly ice concentrations derived from the data for October 1978 through August 1987 are presented to demonstrate spatial and temporal detail which this data set can offer, and to show potential research applications.

Studies of snowpack properties by passive microwave radiometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, A. T. C.; Hall, D. K.; Foster, J. L.; Rango, A.; Schmugge, T. J.

1979-01-01

Research involving the microwave characteristics of snow was undertaken in order to expand the information content currently available from remote sensing, namely the measurement of snowcovered area. Microwave radiation emitted from beneath the snow surface can be sensed and thus permits information on internal snowpack properties to be inferred. The intensity of radiation received is a function of the average temperature and emissivity of the snow layers and is commonly referred to as the brightness temperature (T sub B). The T sub B varies with snow grain and crystal sizes, liquid water content, and snowpack temperature. The T sub B of the 0.8 cm wavelength channel was found to decrease more so with increasing snow depth than the 1.4 cm channel. More scattering of the shorter wavelength radiation occurs thus resulting in a lower T sub B for shorter wavelengths in a dry snowpack. The longer 21.0 cm wavelength was used to assess the condition of the underlying ground.

A passive microwave technique for estimating rainfall and vertical structure information from space. Part 1: Algorithm description

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kummerow, Christian; Giglio, Louis

1994-01-01

This paper describes a multichannel physical approach for retrieving rainfall and vertical structure information from satellite-based passive microwave observations. The algorithm makes use of statistical inversion techniques based upon theoretically calculated relations between rainfall rates and brightness temperatures. Potential errors introduced into the theoretical calculations by the unknown vertical distribution of hydrometeors are overcome by explicity accounting for diverse hydrometeor profiles. This is accomplished by allowing for a number of different vertical distributions in the theoretical brightness temperature calculations and requiring consistency between the observed and calculated brightness temperatures. This paper will focus primarily on the theoretical aspects of the retrieval algorithm, which includes a procedure used to account for inhomogeneities of the rainfall within the satellite field of view as well as a detailed description of the algorithm as it is applied over both ocean and land surfaces. The residual error between observed and calculated brightness temperatures is found to be an important quantity in assessing the uniqueness of the solution. It is further found that the residual error is a meaningful quantity that can be used to derive expected accuracies from this retrieval technique. Examples comparing the retrieved results as well as the detailed analysis of the algorithm performance under various circumstances are the subject of a companion paper.

Behavior of Solar Cycles 23 and 24 Revealed by Microwave Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, N.; Yashiro, S.; Maekelae, P.; Michalek, G.; Shibasaki, K.; Hathaway, D. H.

2012-01-01

Using magnetic and microwave butterfly diagrams, we compare the behavior of solar polar regions to show that (1) the polar magnetic field and the microwave brightness temperature during solar minimum substantially diminished during the cycle 23/24 minimum compared to the 22/23 minimum. (2) The polar microwave brightness temperature (Tb) seems to be a good proxy for the underlying magnetic field strength (B). The analysis indicates a relationship, B = 0.0067Tb - 70, where B is in G and Tb in K. (3) Both the brightness temperature and the magnetic field strength show north-south asymmetry most of the time except for a short period during the maximum phase. (4) The rush-to-the-pole phenomenon observed in the prominence eruption (PE) activity seems to be complete in the northern hemisphere as of 2012 March. (5) The decline of the microwave brightness temperature in the north polar region to the quiet-Sun levels and the sustained PE activity poleward of 60degN suggest that solar maximum conditions have arrived at the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere continues to exhibit conditions corresponding to the rise phase of solar cycle 24. Key words: Sun: chromosphere Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs) Sun: filaments, prominences Sun: photosphere Sun: radio radiation Sun: surface magnetism

Detecting gradual visual changes in colour and brightness agnosia: a double dissociation.

PubMed

Nijboer, Tanja C W; te Pas, Susan F; van der Smagt, Maarten J

2011-03-09

Two patients, one with colour agnosia and one with brightness agnosia, performed a task that required the detection of gradual temporal changes in colour and brightness. The results for these patients, who showed anaverage or an above-average performance on several tasks designed to test low-level colour and luminance (contrast) perception in the spatial domain, yielded a double dissociation; the brightness agnosic patient was within the normal range for the coloured stimuli, but much slower to detect brightness differences, whereas the colour agnosic patient was within the normal range for the achromatic stimuli, but much slower for the coloured stimuli. These results suggest that a modality-specific impairment in the detection of gradual temporal changes might be related to, if not underlie, the phenomenon of visual agnosia.

The ETA-II induction linac as a high-average-power FEL driver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nexsen, W. E.; Atkinson, D. P.; Barrett, D. M.; Chen, Y.-J.; Clark, J. C.; Griffith, L. V.; Kirbie, H. C.; Newton, M. A.; Paul, A. C.; Sampayan, S.; Throop, A. L.; Turner, W. C.

1990-10-01

The Experimental Test Accelerator II (ETA-II) is the first induction linac designed specifically to FEL requirements. It is primarily intended to demonstrate induction accelerator technology for high-average-power, high-brightness electron beams, and will be used to drive a 140 and 250 GHz microwave FEL for plasma heating experiments in the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL. Its features include high-vacuum design which allows the use of an intrinsically bright dispenser cathode, induction cells designed to minimize BBU growth rate, and careful attention to magnetic alignment to minimize radial sweep due to beam corkscrew. The use of magnetic switches allows high-average-power operation. At present ETA-II is being used to drive 140 GHz plasma heating experiments. These experiments require nominal beam parameters of 6 MeV energy, 2 kA current, 20 ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 × 108 A/(m rad)2 at the wiggler with a pulse repetition frequency (prf) of 0.5 Hz. Future 250 GHz experiments require beam parameters of 10 MeV energy, 3 kA current, 50 ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 × 108 A/(m rad)2 with a 5 kHz prf for 0.5 s. In this paper we discuss the present status of ETA-II parameters and the phased development program necessary to satisfy these future requirements.

Assessment of COSMIC radio occultation and AIRS hyperspectral IR sounder temperature products in the stratosphere using observed radiances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltz, M. L.; Knuteson, R. O.; Revercomb, H. E.

2017-08-01

Upper air temperature is defined as an essential climate variable by the World Meteorological Organization. Two remote sensing technologies being promoted for monitoring stratospheric temperatures are GPS radio occultation (RO) and spectrally resolved IR radiances. This study assesses RO and hyperspectral IR sounder derived temperature products within the stratosphere by comparing IR spectra calculated from GPS RO and IR sounder products to coincident IR observed radiances, which are used as a reference standard. RO dry temperatures from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) mission are compared to NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) retrievals using a previously developed profile-to-profile collocation method and vertical temperature averaging kernels. Brightness temperatures (BTs) are calculated for both COSMIC and AIRS temperature products and are then compared to coincident AIRS measurements. The COSMIC calculated minus AIRS measured BTs exceed the estimated 0.5 K measurement uncertainty for the winter time extratropics around 35 hPa. These differences are attributed to seasonal UCAR COSMIC biases. Unphysical vertical oscillations are seen in the AIRS L2 temperature product in austral winter Antarctic regions, and results imply a small AIRS tropical warm bias around 35 hPa in the middle stratosphere.

A quantitative analysis of TIMS data obtained on the Learjet 23 at various altitudes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaggi, S.

1992-01-01

A series of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data acquisition flights were conducted on the NASA Learjet 23 at different altitudes over a test site. The objective was to monitor the performance of the TIMS (its estimation of the brightness temperatures of the ground scene) with increasing altitude. The results do not show any significant correlation between the brightness temperatures and the altitude. The analysis indicates that the estimation of the temperatures is a function of the accuracy of the atmospheric correction used for each altitude.

Organic Nanocrystals with Bright Red Persistent Room-Temperature Phosphorescence for Biological Applications.

PubMed

Fateminia, S M Ali; Mao, Zhu; Xu, Shidang; Yang, Zhiyong; Chi, Zhenguo; Liu, Bin

2017-09-25

Persistent room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in pure organic materials has attracted great attention because of their unique optical properties. The design of organic materials with bright red persistent RTP remains challenging. Herein, we report a new design strategy for realizing high brightness and long lifetime of red-emissive RTP molecules, which is based on introducing an alkoxy spacer between the hybrid units in the molecule. The spacer offers easy Br-H bond formation during crystallization, which also facilitates intermolecular electron coupling to favor persistent RTP. As the majority of RTP compounds have to be confined in a rigid environment to quench nonradiative relaxation pathways for bright phosphorescence emission, nanocrystallization is used to not only rigidify the molecules but also offer the desirable size and water-dispersity for biomedical applications. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Inversion of parameters for semiarid regions by a neural network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zurk, Lisa M.; Davis, Daniel; Njoku, Eni G.; Tsang, Leung; Hwang, Jenq-Neng

1992-01-01

Microwave brightness temperatures obtained from a passive radiative transfer model are inverted through use of a neural network. The model is applicable to semiarid regions and produces dual-polarized brightness temperatures for 6.6-, 10.7-, and 37-GHz frequencies. A range of temperatures is generated by varying three geophysical parameters over acceptable ranges: soil moisture, vegetation moisture, and soil temperature. A multilayered perceptron (MLP) neural network is trained with a subset of the generated temperatures, and the remaining temperatures are inverted using a backpropagation method. Several synthetic terrains are devised and inverted by the network under local constraints. All the inversions show good agreement with the original geophysical parameters, falling within 5 percent of the actual value of the parameter range.

Microwave Signatures of Melting/Refreezing Snow: Observations and Modeling Using Dense Medium Radiative Transfer Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tedesco, Marco; Kim, Edward J.; England, Anthony; deRoo, Roger; Hardy, Janet

2005-01-01

Microwave brightness temperatures of snow covered terrains can be modeled by means of the Dense Radiative Transfer Medium Theory (DMRT). In a dense medium, such as snow, the assumption of independent scattering is no longer valid and the scattering of correlated scatterers must be considered. In the DMRT, this is done considering a pair distribution function of the particles position. In the electromagnetic model, the snowpack is simulated as a homogeneous layer having effective permittivity and albedo calculated through the DMRT. In order to account for clustering of snow crystals, a model of cohesive particles can be applied, where the cohesion between the particles is described by means of a dimensionless parameters called stickiness (z), representing a measure of the inversion of the attraction of the particles. The lower the z the higher the stickiness. In this study, microwave signatures of melting and refreezing cycles of seasonal snowpacks at high altitudes are studied by means of both experimental and modeling tools. Radiometric data were collected 24 hours per day by the University of Michigan Tower Mounted Radiometer System (TMRS). The brightness temperatures collected by means of the TMRS are simulated by means of a multi-layer electromagnetic model based on the dense medium theory with the inputs to the model derived from the data collected at the snow pits and from the meteorological station. The paper is structured as follows: in the first Section the temperature profiles recorded by the meteorological station and the snow pit data are presented and analyzed; in the second Section, the characteristics of the radiometric system used to collect the brightness temperatures are reported together with the temporal behavior of the recorded brightness temperatures; in the successive Section the multi-layer DMRT-based electromagnetic model is described; in the fourth Section the comparison between modeled and measured brightness temperatures is discussed. We dedicate the last Section to the conclusions and future works.

Precursor state of oxygen molecules on the Si(001) surface during the initial room-temperature adsorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Eunkyung; Chang, Yun Hee; Kim, Yong-Sung; Koo, Ja-Yong; Kim, Hanchul

2012-10-01

The initial adsorption of oxygen molecules on Si(001) is investigated at room temperature. The scanning tunneling microscopy images reveal a unique bright O2-induced feature. The very initial sticking coefficient of O2 below 0.04 Langmuir is measured to be ˜0.16. Upon thermal annealing at 250-600 °C, the bright O2-induced feature is destroyed, and the Si(001) surface is covered with dark depressions that seem to be oxidized structures with -Si-O-Si- bonds. This suggests that the observed bright O2-induced feature is an intermediate precursor state that may be either a silanone species or a molecular adsorption structure.

Anticorrelation of X-ray bright points with sunspot number, 1970-1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golub, L.; Davis, J. M.; Krieger, A. S.

1979-01-01

Soft X-ray observations of the solar corona over the period 1970-1978 show that the number of small short-lived bipolar magnetic features (X-ray bright points) varies inversely with the sunspot index. During the entire period from 1973 to 1978 most of the magnetic flux emerging at the solar surface appeared in the form of bright points. In 1970, near the peak of solar cycle 20, the contributions from bright points and from active regions appear to be approximately equal. These observations strongly support an earlier suggestion that the solar cycle may be characterized as an oscillator in wave-number space with relatively little variation in the average total rate of flux emergence.

Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer's (EMUS) Prediction of Oxygen OI 135.6 nm and CO 4PG Emissions in the Martian Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almatroushi, H. R.; Lootah, F. H.; Deighan, J.; Fillingim, M. O.; Jain, S.; Bougher, S. W.; England, S.; Schneider, N. M.

2017-12-01

This research focuses on developing empirical and theoretical models for OI 135.6 nm and CO 4PG band system FUV dayglow emissions in the Martian thermosphere as predicted to be seen from the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS), one of the three scientific instruments aboard the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) to be launched in 2020. These models will aid in simulating accurate disk radiances which will be utilized as an input to an EMUS instrument simulator. The developed zonally averaged empirical models are based on FUV data from the IUVS instrument onboard the MAVEN mission, while the theoretical models are based on a basic Chapman profile. The models calculate the brightness (B) of those emissions taking into consideration observation geometry parameters such as emission angle (EA), solar zenith angle (SZA) and planet distance from the sun (Ds). Specifically, the empirical models takes a general form of Bn=A*cos(SZA)n/cos(EA)m , where Bn is the normalized brightness value of an emission feature, and A, n, and m are positive constant values. The model form shows that the brightness has a positive correlation with EA and a negative correlation with SZA. A comparison of both models are explained in this research while examining full Mars and half Mars disk images generated using geometry code specially developed for the EMUS instrument. Sensitivity analyses have also been conducted for the theoretical modeling to observe the contributions of electron impact on atomic oxygen and CO2 to the brightness of OI 135.6nm, in addition to the effect of electron temperature on the CO2± dissociative recombination contribution to the CO 4PG band system.

AIRS Detection of Dust: Global Map for July 2003

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

The averaged brightness temperature differences between the 961 and 1231 cm-1 AIRS channels for July 2003, reveal long range transport of Sahara Dust across the Atlantic.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Studying and Understanding the Jovian Aurora Based on Measurements from the Juno MWR Taken during Perijove 5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellotti, A.; Steffes, P. G.; Janssen, M. A.

2017-12-01

During Perijove 5 (March 27, 2017), an anomolous signal level was detected by the Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) at latitudes north of 50N. This anomaly presented itself in two distinct ways. At the three longest wavelength channels (11.55, 24, 50 cm), a decrease in brightness temperatures at latitudes between 50N-60N was measured. At the longest wavelength channel (50 cm) this decrease is followed by an increase in brightness temperature at higher latitudes. These anomalous brightness temperatures are examined and attributed to Juno MWR flying over and measuring effects from the Jovian aurora. Presented here are the basics of the radiative transfer model needed to properly understand, explain, and model this anomoly. This work was supported by NASA Contract NNM06AA75C from the Marshall Space Flight Center supporting the Juno Mission Science team, under Subcontract 699054X from the Southwest Research Institute.

Morning-evening differences in global and regional oceanic precipitation as observed by the SSM/I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.; Katsaros, Kristina B.

1992-01-01

For the present preliminary analysis of oceanic rainfall statistics, global oceanic SSM/I data were simply scanned for pixels which exhibited a 37 GHz polarization difference (vertically polarized brightness temperatures minus horizontally polarized brightness temperatures) of less than 15 K. Such a low polarization difference over the open ocean is a completely unambiguous indication of moderate to intense precipitation. Co-located brightness temperatures from all seven channels of the SSM/I were saved for each pixel so identified. Bad scans and geographically mislocated block of data were objectively identified and removed from the resulting data base. We collected global oceanic rainfall data for two time periods, each one month in length. The first period (20 July-19 August 1987) coincides with the peak of the Northern Hemisphere summer. The second period (13 January-12 February 1988) coincides with the Northern Hemisphere winter.

The high brightness temperature of B0529+483 revealed by RadioAstron and implications for interstellar scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilipenko, S. V.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Andrianov, A. S.; Bach, U.; Buttaccio, S.; Cassaro, P.; Cimò, G.; Edwards, P. G.; Gawroński, M. P.; Gurvits, L. I.; Hovatta, T.; Jauncey, D. L.; Johnson, M. D.; Kovalev, Yu A.; Kutkin, A. M.; Lisakov, M. M.; Melnikov, A. E.; Orlati, A.; Rudnitskiy, A. G.; Sokolovsky, K. V.; Stanghellini, C.; de Vicente, P.; Voitsik, P. A.; Wolak, P.; Zhekanis, G. V.

2018-03-01

The high brightness temperatures, Tb ≳ 1013 K, detected in several active galactic nuclei by RadioAstron space VLBI observations challenge theoretical limits. Refractive scattering by the interstellar medium may affect such measurements. We quantify the scattering properties and the sub-mas scale source parameters for the quasar B0529+483. Using RadioAstron correlated flux density measurements at 1.7, 4.8, and 22 GHz on projected baselines up to 240 000 km we find two characteristic angular scales in the quasar core, about 100 and 10 μas. Some indications of scattering substructure are found. Very high brightness temperatures, Tb ≥ 1013 K, are estimated at 4.8 and 22 GHz even taking into account the refractive scattering. Our findings suggest a clear dominance of the particle energy density over the magnetic field energy density in the core of this quasar.

Determination of cloud liquid water content using the SSM/I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alishouse, John C.; Snider, Jack B.; Westwater, Ed R.; Swift, Calvin T.; Ruf, Christopher S.

1990-01-01

As part of a calibration/validation effort for the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I), coincident observations of SSM/I brightness temperatures and surface-based observations of cloud liquid water were obtained. These observations were used to validate initial algorithms and to derive an improved algorithm. The initial algorithms were divided into latitudinal-, seasonal-, and surface-type zones. It was found that these initial algorithms, which were of the D-matrix type, did not yield sufficiently accurate results. The surface-based measurements of channels were investigated; however, the 85V channel was excluded because of excessive noise. It was found that there is no significant correlation between the SSM/I brightness temperatures and the surface-based cloud liquid water determination when the background surface is land or snow. A high correlation was found between brightness temperatures and ground-based measurements over the ocean.

Absolute brightness temperature measurements at 3.5-mm wavelength. [of sun, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulich, B. L.; Rhodes, P. J.; Davis, J. H.; Hollis, J. M.

1980-01-01

Careful observations have been made at 86.1 GHz to derive the absolute brightness temperatures of the sun (7914 + or - 192 K), Venus (357.5 + or - 13.1 K), Jupiter (179.4 + or - 4.7 K), and Saturn (153.4 + or - 4.8 K) with a standard error of about three percent. This is a significant improvement in accuracy over previous results at millimeter wavelengths. A stable transmitter and novel superheterodyne receiver were constructed and used to determine the effective collecting area of the Millimeter Wave Observatory (MWO) 4.9-m antenna relative to a previously calibrated standard gain horn. The thermal scale was set by calibrating the radiometer with carefully constructed and tested hot and cold loads. The brightness temperatures may be used to establish an absolute calibration scale and to determine the antenna aperture and beam efficiencies of other radio telescopes at 3.5-mm wavelength.

Validation of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite soil moisture retrieval in an Arctic tundra environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wrona, Elizabeth; Rowlandson, Tracy L.; Nambiar, Manoj; Berg, Aaron A.; Colliander, Andreas; Marsh, Philip

2017-05-01

This study examines the Soil Moisture Active Passive soil moisture product on the Equal Area Scalable Earth-2 (EASE-2) 36 km Global cylindrical and North Polar azimuthal grids relative to two in situ soil moisture monitoring networks that were installed in 2015 and 2016. Results indicate that there is no relationship between the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Level-2 passive soil moisture product and the upscaled in situ measurements. Additionally, there is very low correlation between modeled brightness temperature using the Community Microwave Emission Model and the Level-1 C SMAP brightness temperature interpolated to the EASE-2 Global grid; however, there is a much stronger relationship to the brightness temperature measurements interpolated to the North Polar grid, suggesting that the soil moisture product could be improved with interpolation on the North Polar grid.

Picosecond excimer laser-plasma x-ray source for microscopy, biochemistry, and lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turcu, I. C. Edmond; Ross, Ian N.; Trenda, P.; Wharton, C. W.; Meldrum, R. A.; Daido, Hiroyuki; Schulz, M. S.; Fluck, P.; Michette, Alan G.; Juna, A. P.; Maldonado, Juan R.; Shields, Harry; Tallents, Gregory J.; Dwivedi, L.; Krishnan, J.; Stevens, D. L.; Jenner, T.; Batani, Dimitri; Goodson, H.

1994-02-01

At Rutherford Appleton Laboratory we developed a high repetition rate, picosecond, excimer laser system which generates a high temperature and density plasma source emitting approximately 200 mW (78 mW/sr) x ray average power at h(nu) approximately 1.2 KeV or 0.28 KeV < h(nu) < 0.53 KeV (the `water window'). At 3.37 nm wavelength the spectral brightness of the source is approximately 9 X 1011 photons/s/mm2/mrad2/0.1% bandwidth. The x-ray source serves a large user community for applications such as: scanning and holographic microscopy, the study of the biochemistry of DNA damage and repair, microlithography and spectroscopy.

Zernike analysis of all-sky night brightness maps.

PubMed

Bará, Salvador; Nievas, Miguel; Sánchez de Miguel, Alejandro; Zamorano, Jaime

2014-04-20

All-sky night brightness maps (calibrated images of the night sky with hemispherical field-of-view (FOV) taken at standard photometric bands) provide useful data to assess the light pollution levels at any ground site. We show that these maps can be efficiently described and analyzed using Zernike circle polynomials. The relevant image information can be compressed into a low-dimensional coefficients vector, giving an analytical expression for the sky brightness and alleviating the effects of noise. Moreover, the Zernike expansions allow us to quantify in a straightforward way the average and zenithal sky brightness and its variation across the FOV, providing a convenient framework to study the time course of these magnitudes. We apply this framework to analyze the results of a one-year campaign of night sky brightness measurements made at the UCM observatory in Madrid.

ALMA Discovery of Solar Umbral Brightness Enhancement at λ = 3 mm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iwai, Kazumasa; Loukitcheva, Maria; Shimojo, Masumi

We report the discovery of a brightness enhancement in the center of a large sunspot umbra at a wavelength of 3 mm using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). Sunspots are among the most prominent features on the solar surface, but many of their aspects are surprisingly poorly understood. We analyzed a λ = 3 mm (100 GHz) mosaic image obtained by ALMA that includes a large sunspot within the active region AR12470, on 2015 December 16. The 3 mm map has a 300″ × 300″ field of view and 4.″9 × 2.″2 spatial resolution, which is the highest spatialmore » resolution map of an entire sunspot in this frequency range. We find a gradient of 3 mm brightness from a high value in the outer penumbra to a low value in the inner penumbra/outer umbra. Within the inner umbra, there is a marked increase in 3 mm brightness temperature, which we call an umbral brightness enhancement. This enhanced emission corresponds to a temperature excess of 800 K relative to the surrounding inner penumbral region and coincides with excess brightness in the 1330 and 1400 Å slit-jaw images of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph ( IRIS ), adjacent to a partial lightbridge. This λ = 3 mm brightness enhancement may be an intrinsic feature of the sunspot umbra at chromospheric heights, such as a manifestation of umbral flashes, or it could be related to a coronal plume, since the brightness enhancement was coincident with the footpoint of a coronal loop observed at 171 Å.« less

ALMA Discovery of Solar Umbral Brightness Enhancement at λ = 3 mm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwai, K.; Loukitcheva, M.; Shimojo, M.; Solanki, S. K.; White, S. M.

2017-12-01

We report the discovery of a brightness enhancement in the center of a large sunspot umbra at a wavelength of 3 mm using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). Sunspots are among the most prominent features on the solar surface, but many of their aspects are surprisingly poorly understood. We analyzed a λ = 3 mm (100 GHz) mosaic image obtained by ALMA that includes a large sunspot within the active region AR12470, on 2015 December 16. The 3 mm map has a 300''×300'' field of view and 4.9''×2.2'' spatial resolution, which is the highest spatial resolution map of an entire sunspot in this frequency range. We find a gradient of 3 mm brightness from a high value in the outer penumbra to a low value in the inner penumbra/outer umbra. Within the inner umbra, there is a marked increase in 3 mm brightness temperature, which we call an umbral brightness enhancement. This enhanced emission corresponds to a temperature excess of 800 K relative to the surrounding inner penumbral region and coincides with excess brightness in the 1330 and 1400 Å slit-jaw images of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), adjacent to a partial lightbridge. This λ = 3 mm brightness enhancement may be an intrinsic feature of the sunspot umbra at chromospheric heights, such as a manifestation of umbral flashes, or it could be related to a coronal plume, since the brightness enhancement was coincident with the footpoint of a coronal loop observed at 171 Å.

Size, duration, and rate of growth of nocturnal lightning events appearing on space shuttle video tapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breslawski, Christine

1990-01-01

An analysis of video tapes of nocturnal lightning events, taken aboard space shuttle flights STS-8, STS-9, STS-41D, and STS-51J, shows flashes with dimensions ranging from approximately 1 km by 1 km to 440 km by 110 km. Of particular interest are the flashes whose dimensions exceeded 100 km, as flashes of this size are seldom reported. In general, larger flashes were found to have longer durations, take longer to reach their maximum extent, and reach their maximum extent at a smaller percent of their total duration than smaller flashes. Sixty four percent of the flashes occurred with one to five other events appearing in the same video frame. These simultaneous events were an average of 60 km apart from each other. If a breakdown process is propagating between the simultaneous flashes, it would be travelling at a rate of 10(exp 5)m/sec. Plots of the area of an event over its duration show peaks in the area curve which may be indicative if lightning strokes. There was an average of 3.6 peaks per flash. In general, the longer the flash duration, the more peaks there were in the area curve. The area curves of the lightning events fall into one of five shape categories. It is suggested that the shape of the area curve may indicate whether an event is an intracloud or cloud to ground lightning flash. Some of the lightning events had a persistent bright spot. These events had an average duration which was greater than that of events without the bright spot. On average, the bright spot events had a maximum area which was larger than that of the flashes without the bright spot.

Two-dimensional spectroscopy of a sunspot. III. Thermal and kinematic structure of the penumbra at 0.5 arcsec resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellot Rubio, L. R.; Schlichenmaier, R.; Tritschler, A.

2006-07-01

We investigate the thermal and kinematic configuration of a sunspot penumbra using high spectral and spatial resolution intensity profiles of the non-magnetic Fe I 557.6 nm line. The data set was acquired with the 2D solar spectrometer TESOS. The profiles are inverted using a one-component model atmosphere with gradients of the physical quantities. From this inversion we obtain the stratification with depth of temperature, line-of-sight velocity, and microturbulence across the penumbra. Our results suggest that the physical mechanism(s) responsible for the penumbral filaments operate preferentially in the lower photosphere. The spot, located at an heliocentric angle of 23°, exhibits larger continuum intensities in the center-side penumbra as compared with the limb side, which translates into an average temperature difference of 100-150 K at log τ500 = 0. We investigate the nature of the bright ring that appears in the inner penumbra when sunspots are observed in the wing of spectral lines. It is suggested that the bright ring does not reflect a temperature enhancement in the mid photospheric layers. The line-of-sight velocities retrieved from the inversion are used to determine the flow geometry at different heights in the photosphere. Both the flow speed and flow angle increase with optical depth and radial distance. Downflows are detected in the mid and outer penumbra, but only in deep layers (log τ500 ≥ -1.4). We demonstrate that the velocity stratifications retrieved from the inversion are consistent with the idea of penumbral flux tubes channeling the Evershed flow. Finally, we show that larger Evershed flows are associated with brighter continuum intensities in the inner center-side penumbra. Dark structures, however, are also associated with significant Evershed flows. This leads us to suggest that the bright and dark filaments seen at 0.5 arcsec resolution are not individual flow channels, but a collection of them. Our analysis highlights the importance of very high spatial resolution spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric measurements for a better understanding of sunspot penumbrae.

Implementation of an Ultra-Bright Thermographic Phosphor for Gas Turbine Engine Temperature Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldridge, Jeffrey I.; Bencic, Timothy J.; Zhu, Dongming; Cuy, Michael D.; Wolfe, Douglas E.; Allison, Stephen W.; Beshears, David L.; Jenkins, Thomas P.; Heeg, Bauke; Howard, Robert P.;

Estimation of surface temperature in remote pollution measurement experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, S. K.; Tiwari, S. N.

1978-01-01

A simple algorithm has been developed for estimating the actual surface temperature by applying corrections to the effective brightness temperature measured by radiometers mounted on remote sensing platforms. Corrections to effective brightness temperature are computed using an accurate radiative transfer model for the 'basic atmosphere' and several modifications of this caused by deviations of the various atmospheric and surface parameters from their base model values. Model calculations are employed to establish simple analytical relations between the deviations of these parameters and the additional temperature corrections required to compensate for them. Effects of simultaneous variation of two parameters are also examined. Use of these analytical relations instead of detailed radiative transfer calculations for routine data analysis results in a severalfold reduction in computation costs.

Use of geostationary meteorological satellite images in convective rain estimation for flash-flood forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wardah, T.; Abu Bakar, S. H.; Bardossy, A.; Maznorizan, M.

2008-07-01

SummaryFrequent flash-floods causing immense devastation in the Klang River Basin of Malaysia necessitate an improvement in the real-time forecasting systems being used. The use of meteorological satellite images in estimating rainfall has become an attractive option for improving the performance of flood forecasting-and-warning systems. In this study, a rainfall estimation algorithm using the infrared (IR) information from the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-5 (GMS-5) is developed for potential input in a flood forecasting system. Data from the records of GMS-5 IR images have been retrieved for selected convective cells to be trained with the radar rain rate in a back-propagation neural network. The selected data as inputs to the neural network, are five parameters having a significant correlation with the radar rain rate: namely, the cloud-top brightness-temperature of the pixel of interest, the mean and the standard deviation of the temperatures of the surrounding five by five pixels, the rate of temperature change, and the sobel operator that indicates the temperature gradient. In addition, three numerical weather prediction (NWP) products, namely the precipitable water content, relative humidity, and vertical wind, are also included as inputs. The algorithm is applied for the areal rainfall estimation in the upper Klang River Basin and compared with another technique that uses power-law regression between the cloud-top brightness-temperature and radar rain rate. Results from both techniques are validated against previously recorded Thiessen areal-averaged rainfall values with coefficient correlation values of 0.77 and 0.91 for the power-law regression and the artificial neural network (ANN) technique, respectively. An extra lead time of around 2 h is gained when the satellite-based ANN rainfall estimation is coupled with a rainfall-runoff model to forecast a flash-flood event in the upper Klang River Basin.

Meteorology and the physical activity of the elderly: the Nakanojo Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Togo, Fumiharu; Watanabe, Eiji; Park, Hyuntae; Shephard, Roy J.; Aoyagi, Yukitoshi

2005-11-01

Seasonal changes in ambient temperature and day length are thought to modify habitual physical activity. However, relationships between such environmental factors and the daily physical activity of older populations remain unclear. The present study thus examined associations between meteorological variables and the number of steps taken per day by elderly Japanese. Continuous pedometer counts over a 450-day period were collected from 41 healthy subjects (age 71±4 years), none of whom engaged in any specific occupational activity or exercise programs. An electronic physical activity monitor was attached to a belt worn on the left side of the body throughout the day. Daily values for mean ambient temperature, duration of bright sunshine, mean wind speed, mean relative humidity, and precipitation were obtained from local meteorological stations. The day length was calculated from times of sunrise and sunset. Based on the entire group of 41 subjects (ensemble average), a subject’s step count per day decreased exponentially with increasing precipitation (r2=0.19, P<0.05). On days when precipitation was <1 mm, the step count increased with the mean ambient temperature over the range of 2 to 17°C, but decreased over the range 17 29°C. The daily step count also tended to increase with day length, but the regression coefficient of determination attributable to step count and mean ambient temperature (r2=0.32, P<0.05) exceeded that linking the step count and day length (r2=0.13, P<0.05). The influence of other meteorological factors was small (r2≤0.03) and of little practical significance. On days when precipitation is <1 mm, physical activity is associated more strongly with ambient temperature than with day length, duration of bright sunshine, wind speed, or relative humidity. Our findings have practical implications for health promotion efforts designed to increase the physical activity of elderly people consistently in the face of seasonal variations in environmental conditions.

Zonally averaged thermal balance and stability models for nitrogen polar caps on Triton

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stansberry, John A.; Lunine, J. I.; Porco, C. C.; Mcewen, A. S.

1990-01-01

Voyager four-color imaging data of Triton are analyzed to calculate the bolometric hemispheric albedo as a function of latitude and longitude. Zonal averages of these data have been incorporated into a thermal balance model involving insolation, reradiation, and latent heat of sublimation of N2 ice for the surface. The current average bolometric albedo of Triton's polar caps is 0.8, implying an effective temperature of 34.2 K and a surface pressure of N2 of 1.6 microbar for unit emissivity. This pressure is an order of magnitude lower than the surface pressure of 18 microbar inferred from Voyager data (Broadfoot et al., 1989; Conrath et al., 1989), a discrepancy that can be reconciled if the emissivity of the N2 on Triton's surface is 0.66. The model predicts that Triton's surface north of 15 deg N latitude is experiencing deposition of N2 frosts, as are the bright portions of the south polar cap near the equator. This result explains why the south cap covers nearly the entire southern hemisphere of Triton.

Physical retrieval of precipitation water contents from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data. Part 1: A cloud ensemble/radiative parameterization for sensor response (report version)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olson, William S.; Raymond, William H.

1990-01-01

The physical retrieval of geophysical parameters based upon remotely sensed data requires a sensor response model which relates the upwelling radiances that the sensor observes to the parameters to be retrieved. In the retrieval of precipitation water contents from satellite passive microwave observations, the sensor response model has two basic components. First, a description of the radiative transfer of microwaves through a precipitating atmosphere must be considered, because it is necessary to establish the physical relationship between precipitation water content and upwelling microwave brightness temperature. Also the spatial response of the satellite microwave sensor (or antenna pattern) must be included in the description of sensor response, since precipitation and the associated brightness temperature field can vary over a typical microwave sensor resolution footprint. A 'population' of convective cells, as well as stratiform clouds, are simulated using a computationally-efficient multi-cylinder cloud model. Ensembles of clouds selected at random from the population, distributed over a 25 km x 25 km model domain, serve as the basis for radiative transfer calculations of upwelling brightness temperatures at the SSM/I frequencies. Sensor spatial response is treated explicitly by convolving the upwelling brightness temperature by the domain-integrated SSM/I antenna patterns. The sensor response model is utilized in precipitation water content retrievals.

Brightness temperature - obtaining the physical properties of a non-equipartition plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nokhrina, E. E.

2017-06-01

The limit on the intrinsic brightness temperature, attributed to `Compton catastrophe', has been established being 1012 K. Somewhat lower limit of the order of 1011.5 K is implied if we assume that the radiating plasma is in equipartition with the magnetic field - the idea that explained why the observed cores of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) sustained the limit lower than the `Compton catastrophe'. Recent observations with unprecedented high resolution by the RadioAstron have revealed systematic exceed in the observed brightness temperature. We propose means of estimating the degree of the non-equipartition regime in AGN cores. Coupled with the core-shift measurements, the method allows us to independently estimate the magnetic field strength and the particle number density at the core. We show that the ratio of magnetic energy to radiating plasma energy is of the order of 10-5, which means the flow in the core is dominated by the particle energy. We show that the magnetic field obtained by the brightness temperature measurements may be underestimated. We propose for the relativistic jets with small viewing angles the non-uniform magnetohydrodynamic model and obtain the expression for the magnetic field amplitude about two orders higher than that for the uniform model. These magnetic field amplitudes are consistent with the limiting magnetic field suggested by the `magnetically arrested disc' model.

SMOS brightness temperature assimilation into the Community Land Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rains, Dominik; Han, Xujun; Lievens, Hans; Montzka, Carsten; Verhoest, Niko E. C.

2017-11-01

SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission) brightness temperatures at a single incident angle are assimilated into the Community Land Model (CLM) across Australia to improve soil moisture simulations. Therefore, the data assimilation system DasPy is coupled to the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF) as well as to the Community Microwave Emission Model (CMEM). Brightness temperature climatologies are precomputed to enable the assimilation of brightness temperature anomalies, making use of 6 years of SMOS data (2010-2015). Mean correlation R with in situ measurements increases moderately from 0.61 to 0.68 (11 %) for upper soil layers if the root zone is included in the updates. A reduced improvement of 5 % is achieved if the assimilation is restricted to the upper soil layers. Root-zone simulations improve by 7 % when updating both the top layers and root zone, and by 4 % when only updating the top layers. Mean increments and increment standard deviations are compared for the experiments. The long-term assimilation impact is analysed by looking at a set of quantiles computed for soil moisture at each grid cell. Within hydrological monitoring systems, extreme dry or wet conditions are often defined via their relative occurrence, adding great importance to assimilation-induced quantile changes. Although still being limited now, longer L-band radiometer time series will become available and make model output improved by assimilating such data that are more usable for extreme event statistics.

Thermal inertia mapping of Mars from 60°S to 60°N

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palluconi, Frank Don; Kieffer, Hugh H.

1981-01-01

Twenty-micrometer brightness temperatures are used to derive the thermal inertia for 81% of the Martian surface between latitudes ±60°. These data were acquired by the two Viking Infrared Thermal Mappers in 1977 and 1978 following the two global dust storms of 1977. The spatial resolution used is 2° in latitude by 2° in longitude and the total range in derived inertia is . The distribution of thermal inertia is strongly bimodal with all values of thermal inertia less than  being associated with three disjoint bright regions mostly in the northern hemisphere. Sufficient dust is raised in global storms to provide fine material adequate to produce these low-inertia areas but the specific deposition mechanism has not been defined. At the low resolution used, no complete exposures of clean rock were found. There is some tendency for darker material to be associated with higher thermal inertia, although the trend is far from one to one. The distribution of high- and low-inertia areas is sufficiently nonrandom to produce a variation in whole-disk brightness temperature with central meridian longitude. This variation and the change in surface kinetic temperature associated with dust storms are factors in establishing the whole-disk brightness temperature at radio and infrared wavelengths and will be important for those who use Mars as a calibration source.

Studies of Isolated and Non-isolated Photospheric Bright Points in an Active Region Observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yanxiao; Xiang, Yongyuan; Erdélyi, Robertus; Liu, Zhong; Li, Dong; Ning, Zongjun; Bi, Yi; Wu, Ning; Lin, Jun

2018-03-01

Properties of photospheric bright points (BPs) near an active region have been studied in TiO λ 7058 Å images observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope of the Yunnan Observatories. We developed a novel recognition method that was used to identify and track 2010 BPs. The observed evolving BPs are classified into isolated (individual) and non-isolated (where multiple BPs are observed to display splitting and merging behaviors) sets. About 35.1% of BPs are non-isolated. For both isolated and non-isolated BPs, the brightness varies from 0.8 to 1.3 times the average background intensity and follows a Gaussian distribution. The lifetimes of BPs follow a log-normal distribution, with characteristic lifetimes of (267 ± 140) s and (421 ± 255) s, respectively. Their size also follows log-normal distribution, with an average size of about (2.15 ± 0.74) × 104 km2 and (3.00 ± 1.31) × 104 km2 for area, and (163 ± 27) km and (191 ± 40) km for diameter, respectively. Our results indicate that regions with strong background magnetic field have higher BP number density and higher BP area coverage than regions with weak background field. Apparently, the brightness/size of BPs does not depend on the background field. Lifetimes in regions with strong background magnetic field are shorter than those in regions with weak background field, on average.

The ETA-2 induction linac as a high average power FEL driver

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nexsen, W.E.; Atkinson, D.P.; Barrett, D.M.

1989-10-16

The Experimental Test Accelerator-II (ETA-II) is the first induction linac designed specifically to FEL requirements. It primarily is intended to demonstrate induction accelerator technology for high average power, high brightness electron beams, and will be used to drive a 140 and 250 GHz microwave FEL for plasma heating experiments in the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL. Its features include high vacuum design which allows the use of an intrinsically bright dispenser cathode, induction cells designed to minimize BBU growth rate, and careful attention to magnetic alignment to minimize radial sweep due to beam corkscrew. The use of magnetic switchesmore » allows high average power operation. At present ETA-II is being used to drive 140 GHz plasma heating experiments. These experiments require nominal beam parameters of 6 Mev energy, 2kA current, 20ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 {times} 10{sup 8} A/(m-rad){sup 2} at the wiggler with a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 0.5 Hz. Future 250 GHz experiments require beam parameters of 10 Mev energy, 3kA current, 50ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 {times} 10{sup 8} A/(m-rad){sup 2} with a 5 kHz PRF for 0.5 sec. In this paper we discuss the present status of ETA-II parameters and the phased development program necessary to satisfy these future requirements. 13 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.« less

Lunar and Venusian radar bright rings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, T. W.; Saunders, R. S.; Weissman, D. E.

1986-01-01

Twenty-one lunar craters have radar bright ring appearances which are analogous to eleven complete ring features in the earth-based 12.5 cm observations of Venus. Radar ring diameters and widths for the lunar and Venusian features overlap for sizes from 45 to 100 km. Radar bright areas for the lunar craters are associated with the slopes of the inner and outer rim walls, while level crater floors and level ejecta fields beyond the raised portion of the rim have average radar backscatter. It is proposed that the radar bright areas of the Venusian rings are also associated with the slopes on the rims of craters. The lunar craters have evolved to radar bright rings via mass wasting of crater rim walls and via post-impact flooding of crater floors. Aeolian deposits of fine-grained material on Venusian crater floors may produce radar scattering effects similar to lunar crater floor flooding. These Venusian aeolian deposits may preferentially cover blocky crater floors producing a radar bright ring appearance. It is proposed that the Venusian features with complete bright ring appearances and sizes less than 100 km are impact craters. They have the same sizes as lunar craters and could have evolved to radar bright rings via analogous surface processes.

Ground temperature measurement by PRT-5 for maps experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, S. K.; Tiwari, S. N.

1978-01-01

A simple algorithm and computer program were developed for determining the actual surface temperature from the effective brightness temperature as measured remotely by a radiation thermometer called PRT-5. This procedure allows the computation of atmospheric correction to the effective brightness temperature without performing detailed radiative transfer calculations. Model radiative transfer calculations were performed to compute atmospheric corrections for several values of the surface and atmospheric parameters individually and in combination. Polynomial regressions were performed between the magnitudes or deviations of these parameters and the corresponding computed corrections to establish simple analytical relations between them. Analytical relations were also developed to represent combined correction for simultaneous variation of parameters in terms of their individual corrections.

Far infrared and submillimeter brightness temperatures of the giant planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hildebrand, R. H.; Loewenstein, R. F.; Harper, D. A.; Orton, G. S.; Keene, J.; Whitcomb, S. E.

1985-01-01

The brightness temperatures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the range 35 to 1000 micron. The effective temperatures derived from the measurements, supplemented by shorter wavelength Voyager data for Jupiter and Saturn, are 126.8 + or - 4.5 K, 93.4 + or - 3.3 K, 58.3 + or - 2.0 K, and 60.3 + or - 2.0 K, respectively. The implications of the measurements for bolometric output and for atmospheric structure and composition are discussed. The temperature spectrum of Jupiter shows a strong peak at approx. 350 microns followed by a deep valley at approx. 450 to 500 microns. Spectra derived from model atmospheres qualitatively reproduced these features but do not fit the data closely.

Spatial Model of Sky Brightness Magnitude in Langkawi Island, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redzuan Tahar, Mohammad; Kamarudin, Farahana; Umar, Roslan; Khairul Amri Kamarudin, Mohd; Sabri, Nor Hazmin; Ahmad, Karzaman; Rahim, Sobri Abdul; Sharul Aikal Baharim, Mohd

2017-03-01

Sky brightness is an essential topic in the field of astronomy, especially for optical astronomical observations that need very clear and dark sky conditions. This study presents the spatial model of sky brightness magnitude in Langkawi Island, Malaysia. Two types of Sky Quality Meter (SQM) manufactured by Unihedron are used to measure the sky brightness on a moonless night (or when the Moon is below the horizon), when the sky is cloudless and the locations are at least 100 m from the nearest light source. The selected locations are marked by their GPS coordinates. The sky brightness data obtained in this study were interpolated and analyzed using a Geographic Information System (GIS), thus producing a spatial model of sky brightness that clearly shows the dark and bright sky areas in Langkawi Island. Surprisingly, our results show the existence of a few dark sites nearby areas of high human activity. The sky brightness of 21.45 mag arcsec{}-2 in the Johnson-Cousins V-band, as the average of sky brightness equivalent to 2.8 × {10}-4{cd} {{{m}}}-2 over the entire island, is an indication that the island is, overall, still relatively dark. However, the amount of development taking place might reduce the number in the near future as the island is famous as a holiday destination.

Surface-induced brightness temperature variations and their effects on detecting thin cirrus clouds using IR emission channels in the 8-12 micrometer region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gao, Bo-Cai; Wiscombe, W. J.

1993-01-01

A method for detecting cirrus clouds in terms of brightness temperature differences between narrow bands at 8, 11, and 12 mu m has been proposed by Ackerman et al. (1990). In this method, the variation of emissivity with wavelength for different surface targets was not taken into consideration. Based on state-of-the-art laboratory measurements of reflectance spectra of terrestrial materials by Salisbury and D'Aria (1992), we have found that the brightness temperature differences between the 8 and 11 mu m bands for soils, rocks and minerals, and dry vegetation can vary between approximately -8 K and +8 K due solely to surface emissivity variations. We conclude that although the method of Ackerman et al. is useful for detecting cirrus clouds over areas covered by green vegetation, water, and ice, it is less effective for detecting cirrus clouds over areas covered by bare soils, rocks and minerals, and dry vegetation. In addition, we recommend that in future the variation of surface emissivity with wavelength should be taken into account in algorithms for retrieving surface temperatures and low-level atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles.

Crop moisture estimation over the southern Great Plains with dual polarization 1.66 centimeter passive microwave data from Nimbus 7

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcfarland, M. J.; Harder, P. H., II; Wilke, G. D.; Huebner, G. L., Jr.

1984-01-01

Moisture content of snow-free, unfrozen soil is inferred using passive microwave brightness temperatures from the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) on Nimbus-7. Investigation is restricted to the two polarizations of the 1.66 cm wavelength sensor. Passive microwave estimates of soil moisture are of two basic categories; those based upon soil emissivity and those based upon the polarization of soil emission. The two methods are compared and contrasted through the investigation of 54 potential functions of polarized brightness temperatures and, in some cases, ground-based temperature measurements. Of these indices, three are selected for the estimated emissivity, the difference between polarized brightness temperatures, and the normalized polarization difference. Each of these indices is about equally effective for monitoring soil moisture. Using an antecedent precipitation index (API) as ground control data, temporal and spatial analyses show that emissivity data consistently give slightly better soil moisture estimates than depolarization data. The difference, however, is not statistically significant. It is concluded that polarization data alone can provide estimates of soil moisture in areas where the emissivity cannot be inferred due to nonavailability of surface temperature data.

Radarclinometry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wildey, R.L.

1986-01-01

A mathematical theory and a corresponding algorithm have been developed to derive topographic maps from radar images as photometric arrays. Thus, as radargrammetry is to photogrammetry, so radarclinometry is to photoclinometry. Photoclinometry is endowed with a fundamental indeterminacy principle even for terrain homogeneous in normal albedo. This arises from the fact that the geometric locus of orientations of the local surface normal that is consistent with a given reflected specific-intensity of radiation is more complicated than a fixed line in space. For a radar image, the locus is a cone whose half-angle is the incidence angle and whose axis contains the radar. The indeterminacy is removed throughout a region if one possesses a control profile as a boundary-condition. In the absence of such ground-truth, a point-boundary-condition will suffice only in conjunction with a heuristic assumption, such as that the strike-line runs perpendicularly to the line-of-sight. In the present study I have implemented a more reasonable assumption which I call 'the hypothesis of local cylindricity'. Firstly, a general theory is derived, based solely on the implicit mathematical determinacy. This theory would be directly indicative of procedure if images were completely devoid of systematic error and noise. The theory produces topography by an area integration of radar brightness, starting from a control profile, without need of additional idealistic assumptions. But we have also theorized separately a method of forming this control profile, which method does require an additional assumption about the terrain. That assumption is that the curvature properties of the terrain are locally those of a cylinder of inferable orientation, within a second-order mathematical neighborhood of every point of the terrain. While local strike-and-dip completely determine the radar brightness itself, the terrain curvature determines the brightness-gradient in the radar image. Therefore, the control profile is formed as a line integration of brightness and its local gradient starting from a single point of the terrain where the local orientation of the strike-line is estimated by eye. Secondly, and independently, the calibration curve for pixel brightness versus incidence-angle is produced. I assume that an applicable curve can be found from the literature or elsewhere so that our problem is condensed to that of properly scaling the brightness-axis of the calibration curve. A first estimate is found by equating the average image brightness to the point on the brightness axis corresponding to the complement of the effective radar depression-angle, an angle assumed given. A statistical analysis is then used to correct, on the one hand, for the fact that the average brightness is not the brightness that corresponds to the average incidence angle, as a result of the non-linearity of the calibration curve; and on the other hand, we correct for the fact that the average incidence angle is not the same for a rough surface as it is for a flat surface (and therefore not the complement of the depression angle). Lastly, the practical modifications that were interactively evolved to produce an operational algorithm for treating real data are developed. They are by no means considered optimized at present. Such a possibility is thus far precluded by excessive computer-time. Most noteworthy in this respect is the abandonment of area integration away from a control profile. Instead, the topography is produced as a set of independent line integrations down each of the parallel range lines of the image, using the theory for control-profile formation. An adaptive technique, which now appears excessive, was also employed so that SEASAT images of sand dunes could be processed. In this, the radiometric calibration was iterated to force the endpoints of each profile to zero elevation. A secondary algorithm then employed line-averages of appropriate quantities to adjust the mean t

Development of Yellow Sand Image Products Using Infrared Brightness Temperature Difference Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, J.; Kim, J.; Kwak, M.; Ha, K.

2007-12-01

A technique for detection of airborne yellow sand dust using meteorological satellite has been developed from various bands from ultraviolet to infrared channels. Among them, Infrared (IR) channels have an advantage of detecting aerosols over high reflecting surface as well as during nighttime. There had been suggestion of using brightness temperature difference (BTD) between 11 and 12¥ìm. We have found that the technique is highly depends on surface temperature, emissivity, and zenith angle, which results in changing the threshold of BTD. In order to overcome these problems, we have constructed the background brightness temperature threshold of BTD and then aerosol index (AI) has been determined from subtracting the background threshold from BTD of our interested scene. Along with this, we utilized high temporal coverage of geostationary satellite, MTSAT, to improve the reliability of the determined AI signal. The products have been evaluated by comparing the forecasted wind field with the movement fiend of AI. The statistical score test illustrates that this newly developed algorithm produces a promising result for detecting mineral dust by reducing the errors with respect to the current BTD method.

The effect of a change in sleep-wakefulness timing, bright light and physical exercise interventions on 24-hour patterns of performance, mood and body temperature.

PubMed

Iskra-Golec, I; Fafrowicz, M; Marek, T; Costa, G; Folkard, S; Foret, J; Kundi, M; Smith, L

2001-12-01

Experiments consisting of baseline, bright light and physical exercise studies were carried out to compare the effect of a 9-hour delay in sleep-wakefulness timing, and the effects of bright light and physical exercise interventions on 24-hour patterns of performance, mood and body temperature were examined. Each study comprised a 24-hour constant routine at the beginning followed by 3 night shifts and 24-hour constant routine at the end. Performance on tasks differing in cognitive load, mood and body temperature was measured during each constant routine and the interventions were applied during the night shifts. The 24-hour pattern of alertness and performance on the tasks with low cognitive load in post-treatment conditions followed the change in sleep-wakefulness timing while more cognitively loaded tasks tended to show a reverse trend when compared to pre-treatment conditions. There was a phase delay around 4 hours in circadian rhythms of body temperature in post-treatment conditions.

Summer season variability of the north residual cap of Mars as observed by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS-TES)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Calvin, W.M.; Titus, T.N.

2008-01-01

Previous observations have noted the change in albedo in a number of North Pole bright outliers and in the distribution of bright ice deposits between Mariner 9, Viking, and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data sets. Changes over the summer season as well as between regions at the same season (Ls) in different years have been observed. We used the bolometric albedo and brightness temperature channels of the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the MGS spacecraft to monitor north polar residual ice cap variations between Mars years and within the summer season for three northern Martian summers between July 1999 and April 2003. Large-scale brightness variations are observed in four general areas: (1) the patchy outlying frost deposits from 90 to 270??E, 75 to 80??N; (2) the large "tail" below the Chasma Boreale and its associated plateau from 315 to 45??E, 80 to 85??N, that we call the "Boreale Tongue" and in Hyperboreae Undae; (3) the troughed terrain in the region from 0 to 120??E longitude (the lower right on a polar stereographic projection) we have called "Shackleton's Grooves" and (4) the unit mapped as residual ice in Olympia Planitia. We also note two areas which seem to persist as cool and bright throughout the summer and between Mars years. One is at the "source" of Chasma Boreale (???15??E, 85??N) dubbed "McMurdo", and the "Cool and Bright Anomaly (CABA)" noted by Kieffer and Titus 2001. TES Mapping of Mars' north seasonal cap. Icarus 154, 162-180] at ???330??E, 87??N called here "Vostok". Overall defrosting occurs early in the summer as the temperatures rise and then after the peak temperatures are reached (Ls???110) higher elevations and outlier bright deposits cold trap and re-accumulate new frost. Persistent bright areas are associated with either higher elevations or higher background albedos suggesting complex feedback mechanisms including cold-trapping of frost due to albedo and elevation effects, as well as influence of mesoscale atmospheric dynamics. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental measurements and theoretical model of the cryogenic performance of bialkali photocathode and characterization with Monte Carlo simulation

DOE PAGES

Xie, Huamu; Ben-Zvi, Ilan; Rao, Triveni; ...

2016-10-19

High-average-current, high-brightness electron sources have important applications, such as in high-repetition-rate free-electron lasers, or in the electron cooling of hadrons. Bialkali photocathodes are promising high-quantum-efficiency (QE) cathode materials, while superconducting rf (SRF) electron guns offer continuous-mode operation at high acceleration, as is needed for high-brightness electron sources. Thus, we must have a comprehensive understanding of the performance of bialkali photocathode at cryogenic temperatures when they are to be used in SRF guns. To remove the heat produced by the radio-frequency field in these guns, the cathode should be cooled to cryogenic temperatures.We recorded an 80% reduction of the QE uponmore » cooling the K 2CsSb cathode from room temperature down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen in Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)’s 704 MHz SRF gun.We conducted several experiments to identify the underlying mechanism in this reduction. The change in the spectral response of the bialkali photocathode, when cooled from room temperature (300 K) to 166 K, suggests that a change in the ionization energy (defined as the energy gap from the top of the valence band to vacuum level) is the main reason for this reduction.We developed an analytical model of the process, based on Spicer’s three-step model. The change in ionization energy, with falling temperature, gives a simplified description of the QE’s temperature dependence.We also developed a 2D Monte Carlo code to simulate photoemission that accounts for the wavelength-dependent photon absorption in the first step, the scattering and diffusion in the second step, and the momentum conservation in the emission step. From this simulation, we established a correlation between ionization energy and reduction in the QE. The simulation yielded results comparable to those from the analytical model. The simulation offers us additional capabilities such as calculation of the intrinsic emittance, the temporal response, and the thickness dependence of the QE for the K 2CsSb photocathode.« less

Experimental measurements and theoretical model of the cryogenic performance of bialkali photocathode and characterization with Monte Carlo simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xie, Huamu; Ben-Zvi, Ilan; Rao, Triveni

High-average-current, high-brightness electron sources have important applications, such as in high-repetition-rate free-electron lasers, or in the electron cooling of hadrons. Bialkali photocathodes are promising high-quantum-efficiency (QE) cathode materials, while superconducting rf (SRF) electron guns offer continuous-mode operation at high acceleration, as is needed for high-brightness electron sources. Thus, we must have a comprehensive understanding of the performance of bialkali photocathode at cryogenic temperatures when they are to be used in SRF guns. To remove the heat produced by the radio-frequency field in these guns, the cathode should be cooled to cryogenic temperatures.We recorded an 80% reduction of the QE uponmore » cooling the K 2CsSb cathode from room temperature down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen in Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)’s 704 MHz SRF gun.We conducted several experiments to identify the underlying mechanism in this reduction. The change in the spectral response of the bialkali photocathode, when cooled from room temperature (300 K) to 166 K, suggests that a change in the ionization energy (defined as the energy gap from the top of the valence band to vacuum level) is the main reason for this reduction.We developed an analytical model of the process, based on Spicer’s three-step model. The change in ionization energy, with falling temperature, gives a simplified description of the QE’s temperature dependence.We also developed a 2D Monte Carlo code to simulate photoemission that accounts for the wavelength-dependent photon absorption in the first step, the scattering and diffusion in the second step, and the momentum conservation in the emission step. From this simulation, we established a correlation between ionization energy and reduction in the QE. The simulation yielded results comparable to those from the analytical model. The simulation offers us additional capabilities such as calculation of the intrinsic emittance, the temporal response, and the thickness dependence of the QE for the K 2CsSb photocathode.« less

Is blue intensity ready to replace maximum latewood density as a strong temperature proxy? A tree-ring case study on Scots pine from northern Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Björklund, J. A.; Gunnarson, B. E.; Seftigen, K.; Esper, J.; Linderholm, H. W.

2013-09-01

At high latitudes, where low temperatures mainly limit tree-growth, measurements of wood density (e.g. Maximum Latewood Density, MXD) using the X-Ray methodology provide a temperature proxy that is superior to that of TRW. Density measurements are however costly and time consuming and have lead to experimentation with optical flatbed scanners to produce Maximum Blue Intensity (BImax). BImax is an excellent proxy for density on annual scale but very limited in skill on centennial scale. Discolouration between samples is limiting BImax where specific brightnesses can have different densities. To overcome this, the new un-exploited parameter Δ blue intensity (ΔBI) was constructed by using the brightness in the earlywood (BIEW) as background, (BImax - BIEW = ΔBI). This parameter was tested on X-Ray material (MXD - earlywood density = ΔMXD) and showed great potential both as a quality control and as a booster of climate signals. Unfortunately since the relationship between grey scale and density is not linear, and between-sample brightness can differ tremendously for similar densities, ΔBI cannot fully match ΔMXD in skill as climate proxy on centennial scale. For ΔBI to stand alone, the range of brightness/density offset must be reduced. Further studies are needed to evaluate this possibility, and solutions might include heavier sample treatment (reflux with chemicals) or image-data treatment (digitally manipulating base-line levels of brightness).

Australia 31-GHz brightness temperature exceedance statistics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gary, B. L.

1988-01-01

Water vapor radiometer measurements were made at DSS 43 during an 18 month period. Brightness temperatures at 31 GHz were subjected to a statistical analysis which included correction for the effects of occasional water on the radiometer radome. An exceedance plot was constructed, and the 1 percent exceedance statistics occurs at 120 K. The 5 percent exceedance statistics occurs at 70 K, compared with 75 K in Spain. These values are valid for all of the three month groupings that were studied.

A satellite technique for quantitatively mapping rainfall rates over the oceans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilheit, T. T.; Roa, M. S. V.; Chang, T. C.; Rodgers, E. B.; Theon, J. S.

1975-01-01

A theoretical model for calculating microwave radiative transfer in raining atmospheres is developed. These calculations are compared with microwave brightness temperatures at a wavelength of 1.55 cm measured on the Nimbus-5 satellite and rain rates derived from WSR-57 meteorological radar measurements. A specially designed ground based verification experiment was also performed wherein upward viewing microwave brightness temperature measurements at wavelengths of 1.55 cm and 0.81 cm were compared with directly measured rain rates.

Evaluation and Analysis of SEASAT-A Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SSMR) Antenna Pattern Correction (APC) Algorithm. Sub-task 4: Interim Mode T Sub B Versus Cross and Nominal Mode T Sub B

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kitzis, J. L.; Kitzis, S. N.

1979-01-01

The brightness temperature data produced by the SMMR Antenna Pattern Correction algorithm are evaluated. The evaluation consists of: (1) a direct comparison of the outputs of the interim, cross, and nominal APC modes; (2) a refinement of the previously determined cos beta estimates; and (3) a comparison of the world brightness temperature (T sub B) map with actual SMMR measurements.

Simple Forest Canopy Thermal Exitance Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith J. A.; Goltz, S. M.

1999-01-01

We describe a model to calculate brightness temperature and surface energy balance for a forest canopy system. The model is an extension of an earlier vegetation only model by inclusion of a simple soil layer. The root mean square error in brightness temperature for a dense forest canopy was 2.5 C. Surface energy balance predictions were also in good agreement. The corresponding root mean square errors for net radiation, latent, and sensible heat were 38.9, 30.7, and 41.4 W/sq m respectively.

Satellite passive microwave rain rate measurement over croplands during spring, summer and fall

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spencer, R. W.

1984-01-01

Rain-rate algorithms for spring, summer and fall that have been developed from comparisons between the brightness temperatures measured by the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and rain rates derived from operational WSR-57 radars over land are described. Data were utilized from a total of 25 SMMR passes and 234 radars, resulting in about 12,000 observations of about 1600 sq/km areas. Multiple correlation coefficients of 0.63, 0.80 and 0.75 are achieved for the spring, summer and fall algorithms, respectively. Most of this information is in the form of multifrequency contrast in brightness temperature, which is interpreted as a measurement of the degree to which the land-emitted radiation is attenuated by the rain systems. The SMMR 37-GHz channel has more information on rain rate than any other channel. By combining the lower frequency channels with the 37-GHz observations, variations in land and precipitation thermometric temperatures can be removed, leaving rain attenuation as the major effect on brightness temperature. Polarization screening at 37 GHz is found to be sufficient to screen out cases of wet ground, which is only important when the ground is relatively vegetation free. Heavy rain cases are found to be significant part of the algorithms' success, because of the strong microwve signatures (low-brightness temperatures) that result from the presence of precipitation-sized ice in the upper portions of heavily precipitating storms. If IR data are combined with the summer microwave data, an improved (0.85) correlation with radar rain rates is achieved.

Recombination Line versus Forbidden Line Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson-Tessi, Mark; Garnett, Donald R.

2005-04-01

Recombination lines (RLs) of C II, N II, and O II in planetary nebulae (PNs) have been found to give abundances that are much larger in some cases than abundances from collisionally excited forbidden lines (CELs). The origins of this abundance discrepancy are highly debated. We present new spectroscopic observations of O II and C II recombination lines for six planetary nebulae. With these data we compare the abundances derived from the optical recombination lines with those determined from collisionally excited lines. Combining our new data with published results on RLs in other PNs, we examine the discrepancy in abundances derived from RLs and CELs. We find that there is a wide range in the measured abundance discrepancy Δ(O+2)=logO+2(RL)-logO+2(CEL), ranging from approximately 0.1 dex (within the 1 σ measurement errors) up to 1.4 dex. This tends to rule out errors in the recombination coefficients as a source of the discrepancy. Most RLs yield similar abundances, with the notable exception of O II multiplet V15, known to arise primarily from dielectronic recombination, which gives abundances averaging 0.6 dex higher than other O II RLs. We compare Δ(O+2) against a variety of physical properties of the PNs to look for clues as to the mechanism responsible for the abundance discrepancy. The strongest correlations are found with the nebula diameter and the Balmer surface brightness; high surface brightness, compact PNs show small values of Δ(O+2), while large low surface brightness PNs show the largest discrepancies. An inverse correlation of Δ(O+2) with nebular density is also seen. A marginal correlation of Δ(O+2) is found with expansion velocity. No correlations are seen with electron temperature, He+2/He+, central star effective temperature and luminosity, stellar mass-loss rate, or nebular morphology. Similar results are found for carbon in comparing C II RL abundances with ultraviolet measurements of C III].

The emissivities of liquid metals at their fusion temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bonnell, D. W.; Treverton, J. A.; Valerga, A. J.; Margrave, J. L.

1972-01-01

A survey of the literature through 1969 shows an almost total lack of experimental emissivity data for metals in the liquid state. The emissivities for several transition metals and various other metals and compounds in the liquid state at their fusion temperatures have been determined. The technique used involves electromagnetic levitation-induction heating of the materials in an inert atmosphere. The brightness temperature of the liquid phase of the material is measured as the material is heated through fusion. Given a reliable value of the fusion temperature, which is available for most pure substances, one may readily calculate an emissivity for the liquid phase at the fusion temperatures. Even in cases where melting points are poorly known, the brightness temperatures are unique parameters, independent of the temperature scale and measured for a chemically defined system at a fixed point. Better emissivities may be recalculated as better melting point data become available.

The treatment of early-morning awakening insomnia with 2 evenings of bright light.

PubMed

Lack, Leon; Wright, Helen; Kemp, Kristyn; Gibbon, Samantha

2005-05-01

To assess the effectiveness of brief bright-light therapy for the treatment of early-morning awakening insomnia. Twenty-four healthy adults with early-morning awakening insomnia were assigned to either the bright-light condition (2,500-lux white light) or the control (dim red light) condition. The circadian phase of rectal temperature and urinary melatonin rhythms were assessed with 26-hour constant routines before and after 2 evenings of light therapy. Sleep and daytime functioning were monitored using sleep diaries, activity monitors, and mood scales before light therapy and for 4 weeks during the follow-up period. While there were no significant circadian phase changes in the dim-light control group, the bright-light group had significant 2-hour phase delays of circadian temperature and melatonin rhythm. Compared to pretreatment measures, over the 4-week follow-up period, the bright-light group had a greater reduction of time awake after sleep onset, showed a trend toward waking later, and had a greater increase of total sleep time. Participants in the bright-light condition also tended to report greater reductions of negative daytime symptoms, including significantly fewer days of feeling depressed at the 4-week follow-up, as compared with the control group. Two evenings of bright-light exposure phase delayed the circadian rhythms of early-morning awakening insomniacs. It also improved diary and actigraphy sleep measures and improved some indexes of daytime functioning for up to 1 month after light exposure. The study suggests that a brief course of evening bright-light therapy can be an effective treatment for early-morning awakening insomniacs who have relatively phase advanced circadian rhythms.

Comparison and evaluation of the Chang'E microwave radiometer data based on theoretical computation of brightness temperatures at the Apollo 15 and 17 sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Guo-Ping; Chan, Kwing L.; Zheng, Yong-Chun; Tsang, Kang T.; Xu, Ao-Ao

2017-09-01

There are significant differences (in the order of 3 to 20 K) between the lunar brightness temperatures (TBs) as measured by the microwave radiometers (MRM) onboard Chang'E (CE)-1 and -2. To determine which set is more accurate, we have carried out a dataset comparison using theoretical calculations of the TBs (four frequency channels) versus local time at the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites, where the thermal parameters are well-constrained by the in-situ measurements. Based on these parameters, we sought to constrain fits between theory and observation, as uncertainties still exist in parameters involved in the microwave transfer computation. We found that: (i) CE-1/2 TBs have almost constant biases (negative, different for different channels) from the theoretical TBs. The averaged biases for each channel are smaller for CE-1; (ii) TBs of the high frequency channels (19.35/37 GHz) show a better fit with theory than the low frequency channels. The channel 4 (37 GHz) TBs from CE-1 are consistently shifted by about 1 K from the theoretical values. Adjustments in the order of 20 K are instead needed for the two CE-2 low frequency channels (3/7.8 GHz). Based on this comparison, we conclude that the CE-1 dataset to be more accurate than CE-2 one in terms of temperature accuracy (not spatial resolution). We also offer a possible explanation for the significant TB differences between CE-1 and CE-2, and propose a possible recalibration method as a starting point towards the realignment of the two datasets.

Brightly Luminescent and Color-Tunable Colloidal CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Br, I, Cl) Quantum Dots: Potential Alternatives for Display Technology.

PubMed

Zhang, Feng; Zhong, Haizheng; Chen, Cheng; Wu, Xian-gang; Hu, Xiangmin; Huang, Hailong; Han, Junbo; Zou, Bingsuo; Dong, Yuping

2015-04-28

Organometal halide perovskites are inexpensive materials with desirable characteristics of color-tunable and narrow-band emissions for lighting and display technology, but they suffer from low photoluminescence quantum yields at low excitation fluencies. Here we developed a ligand-assisted reprecipitation strategy to fabricate brightly luminescent and color-tunable colloidal CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Br, I, Cl) quantum dots with absolute quantum yield up to 70% at room temperature and low excitation fluencies. To illustrate the photoluminescence enhancements in these quantum dots, we conducted comprehensive composition and surface characterizations and determined the time- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra. Comparisons between small-sized CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots (average diameter 3.3 nm) and corresponding micrometer-sized bulk particles (2-8 μm) suggest that the intense increased photoluminescence quantum yield originates from the increase of exciton binding energy due to size reduction as well as proper chemical passivations of the Br-rich surface. We further demonstrated wide-color gamut white-light-emitting diodes using green emissive CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots and red emissive K2SiF6:Mn(4+) as color converters, providing enhanced color quality for display technology. Moreover, colloidal CH3NH3PbX3 quantum dots are expected to exhibit interesting nanoscale excitonic properties and also have other potential applications in lasers, electroluminescence devices, and optical sensors.

7 CFR 51.760 - Tolerances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Bright, U.S. No. 1, U.S. No. 1 Golden, U.S. No. 1 Bronze, U.S. No. 1 Russet, U.S. No. 2 Bright, U.S. No... standards, means the point of origin of the shipment in the producing area or at port of loading for ship... further, that the entire lot averages within percentage specified. (2) U.S. No. 1 Golden. Not more than 30...

Ground truth data for test sites (SL-4). [thermal radiation brightness temperature and solar radiation measurments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Field measurements performed simultaneous with Skylab overpass in order to provide comparative calibration and performance evaluation measurements for the EREP sensors are presented. Wavelength region covered include: solar radiation (400 to 1300 nanometer), and thermal radiation (8 to 14 micrometer). Measurements consisted of general conditions and near surface meteorology, atmospheric temperature and humidity vs altitude, the thermal brightness temperature, total and diffuse solar radiation, direct solar radiation (subsequently analyzed for optical depth/transmittance), and target reflectivity/radiance. The particular instruments used are discussed along with analyses performed. Detailed instrument operation, calibrations, techniques, and errors are given.

The 7.5- to 13.5-micron spectrum of Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillett, F. C.; Forrest, W. J.

1974-01-01

A medium-resolution spectrum of Saturn in the 7.5-13.5 micron range is presented. The observed low brightness temperature between 9 and 11 microns of about 100-105 K rules out gaseous NH3 as the dominant absorber in this spectral range. Absorption features due to PH3 may be present around 10 microns and cloud particles could be an important source of opacity in this wavelength range. There are strong indications of a temperature inversion in the upper atmosphere, including high brightness temperature in the 7.7-micron CH4 band, and possible emission from C2H6 around 12 microns.

Imprint of non-linear effects on HI intensity mapping on large scales

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Umeh, Obinna, E-mail: umeobinna@gmail.com

Intensity mapping of the HI brightness temperature provides a unique way of tracing large-scale structures of the Universe up to the largest possible scales. This is achieved by using a low angular resolution radio telescopes to detect emission line from cosmic neutral Hydrogen in the post-reionization Universe. We use general relativistic perturbation theory techniques to derive for the first time the full expression for the HI brightness temperature up to third order in perturbation theory without making any plane-parallel approximation. We use this result and the renormalization prescription for biased tracers to study the impact of nonlinear effects on themore » power spectrum of HI brightness temperature both in real and redshift space. We show how mode coupling at nonlinear order due to nonlinear bias parameters and redshift space distortion terms modulate the power spectrum on large scales. The large scale modulation may be understood to be due to the effective bias parameter and effective shot noise.« less

Quantifying spatial and temporal variabilities of microwave brightness temperature over the U.S. Southern Great Plains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, B. J.; Owe, M.; Ormsby, J. P.; Chang, A. T. C.; Wang, J. R.; Goward, S. N.; Golus, R. E.

1987-01-01

Spatial and temporal variabilities of microwave brightness temperature over the U.S. Southern Great Plains are quantified in terms of vegetation and soil wetness. The brightness temperatures (TB) are the daytime observations from April to October for five years (1979 to 1983) obtained by the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer at 6.6 GHz frequency, horizontal polarization. The spatial and temporal variabilities of vegetation are assessed using visible and near-infrared observations by the NOAA-7 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), while an Antecedent Precipitation Index (API) model is used for soil wetness. The API model was able to account for more than 50 percent of the observed variability in TB, although linear correlations between TB and API were generally significant at the 1 percent level. The slope of the linear regression between TB and API is found to correlate linearly with an index for vegetation density derived from AVHRR data.

Possible stressors in a neonatal intensive care unit at a university hospital

PubMed Central

Jordão, Kamila Reis; Pinto, Lauriane de Assis Proença; Machado, Lucimer Rocha; Costa, Laetitia Braga Vasconcellos de Lima; Trajano, Eduardo Tavares Lima

2016-01-01

Objective To investigate possible stressors to which newborns are exposed in the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods The levels of continuous noise were checked by a decibel meter positioned near the ear of the newborn, brightness was observed by a light meter positioned in the incubator in front of the newborn's eyes, and temperature was checked through the incubator display. The evaluations were performed in three periods of the day, with ten measurements taken at one-minute intervals during each shift for the subsequent statistical analysis. Results All shifts showed noise above acceptable levels. Morning (p < 0.001), afternoon (p < 0.05) and night (p < 0.001) showed a significant increase compared to the control. The brightness significantly exceeded the normal range (p < 0.01) in the morning. We observed that only one of the incubators was within the normal temperature limits. Conclusion The noise, brightness and temperature intensities were not in accordance with regulatory standards and thus might be possible stressors to newborns. PMID:27626948

Imprint of non-linear effects on HI intensity mapping on large scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umeh, Obinna

2017-06-01

Intensity mapping of the HI brightness temperature provides a unique way of tracing large-scale structures of the Universe up to the largest possible scales. This is achieved by using a low angular resolution radio telescopes to detect emission line from cosmic neutral Hydrogen in the post-reionization Universe. We use general relativistic perturbation theory techniques to derive for the first time the full expression for the HI brightness temperature up to third order in perturbation theory without making any plane-parallel approximation. We use this result and the renormalization prescription for biased tracers to study the impact of nonlinear effects on the power spectrum of HI brightness temperature both in real and redshift space. We show how mode coupling at nonlinear order due to nonlinear bias parameters and redshift space distortion terms modulate the power spectrum on large scales. The large scale modulation may be understood to be due to the effective bias parameter and effective shot noise.

Application of Reflected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS-R) Signals in the Estimation of Sea Roughness Effects in Microwave Radiometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voo, Justin K.; Garrison, James L.; Yueh, Simon H.; Grant, Michael S.; Fore, Alexander G.; Haase, Jennifer S.; Clauss, Bryan

2010-01-01

In February-March 2009 NASA JPL conducted an airborne field campaign using the Passive Active L-band System (PALS) and the Ku-band Polarimetric Scatterometer (PolSCAT) collecting measurements of brightness temperature and near surface wind speeds. Flights were conducted over a region of expected high-speed winds in the Atlantic Ocean, for the purposes of algorithm development for salinity retrievals. Wind speeds encountered were in the range of 5 to 25 m/s during the two weeks deployment. The NASA-Langley GPS delay-mapping receiver (DMR) was also flown to collect GPS signals reflected from the ocean surface and generate post-correlation power vs. delay measurements. This data was used to estimate ocean surface roughness and a strong correlation with brightness temperature was found. Initial results suggest that reflected GPS signals, using small low-power instruments, will provide an additional source of data for correcting brightness temperature measurements for the purpose of sea surface salinity retrievals.

Comparative study of icy patches on comet nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oklay, Nilda; Pommerol, Antoine; Barucci, Maria Antonietta; Sunshine, Jessica; Sierks, Holger; Pajola, Maurizio

2016-07-01

Cometary missions Deep Impact, EPOXI and Rosetta investigated the nuclei of comets 9P/Tempel 1, 103P/Hartley 2 and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko respectively. Bright patches were observed on the surfaces of each of these three comets [1-5]. Of these, the surface of 67P is mapped at the highest spatial resolution via narrow angle camera (NAC) of the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS, [6]) on board the Rosetta spacecraft. OSIRIS NAC is equipped with twelve filters covering the wavelength range of 250 nm to 1000 nm. Various filters combinations are used during surface mapping. With high spatial resolution data of comet 67P, three types of bright features were detected on the comet surface: Clustered, isolated and bright boulders [2]. In the visible spectral range, clustered bright features on comet 67P display bluer spectral slopes than the average surface [2, 4] while isolated bright features on comet 67P have flat spectra [4]. Icy patches observed on the surface of comets 9P and 103P display bluer spectral slopes than the average surface [1, 5]. Clustered and isolated bright features are blue in the RGB composites generated by using the images taken in NIR, visible and NUV wavelengths [2, 4]. This is valid for the icy patches observed on comets 9P and 103P [1, 5]. Spectroscopic observations of bright patches on comets 9P and 103P confirmed the existence of water [1, 5]. There were more than a hundred of bright features detected on the northern hemisphere of comet 67P [2]. Analysis of those features from both multispectral data and spectroscopic data is an ongoing work. Water ice is detected in eight of the bright features so far [7]. Additionally, spectroscopic observations of two clustered bright features on the surface of comet 67P revealed the existence of water ice [3]. The spectral properties of one of the icy patches were studied by [4] using OSIRIS NAC images and compared with the spectral properties of the active regions observed on comet 67P. Additionally jets rising from the same clustered bright feature were detected visually [4]. We analyzed bright patches on the surface of comets 9P, 103P and 67P using multispectral data obtained by the high-resolution instrument (HRI), medium- resolution instrument (MRI) and OSIRIS NAC using various spectral analysis techniques. Clustered bright features on comet 67P have similar visible spectra to the bright patches on comets 9P and 103P. The comparison of the bright patches includes the published results of the IR spectra. References: [1] Sunshine et al., 2006, Science, 311, 1453 [2] Pommerol et al., 2015, A&A, 583, A25 [3] Filacchione et al., 2016, Nature, 529, 368-372 [4] Oklay et al., 2016, A&A, 586, A80 [5] Sunshine et al. 2012, ACM [6] Keller et al., 2007, Space Sci. Rev., 128, 433 [7] Barucci et al., 2016, COSPAR, B04

Detection of moisture and moisture related phenomena from Skylab. [correlation of brightness and antenna temperature with soil moisture for Texas and Kansas test sites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eagleman, J. R.; Pogge, E. C.; Moore, R. K. (Principal Investigator); Hardy, N.; Lin, W.; League, L.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Skylab 2 data for June 5, 1973 (Texas site) relates favorably with previously calculated aircraft data when correlating brightness temperature to soil moisture. However, more detailed work is needed to determine the corrected surface temperature. In addition, correlations between the S194 antenna temperature and soil moisture have been obtained for five sets of Skylab data. The best correlations were obtained for the surface to one inch depth in four cases and for surface to two inches depth for the fifth case. Correlation coefficients for the surface to one inch depth were -0.98, -0.95, -0.90, -0.82, and -0.80.

New cryogenic temperature monitor: PLT-HPT-32

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viera Curbelo, Teodora Aleida; Martín-Fernández, Sergio Gonzáles; Hoyland, R.; Vega-Moreno, A.; Cozar Castellano, Juan; Gómez Reñasco, M. F.; Aguiar-González, M.; Pérez de Taoro, Angeles; Sánchez-de la Rosa, V.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Génova-Santos, R.

2016-07-01

The PLT-HPT-32, a new cryogenic temperature monitor, has been developed by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and an external engineering company (Sergio González Martín-Fernandez). The PLT-HPT-32 temperature monitor offers precision measurement in a wide range of cryogenic and higher-temperature applications with the ability to easily monitor up to 32 sensor channels. It provides better measurement performance in applications where researchers need to ensure accuracy and precision in their low cryogenic temperature monitoring. The PLT-HPT-32 supports PTC RTDs such as platinum sensors, and diodes such as the Lake Shore DT-670 Series. Used with silicon diodes, it provides accurate measurements in cryo-cooler applications from 16 K to above room temperature. The resolution of the measurement is less than 0.1K. Measurements can be displayed in voltage units or Kelvin units. For it, two different tables can be used. One can be programmed by the user, and the other one corresponds to Lake Shore DT670 sensor that comes standard. There are two modes of measuring, the instantaneous mode and averaged mode. In this moment, all channels must work in the same mode but in the near future it expected to be used in blocks of eight channels. The instantaneous mode takes three seconds to read all channels. The averaged mode takes one minute to average twenty samples in all channels. Alarm thresholds can be configured independently for each input. The alarm events, come from the first eight channels, can activate the unit's relay outputs for hard-wired triggering of other systems or audible annunciators. Activate relays on high, low, or both alarms for any input. For local monitoring, "Stand-Alone Mode", the front panel of the PLT-HPT-32 features a bright liquid crystal display with an LED backlight that shows up to 32 readings simultaneously. Plus, monitoring can be done over a network "Remote Control Mode". Using the Ethernet port on the PLT-HPT-32, you can keep an eye on temperatures, log measurement and configured remotely via a Networked local PC or even remotely over a TCP/IP Internet connection from anywhere.

THE DOMINANCE OF METAL-RICH STREAMS IN STELLAR HALOS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN SUBSTRUCTURE IN M31 AND {lambda}CDM MODELS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gilbert, Karoline M.; Font, Andreea S.; Johnston, Kathryn V.

2009-08-10

Extensive photometric and spectroscopic surveys of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) have discovered tidal debris features throughout M31's stellar halo. We present stellar kinematics and metallicities in fields with identified substructure from our on-going SPLASH survey of M31 red giant branch stars with the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck II 10 m telescope. Radial velocity criteria are used to isolate members of the kinematically cold substructures. The substructures are shown to be metal-rich relative to the rest of the dynamically hot stellar population in the fields in which they are found. We calculate the mean metallicity and average surface brightness ofmore » the various kinematical components in each field, and show that, on average, higher surface brightness features tend to be more metal-rich than lower surface brightness features. Simulations of stellar halo formation via accretion in a cosmological context are used to illustrate that the observed trend can be explained as a natural consequence of the observed dwarf galaxy mass-metallicity relation. A significant spread in metallicity at a given surface brightness is seen in the data; we show that this is due to time effects, namely, the variation in the time since accretion of the tidal streams' progenitor onto the host halo. We show that in this theoretical framework a relationship between the alpha-enhancement and surface brightness of tidal streams is expected, which arises from the varying times of accretion of the progenitor satellites onto the host halo. Thus, measurements of the alpha-enrichment, metallicity, and surface brightness of tidal debris can be used to reconstruct the luminosity and time of accretion onto the host halo of the progenitors of tidal streams.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Royer, Michael P.; Houser, Kevin W.

An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of tuning optical radiation on brightness perception for younger (18-25 years of age) and older (50 years of age or older) observers. Participants made forced-choice evaluations of the brightness of a full factorial of stimulus pairs selected from two groups of four metameric stimuli. The large-field stimuli were created by systematically varying either the red or the blue primary of an RGB LED mixture. The results indicate that light stimuli of equal illuminance and chromaticity do not appear equally bright to either younger or older subjects. The rank-order of brightness is notmore » predicted by any current model of human vision or theory of brightness perception including Scotopic to Photopic or Cirtopic to Photopic ratio theory, prime color theory, correlated color temperature, V(λ)-based photometry, color quality metrics, linear brightness models, or color appearance models. Age may affect brightness perception when short-wavelength primaries are used, especially those with a peak wavelength shorter than 450 nm. The results suggest further development of metrics to predict brightness perception is warranted, and that including age as a variable in predictive models may be valuable.« less

SMOS/SMAP Synergy for SMAP Level 2 Soil Moisture Algorithm Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bindlish, Rajat; Jackson, Thomas J.; Zhao, Tianjie; Cosh, Michael; Chan, Steven; O'Neill, Peggy; Njoku, Eni; Colliander, Andreas; Kerr, Yann

2011-01-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite has been proposed to provide global measurements of soil moisture and land freeze/thaw state at 10 km and 3 km resolutions, respectively. SMAP would also provide a radiometer-only soil moisture product at 40-km spatial resolution. This product and the supporting brightness temperature observations are common to both SMAP and European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. As a result, there are opportunities for synergies between the two missions. These include exploiting the data for calibration and validation and establishing longer term L-band brightness temperature and derived soil moisture products. In this investigation we will be using SMOS brightness temperature, ancillary data, and soil moisture products to develop and evaluate a candidate SMAP L2 passive soil moisture retrieval algorithm. This work will begin with evaluations based on the SMOS product grids and ancillary data sets and transition to those that will be used by SMAP. An important step in this analysis is reprocessing the multiple incidence angle observations provided by SMOS to a global brightness temperature product that simulates the constant 40 degree incidence angle observations that SMAP will provide. The reprocessed brightness temperature data provide a basis for evaluating different SMAP algorithm alternatives. Several algorithms are being considered for the SMAP radiometer-only soil moisture retrieval. In this first phase, we utilized only the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA), which is based on the radiative transfer equation and uses the channel that is most sensitive to soil moisture (H-pol). Brightness temperature is corrected sequentially for the effects of temperature, vegetation, roughness (dynamic ancillary data sets) and soil texture (static ancillary data set). European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) estimates of soil temperature for the top layer (as provided as part of the SMOS ancillary data) were used to correct for surface temperature effects and to derive microwave emissivity. ECMWF data were also used for precipitation forecasts, presence of snow, and frozen ground. Vegetation options are described below. One year of soil moisture observations from a set of four watersheds in the U.S. were used to evaluate four different retrieval methodologies: (1) SMOS soil moisture estimates (version 400), (2) SeA soil moisture estimates using the SMOS/SMAP data with SMOS estimated vegetation optical depth, which is part of the SMOS level 2 product, (3) SeA soil moisture estimates using the SMOS/SMAP data and the MODIS-based vegetation climatology data, and (4) SeA soil moisture estimates using the SMOS/SMAP data and actual MODIS observations. The use of SMOS real-world global microwave observations and the analyses described here will help in the development and selection of different land surface parameters and ancillary observations needed for the SMAP soil moisture algorithms. These investigations will greatly improve the quality and reliability of this SMAP product at launch.

Matrix partitioning and EOF/principal component analysis of Antarctic Sea ice brightness temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, C. W., Jr.; Mueller, J. L.; Zwally, H. J.

1984-01-01

A field of measured anomalies of some physical variable relative to their time averages, is partitioned in either the space domain or the time domain. Eigenvectors and corresponding principal components of the smaller dimensioned covariance matrices associated with the partitioned data sets are calculated independently, then joined to approximate the eigenstructure of the larger covariance matrix associated with the unpartitioned data set. The accuracy of the approximation (fraction of the total variance in the field) and the magnitudes of the largest eigenvalues from the partitioned covariance matrices together determine the number of local EOF's and principal components to be joined by any particular level. The space-time distribution of Nimbus-5 ESMR sea ice measurement is analyzed.

Antartic sea ice, 1973 - 1976: Satellite passive-microwave observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zwally, H. J.; Comiso, J. C.; Parkinson, C. L.; Campbell, W. J.; Carsey, F. D.; Gloersen, P.

1983-01-01

Data from the Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) on the Nimbus 5 satellite are used to determine the extent and distribution of Antarctic sea ice. The characteristics of the southern ocean, the mathematical formulas used to obtain quantitative sea ice concentrations, the general characteristics of the seasonal sea ice growth/decay cycle and regional differences, and the observed seasonal growth/decay cycle for individual years and interannual variations of the ice cover are discussed. The sea ice data from the ESMR are presented in the form of color-coded maps of the Antarctic and the southern oceans. The maps show brightness temperatures and concentrations of pack ice averaged for each month, 4-year monthly averages, and month-to-month changes. Graphs summarizing the results, such as areas of sea ice as a function of time in the various sectors of the southern ocean are included. The images demonstrate that satellite microwave data provide unique information on large-scale sea ice conditions for determining climatic conditions in polar regions and possible global climatic changes.

Influence of Forest-Canopy Morphology and Relief on Spectral Characteristics of Taiga Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhirin, V. M.; Knyazeva, S. V.; Eydlina, S. P.

2017-12-01

The article deals with the results of a statistical analysis reflecting tendencies (trends) of the relationship between spectral characteristics of taiga forests, indicators of the morphological structure of forest canopy and illumination of the territory. The study was carried out on the example of the model forest territory of the Priangarskiy taiga region of Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk krai) using historical data (forest inventory 1992, Landsat 5 TM 16.06.1989) and the digital elevation model. This article describes a method for determining the quantitative indicator of morphological structure of forest canopy based on taxation data, and the authors propose to subdivide the morphological structure into high complexity, medium complexity, and relatively simple. As a result of the research, dependences of average values of spectral brightness in near and short-wave infrared channels of a Landsat 5 TM image for dark-coniferous, light-coniferous and deciduous forests from the degree of complexity of the forest-canopy structure are received. A high level of variance and maximum brightness average values are marked in green moss (hilocominosa) dark-coniferous and various-grass (larioherbosa) dark-coniferous forests and light-coniferous forests with a complex structure of canopy. The parvifoliate forests are characterized by high values of brightness in stands with a relatively simple structure of the canopy and by a small variance in brightness of any degree of the structure of the canopy complexity. The increase in brightness for the lit slopes in comparison with shaded ones in all stands with a difficult morphological canopy structure is revealed. However, the brightness values of the lit and shaded slopes do not differ for stands with a medium complexity of the structure. It is noted that, in addition to the indicator of the forest-canopy structure, the possible impact on increasing the variance of spectral brightness for the taxation plot has a variability of the slope ratio of "microslopes" inside the forest plot if it exceeds 60%.

Preparation and Characterization of Chromium(III)-Activated Yttrium Aluminum Borate: A New Thermographic Phosphor for Optical Sensing and Imaging at Ambient Temperatures

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

A new thermographic phosphor based on chromium(III)-doped yttrium aluminum borate (YAB) is obtained as single crystals by high temperature flux growth and as a microcrystalline powder via solution combustion synthesis. The phosphor is excitable both in the blue (λmax 422 nm) and in the red part of the spectrum (λmax 600 nm) and shows bright NIR emission. The brightness of the phosphor is comparable to that of a well-known lamp phosphor Mn(IV)-doped magnesium fluorogermanate. At ambient temperatures, the Cr(III)-doped YAB shows high temperature dependence of the luminescence decay time, which approaches 1% per deg. The material shows no decrease in luminescence intensity at higher temperatures. The new phosphor is particularly promising for applications in temperature-compensated optical chemosensors (including those based on NIR-emitting indicators) and in pressure-sensitive paints. PMID:20473368

Investigation of the moving structures in a coronal bright point

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ning, Zongjun; Guo, Yang, E-mail: ningzongjun@pmo.ac.cn

2014-10-10

We have explored the moving structures in a coronal bright point (CBP) observed by the Solar Dynamic Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on 2011 March 5. This CBP event has a lifetime of ∼20 minutes and is bright with a curved shape along a magnetic loop connecting a pair of negative and positive fields. AIA imaging observations show that a lot of bright structures are moving intermittently along the loop legs toward the two footpoints from the CBP brightness core. Such moving bright structures are clearly seen at AIA 304 Å. In order to analyze their features, the CBP ismore » cut along the motion direction with a curved slit which is wide enough to cover the bulk of the CBP. After integrating the flux along the slit width, we get the spacetime slices at nine AIA wavelengths. The oblique streaks starting from the edge of the CBP brightness core are identified as moving bright structures, especially on the derivative images of the brightness spacetime slices. They seem to originate from the same position near the loop top. We find that these oblique streaks are bi-directional, simultaneous, symmetrical, and periodic. The average speed is about 380 km s{sup –1}, and the period is typically between 80 and 100 s. Nonlinear force-free field extrapolation shows the possibility that magnetic reconnection takes place during the CBP, and our findings indicate that these moving bright structures could be the observational outflows after magnetic reconnection in the CBP.« less

The Impact of Changing Cloud Cover on the High Arctic's Primary Cooling-to-space Windows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mariani, Zen; Rowe, Penny; Strong, Kimberly; Walden, Von; Drummond, James

2014-05-01

In the Arctic, most of the infrared energy emitted by the surface escapes to space in two atmospheric windows at 10 and 20 μm. As the Arctic warms, the 20 μm cooling-to-space window becomes increasingly opaque (or "closed"), trapping more surface infrared radiation in the atmosphere, with implications for the Arctic's radiative energy balance. Since 2006, the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC) has measured downwelling infrared radiance with an Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Eureka, Canada, providing the first long-term measurements of the 10 and 20 μm windows in the high Arctic. In this work, measurements of the distribution of downwelling 10 and 20 µm brightness temperatures at Eureka are separated based on cloud cover, providing a comparison to an existing climatology from the Southern Great Plains (SGP). Measurements of the downwelling radiance at both 10 and 20 μm exhibit strong seasonal variability as a result of changes in temperature and water vapour, in addition to variability with cloud cover. When separated by season, brightness temperatures in the 20 µm window are found to be independent of cloud thickness in the summertime, indicating that this window is closed in the summer. Radiance trends in three-month averages are positive and are significantly larger (factor > 5) than the trends detected at the SGP, indicating that changes in the downwelling radiance are accelerated in the high Arctic compared to lower latitudes. This statistically significant increase (> 5% / yr) in radiance at 10 μm occurs only when the 20 μm window is mostly transparent, or "open" (i.e., in all seasons except summer), and may have long-term consequences, particularly as warmer temperatures and increased water vapour "close" the dirty window for a prolonged period. These surface-based measurements of radiative forcing can be used to quantify changes in the high-Arctic energy budget and evaluate general circulation model simulations.

Comparison of Nimbus-7 SMMR and GOES-1 VISSR Atmospheric Liquid Water Content.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lojou, Jean-Yves; Frouin, Robert; Bernard, René

1991-02-01

Vertically integrated atmospheric liquid water content derived from Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) brightness temperatures and from GOES-1 Visible and Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer (VISSR) radiances in the visible are compared over the Indian Ocean during MONEX (monsoon experiment). In the retrieval procedure, Wilheit and Chang' algorithm and Stephens' parameterization schemes are applied to the SMMR and VISSR data, respectively. The results indicate that in the 0-100 mg cm2 range of liquid water content considered, the correlation coefficient between the two types of estimates is 0.83 (0.81- 0.85 at the 99 percent confidence level). The Wilheit and Chang algorithm, however, yields values lower than those obtained with Stephens's schemes by 24.5 mg cm2 on the average, and occasionally the SMMR-based values are negative. Alternative algorithms are proposed for use with SMMR data, which eliminate the bias, augment the correlation coefficient, and reduce the rms difference. These algorithms include using the Witheit and Chang formula with modified coefficients (multilinear regression), the Wilheit and Chang formula with the same coefficients but different equivalent atmospheric temperatures for each channel (temperature bias adjustment), and a second-order polynomial in brightness temperatures at 18, 21, and 37 GHz (polynomial development). When applied to a dataset excluded from the regressionn dataset, the multilinear regression algorithm provides the best results, namely a 0.91 correlation coefficient, a 5.2 mg cm2 (residual) difference, and a 2.9 mg cm2 bias. Simply shifting the liquid water content predicted by the Wilheit and Chang algorithm does not yield as good comparison statistics, indicating that the occasional negative values are not due only to a bias. The more accurate SMMR-derived liquid water content allows one to better evaluate cloud transmittance in the solar spectrum, at least in the area and during the period analyzed. Combining this cloud transmittance with a clear sky model would provide ocean surface insulation estimates from SMMR data alone.

Image plane detector spectrophotometer - Application to O2 atmospheric band nightglow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luo, Mingzhao; Yee, Jeng-Hwa; Hays, Paul B.

1988-01-01

A new variety of low resolution spectrometer is described. This device, an image plane detector spectrophotometer, has high sensitivity and modest resolution sufficient to determine the rotational temperature and brightness of molecular band emissions. It uses an interference filter as a dispersive element and a multichannel image plane detector as the photon collecting device. The data analysis technqiue used to recover the temperature of the emitter and the emission brightness is presented. The atmospheric band of molecular oxygen is used to illustrate the use of the device.

Radiation calibration for LWIR Hyperspectral Imager Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Zhixiong; Yu, Chunchao; Zheng, Wei-jian; Lei, Zhenggang; Yan, Min; Yuan, Xiaochun; Zhang, Peizhong

2014-11-01

The radiometric calibration of LWIR Hyperspectral imager Spectrometer is presented. The lab has been developed to LWIR Interferometric Hyperspectral imager Spectrometer Prototype(CHIPED-I) to study Lab Radiation Calibration, Two-point linear calibration is carried out for the spectrometer by using blackbody respectively. Firstly, calibration measured relative intensity is converted to the absolute radiation lightness of the object. Then, radiation lightness of the object is is converted the brightness temperature spectrum by the method of brightness temperature. The result indicated †that this method of Radiation Calibration calibration was very good.

Skylab floating ice experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, W. J. (Principal Investigator); Ramseier, R. O.; Weaver, R. J.; Weeks, W. F.

1975-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Coupling of the aircraft data with the ground truth observations proved to be highly successful with interesting results being obtained with IR and SLAR passive microwave techniques, and standard photography. Of particular interest were the results of the PMIS system which operated at 10.69 GHz with both vertical and horizontal polarizations. This was the first time that dual polarized images were obtained from floating ice. In both sea and lake ice, it was possible to distinguish a wide variety of thin ice types because of their large differences in brightness temperatures. It was found that the higher brightness temperature was invariably obtained in the vertically polarized mode, and as the age of the ice increases the brightness temperature increases in both polarizations. Associated with this change in age, the difference in temperature was observed as the different polarizations decreased. It appears that the horizontally polarized data is the most sensitive to variations in ice type for both fresh water and sea ice. The study also showed the great amount of information on ice surface roughness and deformation patterns that can be obtained from X-band SLAR observations.

CXB surface brightness fluctuations: A new frontier of ICM structure and outskirts studies of (un)resolved galaxy clusters?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolodzig, A.; Gilfanov, M.; Hutsi, G.; Sunyaev, R.

2017-10-01

Surface brightness fluctuations of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) carry unique information about the intracluster-medium (ICM) structure of galaxy clusters and groups up to the virial radius, which is inaccessible by conventional observations of selected nearby resolved clusters. We present results of our CXB fluctuation analysis of the ˜5ks-deep, ˜9deg^2-large Chandra survey XBOOTES. We find that our fluctuation signal of resolved clusters is dominated by nearby, high-luminosity sources. The shape of its power spectrum suggests that for the brightest cluster we are sensitive to the ICM structure up to ˜2× R_{500};(˜2 Mpc/h). The energy spectrum of the fluctuation signal from resolved and unresolved clusters follows a typical ICM spectrum, where redshifts and temperatures are consistent with expectations. It also demonstrates that fluctuations of our unresolved CXB are dominated by unresolved clusters with an average z˜0.4 and T˜1.3keV, suggesting an average L_{0.5-2keV}˜3×10^{42} erg/s and M_{500}˜4×10^{13} M_{Sun}/h. Comparison with modeling suggests, that our fluctuation signal can be described with the one-halo-term of clusters and that it might be sensitive to the presence of substructures. Discrepancies between model and measurement could be utilized to improve our understanding of the ICM structure in a statistical manner. We briefly discuss the potential of larger surveys (e.g. Stripe82, XXL, SRG/eRosita).

Herschel and ALMA Observations of Massive SZE-selected Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, John F.; Aguirre, Paula; Baker, Andrew J.; Devlin, Mark J.; Hilton, Matt; Hughes, John P.; Infante, Leopoldo; Lindner, Robert R.; Sifón, Cristóbal

2018-02-01

We present new Herschel observations of four massive, Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect–selected clusters at 0.3≤slant z≤slant 1.1, two of which have also been observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We detect 19 Herschel/Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) counterparts to spectroscopically confirmed cluster members, five of which have redshifts determined via CO (4–3) and [C I] ({}3{P}1{--}{}3{P}0) lines. The mean [C I]/CO line ratio is 0.19 ± 0.07 in brightness temperature units, consistent with previous results for field samples. We do not detect significant stacked ALMA dust continuum or spectral-line emission, implying upper limits on mean interstellar medium (H2 + H I) and molecular gas masses. An apparent anticorrelation of {L}{IR} with clustercentric radius is driven by the tight relation between star formation rate and stellar mass. We find an average specific star formation rate of log(sSFR/yr‑1) = ‑10.36, which is below the {SFR}{--}{M}* correlation measured for field galaxies at similar redshifts. The fraction of infrared-bright galaxies (IRBGs; {log}({L}{IR}/{L}ȯ )> 10.6) per cluster and average sSFR rise significantly with redshift. For CO detections, we find {f}{gas}∼ 0.2, comparable to those of field galaxies, and gas depletion timescales of about 2 Gyr. We use radio observations to distinguish active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from star-forming galaxies. At least four of our 19 Herschel cluster members have {q}{IR}< 1.8, implying an AGN fraction {f}{AGN}≳ 0.2 for our PACS-selected sample.

RESPONSE OF GRANULATION TO SMALL-SCALE BRIGHT FEATURES IN THE QUIET SUN

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andic, A.; Chae, J.; Goode, P. R.

2011-04-10

We detected 2.8 bright points (BPs) per Mm{sup 2} in the quiet Sun with the New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, using the TiO 705.68 nm spectral line at an angular resolution {approx}0.''1 to obtain a 30 minute data sequence. Some BPs formed knots that were stable in time and influenced the properties of the granulation pattern around them. The observed granulation pattern within {approx}3'' of knots presents smaller granules than those observed in a normal granulation pattern, i.e., around the knots a suppressed convection is detected. Observed BPs covered {approx}5% of the solar surface and were notmore » homogeneously distributed. BPs had an average size of 0.''22, they were detectable for 4.28 minutes on average, and had an averaged contrast of 0.1% in the deep red TiO spectral line.« less

Exospheric temperatures deduced from 7320- to 7330-A /O/+//2P/ - O/+//2D// twilight observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yee, J. H.; Abreu, V. J.

1982-01-01

A technique developed to deduce exospheric temperatures from the 7320- to 7330-A emission measured by the visible airglow experiment on board the AE-E satellite is considered. An excess emission in the measured 7320- to 7330-A brightness is noticed as a result of the interaction between the spacecraft and the atmosphere. The observed brightnesses are corrected for this effect. The galactic background emission is also carefully subtracted. The deduced temperatures exhibit a positive correlation with solar activity. It varies from approximately 700 K in late 1976 to approximately 1700 K at the peak of this solar cycle. The presence of a nonthermal oxygen corona is considered inconclusive.

Geological applications of Nimbus radiation data in the Middle East

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allison, L. J.

1977-01-01

Large plateaus of Eocene limestone and exposed limestone escarpments, in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, respectively, were indicated by cool brightness temperatures recorded by the Nimbus-5 electrically scanning microwave radiometer (ESMR), over a 2-year period. Nubian sandstone, desert eolian sand, and igneous-metamorphic rock of the Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene, and Cretaceous periods were differentiated from these limestone areas by warm T sub B values. These brightness temperature differences are a result of seasonal in-situ ground temperatures and differential emissivity of limestone and sand, sandstone and granite, whose dielectric constants are 6 to 8.9 and 2.9 and 4.2 to 5.3, respectively, at 19.35 GHz.

Forecasting Weather on Distant Worlds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

An artist's conception shows a gas-giant planet orbiting very close to its parent star, creating searingly hot conditions on the planet's surface. New research suggests that for three such planets lying from 50 to 150 light-years from Earth, strong winds thousands of miles per hour mix the atmosphere so that the temperature is relatively uniform from the permanently light side to the permanently dark side.

This illustration represents an infrared view of a planetary system, in which brightness indicates warmer temperatures. For example, the bright band around the equator of the planet denotes warmer temperatures on both the dark and sunlit sides. The planet's poles, shown in darker colors, would be cooler.

Radiative transfer in multilayered random medium with laminar structure - Green's function approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karam, M. A.; Fung, A. K.

1986-01-01

For a multilayered random medium with a laminar structure a Green's function approach is introduced to obtain the emitted intensity due to an arbitrary point source. It is then shown that the approach is applicable to both active and passive remote sensing. In active remote sensing, the computed radar backscattering cross section for the multilayered medium includes the effects of both volume multiple scattering and surface multiple scattering at the layer boundaries. In passive remote sensing, the brightness temperature is obtained for arbitrary temperature profiles in the layers. As an illustration the brightness temperature and reflectivity are calculated for a bounded layer and compared with results in the literature.

Surface temperatures and retention of H2O frost on Ganymede and Callisto

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Squyres, S. W.

1980-01-01

Surface temperatures and ice evaporation rates are calculated for Ganymede and Callisto as functions of latitude, time of day, and albedo, according to a model that uses surface thermal properties determined by eclipse radiometry and albedos determined from photometrically decalibrated Voyager images. The difference in temperature between Ganymede and Callisto is not great enough to account for the lack of bright polar caps on Callisto, which seems instead to reflect a real deficiency in the amount of available water frost relative to Ganymede. The temperature difference between Ganymede's grooved and cratered terrains also cannot account for the high concentration of bright ray craters in the former, suggesting that an internal geologic process has enriched the grooved terrain in ice content relative to the cratered terrain.

Growth of Nanosized Single Crystals for Efficient Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes.

PubMed

Lee, Seungjin; Park, Jong Hyun; Nam, Yun Seok; Lee, Bo Ram; Zhao, Baodan; Di Nuzzo, Daniele; Jung, Eui Dae; Jeon, Hansol; Kim, Ju-Young; Jeong, Hu Young; Friend, Richard H; Song, Myoung Hoon

2018-04-24

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are emerging as promising emitting materials due to their narrow full-width at half-maximum emissions, color tunability, and high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). However, the thermal generation of free charges at room temperature results in a low radiative recombination rate and an excitation-intensity-dependent PLQY, which is associated with the trap density. Here, we report perovskite films composed of uniform nanosized single crystals (average diameter = 31.7 nm) produced by introducing bulky amine ligands and performing the growth at a lower temperature. By effectively controlling the crystal growth, we maximized the radiative bimolecular recombination yield by reducing the trap density and spatially confining the charges. Finally, highly bright and efficient green emissive perovskite light-emitting diodes that do not suffer from electroluminescence blinking were achieved with a luminance of up to 55 400 cd m -2 , current efficiency of 55.2 cd A -1 , and external quantum efficiency of 12.1%.

Energy balance in solar and stellar chromospheres

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avrett, E. H.

1981-01-01

Net radiative cooling rates for quiet and active regions of the solar chromosphere and for two stellar chromospheres are calculated from corresponding atmospheric models. Models of chromospheric temperature and microvelocity distributions are derived from observed spectra of a dark point within a cell, the average sun and a very bright network element on the quiet sun, a solar plage and flare, and the stars Alpha Boo and Lambda And. Net radiative cooling rates due to the transitions of various atoms and ions are then calculated from the models as a function of depth. Large values of the net radiative cooling rate are found at the base of the chromosphere-corona transition region which are due primarily to Lyman alpha emission, and a temperature plateau is obtained in the transition region itself. In the chromospheric regions, the calculated cooling rate is equal to the mechanical energy input as a function of height and thus provides a direct constraint on theories of chromospheric heating.

Analyzing Snowpack Metrics Over Large Spatial Extents Using Calibrated, Enhanced-Resolution Brightness Temperature Data and Long Short Term Memory Artificial Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, W.; J Q Farmer, C.

2017-12-01

Snow water equivalence (SWE) is a difficult metric to measure accurately over large spatial extents; snow-tell sites are too localized, and traditional remotely sensed brightness temperature data is at too coarse of a resolution to capture variation. The new Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Brightness Temperature (CETB) data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) offers remotely sensed brightness temperature data at an enhanced resolution of 3.125 km versus the original 25 km, which allows for large spatial extents to be analyzed with reduced uncertainty compared to the 25km product. While the 25km brightness temperature data has proved useful in past research — one group found decreasing trends in SWE outweighed increasing trends three to one in North America; other researchers used the data to incorporate winter conditions, like snow cover, into ecological zoning criterion — with the new 3.125 km data, it is possible to derive more accurate metrics for SWE, since we have far more spatial variability in measurements. Even with higher resolution data, using the 37 - 19 GHz frequencies to estimate SWE distorts the data during times of melt onset and accumulation onset. Past researchers employed statistical splines, while other successful attempts utilized non-parametric curve fitting to smooth out spikes distorting metrics. In this work, rather than using legacy curve fitting techniques, a Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was trained to perform curve fitting on the data. LSTM ANN have shown great promise in modeling time series data, and with almost 40 years of data available — 14,235 days — there is plenty of training data for the ANN. LSTM's are ideal for this type of time series analysis because they allow important trends to persist for long periods of time, but ignore short term fluctuations; since LSTM's have poor mid- to short-term memory, they are ideal for smoothing out the large spikes generated in the melt and accumulation onset seasons, while still capturing the overall trends in the data.

γ-Ray And Parsec-Scale Jet Properties Of A Complete Sample Of Blazars From The Mojave Program

DOE PAGES

Lister, M. L.

2011-11-02

We investigate the Fermi LAT -ray and 15 GHz VLBA radio properties of a joint -ray- and radio-selected sample of AGNs obtained during the first 11 months of the Fermi mission (2008 Aug 4 - 2009 Jul 5). Our sample contains the brightest 173 AGNs in these bands above declination -30° during this period, and thus probes the full range of -ray loudness ( -ray to radio band luminosity ratio) in the bright blazar population. The latter quantity spans at least four orders ofmagnitude, reflecting a wide range of spectral energy distribution (SED) parameters in the bright blazar population. Themore » BL Lac objects, however, display a linear correlation of increasing -ray loudness with synchrotron SED peak frequency, suggesting a universal SED shape for objects of this class. The synchrotron self-Compton model is favored for the -ray emission in these BL Lacs over external seed photon models, since the latter predict a dependence of Compton dominance on Doppler factor that would destroy any observed synchrotron SED peak - -ray loudness correlation. The high-synchrotron peaked (HSP) BL Lac objects are distinguished by lower than average radio core brightness temperatures, and none display large radio modulation indices or high linear core polarization levels. No equivalent trends are seen for the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ) in our sample. Given the association of such properties with relativistic beaming, we suggest that the HSP BL Lacs have generally lower Doppler factors than the lower-synchrotron peaked BL Lacs or FSRQs in our sample.« less

Design of high-brightness TEM00-mode solar-pumped laser for renewable material processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, D.; Almeida, J.

2014-08-01

The conversion of sunlight into laser light by direct solar pumping is of ever-increasing importance because broadband, temporally constant, sunlight is converted into laser light, which can be a source of narrowband, collimated, rapidly pulsed, radiation with the possibility of obtaining extremely high brightness and intensity. Nonlinear processes, such as harmonic generation, might be used to obtain broad wavelength coverage, including the ultraviolet wavelengths, where the solar flux is very weak. The direct excitation of large lasers by sunlight offers the prospect of a drastic reduction in the cost of coherent optical radiation for high average power materials processing. This renewable laser has a large potential for many applications such as high-temperature materials processing, renewable magnesium-hydrogen energy cycle and so on. We propose here a scalable TEM00 mode solar laser pumping scheme, which is composed of four firststage 1.13 m diameter Fresnel lenses with its respective folding mirrors mounted on a two-axis automatic solar tracker. Concentrated solar power at the four focal spots of these Fresnel lenses are focused individually along a common 3.5 mm diameter, 70 mm length Nd:YAG rod via four pairs of second-stage fused-silica spherical lenses and third-stage 2D-CPCs (Compound Parabolic Concentrator), sitting just above the laser rod which is also double-pass pumped by four V-shaped pumping cavities. Distilled water cools both the rod and the concentrators. 15.4 W TEM00 solar laser power is numerically calculated, corresponding to 6.7 times enhancement in laser beam brightness.

Gamma-Ray and Parsec-Scale Jet Properties of a Complete Sample of Blazars from the MOJAVE Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lister, M.L.; Aller, M.; Aller, H.; Hovatta, T.; Kellermann, K. I.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Meyer, E. T.; Pushkarev, A. B.; Ros, E.; Ackermann, M.;

Retrieval of Precipitation Profiles from Multiresolution, Multifrequency, Active and Passive Microwave Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grecu, Mircea; Anagnostou, Emmanouil N.; Olson, William S.; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In this study, a technique for estimating vertical profiles of precipitation from multifrequency, multiresolution active and passive microwave observations is investigated using both simulated and airborne data. The technique is applicable to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite multi-frequency active and passive observations. These observations are characterized by various spatial and sampling resolutions. This makes the retrieval problem mathematically more difficult and ill-determined because the quality of information decreases with decreasing resolution. A model that, given reflectivity profiles and a small set of parameters (including the cloud water content, the intercept drop size distribution, and a variable describing the frozen hydrometeor properties), simulates high-resolution brightness temperatures is used. The high-resolution simulated brightness temperatures are convolved at the real sensor resolution. An optimal estimation procedure is used to minimize the differences between simulated and observed brightness temperatures. The retrieval technique is investigated using cloud model synthetic and airborne data from the Fourth Convection And Moisture Experiment. Simulated high-resolution brightness temperatures and reflectivities and airborne observation strong are convolved at the resolution of the TRMM instruments and retrievals are performed and analyzed relative to the reference data used in observations synthesis. An illustration of the possible use of the technique in satellite rainfall estimation is presented through an application to TRMM data. The study suggests improvements in combined active and passive retrievals even when the instruments resolutions are significantly different. Future work needs to better quantify the retrievals performance, especially in connection with satellite applications, and the uncertainty of the models used in retrieval.

Surface and Atmospheric Contributions to Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Gail Skofronick; Johnson, Benjamin T.

2010-01-01

Physically-based passive microwave precipitation retrieval algorithms require a set of relationships between satellite observed brightness temperatures (TB) and the physical state of the underlying atmosphere and surface. These relationships are typically non-linear, such that inversions are ill-posed especially over variable land surfaces. In order to better understand these relationships, this work presents a theoretical analysis using brightness temperature weighting functions to quantify the percentage of the TB resulting from absorption/emission/reflection from the surface, absorption/emission/scattering by liquid and frozen hydrometeors in the cloud, the emission from atmospheric water vapor, and other contributors. The results are presented for frequencies from 10 to 874 GHz and for several individual precipitation profiles as well as for three cloud resolving model simulations of falling snow. As expected, low frequency channels (<89 GHz) respond to liquid hydrometeors and the surface, while the higher frequency channels become increasingly sensitive to ice hydrometeors and the water vapor sounding channels react to water vapor in the atmosphere. Low emissivity surfaces (water and snow-covered land) permit energy downwelling from clouds to be reflected at the surface thereby increasing the percentage of the TB resulting from the hydrometeors. The slant path at a 53deg viewing angle increases the hydrometeor contributions relative to nadir viewing channels and show sensitivity to surface polarization effects. The TB percentage information presented in this paper answers questions about the relative contributions to the brightness temperatures and provides a key piece of information required to develop and improve precipitation retrievals over land surfaces.

The Chandra M10l Megasecond: Diffuse Emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuntz, K. D.; Snowden, S. L.

2009-01-01

Because MIOl is nearly face-on, it provides an excellent laboratory in which to study the distribution of X-ray emitting gas in a typical late-type spiral galaxy. We obtained a Chandra observation with a cumulative exposure of roughly 1 Ms to study the diffuse X-ray emission in MlOl. The bulk of the X-ray emission is correlated with the star formation traced by the FUV emission. The global FUV/Xray correlation is non-linear (the X-ray surface brightness is roughly proportional to the square root of the FUV surface brightness) and the small-scale correlation is poor, probably due to the delay between the FUV emission and the X-ray production ill star-forming regions. The X-ray emission contains only minor contributions from unresolved stars (approximates less than 3%), unresolved X-ray point sources (approximates less than 4%), and individual supernova remnants (approximates 3%). The global spectrum of the diffuse emission can be reasonably well fitted with a three component thermal model, but the fitted temperatures are not unique; many distributions of emission measure can produce the same temperatures when observed with the current CCD energy resolution. The spectrum of the diffuse emission depends on the environment; regions with higher X-ray surface brightnesses have relatively stronger hard components, but there is no significant evidence that the temperatures of the emitting components increase with surface brightness.

A semiempirical model for interpreting microwave emission from semiarid land surfaces as seen from space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerr, Yann H.; Njoku, Eni G.

1990-01-01

A radiative-transfer model for simulating microwave brightness temperatures over land surfaces is described. The model takes into account sensor viewing conditions (spacecraft altitude, viewing angle, frequency, and polarization) and atmospheric parameters over a soil surface characterized by its moisture, roughness, and temperature and covered with a layer of vegetation characterized by its temperature, water content, single scattering albedo, structure, and percent coverage. In order to reduce the influence of atmospheric and surface temperature effects, the brightness temperatures are expressed as polarization ratios that depend primarily on the soil moisture and roughness, canopy water content, and percentage of cover. The sensitivity of the polarization ratio to these parameters is investigated. Simulation of the temporal evolution of the microwave signal over semiarid areas in the African Sahel is presented and compared to actual satellite data from the SMMR instrument on Nimbus-7.

Selection of embryogenic sugarcane callus by image analysis.

PubMed

Honda, H; Ito, T; Yamada, J; Hanai, T; Matsuoka, M; Kobayashi, T

1999-01-01

In the cultivation of plant calli on solid media, two kinds of calli such as compact and friable calli, which are a bright yellow and a whitish clump, respectively, are often obtained. Distinction of these calli is of much importance in the regeneration step. The image analysis system associated with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera and microscopy were used to distinguish sugarcane calli. The original images from compact and friable calli were input to a computer via an image analysis board. At first, the brightnesses of trichromatic colors, red (R), green (G) and blue (B), of each pixels were extracted and the average brightness value for each color was calculated. From these values of the trichromatic colors, compact and friable calli could not be clearly distinguished. Next, the brightness of yellow, Br(Y), and white, Br(W), were defined using Br(R), Br(G) and Br(B), and the difference between Br(Y) and Br(W), Br(Y-W), which can be used to express the yellowish grade, was calculated. When Br(Y-W) was determined from all pixels of the original images of both calli, the compact calli were found to be clearly distinguished from the friable calli by the frequency distributions of Br(Y-W). Average brightness center value, Av(C(Y-W)), was calculated from the frequency distributions. It was found that the calli with less than 10 units of Av(C(Y-W)) was never regenerated and a proportional relationship between Av(C(Y-W)) and the regeneration frequency of the callus line was obtained.

The decay of coronal loops brightened by flares and transients

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krieger, A. S.

1978-01-01

Observations of X-ray emitting loops derived from Skylab S-054 photographs, and combined with temperature and brightness estimates from Solrad data, are used to determine brightness decay times resulting from various coronal energy loss mechanisms. Conductive losses are found to be more rapid than radiative losses. Attention is given to the role of geometrical inhibition of conduction as a possible mechanism of brightness decay. Soft X-ray observations are consistent with the continuation of the 'evaporation' driven by thermal conduction late into the decay phase of the event.

Calculations of microwave brightness temperature of rough soil surfaces: Bare field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mo, T.; Schmugge, T. J.; Wang, J. R.

1985-01-01

A model for simulating the brightness temperatures of soils with rough surfaces is developed. The surface emissivity of the soil media is obtained by the integration of the bistatic scattering coefficients for rough surfaces. The roughness of a soil surface is characterized by two parameters, the surface height standard deviation sigma and its horizontal correlation length l. The model calculations are compared to the measured angular variations of the polarized brightness temperatures at both 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequences. A nonlinear least-squares fitting method is used to obtain the values of delta and l that best characterize the surface roughness. The effect of shadowing is incorporated by introducing a function S(theta), which represents the probability that a point on a rough surface is not shadowed by other parts of the surface. The model results for the horizontal polarization are in excellent agreement with the data. However, for the vertical polarization, some discrepancies exist between the calculations and data, particularly at the 1.4 GHz frequency. Possible causes of the discrepancy are discussed.

Harnessing AIA Diffraction Patterns to Determine Flare Footpoint Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bain, H. M.; Schwartz, R. A.; Torre, G.; Krucker, S.; Raftery, C. L.

2014-12-01

In the "Standard Flare Model" energy from accelerated electrons is deposited at the footpoints of newly reconnected flare loops, heating the surrounding plasma. Understanding the relation between the multi-thermal nature of the footpoints and the energy flux from accelerated electrons is therefore fundamental to flare physics. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images of bright flare kernels, obtained from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, are often saturated despite the implementation of automatic exposure control. These kernels produce diffraction patterns often seen in AIA images during the most energetic flares. We implement an automated image reconstruction procedure, which utilizes diffraction pattern artifacts, to de-saturate AIA images and reconstruct the flare brightness in saturated pixels. Applying this technique to recover the footpoint brightness in each of the AIA EUV passbands, we investigate the footpoint temperature distribution. Using observations from the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), we will characterize the footpoint accelerated electron distribution of the flare. By combining these techniques, we investigate the relation between the nonthermal electron energy flux and the temperature response of the flare footpoints.

Automated Adaptive Brightness in Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Using Image Segmentation and Sigmoid Function.

PubMed

Shrestha, Ravi; Mohammed, Shahed K; Hasan, Md Mehedi; Zhang, Xuechao; Wahid, Khan A

2016-08-01

Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) plays an important role in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases by capturing images of human small intestine. Accurate diagnosis of endoscopic images depends heavily on the quality of captured images. Along with image and frame rate, brightness of the image is an important parameter that influences the image quality which leads to the design of an efficient illumination system. Such design involves the choice and placement of proper light source and its ability to illuminate GI surface with proper brightness. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are normally used as sources where modulated pulses are used to control LED's brightness. In practice, instances like under- and over-illumination are very common in WCE, where the former provides dark images and the later provides bright images with high power consumption. In this paper, we propose a low-power and efficient illumination system that is based on an automated brightness algorithm. The scheme is adaptive in nature, i.e., the brightness level is controlled automatically in real-time while the images are being captured. The captured images are segmented into four equal regions and the brightness level of each region is calculated. Then an adaptive sigmoid function is used to find the optimized brightness level and accordingly a new value of duty cycle of the modulated pulse is generated to capture future images. The algorithm is fully implemented in a capsule prototype and tested with endoscopic images. Commercial capsules like Pillcam and Mirocam were also used in the experiment. The results show that the proposed algorithm works well in controlling the brightness level accordingly to the environmental condition, and as a result, good quality images are captured with an average of 40% brightness level that saves power consumption of the capsule.

[The Performance Analysis for Lighting Sources in Highway Tunnel Based on Visual Function].

PubMed

Yang, Yong; Han, Wen-yuan; Yan, Ming; Jiang, Hai-feng; Zhu, Li-wei

2015-10-01

Under the condition of mesopic vision, the spectral luminous efficiency function is shown as a series of curves. Its peak wavelength and intensity are affected by light spectrum, background brightness and other aspects. The impact of light source to lighting visibility could not be carried out via a single optical parametric characterization. The reaction time of visual cognition is regard as evaluating indexes in this experiment. Under the condition of different speed and luminous environment, testing visual cognition based on vision function method. The light sources include high pressure sodium, electrodeless fluorescent lamp and white LED with three kinds of color temperature (the range of color temperature is from 1 958 to 5 537 K). The background brightness value is used for basic section of highway tunnel illumination and general outdoor illumination, its range is between 1 and 5 cd x m(-)2. All values are in the scope of mesopic vision. Test results show that: under the same condition of speed and luminance, the reaction time of visual cognition that corresponding to high color temperature of light source is shorter than it corresponding to low color temperature; the reaction time corresponding to visual target in high speed is shorter than it in low speed. At the end moment, however, the visual angle of target in observer's visual field that corresponding to low speed was larger than it corresponding to high speed. Based on MOVE model, calculating the equivalent luminance of human mesopic vision, which is on condition of different emission spectrum and background brightness that formed by test lighting sources. Compared with photopic vision result, the standard deviation (CV) of time-reaction curve corresponding to equivalent brightness of mesopic vision is smaller. Under the condition of mesopic vision, the discrepancy between equivalent brightness of different lighting source and photopic vision, that is one of the main reasons for causing the discrepancy of visual recognition. The emission spectrum peak of GaN chip is approximate to the wave length peak of efficiency function in photopic vision. The lighting visual effect of write LED in high color temperature is better than it in low color temperature and electrodeless fluorescent lamp. The lighting visual effect of high pressure sodium is weak. Because of its peak value is around the Na+ characteristic spectra.

An Integrated, Evidence-Based Approach to Transitioning to Operations: Specifications for Future Replacement Lights on ISS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leveton, Lauren; Brainard, George; Whitmire, Alexandra; Kubey, Alan; Maida, Jim; Bowen, Charles; Johnston, Smith

2010-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) currently uses General Luminaire Assemblies (GLAs) as its primary light source. These GLAs are composed of fluorescent lighting and are integrated into the electrical system on Station. Seventy seven of these units are distributed throughout the vehicle, and many of the lights, having reached their lifespan, are no longer functional; while backup panels are available on orbit, it is anticipated that the supplies of fluorescents on the station will be exhausted by 2015. The ISS vehicle office is therefore preparing to replace all of the GLAs, with Solid State Light Assemblies (SSLAs) composed of white Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). In the Spring of 2010, an announcement for the replacement lights was released. The announcement specified that proposed lighting systems should use LED technology, given certain power draw restrictions and no changes to how the lights are currently controlled (a central on/off switch per node, and a dial to turn on/off and increase brightness on each lighting unit). The replacement lights are to follow current specifications for brightness levels (lux) and color temperature (degrees Kelvin, or K). Reportedly, the lighting on orbit is dim and suboptimal. The average brightness of the lights (given all lights within a node are operational) is 291 lux; by comparison, recommended office lighting ranges from 200 to 500 lux, and daylight ranges on a typical overcast day, consists of 10,000 to 25,000 lux. Representatives from NASA Behavioral Health and Performance Element (BHP) and Human Factors and Habitability identified that maintaining current brightness levels limits visual acuity, work space, and the use of light as a countermeasure for improving circadian entrainment, hastening phase shifting, evoking acute alertness and enhancing performance. Revised lighting specifications are therefore needed to optimize the replacement lights for the ISS.

Modelling of the L-band brightness temperatures measured with ELBARA III radiometer on Bubnow wetland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gluba, Lukasz; Sagan, Joanna; Lukowski, Mateusz; Szlazak, Radoslaw; Usowicz, Boguslaw

2017-04-01

Microwave radiometry has become the main tool for investigating soil moisture (SM) with remote sensing methods. ESA - SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) satellite operating at L-band provides global distribution of soil moisture. An integral part of SMOS mission are calibration and validation activities involving measurements with ELBARA III which is an L-band microwave passive radiometer. It is done in order to improve soil moisture retrievals - make them more time-effective and accurate. The instrument is located at Bubnow test-site, on the border of cultivated field, fallow, meadow and natural wetland being a part of Polesie National Park (Poland). We obtain both temporal and spatial dependences of brightness temperatures for varied types of land covers with the ELBARA III directed at different azimuths. Soil moisture is retrieved from brightness temperature using L-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) model, the same as currently used radiative transfer model for SMOS. Parametrization of L-MEB, as well as input values are still under debate. We discuss the results of SM retrievals basing on data obtained during first year of the radiometer's operation. We analyze temporal dependences of retrieved SM for one-parameter (SM), two-parameter (SM, τ - optical depth) and three-parameter (SM, τ, Hr - roughness parameter) retrievals, as well as spatial dependences for specific dates. Special case of Simplified Roughness Parametrization, combining the roughness parameter and optical depth, is considered. L-MEB processing is supported by the continuous measurements of soil moisture and temperature obtained from nearby agrometeorological station, as well as studies on the soil granulometric composition of the Bubnow test-site area. Furthermore, for better estimation of optical depth, the satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was employed, supported by measured in situ vegetation parameters (such as Leaf Area Index and Vegetation Water Content) obtained during the field campaigns. The values of NDVI around ELBARA III radiometer are provided by Sentinel-2 satellite with approximately 10 m spatial resolution and average 10 days of time interval within studied period of time. The work was partially funded under two ESA projects: 1) "ELBARA_PD (Penetration Depth)" No. 4000107897/13/NL/KML, funded by the Government of Poland through an ESA-PECS contract (Plan for European Cooperating States). 2) "Technical Support for the fabrication and deployment of the radiometer ELBARA-III in Bubnow, Poland" No. 4000113360/15/NL/FF/gp.

The effects of large- and small-scale density structures on the radio from coronal streamers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thejappa, G.; Kundu, M. R.

1994-01-01

The radio observations of the coronal streamers obtained using Clark Lake radioheliograph at 73.8, 50.0, and 38.5 MHz during a period of minimum activity in September 1986 are presented. Streamers appear to correlate with two prominent disk sources whose intensites fluctuated randomly. The variations in half-power diameter of the radio Sun are found to correspond with the variations in the white-light extents of the coronal streamers. It appears that the shape of the radio Sun is not a function of the phase of the solar cycle; instead it depends on the relative positions of the streamers in the corona. The observed peak brightness temperatures, TB, of the streamers are found to be very low, being approximately equal to 6 x 104 K. We compute the brightness temperature distribution along the equator by tracing the rays in the coronal plasma. The rays are deflected away by the streamers before reaching the critical density level, whereas they penetrate deeper into the coronal hole for small angles between the line of sight and the streamer axis. As a consequence, it is found that the streamers and coronal holes appear in the calculated equatorial brightness distribution as irregular brightness depressions and enhancements, respectively. The fine structures are found to disappear when the scattering due to small-scale density inhomogeneities is included in the ray-tracing calculations. The required relative level of density fluctuations, epsilon1 = (delta N)/N, is found to be greater than 12% to reduce the peak brightness temperature from 106 K to 6 x 104 K for all the three frequencies.

Effects of the Antenna Aperture on Remote Sensing of Sea Surface Salinity at L-Band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dinnat, Emmanuel P.; LeVine, David M.

2006-01-01

Remote sensing of sea surface salinity with sufficient accuracy to meet the needs of global oceanography is a challenging task. The global variability of the salinity signal in the open ocean is only a few Kelvin even at L-band and an accuracy on the order of 0.1K is desired to study the influence of salinity on ocean circulation and energy exchange with the atmosphere. On the other hand, resolution is not an issue for understanding the dynamics of the open ocean where scales of hundreds of km are not uncommon. This permits remote sensing with large antenna footprints and spatial averaging to reduce noise. However, antennas with large footprints introduce other problems. For example, the angle of incidence and hence the brightness temperature varies over the footprint. Similarly, the polarization of brightness temperature relative to the antenna ports changes. Studies have been conducted using antenna patterns representative of the antenna that will be flown on the Aquarius mission to examine these effects. Aquarius is a pushbroom style radiometer with three beams looking across track away from the sun. The beams are at incidences angles (at the spacecraft) of about 26.5, 34 and 40 degrees each with a half-power beam width of about 5.8 degrees. It is shown that the measured brightness temperature is biased relative to the value at boresight because of changes across the field of view. The bias can be as much as 4K and positive or negative depending on polarization. Polarization mixing because of the variations of the local plane of incidence across the footprint also occur and can result in biased polarimetric measurements. A bias in the third Stokes parameter of as much as 0.4K is possible. Such effects may affect algorithms that use the third Stokes parameter to correct for Faraday rotation. Another issue associated with the antenna is sun glint. This is an issue determined by surface roughness and antenna sidelobes. Examples will be given for the random component (glint) for the case of the Aquarius antenna beams. Fortunately, the Aquarius beams mostly look to the dark side of the day-night termination, but during some portions of the year they will see sun-lighted ocean. In this case, glint could be an issue for the inner-most beam.

Detectors for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marriage, Tobias Andrew

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) will make measurements of the brightness temperature anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) on degree to arcminute angular scales. The ACT observing site is located 5200 m near the top of Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This thesis presents research on the detectors which capture the image of the CMB formed at ACT's focal plane. In the first chapter, the primary brightness temperature fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background are reviewed. In Chapter 2, a calculation shows how the CMB brightness is translated by ACT to an input power to the detectors. Chapter 3 describes the ACT detectors in detail and presents the response and sensitivity of the detectors to the input power computed in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 describes the detector fabrication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Chapter 5 summarizes experiments which characterize the ACT detector performance.

Zones, spots, and planetary-scale waves beating in brown dwarf atmospheres.

PubMed

Apai, D; Karalidi, T; Marley, M S; Yang, H; Flateau, D; Metchev, S; Cowan, N B; Buenzli, E; Burgasser, A J; Radigan, J; Artigau, E; Lowrance, P

2017-08-18

Brown dwarfs are massive analogs of extrasolar giant planets and may host types of atmospheric circulation not seen in the solar system. We analyzed a long-term Spitzer Space Telescope infrared monitoring campaign of brown dwarfs to constrain cloud cover variations over a total of 192 rotations. The infrared brightness evolution is dominated by beat patterns caused by planetary-scale wave pairs and by a small number of bright spots. The beating waves have similar amplitudes but slightly different apparent periods because of differing velocities or directions. The power spectrum of intermediate-temperature brown dwarfs resembles that of Neptune, indicating the presence of zonal temperature and wind speed variations. Our findings explain three previously puzzling behaviors seen in brown dwarf brightness variations. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Continuous and line spectra of granules and intergranular lanes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suemoto, Z.; Hiei, E.; Nakagomi, Y.

1990-05-01

Temperature and velocity structures above granules and intergranular lanes were studied on spectrograms covering Ca II H and K lines. In agreement with earlier results, it was confirmed more quantitatively that there appear two kinds of bright continua, one in the outer wings (granular continuum) and the other in the inner wings (temporarily called K0-continuum) of Ca II H and K lines, and that these two kinds of bright continua are located more or less in a complementary fashion. Further, it was found that the bright K0-continuum is well associated with higher central residual intensity of absorption lines. These facts suggest that, in the upper photosphere, there are high temperature regions in the intergranular lanes. Motions above granular regions are essentially upwards, whereas those of intergranular regions are predominantly downwards, and in the uppermost photosphere the motions become more random.

Low-temperature transonic cooling flows in galaxy clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sulkanen, Martin E.; Burns, Jack O.; Norman, Michael L.

1989-01-01

Calculations are presented which demonstrate that cooling flow models with large sonic radii may be consistent with observed cluster gas properties. It is found that plausible cluster parameters and cooling flow mass accretion rates can produce sonic radii of 10-20 kpc for sonic point temperatures of 1-3 x 10 to the 6th K. The numerical calculations match these cooling flows to hydrostatic atmosphere solutions for the cluster gas beyond the cooling flow region. The cooling flows produce no appreciable 'holes' in the surface brightness toward the cluster center, and the model can be made to match the observed X-ray surface brightness of three clusters in which cooling flows had been believed to be absent. It is suggested that clusters with low velocity dispersion may be the natural location for such 'cool' cooling flows, and fits of these models to the X-ray surface brightness profiles for three clusters are presented.

Hi-C OBSERVATIONS OF SUNSPOT PENUMBRAL BRIGHT DOTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alpert, Shane E.; Tiwari, Sanjiv K.; Moore, Ronald L.

We report observations of bright dots (BDs) in a sunspot penumbra using High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) data in 193 Å and examine their sizes, lifetimes, speeds, and intensities. The sizes of the BDs are on the order of 1″ and are therefore hard to identify in the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 193 Å images, which have a 1.″2 spatial resolution, but become readily apparent with Hi-C's spatial resolution, which is five times better. We supplement Hi-C data with data from AIA's 193 Å passband to see the complete lifetime of the BDs that appeared before and/or lasted longer thanmore » Hi-C's three-minute observation period. Most Hi-C BDs show clear lateral movement along penumbral striations, either toward or away from the sunspot umbra. Single BDs often interact with other BDs, combining to fade away or brighten. The BDs that do not interact with other BDs tend to have smaller displacements. These BDs are about as numerous but move slower on average than Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) BDs, which was recently reported by Tian et al., and the sizes and lifetimes are on the higher end of the distribution of IRIS BDs. Using additional AIA passbands, we compare the light curves of the BDs to test whether the Hi-C BDs have transition region (TR) temperatures like those of the IRIS BDs. The light curves of most Hi-C BDs peak together in different AIA channels, indicating that their temperatures are likely in the range of the cooler TR (1−4 × 10{sup 5} K).« less

Model studies of the beam-filling error for rain-rate retrieval with microwave radiometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ha, Eunho; North, Gerald R.

1995-01-01

Low-frequency (less than 20 GHz) single-channel microwave retrievals of rain rate encounter the problem of beam-filling error. This error stems from the fact that the relationship between microwave brightness temperature and rain rate is nonlinear, coupled with the fact that the field of view is large or comparable to important scales of variability of the rain field. This means that one may not simply insert the area average of the brightness temperature into the formula for rain rate without incurring both bias and random error. The statistical heterogeneity of the rain-rate field in the footprint of the instrument is key to determining the nature of these errors. This paper makes use of a series of random rain-rate fields to study the size of the bias and random error associated with beam filling. A number of examples are analyzed in detail: the binomially distributed field, the gamma, the Gaussian, the mixed gamma, the lognormal, and the mixed lognormal ('mixed' here means there is a finite probability of no rain rate at a point of space-time). Of particular interest are the applicability of a simple error formula due to Chiu and collaborators and a formula that might hold in the large field of view limit. It is found that the simple formula holds for Gaussian rain-rate fields but begins to fail for highly skewed fields such as the mixed lognormal. While not conclusively demonstrated here, it is suggested that the notionof climatologically adjusting the retrievals to remove the beam-filling bias is a reasonable proposition.

Surface and Atmospheric Contributions to Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures for Falling Snow Events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skofronick-Jackson, Gail; Johnson, Benjamin T.

2011-01-01

Physically based passive microwave precipitation retrieval algorithms require a set of relationships between satellite -observed brightness temperatures (TBs) and the physical state of the underlying atmosphere and surface. These relationships are nonlinear, such that inversions are ill ]posed especially over variable land surfaces. In order to elucidate these relationships, this work presents a theoretical analysis using TB weighting functions to quantify the percentage influence of the TB resulting from absorption, emission, and/or reflection from the surface, as well as from frozen hydrometeors in clouds, from atmospheric water vapor, and from other contributors. The percentage analysis was also compared to Jacobians. The results are presented for frequencies from 10 to 874 GHz, for individual snow profiles, and for averages over three cloud-resolving model simulations of falling snow. The bulk structure (e.g., ice water path and cloud depth) of the underlying cloud scene was found to affect the resultant TB and percentages, producing different values for blizzard, lake effect, and synoptic snow events. The slant path at a 53 viewing angle increases the hydrometeor contributions relative to nadir viewing channels. Jacobians provide the magnitude and direction of change in the TB values due to a change in the underlying scene; however, the percentage analysis provides detailed information on how that change affected contributions to the TB from the surface, hydrometeors, and water vapor. The TB percentage information presented in this paper provides information about the relative contributions to the TB and supplies key pieces of information required to develop and improve precipitation retrievals over land surfaces.

Continued observations of the H Ly alpha emission from Uranus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clarke, J.; Durrance, S.; Moos, W.; Murthy, J.; Atreya, S.; Barnes, A.; Mihalov, J.; Belcher, J.; Festou, M.; Imhoff, C.

1986-01-01

Observations of Uranus obtained over four years with the IUE Observatory supports the initial identification of a bright H Ly alpha flux which varies independently of the solar H Ly alpha flux, implying a largely self-excited emission. An average brightness of 1400 Rayleighs is derived, and limits for the possible contribution by reflected solar H Ly alpha emission, estimated to be about 200 Rayleighs, suggest that the remaining self-excited emission is produced by an aurora. Based on comparison with solar wind measurements obtained in the vicinity of Uranus by Voyager 2 and Pioneer 11, no evidence for correlation between the solar wind density and the H Ly alpha brightness is found. The upper limit to H2 emission gives a lower limit to the ratio of H Ly alpha/H2 emissions of about 2.4, suggesting that the precipitating particles may be significantly less energetic on Uranus than those responsible for the aurora on Jupiter. The average power in precipitating particles is estimated to be of the order of 10 to the 12th W.

A surface brightness correlation between carbon monoxide and nonthermal radio continuum emission in the galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, R. J.

1992-01-01

The relation between the projected face-on velocity-integrated CO (1-0) brightness ICO and the 20 cm nonthermal radio continuum brightness T20 is examined as a function of radius in the Galactic disk. Averaged in 1 kpc annuli, the ratio ICO/T20 is nearly constant with a mean value of 1.51 +/- 0.34 km/s from 2 to 10 kpc. The manner in which ICO and T20 are derived for the Galaxy is different in several significant respects from the more direct observational determinations possible in nearby galaxies. The fact that the Galaxy also follows this correlation further strengthens the generality of the result.

Passive microwave measurements of temperature and salinity in coastal zones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blume, H.-J. C.; Kendall, B. M.

1982-01-01

Experimental methods and results from the maritime remote sensing (MARSEN) experiments using dual frequency microwave radiometer detecting systems on board aircraft are described. The radiometers were operated at 1.43 and 2.65 GHz and flown above U.S. Atlantic coastal areas, Chesapeake Bay, around Puerto Rico, and over the German Bight. The advanced switched radiometers used were configured to be independent of gain variations and errors originating from front-end losses and determined the absolute brightness temperatures to within a few tenths Kelvin. Corrections to the observed brightness temperature of the ocean are analytically defined, including accounts made for roughness, the cosmic background radiation, and the solar radio source. The coastal flight data for salinity gradients and surface temperatures were compared with sea truth measured from ships and found to be accurate to within 1 C and 1 pph.

A model for microwave emission from vegetation-covered fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mo, T.; Choudhury, B. J.; Schmugge, T. J.; Wang, J. R.; Jackson, T. J.

1982-01-01

The measured brightness temperatures over vegetation-covered fields are simulated by a radiative transfer model which treats the vegetation as a uniform canopy with a constant temperature, over a moist soil which emits polarized microwave radiation. The analytic formula for the microwave emission has four parameters: roughness height, polarization mixing factor, effective canopy optical thickness, and single scattering albedo. A good representation has been obtained with the model for both the horizontally and vertically polarized brightness temperatures at 1.4 and 5 GHz frequencies, over fields covered with grass, soybean and corn. A directly proportional relation is found between effective canopy optical thickness and the amount of water present in the vegetation canopy. The effective canopy single scattering albedo depends on vegetation type.

Infrared radiometry of Uranus and Neptune at 21 and 32 microns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orton, Glenn S.; Baines, Kelvin H.; Bergstralh, Jay T.; Brown, Robert H.; Caldwell, John

1987-01-01

Mauna Kea's NASA IRTF has been used to obtain 21- and 32-cm radiometric measurements of Uranus and Neptune; brightness temperatures of 54.1 + or - 0.3 K for Uranus and 58.1 + or 0.3 K for Neptune were obtained by calibrating the 21-cm data against Alpha Boo. A calibration of the 32-cm data against Callisto and Ganymede yielded respective temperatures of 51.8 + or - 1.5 K and 55.6 + or - 1.2 K. The general decrease of brightness temperatures with wavelength from 20 to 30 microns is confirmed. The two planets are noted to appear as bodies sufficiently different to depart from the hypothesis of smooth planetary bulk property variation as a function of heliocentric distance.

Application of Fourier transforms for microwave radiometric inversions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, J. J.; Balanis, C. A.; Truman, W. M.

1975-01-01

Existing microwave radiometer technology now provides a suitable method for remote determination of the ocean surface's absolute brightness temperature. To extract the brightness temperature of the water from the antenna temperature, an unstable Fredholm integral equation of the first kind is solved. Fourier transform techniques are used to invert the integral after it is placed into a cross correlation form. Application and verification of the methods to a two-dimensional modeling of a laboratory wave tank system are included. The instability of the ill-posed Fredholm equation is examined and a restoration procedure is included which smooths the resulting oscillations. With the recent availability and advances of fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques, the method presented becomes very attractive in the evaluation of large quantities of data.

Thermal and albedo mapping of the north and south polar regions of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paige, D. A.; Keegan, K. D.

1991-01-01

The first maps are presented of the north and south polar regions of Mars. The thermal properties of the midlatitude regions from -60 deg to +60 deg latitude were mapped in previous studies. The presented maps complete the mapping of entire planet. The maps for the north and south polar regions were derived from Viking Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) observations. Best fit thermal inertias were determined by comparing the available IRTM 20 micron channel brightness within a given region to surface temperatures computed by a diurnal and seasonal thermal model. The model assumes no atmospheric contributions to the surface heat balance. The resulting maps of apparent thermal inertia and average IRTM measured solar channel lambert albedo for the north and south polar regions from the poles to +/- 60 deg latitude.

Active/passive microwave sensor comparison of MIZ-ice concentration estimates. [Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, B. A.; Cavalieri, D. J.; Keller, M. R.

1986-01-01

Active and passive microwave data collected during the 1984 summer Marginal Ice Zone Experiment in the Fram Strait (MIZEX 84) are used to compare ice concentration estimates derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to those obtained from passive microwave imagery at several frequencies. The comparison is carried out to evaluate SAR performance against the more established passive microwave technique, and to investigate discrepancies in terms of how ice surface conditions, imaging geometry, and choice of algorithm parameters affect each sensor. Active and passive estimates of ice concentration agree on average to within 12%. Estimates from the multichannel passive microwave data show best agreement with the SAR estimates because the multichannel algorithm effectively accounts for the range in ice floe brightness temperatures observed in the MIZ.

Use of Radar Vegetation Index (RVI) in Passive Microwave Algorithms for Soil Moisture Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowlandson, T. L.; Berg, A. A.

2013-12-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite will provide a unique opportunity for the estimation of soil moisture by having simultaneous radar and radiometer measurements available. As with the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, the soil moisture algorithms will need to account for the contribution of vegetation to the brightness temperature. Global maps of vegetation volumetric water content (VWC) are difficult to obtain, and the SMOS mission has opted to estimate the optical depth of standing vegetation by using a relationship between the VWC and the leaf area index (LAI). LAI is estimated from optical remote sensing or through soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer modeling. During the growing season, the VWC of agricultural crops can increase rapidly, and if cloud cover exists during an optical acquisition, the estimation of LAI may be delayed, resulting in an underestimation of the VWC and overestimation of the soil moisture. Alternatively, the radar vegetation index (RVI) has shown strong correlation and linear relationship with VWC for rice and soybeans. Using the SMAP radar to produce RVI values that are coincident to brightness temperature measurements may eliminate the need for LAI estimates. The SMAP Validation Experiment 2012 (SMAPVEX12) was a cal/val campaign for the SMAP mission held in Manitoba, Canada, during a 6-week period in June and July, 2012. During this campaign, soil moisture measurements were obtained for 55 fields with varying soil texture and vegetation cover. Vegetation was sampled from each field weekly to determine the VWC. Soil moisture measurements were taken coincident to overpasses by an aircraft carrying the Passive and Active L-band System (PALS) instrumentation. The aircraft flew flight lines at both high and low altitudes. The low altitude flight lines provided a footprint size approximately equivalent to the size of the SMAPVEX12 field sites. Of the 55 field sites, the low altitude flight lines provided measurements for 15 fields. One field was planted in corn; three were pasture; six were soybeans; three were wheat; and two were winter wheat. The average RVI for each field was determined for each PALS overpass, with sampled radar data confined to the field dimensions. A linear interpolation was conducted between measured values of VWC to estimate a daily VWC value. A linear regression was conducted between the average VWC and the RVI, for each vegetation type. A positive linear relationship was found for all crops, with the exception of pasture. The correlation between the RVI and VWC was strong for corn and pasture, but moderate for soybeans and winter wheat; however, the correlation for corn was not significant. The developed models were utilized to provide a calculated VWC which was inputted into a modified version of the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) to determine the error associated with using a calculated VWC from the RVI versus measured VWC data. The LPRM outputs for both scenarios were compared to the PALS radiometer measurements of brightness temperature.

Diode lasers optimized in brightness for fiber laser pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelemen, M.; Gilly, J.; Friedmann, P.; Hilzensauer, S.; Ogrodowski, L.; Kissel, H.; Biesenbach, J.

2018-02-01

In diode laser applications for fiber laser pumping and fiber-coupled direct diode laser systems high brightness becomes essential in the last years. Fiber coupled modules benefit from continuous improvements of high-power diode lasers on chip level regarding output power, efficiency and beam characteristics resulting in record highbrightness values and increased pump power. To gain high brightness not only output power must be increased, but also near field widths and far field angles have to be below a certain value for higher power levels because brightness is proportional to output power divided by beam quality. While fast axis far fields typically show a current independent behaviour, for broadarea lasers far-fields in the slow axis suffer from a strong current and temperature dependence, limiting the brightness and therefore their use in fibre coupled modules. These limitations can be overcome by carefully optimizing chip temperature, thermal lensing and lateral mode structure by epitaxial and lateral resonator designs and processing. We present our latest results for InGaAs/AlGaAs broad-area single emitters with resonator lengths of 4mm emitting at 976nm and illustrate the improvements in beam quality over the last years. By optimizing the diode laser design a record value of the brightness for broad-area lasers with 4mm resonator length of 126 MW/cm2sr has been demonstrated with a maximum wall-plug efficiency of more than 70%. From these design also pump modules based on 9 mini-bars consisting of 5 emitters each have been realized with 360W pump power.

Spatial imaging of hydrogen Lyman-alpha emission from Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clarke, J. T.; Weaver, H. A.; Feldman, P. D.; Moos, H. W.; Fastie, W. G.; Opal, C. B.

1980-01-01

A sounding rocket measurement of the H I L-alpha emission from Jupiter made on Dec. 1, 1978 shows limb darkening and an average disk brightness of 13 kR. This brightness is significantly higher than in previous measurements, and was confirmed by an IUE observation on Dec. 10, 1978. Comparison with a plane-parallel hydrogen layer model indicates that there is enhanced emission from the equatorial regions, reaching a peak near 80 deg longitude.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kamps, T; Barday, R; Jankowiak, A

In preparation for a high brightness, high average current electron source for the energy-recovery linac BERLinPro an all superconducting radio-frequency photoinjector is now in operation at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. The aim of this experiment is beam demonstration with a high brightness electron source able to generate sub-ps pulse length electron bunches from a superconducting (SC) cathode film made of Pb coated on the backwall of a Nb SRF cavity. This paper describes the setup of the experiment and first results from beam measurements.

A high brightness probe of polymer nanoparticles for biological imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Sirong; Zhu, Jiarong; Li, Yaping; Feng, Liheng

2018-03-01

Conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) with high brightness in long wavelength region were prepared by the nano-precipitation method. Based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism, the high brightness property of the CPNs was realized by four different emission polymers. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) displayed that the CPNs possessed a spherical structure and an average diameter of 75 nm. Analysis assays showed that the CPNs had excellent biocompatibility, good photostability and low cytotoxicity. The CPNs were bio-modified with a cell penetrating peptide (Tat, a targeted element) through covalent link. Based on the entire wave fluorescence emission, the functionalized CPNs1-4 can meet multichannel and high throughput assays in cell and organ imaging. The contribution of the work lies in not only providing a new way to obtain a high brightness imaging probe in long wavelength region, but also using targeted cell and organ imaging.

The Barnes-Evans color-surface brightness relation: A preliminary theoretical interpretation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shipman, H. L.

1980-01-01

Model atmosphere calculations are used to assess whether an empirically derived relation between V-R and surface brightness is independent of a variety of stellar paramters, including surface gravity. This relationship is used in a variety of applications, including the determination of the distances of Cepheid variables using a method based on the Beade-Wesselink method. It is concluded that the use of a main sequence relation between V-R color and surface brightness in determining radii of giant stars is subject to systematic errors that are smaller than 10% in the determination of a radius or distance for temperature cooler than 12,000 K. The error in white dwarf radii determined from a main sequence color surface brightness relation is roughly 10%.

Effects of electromagnetic radiation (bright light, extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, infrared radiation) on the circadian rhythm of melatonin synthesis, rectal temperature, and heart rate.

PubMed

Griefahn, Barbara; Künemund, Christa; Blaszkewicz, Meinolf; Lerchl, Alexander; Degen, Gisela H

2002-10-01

Electromagnetic spectra reduce melatonin production and delay the nadirs of rectal temperature and heart rate. Seven healthy men (16-22 yrs) completed 4 permuted sessions. The control session consisted of a 24-hours bedrest at < 30 lux, 18 degrees C, and < 50 dBA. In the experimental sessions, either light (1500 lux), magnetic field (16.7 Hz, 0.2 mT), or infrared radiation (65 degrees C) was applied from 5 pm to 1 am. Salivary melatonin level was determined hourly, rectal temperature and heart rate were continuously recorded. Melatonin synthesis was completely suppressed by light but resumed thereafter. The nadirs of rectal temperature and heart rate were delayed. The magnetic field had no effect. Infrared radiation elevated rectal temperature and heart rate. Only bright light affected the circadian rhythms of melatonin synthesis, rectal temperature, and heart rate, however, differently thus causing a dissociation, which might enhance the adverse effects of shiftwork in the long run.

Photic effects on sustained performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

French, J.; Whitmore, J.; Hannon, P. J.; Brainard, G.; Schiflett, S.

1992-01-01

Research is described which evaluates manipulating environmental light intensity as a means to attenuate fatigue. A counter balanced, within-subjects design was used to compare nine male subjects exposed to dim (100 lux) and bright (3000 lux) light conditions. Oral temperature values were greater for the bright light group over the dim light condition. Melatonin levels were suppressed by bright light treatment. Also, the frequency of eye blink rate was less for subjects during bright over dim light exposure. Light exposure was without effect on subjective fatigue. However, irrespective of light condition, significant effects on confusion, fatigue, and vigor mood dimensions were found as a result of 30 hour sleep deprivation. The findings suggest that bright lights may be used to help sustain nocturnal activity otherwise susceptible to fatigue. Such findings may have implications for the lighting arrangements on space flights during the subjective night for astronauts.

Temperature profile determination in an absorbing plasma.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Usher, J. L.; Campbell, H. D.

1972-01-01

A new method has been developed to determine the temperature profile of an optically-non-thin plasma. The technique is essentially an extension of the brightness-emissivity method to the case of a cylindrically-symmetric plasma.

Upgrade possibilities for continuous wave rf electron guns based on room-temperature very high frequency technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sannibale, F.; Filippetto, D.; Johnson, M.

The past decade was characterized by an increasing scientific demand for extending towards higher repetition rates (MHz class and beyond) the performance of already operating lower repetition rate accelerator-based instruments such as x-ray free electron lasers (FELs) and ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and microscopy (UEM) instruments. Such a need stimulated a worldwide spread of a vibrant R & D activity targeting the development of high-brightness electron sources capable of operating at these challenging rates. Among the different technologies pursued, rf guns based on room-temperature structures resonating in the very high frequency (VHF) range (30-300 MHz) and operating in continuous wavemore » successfully demonstrated in the past few years the targeted brightness and reliability. Nonetheless, recently proposed upgrades for x-ray FELs and the always brightness-frontier applications such as UED and UEM are now requiring a further step forward in terms of beam brightness in electron sources. Here, we present a few possible upgrade paths that would allow one to extend, in a relatively simple and cost-effective way, the performance of the present VHF technology to the required new goals.« less

Upgrade possibilities for continuous wave rf electron guns based on room-temperature very high frequency technology

DOE PAGES

Sannibale, F.; Filippetto, D.; Johnson, M.; ...

2017-11-27

The past decade was characterized by an increasing scientific demand for extending towards higher repetition rates (MHz class and beyond) the performance of already operating lower repetition rate accelerator-based instruments such as x-ray free electron lasers (FELs) and ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and microscopy (UEM) instruments. Such a need stimulated a worldwide spread of a vibrant R & D activity targeting the development of high-brightness electron sources capable of operating at these challenging rates. Among the different technologies pursued, rf guns based on room-temperature structures resonating in the very high frequency (VHF) range (30-300 MHz) and operating in continuous wavemore » successfully demonstrated in the past few years the targeted brightness and reliability. Nonetheless, recently proposed upgrades for x-ray FELs and the always brightness-frontier applications such as UED and UEM are now requiring a further step forward in terms of beam brightness in electron sources. Here, we present a few possible upgrade paths that would allow one to extend, in a relatively simple and cost-effective way, the performance of the present VHF technology to the required new goals.« less

Temperature and color management of silicon solar cells for building integrated photovoltaic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amara, Mohamed; Mandorlo, Fabien; Couderc, Romain; Gerenton, Félix; Lemiti, Mustapha

2018-01-01

Color management of integrated photovoltaics must meet two criteria of performance: provide maximum conversion efficiency and allow getting the chosen colors with an appropriate brightness, more particularly when using side by side solar cells of different colors. As the cooling conditions are not necessarily optimal, we need to take into account the influence of the heat transfer and temperature. In this article, we focus on the color space and brightness achieved by varying the antireflective properties of flat silicon solar cells. We demonstrate that taking into account the thermal effects allows freely choosing the color and adapting the brightness with a small impact on the conversion efficiency, except for dark blue solar cells. This behavior is especially true when heat exchange by convection is low. Our optical simulations show that the perceived color, for single layer ARC, is not varying with the position of the observer, whatever the chosen color. The use of a double layer ARC adds flexibility to tune the wanted color since the color space is greatly increased in the green and yellow directions. Last, choosing the accurate material allows both bright colors and high conversion efficiency at the same time.

Sensitivity of Support Vector Machine Predictions of Passive Microwave Brightness Temperature Over Snow-covered Terrain in High Mountain Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, J. A.; Forman, B. A.

2017-12-01

High Mountain Asia (HMA) serves as a water supply source for over 1.3 billion people, primarily in south-east Asia. Most of this water originates as snow (or ice) that melts during the summer months and contributes to the run-off downstream. In spite of its critical role, there is still considerable uncertainty regarding the total amount of snow in HMA and its spatial and temporal variation. In this study, the NASA Land Information Systems (LIS) is used to model the hydrologic cycle over the Indus basin. In addition, the ability of support vector machines (SVM), a machine learning technique, to predict passive microwave brightness temperatures at a specific frequency and polarization as a function of LIS-derived land surface model output is explored in a sensitivity analysis. Multi-frequency, multi-polarization passive microwave brightness temperatures as measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) over the Indus basin are used as training targets during the SVM training process. Normalized sensitivity coefficients (NSC) are then computed to assess the sensitivity of a well-trained SVM to each LIS-derived state variable. Preliminary results conform with the known first-order physics. For example, input states directly linked to physical temperature like snow temperature, air temperature, and vegetation temperature have positive NSC's whereas input states that increase volume scattering such as snow water equivalent or snow density yield negative NSC's. Air temperature exhibits the largest sensitivity coefficients due to its inherent, high-frequency variability. Adherence of this machine learning algorithm to the first-order physics bodes well for its potential use in LIS as the observation operator within a radiance data assimilation system aimed at improving regional- and continental-scale snow estimates.

Microwave Properties of Ice-Phase Hydrometeors for Radar and Radiometers: Sensitivity to Model Assumptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Benjamin T.; Petty, Grant W.; Skofronick-Jackson, Gail

2012-01-01

A simplied framework is presented for assessing the qualitative sensitivities of computed microwave properties, satellite brightness temperatures, and radar reflectivities to assumptions concerning the physical properties of ice-phase hydrometeors. Properties considered included the shape parameter of a gamma size distribution andthe melted-equivalent mass median diameter D0, the particle density, dielectric mixing formula, and the choice of complex index of refraction for ice. We examine these properties at selected radiometer frequencies of 18.7, 36.5, 89.0, and 150.0 GHz; and radar frequencies at 2.8, 13.4, 35.6, and 94.0 GHz consistent with existing and planned remote sensing instruments. Passive and active microwave observables of ice particles arefound to be extremely sensitive to the melted-equivalent mass median diameter D0 ofthe size distribution. Similar large sensitivities are found for variations in the ice vol-ume fraction whenever the geometric mass median diameter exceeds approximately 1/8th of the wavelength. At 94 GHz the two-way path integrated attenuation is potentially large for dense compact particles. The distribution parameter mu has a relatively weak effect on any observable: less than 1-2 K in brightness temperature and up to 2.7 dB difference in the effective radar reflectivity. Reversal of the roles of ice and air in the MaxwellGarnett dielectric mixing formula leads to a signicant change in both microwave brightness temperature (10 K) and radar reflectivity (2 dB). The choice of Warren (1984) or Warren and Brandt (2008) for the complex index of refraction of ice can produce a 3%-4% change in the brightness temperature depression.

The seasonal variation in skin hydration, sebum, scaliness, brightness and elasticity in Korean females.

PubMed

Nam, G W; Baek, J H; Koh, J S; Hwang, J-K

2015-02-01

Age, gender, regional, and ethnic differences influence skin conditions. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of environments, especially the air temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, duration of sunshine, and precipitation on skin, and the seasonal variation in skin hydration, sebum, scales, brightness, and elasticity in Korean females. The study included 89 Korean subjects, aged 29.7 ± 6.2 years. The five skin biophysical parameters (skin hydration, sebum, scales, brightness, and elasticity) were measured at six sites: forehead, under the eye, frontal cheek, crow's foot, lateral cheek, and inner forearm. Skin hydration was measured using the Corneometer® CM 825. Skin sebum was measured with Sebumeter® SM 815. Skin scaliness was measured with Visioscan® VC 98. Skin brightness (L* value) was measured by using Spectrophotometer. A suction chamber device, Cutometer® MPA 580, was used to measure the skin elasticity. The measurements were performed every month for 13 months, from April 2007 to April 2008. There were significantly seasonal variations in environmental factors. The air temperature was the lowest in January (-1.7°C), and the highest in August (26.5°C). The relative humidity was the lowest in February (46%), and the highest in July and August (75%). There was a negative correlation between skin scaliness and three environmental factors such as air temperature, relative humidity, and highest precipitation. There was a positive correlation between skin scaliness and two environmental factors such as air pressure and duration of sunshine. Elasticity was correlated with air temperature positively and with air pressure negatively. The correlations shown between the skin biophysical parameters and environmental factors demonstrate that the skin biophysical parameters are affected by environmental factors. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The influence of thermal inertia on temperatures and frost stability on Triton

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spencer, John R.; Moore, Jeffrey M.

1992-01-01

It is presently argued, in view of (1) a thermal inertia model for the surface of Triton which (like previous ones) predicts a monotonic recession of permanent N2 deposits toward the poles and very little seasonal N2 frost in the southern hemisphere, and (2) new spectroscopic evidence for nonvolatile CO2 on Triton's bright southern hemisphere, that much of that bright southern material is not N2. Such bright southern hemisphere volatiles may allow the formation of seasonal frosts, thereby helping to explain the observed spectroscopic changes of Triton during the last decade.

Effect of scene illumination conditions on digital enhancement techniques of multispectral scanner LANDSAT images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parada, N. D. J.; Novo, E. M. L. M.

1983-01-01

Two sets of MSS/LANDSAT data with solar elevation ranging from 22 deg to 41 deg were used at the Image-100 System to implement the Eliason et alii technique for extracting the topographic modulation component. An unsupervised cluster analysis was used to obtain an average brightness image for each channel. Analysis of the enhanced imaged shows that the technique for extracting topographic modulation component is more appropriated to MSS data obtained under high sun elevation ngles. Low sun elevation increases the variance of each cluster so that the average brightness doesn't represent its albedo proprties. The topographic modulation component applied to low sun elevation angle damages rather than enhance topographic information. Better results were produced for channels 4 and 5 than for channels 6 and 7.

Fall Colors, Temperature, and Day Length

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Stephen; Miller, Heather; Roossinck, Carrie

2007-01-01

Along with the bright hues of orange, red, and yellow, the season of fall represents significant changes, such as day length and temperature. These changes provide excellent opportunities for students to use science process skills to examine how abiotic factors such as weather and temperature impact organisms. In this article, the authors describe…

TRMM Precipitation Radar and Microwave Imager Observations of Convective and Stratiform Rain Over Land and Their Theoretical Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prabhakara, C.; Iacovazzi, R., Jr.; Yoo, J.-M.; Weinman, J. A.; Lau, William K. M. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Observations of brightness temperature, Tb made over land regions by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) radiometer have been analyzed along with the nearly simultaneous measurements of the vertical profiles of reflectivity factor, Z, made by the Precipitation Radar (PR) onboard the TRMM satellite. This analysis is performed to explore the interrelationship between the TMI and PR data in areas that are covered predominantly by convective or stratiform rain. In particular, we have compared on a scale of 20 km, average vertical profiles of Z with the averages of Tbs in the 19, 37 and 85 GHz channels. Generally, we find from these data that as Z increases, Tbs in the three channels decrease due to extinction. In order to explain physically the relationship between the Tb and Z observations, we have performed radiative transfer simulations utilizing vertical profiles of hydrometeors applicable to convective and stratiform rain regions. These profiles are constructed taking guidance from the Z observations of PR and recent LDR and ZDR measurements made by land-based polarimetric radars.

Snowpack monitoring in North America and Eurasia using passive microwave satellite data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, J. L.; Rango, A.; Hall, D. K.

1980-01-01

Areas of the Canadian high plains, the Montana and North Dakota high plains, and the steppes of central Russia were studied in an effort to determine the utility of spaceborne electrical scanning microwave radiometers (ESMR) for monitoring snow depths in different geographic areas. Significant regression relationships between snow depth and microwave brightness temperatures were developed for each of these homogeneous areas. In the areas investigated, Nimbus 6 (.081 cm) ESMR data produced higher correlations than Nimbus 5 (1.55 cm) ESMR data in relating microwave brightness temperature and snow depth from one area to another because different geographic areas are likely to have different snowpack conditions.

Modeling the non-grey-body thermal emission from the full moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogler, Karl J.; Johnson, Paul E.; Shorthill, Richard W.

1991-01-01

The present series of thermophysical computer models for solid-surfaced planetary bodies whose surface roughness is modeled as paraboloidal craters of specified depth/diameter ratio attempts to characterize the nongrey-body brightness temperature spectra of the moon and of the Galilean satellites. This modeling, in which nondiffuse radiation properties and surface roughness are included for rigorous analysis of scattered and reemitted radiation within a crater, explains to first order the behavior of both limb-scans and disk-integrated IR brightness temperature spectra for the full moon. Only negative surface relief can explain lunar thermal emissions' deviation from smooth Lambert-surface expectations.

Satellite observations of a monsoon depression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warner, C.

1984-01-01

The exploration of a monsoon depression over Burma and the Bay of Bengal is discussed. Aircraft and satellite data were examined, with an emphasis on the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) aboard TIROS-N and the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) aboard Nimbus-7. The structure of the monsoon depression was found to be dominated by cumulus convection. The only systematic large scale behavior discerned was a propagation of the depression westward, and diurnal migration of contours of brightness temperature. These contours in the middle troposphere showed a gradient toward the north with the patterns migrating northward at night. From SMMR and dropwindsonde data, water vapor contents were found to be near 65 mm, increasing to more than 70 mm in the northeast Bay of Bengal. Cloud water contents reached about three mm. Rainfall rates exceeding 5.7 mm/h occurred over a small part of the storm area, while mean rainfall rates in areas of order 20,000 sq km reached approximately 0.5 mm/h. Measured MSU brightness temperatures were reconciled very well with dropwindsonde data and with airborne in situ observations of clouds (by photography) and hydrometeors (by radar). Diffuse scattering was determined to be important in computing brightness temperature.

Aircraft microwave observations and simulations of deep convection from 18 to 183 GHz. II - Model results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeh, Hwa-Young M.; Prasad, N.; Mack, Robert A.; Adler, Robert F.

1990-01-01

In this June 29, 1986 case study, a radiative transfer model is used to simulate the aircraft multichannel microwave brightness temperatures presented in the Adler et al. (1990) paper and to study the convective storm structure. Ground-based radar data are used to derive hydrometeor profiles of the storm, based on which the microwave upwelling brightness temperatures are calculated. Various vertical hydrometeor phase profiles and the Marshall and Palmer (M-P, 1948) and Sekhon and Srivastava (S-S, 1970) ice particle size distributions are experimented in the model. The results are compared with the aircraft radiometric data. The comparison reveals that the M-P distribution well represents the ice particle size distribution, especially in the upper tropospheric portion of the cloud; the S-S distribution appears to better simulate the ice particle size at the lower portion of the cloud, which has a greater effect on the low-frequency microwave upwelling brightness temperatures; and that, in deep convective regions, significant supercooled liquid water (about 0.5 g/cu m) may be present up to the -30 C layer, while in less convective areas, frozen hydrometeors are predominant above -10 C level.

Absolute calibration of the OMEGA streaked optical pyrometer for temperature measurements of compressed materials

DOE PAGES

Gregor, M. C.; Boni, R.; Sorce, A.; ...

2016-11-29

Experiments in high-energy-density physics often use optical pyrometry to determine temperatures of dynamically compressed materials. In combination with simultaneous shock-velocity and optical-reflectivity measurements using velocity interferometry, these experiments provide accurate equation-of-state data at extreme pressures (P > 1 Mbar) and temperatures (T > 0.5 eV). This paper reports on the absolute calibration of the streaked optical pyrometer (SOP) at the Omega Laser Facility. The wavelength-dependent system response was determined by measuring the optical emission from a National Institute of Standards and Technology–traceable tungsten-filament lamp through various narrowband (40 nm-wide) filters. The integrated signal over the SOP’s ~250-nm operating range ismore » then related to that of a blackbody radiator using the calibrated response. We present a simple closed-form equation for the brightness temperature as a function of streak-camera signal derived from this calibration. As a result, error estimates indicate that brightness temperature can be inferred to a precision of <5%.« less

Absolute calibration of the OMEGA streaked optical pyrometer for temperature measurements of compressed materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gregor, M. C.; Boni, R.; Sorce, A.

Experiments in high-energy-density physics often use optical pyrometry to determine temperatures of dynamically compressed materials. In combination with simultaneous shock-velocity and optical-reflectivity measurements using velocity interferometry, these experiments provide accurate equation-of-state data at extreme pressures (P > 1 Mbar) and temperatures (T > 0.5 eV). This paper reports on the absolute calibration of the streaked optical pyrometer (SOP) at the Omega Laser Facility. The wavelength-dependent system response was determined by measuring the optical emission from a National Institute of Standards and Technology–traceable tungsten-filament lamp through various narrowband (40 nm-wide) filters. The integrated signal over the SOP’s ~250-nm operating range ismore » then related to that of a blackbody radiator using the calibrated response. We present a simple closed-form equation for the brightness temperature as a function of streak-camera signal derived from this calibration. As a result, error estimates indicate that brightness temperature can be inferred to a precision of <5%.« less

Post-shock temperatures in minerals. [infrared detection of brightness temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raikes, S. A.; Ahrens, T. J.

1978-01-01

Post-shock temperatures were measured in a wide variety of materials, including those of geophysical interest such as silicates by using an infrared detector to determine the brightness temperature of samples shocked to pressures in the range 5 to approximately 30 GPa. Measurements were made in the 4.5 to 5.75 micron and in the 7 to 14 micron wavelength ranges. Reproducible results, withe the temperatures in the two wavelength bands generally in excellent agreement, were obtained for aluminum-2024 (10.5 to 33 GPa; 125 to 260 C), stainless steel-304 (11.5 to 50 GPa; 80 to 350 C), crystalline quartz (5.0 to 21.5 GPa; 80 to 250 C) forsterite (7.5 to 28.0 GPa; approximately 30 to 160 C) and Bamble bronzite (6.0 to 26.0 GPa; approximately 30 to 225 C). Results are generally much higher at low pressures than the values calculated assuming a hydrodynamic rheology and isentropic release parallel to the Hugoniot but tend towards them at higher pressures.

Simultaneous Assimilation of AMSR-E Brightness Temperature and MODIS LST to Improve Soil Moisture with Dual Ensemble Kalman Smoother

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chunlin; Chen, Weijin; Wang, Weizhen; Gu, Juan

2017-04-01

Uncertainties in model parameters can easily cause systematic differences between model states and observations from ground or satellites, which significantly affect the accuracy of soil moisture estimation in data assimilation systems. In this paper, a novel soil moisture assimilation scheme is developed to simultaneously assimilate AMSR-E brightness temperature (TB) and MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST), which can correct model bias by simultaneously updating model states and parameters with dual ensemble Kalman filter (DEnKS). The Common Land Model (CoLM) and a Q-h Radiative Transfer Model (RTM) are adopted as model operator and observation operator, respectively. The assimilation experiment is conducted in Naqu, Tibet Plateau, from May 31 to September 27, 2011. Compared with in-situ measurements, the accuracy of soil moisture estimation is tremendously improved in terms of a variety of scales. The updated soil temperature by assimilating MODIS LST as input of RTM can reduce the differences between the simulated and observed brightness temperatures to a certain degree, which helps to improve the estimation of soil moisture and model parameters. The updated parameters show large discrepancy with the default ones and the former effectively reduces the states bias of CoLM. Results demonstrate the potential of assimilating both microwave TB and MODIS LST to improve the estimation of soil moisture and related parameters. Furthermore, this study also indicates that the developed scheme is an effective soil moisture downscaling approach for coarse-scale microwave TB.

Fusion of Terra-MODIS and Landsat TM data for geothermal sites investigation in Jiangsu Province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shengbo

2006-01-01

Geothermal resources are generally confined to areas of the Earth's crust where heat flow higher than in surrounding areas heats the water contained in permeable rocks (reservoirs) at depth. It is becoming one of attractive solutions for clean and sustainable energy future for the world. The geothermal fields commonly occurs at the boundaries of plates, and only occasionally in the middle of a plate. The study area, Jiangsu Province, as an example, located in the east of China, is a potential area of geothermal energy. In this study, Landsat thematic Mapper (TM) data were georeferenced to position spatially the geothermal energy in the study area. Multi-spectral infrared data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra platform were georeferenced to Landsat TM images. Based on the Wien Displacement Law, these infrared data indicate the surface emitted radiance under the same atmospheric condition, and stand for surface bright temperature respectively. Thus, different surface bright temperature data from Terra-MODIS band 20 or band 31 (R), together with Landsat TM band 4 (G) and band 3 (B) separately, were made up false color composite images (RGB) to generate the distribution maps of surface bright temperatures. Combing with geologic environment and geophysical anomalies, the potential area of geothermal energy with different geo-temperature were mapped respectively. Specially, one geothermal spot in Qinhu Lake Scenery Area in Taizhou city was validated by drilling, and its groundwater temperature is up to some 51°.

HERSCHEL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF LITTLE THINGS DWARF GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cigan, Phil; Young, Lisa; Cormier, Diane

We present far-infrared (FIR) spectral line observations of five galaxies from the Little Things sample: DDO 69, DDO 70, DDO 75, DDO 155, and WLM. While most studies of dwarfs focus on bright systems or starbursts due to observational constraints, our data extend the observed parameter space into the regime of low surface brightness dwarf galaxies with low metallicities and moderate star formation rates. Our targets were observed with Herschel at the [C ii] 158 μm, [O i] 63 μm, [O iii] 88 μm, and [N ii] 122 μm emission lines using the PACS Spectrometer. These high-resolution maps allow usmore » for the first time to study the FIR properties of these systems on the scales of larger star-forming complexes. The spatial resolution in our maps, in combination with star formation tracers, allows us to identify separate photodissociation regions (PDRs) in some of the regions we observed. Our systems have widespread [C ii] emission that is bright relative to continuum, averaging near 0.5% of the total infrared (TIR) budget—higher than in solar-metallicity galaxies of other types. [N ii] is weak, suggesting that the [C ii] emission in our galaxies comes mostly from PDRs instead of the diffuse ionized interstellar medium (ISM). These systems exhibit efficient cooling at low dust temperatures, as shown by ([O i]+[C ii])/TIR in relation to 60 μm/100 μm, and low [O i]/[C ii] ratios which indicate that [C ii] is the dominant coolant of the ISM. We observe [O iii]/[C ii] ratios in our galaxies that are lower than those published for other dwarfs, but similar to levels noted in spirals.« less

EUV brightness variations in the quiet Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brković, A.; Rüedi, I.; Solanki, S. K.; Fludra, A.; Harrison, R. A.; Huber, M. C. E.; Stenflo, J. O.; Stucki, K.

2000-01-01

The Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) onboard the SOHO satellite has been used to obtain movies of quiet Sun regions at disc centre. These movies were used to study brightness variations of solar features at three different temperatures sampled simultaneously in the chromospheric He I 584.3 Ä (2 * 104 K), the transition region O V 629.7 Ä (2.5 * 105 K) and coronal Mg IX 368.1 Ä (106 K) lines. In all parts of the quiet Sun, from darkest intranetwork to brightest network, we find significant variability in the He I and O V line, while the variability in the Mg IX line is more marginal. The relative variability, defined by rms of intensity normalised to the local intensity, is independent of brightness and strongest in the transition region line. Thus the relative variability is the same in the network and the intranetwork. More than half of the points on the solar surface show a relative variability, determined over a period of 4 hours, greater than 15.5% for the O V line, but only 5% of the points exhibit a variability above 25%. Most of the variability appears to take place on time-scales between 5 and 80 minutes for the He I and O V lines. Clear signs of ``high variability'' events are found. For these events the variability as a function of time seen in the different lines shows a good correlation. The correlation is higher for more variable events. These events coincide with the (time averaged) brightest points on the solar surface, i.e. they occur in the network. The spatial positions of the most variable points are identical in all the lines.

γ-Ray and Parsec-scale Jet Properties of a Complete Sample of Blazars From the MOJAVE Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lister, M. L.; Aller, M.; Aller, H.; Hovatta, T.; Kellermann, K. I.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Meyer, E. T.; Pushkarev, A. B.; Ros, E.; MOJAVE Collaboration; Ackermann, M.; Antolini, E.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Boeck, M.; Bonamente, E.; Borgland, A. W.; Bregeon, J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caraveo, P. A.; Casandjian, J. M.; Cavazzuti, E.; Cecchi, C.; Chang, C. S.; Charles, E.; Chekhtman, A.; Cheung, C. C.; Chiang, J.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Conrad, J.; Cutini, S.; de Palma, F.; Dermer, C. D.; Silva, E. do Couto e.; Drell, P. S.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Ferrara, E. C.; Finke, J.; Focke, W. B.; Fortin, P.; Fukazawa, Y.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Gehrels, N.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Grenier, I. A.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Hayashida, M.; Hays, E.; Horan, D.; Hughes, R. E.; Jóhannesson, G.; Johnson, A. S.; Kadler, M.; Katagiri, H.; Kataoka, J.; Knödlseder, J.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lott, B.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Madejski, G. M.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McConville, W.; McEnery, J. E.; Mehault, J.; Michelson, P. F.; Mizuno, T.; Monte, C.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Nishino, S.; Nolan, P. L.; Norris, J. P.; Nuss, E.; Ohno, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Okumura, A.; Omodei, N.; Orlando, E.; Ozaki, M.; Paneque, D.; Parent, D.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Rainò, S.; Readhead, A.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Richards, J. L.; Ritz, S.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Sgrò, C.; Shaw, M. S.; Siskind, E. J.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Takahashi, H.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J. G.; Thayer, J. B.; Thompson, D. J.; Tosti, G.; Tramacere, A.; Troja, E.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Vianello, G.; Vitale, V.; Waite, A. P.; Wang, P.; Winer, B. L.; Wood, K. S.; Zimmer, S.; Fermi LAT Collaboration

2011-11-01

We investigate the Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-ray and 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array radio properties of a joint γ-ray and radio-selected sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) obtained during the first 11 months of the Fermi mission (2008 August 4-2009 July 5). Our sample contains the brightest 173 AGNs in these bands above declination -30° during this period, and thus probes the full range of γ-ray loudness (γ-ray to radio band luminosity ratio) in the bright blazar population. The latter quantity spans at least 4 orders of magnitude, reflecting a wide range of spectral energy distribution (SED) parameters in the bright blazar population. The BL Lac objects, however, display a linear correlation of increasing γ-ray loudness with synchrotron SED peak frequency, suggesting a universal SED shape for objects of this class. The synchrotron self-Compton model is favored for the γ-ray emission in these BL Lac objects over external seed photon models, since the latter predict a dependence of Compton dominance on Doppler factor that would destroy any observed synchrotron SED-peak-γ-ray-loudness correlation. The high-synchrotron peaked (HSP) BL Lac objects are distinguished by lower than average radio core brightness temperatures, and none display large radio modulation indices or high linear core polarization levels. No equivalent trends are seen for the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our sample. Given the association of such properties with relativistic beaming, we suggest that the HSP BL Lac objects have generally lower Doppler factors than the lower-synchrotron peaked BL Lac objects or FSRQs in our sample.

{gamma}-RAY AND PARSEC-SCALE JET PROPERTIES OF A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BLAZARS FROM THE MOJAVE PROGRAM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lister, M. L.; Hovatta, T.; Aller, M.

We investigate the Fermi Large Area Telescope {gamma}-ray and 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array radio properties of a joint {gamma}-ray and radio-selected sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) obtained during the first 11 months of the Fermi mission (2008 August 4-2009 July 5). Our sample contains the brightest 173 AGNs in these bands above declination -30 Degree-Sign during this period, and thus probes the full range of {gamma}-ray loudness ({gamma}-ray to radio band luminosity ratio) in the bright blazar population. The latter quantity spans at least 4 orders of magnitude, reflecting a wide range of spectral energy distribution (SED)more » parameters in the bright blazar population. The BL Lac objects, however, display a linear correlation of increasing {gamma}-ray loudness with synchrotron SED peak frequency, suggesting a universal SED shape for objects of this class. The synchrotron self-Compton model is favored for the {gamma}-ray emission in these BL Lac objects over external seed photon models, since the latter predict a dependence of Compton dominance on Doppler factor that would destroy any observed synchrotron SED-peak-{gamma}-ray-loudness correlation. The high-synchrotron peaked (HSP) BL Lac objects are distinguished by lower than average radio core brightness temperatures, and none display large radio modulation indices or high linear core polarization levels. No equivalent trends are seen for the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our sample. Given the association of such properties with relativistic beaming, we suggest that the HSP BL Lac objects have generally lower Doppler factors than the lower-synchrotron peaked BL Lac objects or FSRQs in our sample.« less

LIRAS mission for lunar exploration by microwave interferometric radiometer: Moon's subsurface characterization, emission model and numerical simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pompili, Sara; Silvio Marzano, Frank; Di Carlofelice, Alessandro; Montopoli, Mario; Talone, Marco; Crapolicchio, Raffaele; L'Abbate, Michelangelo; Varchetta, Silvio; Tognolatti, Piero

2013-04-01

The "Lunar Interferometric Radiometer by Aperture Synthesis" (LIRAS) mission is promoted by the Italian Space Agency and is currently in feasibility phase. LIRAS' satellite will orbit around the Moon at a height of 100 km, with a revisiting time period lower than 1 lunar month and will be equipped with: a synthetic aperture radiometer for subsurface sounding purposes, working at 1 and 3 GHz, and a real aperture radiometer for near-surface probing, working at 12 and 24 GHz. The L-band payload, representing a novel concept for lunar exploration, is designed as a Y-shaped thinned array with three arms less than 2.5 m long. The main LIRAS objectives are high-resolution mapping and vertical sounding of the Moon subsurface by applying the advantages of the antenna aperture synthesis technique to a multi-frequency microwave passive payload. The mission is specifically designed to achieve spatial resolutions less than 10 km at surface and to retrieve thermo-morphological properties of the Moon subsurface within 5 m of depth. Among LIRAS products are: lunar near-surface brightness temperature, subsurface brightness temperature gross profile, subsurface regolith thickness, density and average thermal conductivity, detection index of possible subsurface discontinuities (e.g. ice presence). The following study involves the preliminary design of the LIRAS payload and the electromagnetic and thermal characterization of the lunar subsoil through the implementation of a simulator for reproducing the LIRAS measurements in response to observations of the Moon surface and subsurface layers. Lunar physical data, collected after the Apollo missions, and LIRAS instrument parameters are taken as input for the abovementioned simulator, called "LIRAS End-to-end Performance Simulator" (LEPS) and obtained by adapting the SMOS End-to-end Performance Simulator to the different instrumental, orbital, and geophysical LIRAS characteristics. LEPS completely simulates the behavior of the satellite when it becomes operational providing the extrapolation of lunar brightness temperature maps in both Antenna frame (the cosine domain) and on the Moon surface and allowing an accurate analysis of the instrument performance. The Moon stratigraphy is reproduced in LEPS environment through three scenarios: a macro-layer of regolith; two subsequent macro-layers of regolith and rock; three subsequent macro-layers of regolith, ice and rock, respectively. These scenarios are studied using an incoherent approach, taking into account the interaction between the upwelling and downwelling radiation contributions from each layer to model the resulting brightness temperature at the surface level. It has been considered that the radiative behavior of the Moon varies over time, depending on solar illumination conditions, and it is also function of the material properties, layer thickness and specific position on the lunar crust; moreover it has been examined its variation with frequency, observation angle, and polarization. Using the proposed emission model it has been possible to derive a digital thermal model in the microwave frequency of the Moon, allowing in-depth analysis of the lunar soil consistency; this collected information could be related with a lunar digital elevation model in order to achieve global coverage information on topological aspects. The main results of the study will be presented at the conference.

Atmospheric forcing of sea ice anomalies in the Ross Sea polynya region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dale, Ethan R.; McDonald, Adrian J.; Coggins, Jack H. J.; Rack, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

We investigate the impacts of strong wind events on the sea ice concentration within the Ross Sea polynya (RSP), which may have consequences on sea ice formation. Bootstrap sea ice concentration (SIC) measurements derived from satellite SSM/I brightness temperatures are correlated with surface winds and temperatures from Ross Ice Shelf automatic weather stations (AWSs) and weather models (ERA-Interim). Daily data in the austral winter period were used to classify characteristic weather regimes based on the percentiles of wind speed. For each regime a composite of a SIC anomaly was formed for the entire Ross Sea region and we found that persistent weak winds near the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf are generally associated with positive SIC anomalies in the Ross Sea polynya and vice versa. By analyzing sea ice motion vectors derived from the SSM/I brightness temperatures we find significant sea ice motion anomalies throughout the Ross Sea during strong wind events, which persist for several days after a strong wind event has ended. Strong, negative correlations are found between SIC and AWS wind speed within the RSP indicating that strong winds cause significant advection of sea ice in the region. We were able to partially recreate these correlations using colocated, modeled ERA-Interim wind speeds. However, large AWS and model differences are observed in the vicinity of Ross Island, where ERA-Interim underestimates wind speeds by a factor of 1.7 resulting in a significant misrepresentation of RSP processes in this area based on model data. Thus, the cross-correlation functions produced by compositing based on ERA-Interim wind speeds differed significantly from those produced with AWS wind speeds. In general the rapid decrease in SIC during a strong wind event is followed by a more gradual recovery in SIC. The SIC recovery continues over a time period greater than the average persistence of strong wind events and sea ice motion anomalies. This suggests that sea ice recovery occurs through thermodynamic rather than dynamic processes.

Atmospheric forcing of sea ice anomalies in the Ross Sea Polynya region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dale, Ethan; McDonald, Adrian; Rack, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

Despite warming trends in global temperatures, sea ice extent in the southern hemisphere has shown an increasing trend over recent decades. Wind-driven sea ice export from coastal polynyas is an important source of sea ice production. Areas of major polynyas in the Ross Sea, the region with largest increase in sea ice extent, have been suggested to produce the vast amount of the sea ice in the region. We investigate the impacts of strong wind events on polynyas and the subsequent sea ice production. We utilize Bootstrap sea ice concentration (SIC) measurements derived from satellite based, Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperature images. These are compared with surface wind measurements made by automatic weather stations of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Antarctic Meteorology Program. Our analysis focusses on the winter period defined as 1st April to 1st November in this study. Wind data was used to classify each day into characteristic regimes based on the change of wind speed. For each regime, a composite of SIC anomaly was formed for the Ross Sea region. We found that persistent weak winds near the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf are generally associated with positive SIC anomalies in the Ross Sea polynya area (RSP). Conversely we found negative SIC anomalies in this area during persistent strong winds. By analyzing sea ice motion vectors derived from SSM/I brightness temperatures, we find significant sea ice motion anomalies throughout the Ross Sea during strong wind events. These anomalies persist for several days after the strong wing event. Strong, negative correlations are found between SIC within the RSP and wind speed indicating that strong winds cause significant advection of sea ice in the RSP. This rapid decrease in SIC is followed by a more gradual recovery in SIC. This increase occurs on a time scale greater than the average persistence of strong wind events and the resulting Sea ice motion anomalies, highlighting the production of new sea ice through thermodynamic processes.

Solar corona during the 1994 and 1999 eclipses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badalyan, O. G.; Sýkora, J.

2008-06-01

The lower and middle layers of the corona are studied analyzing the ground-based observations carried out during the November 3, 1994 and August 11, 1999 total solar eclipses. While the 1994 eclipse took place nearby the solar activity minimum, the 1999 eclipse occurred closer to the solar cycle maximum. Structures, isolines of brightness and polarization, and topology of the magnetic field lines of force (calculated under a potential approximation) of these two coronae are mutually compared. It is confirmed that the brightness distribution in the corona corresponds to the hydrostatic distribution of density at the distances 1.2-1.8R⊙. Temperature 1.4 MK and density n0 = 3.3 × 108cm-3 are found for the equatorial coronal regions of the 1999 corona. Physical conditions in the polar coronal regions are investigated analyzing the brightness and polarization of the 1994 eclipse. We have found that the degree of polarization in polar plumes is about 10% higher than that in the inter-plumes space. Consideration of the brightness in plumes and in the adjacent background space allowed us to conclude that the temperatures there are close to 1 MK. The density in the individual plumes is near n0 = 2.7 × 108cm-3, while it decreases to about n0 = 2.0 × 108cm-3 in the inter-plumes space. It is pointed out that the simultaneous interpretation of the measured brightness and polarization struggles with some difficulties.

Subjective time runs faster under the influence of bright rather than dim light conditions during the forenoon.

PubMed

Morita, Takeshi; Fukui, Tomoe; Morofushi, Masayo; Tokura, Hiromi

2007-05-16

The study investigated if 6 h morning bright light exposure, compared with dim light exposure, could influence time sense (range: 5-15 s). Eight women served as participants. The participant entered a bioclimatic chamber at 10:00 h on the day before the test day, where an ambient temperature and relative humidity were controlled at 25 degrees C and 60%RH. She sat quietly in a sofa in 50 lx until 22:00 h, retired at 22:00 h and then slept in total darkness. She rose at 07:00 h the following morning and again sat quietly in a sofa till 13:00 h, either in bright (2500 lx) or dim light (50 lx), the order of light intensities between the two occasions being randomized. The time-estimation test was performed from 13:00 to 13:10 h in 200 lx. The participant estimated the time that had elapsed between two buzzers, ranging over 5-15 s, and inputting the estimate into a computer. The test was carried out separately upon each individual. Results showed that the participants estimated higher durations of the given time intervals after previous exposure to 6 h of bright rather than dim light. The finding is discussed in terms of different load errors (difference between the actual core temperature and its thermoregulatory set-point) following 6-h exposure to bright or dim light in the morning.

Night Sky Brightness at San Pedro Martir Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plauchu-Frayn, I.; Richer, M. G.; Colorado, E.; Herrera, J.; Córdova, A.; Ceseña, U.; Ávila, F.

2017-03-01

We present optical UBVRI zenith night sky brightness measurements collected on 18 nights during 2013 to 2016 and SQM measurements obtained daily over 20 months during 2014 to 2016 at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on the Sierra San Pedro Mártir (OAN-SPM) in México. The UBVRI data is based upon CCD images obtained with the 0.84 m and 2.12 m telescopes, while the SQM data is obtained with a high-sensitivity, low-cost photometer. The typical moonless night sky brightness at zenith averaged over the whole period is U = 22.68, B = 23.10, V = 21.84, R = 21.04, I = 19.36, and SQM = 21.88 {mag} {{arcsec}}-2, once corrected for zodiacal light. We find no seasonal variation of the night sky brightness measured with the SQM. The typical night sky brightness values found at OAN-SPM are similar to those reported for other astronomical dark sites at a similar phase of the solar cycle. We find a trend of decreasing night sky brightness with decreasing solar activity during period of the observations. This trend implies that the sky has become darker by Δ U = 0.7, Δ B = 0.5, Δ V = 0.3, Δ R=0.5 mag arcsec-2 since early 2014 due to the present solar cycle.

LARGER PLANET RADII INFERRED FROM STELLAR ''FLICKER'' BRIGHTNESS VARIATIONS OF BRIGHT PLANET-HOST STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bastien, Fabienne A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Pepper, Joshua

2014-06-10

Most extrasolar planets have been detected by their influence on their parent star, typically either gravitationally (the Doppler method) or by the small dip in brightness as the planet blocks a portion of the star (the transit method). Therefore, the accuracy with which we know the masses and radii of extrasolar planets depends directly on how well we know those of the stars, the latter usually determined from the measured stellar surface gravity, log g. Recent work has demonstrated that the short-timescale brightness variations ({sup f}licker{sup )} of stars can be used to measure log g to a high accuracymore » of ∼0.1-0.2 dex. Here, we use flicker measurements of 289 bright (Kepmag < 13) candidate planet-hosting stars with T {sub eff} = 4500-6650 K to re-assess the stellar parameters and determine the resulting impact on derived planet properties. This re-assessment reveals that for the brightest planet-host stars, Malmquist bias contaminates the stellar sample with evolved stars: nearly 50% of the bright planet-host stars are subgiants. As a result, the stellar radii, and hence the radii of the planets orbiting these stars, are on average 20%-30% larger than previous measurements had suggested.« less

Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies Have "Normal" Luminosities.

PubMed

Schaefer

2000-04-10

The galactic environment of gamma-ray bursts can provide good evidence about the nature of the progenitor system, with two old arguments implying that the burst host galaxies are significantly subluminous. New data and new analysis have now reversed this picture: (1) Even though the first two known host galaxies are indeed greatly subluminous, the next eight hosts have absolute magnitudes typical for a population of field galaxies. A detailed analysis of the 16 known hosts (10 with redshifts) shows them to be consistent with a Schechter luminosity function with R*=-21.8+/-1.0, as expected for normal galaxies. (2) Bright bursts from the Interplanetary Network are typically 18 times brighter than the faint bursts with redshifts; however, the bright bursts do not have galaxies inside their error boxes to limits deeper than expected based on the luminosities for the two samples being identical. A new solution to this dilemma is that a broad burst luminosity function along with a burst number density varying as the star formation rate will require the average luminosity of the bright sample (>6x1058 photons s-1 or>1.7x1052 ergs s-1) to be much greater than the average luminosity of the faint sample ( approximately 1058 photons s-1 or approximately 3x1051 ergs s-1). This places the bright bursts at distances for which host galaxies with a normal luminosity will not violate the observed limits. In conclusion, all current evidence points to gamma-ray burst host galaxies being normal in luminosity.

A Physical Model to Estimate Snowfall over Land using AMSU-B Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Min-Jeong; Weinman, J. A.; Olson, W. S.; Chang, D.-E.; Skofronick-Jackson, G.; Wang, J. R.

2008-01-01

In this study, we present an improved physical model to retrieve snowfall rate over land using brightness temperature observations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit-B (AMSU-B) at 89 GHz, 150 GHz, 183.3 +/- 1 GHz, 183.3 +/- 3 GHz, and 183.3 +/- 7 GHz. The retrieval model is applied to the New England blizzard of March 5, 2001 which deposited about 75 cm of snow over much of Vermont, New Hampshire, and northern New York. In this improved physical model, prior retrieval assumptions about snowflake shape, particle size distributions, environmental conditions, and optimization methodology have been updated. Here, single scattering parameters for snow particles are calculated with the Discrete-Dipole Approximation (DDA) method instead of assuming spherical shapes. Five different snow particle models (hexagonal columns, hexagonal plates, and three different kinds of aggregates) are considered. Snow particle size distributions are assumed to vary with air temperature and to follow aircraft measurements described by previous studies. Brightness temperatures at AMSU-B frequencies for the New England blizzard are calculated using these DDA calculated single scattering parameters and particle size distributions. The vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, relative humidity and hydrometeors are provided by MM5 model simulations. These profiles are treated as the a priori data base in the Bayesian retrieval algorithm. In algorithm applications to the blizzard data, calculated brightness temperatures associated with selected database profiles agree with AMSU-B observations to within about +/- 5 K at all five frequencies. Retrieved snowfall rates compare favorably with the near-concurrent National Weather Service (NWS) radar reflectivity measurements. The relationships between the NWS radar measured reflectivities Z(sub e) and retrieved snowfall rate R for a given snow particle model are derived by a histogram matching technique. All of these Z(sub e)-R relationships fall in the range of previously established Z(sub e)-R relationships for snowfall. This suggests that the current physical model developed in this study can reliably estimate the snowfall rate over land using the AMSU-B measured brightness temperatures.

Color constancy in a scene with bright colors that do not have a fully natural surface appearance.

PubMed

Fukuda, Kazuho; Uchikawa, Keiji

2014-04-01

Theoretical and experimental approaches have proposed that color constancy involves a correction related to some average of stimulation over the scene, and some of the studies showed that the average gives greater weight to surrounding bright colors. However, in a natural scene, high-luminance elements do not necessarily carry information about the scene illuminant when the luminance is too high for it to appear as a natural object color. The question is how a surrounding color's appearance mode influences its contribution to the degree of color constancy. Here the stimuli were simple geometric patterns, and the luminance of surrounding colors was tested over the range beyond the luminosity threshold. Observers performed perceptual achromatic setting on the test patch in order to measure the degree of color constancy and evaluated the surrounding bright colors' appearance mode. Broadly, our results support the assumption that the visual system counts only the colors in the object-color appearance for color constancy. However, detailed analysis indicated that surrounding colors without a fully natural object-color appearance had some sort of influence on color constancy. Consideration of this contribution of unnatural object color might be important for precise modeling of human color constancy.

Drilling of optical glass with electroplated diamond tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, A. J.; Luan, C. G.; Yu, A. B.

2010-10-01

K9 optical glass drilling experiments were carried out. Bright nickel electroplated diamond tools with small slots and under heat treatment in different temperature were fabricated. Scan electro microscope was applied to analyze the wear of electroplated diamond tool. The material removal rate and grinding ratio were calculated. Machining quality was observed. Bond coating hardness was measured. The experimental results show that coolant is needed for the drilling processes of optical glasses. Heat treatment temperature of diamond tool has influence on wearability of diamond tool and grinding ratio. There were two wear types of electroplated diamond tool, diamond grit wear and bond wear. With the machining processes, wear of diamond grits included fracture, blunt and pull-out, and electroplated bond was gradually worn out. High material removal rates could be obtained by using diamond tool with suitable slot numbers. Bright nickel coating bond presents smallest grains and has better mechanical properties. Bright nickel electroplated diamond tool with slot structure and heat treatment under 200°C was suitable for optical glass drilling.

THE CHROMOSPHERIC SOLAR MILLIMETER-WAVE CAVITY ORIGINATES IN THE TEMPERATURE MINIMUM REGION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

De la Luz, Victor; Raulin, Jean-Pierre; Lara, Alejandro

2013-01-10

We present a detailed theoretical analysis of the local radio emission at the lower part of the solar atmosphere. To accomplish this, we have used a numerical code to simulate the emission and transport of high-frequency electromagnetic waves from 2 GHz up to 10 THz. As initial conditions, we used VALC, SEL05, and C7 solar chromospheric models. In this way, the generated synthetic spectra allow us to study the local emission and absorption processes with high resolution in both altitude and frequency. Associated with the temperature minimum predicted by these models, we found that the local optical depth at millimetermore » wavelengths remains constant, producing an optically thin layer that is surrounded by two layers of high local emission. We call this structure the Chromospheric Solar Millimeter-wave Cavity (CSMC). The temperature profile, which features temperature minimum layers and a subsequent temperature rise, produces the CSMC phenomenon. The CSMC shows the complexity of the relation between the theoretical temperature profile and the observed brightness temperature and may help us to understand the dispersion of the observed brightness temperature in the millimeter wavelength range.« less

Advanced microwave soil moisture studies. [Big Sioux River Basin, Iowa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dalsted, K. J.; Harlan, J. C.

1983-01-01

Comparisons of low level L-band brightness temperature (TB) and thermal infrared (TIR) data as well as the following data sets: soil map and land cover data; direct soil moisture measurement; and a computer generated contour map were statistically evaluated using regression analysis and linear discriminant analysis. Regression analysis of footprint data shows that statistical groupings of ground variables (soil features and land cover) hold promise for qualitative assessment of soil moisture and for reducing variance within the sampling space. Dry conditions appear to be more conductive to producing meaningful statistics than wet conditions. Regression analysis using field averaged TB and TIR data did not approach the higher sq R values obtained using within-field variations. The linear discriminant analysis indicates some capacity to distinguish categories with the results being somewhat better on a field basis than a footprint basis.

Near white light emission of silicon nanocrystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Soojin; Han, Il-Ki; Cho, Woon-Jo

2003-11-01

Silicon nanoparticles in the range from 2 nm to 5 nm was prepared from Zintl salt, soldium silicide (NaSi) by sonochemical method. This synthesis permits the reaction completed as fast as in a few hours and the easy alkyl-modification of nanocrystals surface at room temperature and ambient pressure. The average size of nanoparticles measured by the dynamic light scattering analysis was 2.7 nm. The high-resolution transmission electron micrograph cofirmed the material identity of nanoparticles as crystalline silicon. FT-IR spectra are consistent with the surface states of nanocrystals that is chlorine- or butyl-capped. The emission peak center moved to longer wavelength (up to 430 nm) with the reaction time, under a 325 nm excitation. The luminescence of silicon colloids looks bright bluish-white under excitation using a commercial low-intensity UV lamp.

The Physical Conditions of a Lensed Star-Forming Galaxy at Z=1.7

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rigby, Jane; Wuyts, E.; Gladders, M.; Sharon, K.; Becker, G.

2011-01-01

We report rest-frame optical Keck/NIRSPEC spectroscopy of the brightest lensed galaxy yet discovered, RCSGA 032727-132609 at z=1.7037. From precise measurements of the nebular lines, we infer a number of physical properties: redshift ' extinction, star formation rate ' ionization parameter, electron density, electron temperature, oxygen abundance, and N/O, Ne/O, and Ar/O abundance ratios, The limit on [O III] 4363 A tightly constrains the oxygen abundance via the "direct" or Te method, for the first time in an average-metallicity galaxy at z approx.2. We compare this result to several standard "bright-line" O abundance diagnostics, thereby testing these empirically-calibrated diagnostics in situ. Finally, we explore the positions of lensed and unlensed galaxies in standard diagnostic diagrams, to explore the diversity of ionization conditions and mass-metallicity ratios at z=2.

Spatial and temporal multiyear sea ice distributions in the Arctic: A neural network analysis of SSM/I data, 1988-2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Belchansky, G.I.; Douglas, David C.; Alpatsky, I.V.; Platonov, Nikita G.

2004-01-01

Arctic multiyear sea ice concentration maps for January 1988-2001 were generated from SSM/I brightness temperatures (19H, 19V, and 37V) using modified multiple layer perceptron neural networks. Learning data for the neural networks were extracted from ice maps derived from Okean and ERS satellite imagery to capitalize on the stability of active radar multiyear ice signatures. Evaluations of three learning algorithms and several topologies indicated that networks constructed with error back propagation learning and 3-20-1 topology produced the most consistent and physically plausible results. Operational neural networks were developed specifically with January learning data, and then used to estimate daily multiyear ice concentrations from daily-averaged SSM/I brightness temperatures during January. Monthly mean maps were produced for analysis by averaging the respective daily estimates. The 14-year series of January multiyear ice distributions revealed dense and persistent cover in the central Arctic surrounded by expansive regions of highly fluctuating interannual cover. Estimates of total multiyear ice area by the neural network were intermediate to those of other passive microwave algorithms, but annual fluctuations and trends were similar among all algorithms. When compared to Radarsat estimates of multiyear ice concentration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (1997-1999), average discrepancies were small (0.9-2.5%) and spatial coherency was reasonable, indicating the neural network's Okean and ERS learning data facilitated passive microwave inversion that emulated backscatter signatures. During 1988-2001, total January multiyear ice area declined at a significant linear rate of -54.3 x 103 km2/yr-1 (-1.4%/yr-1). The most persistent and extensive decline in multiyear ice concentration (-3.3%/yr-1) occurred in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. In autumn 1996, a large multiyear ice recruitment of over 106 km2 (mostly in the Siberian Arctic) fully replenished the previous 8-year decline in total area, but it was followed by an accelerated and compensatory decline during the subsequent 4 years. Seventy-five percent of the interannual variation in January multiyear sea ice area was explained by linear regression on two atmospheric parameters: the previous inter's (JFM) Arctic Oscillation index as a proxy to melt duration and the previous year's average sea level pressure gradient across the Fram Strait as a proxy to annual ice export. Consecutive year changes (1994-2001) in January multiyear ice volume were significantly correlated with duration of the intervening melt season (R2 = 0.73, -80.0 km3/d-1), emphasizing a large thermodynamic influence on the Arctic's mass sea ice balance during summers with anomalous melt durations.

Laser ion source for high brightness heavy ion beam

DOE PAGES

Okamura, M.

2016-09-01

A laser ion source is known as a high current high charge state heavy ion source. But, we place great emphasis on the capability to realize a high brightness ion source. A laser ion source has a pinpoint small volume where materials are ionized and can achieve quite uniform low temperature ion beam. Those features may enable us to realize very small emittance beams. Furthermore, a low charge state high brightness laser ion source was successfully commissioned in Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2014. Now most of all the solid based heavy ions are being provided from the laser ion sourcemore » for regular operation.« less

The very soft X-ray emission of X-ray-faint early-type galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellegrini, S.; Fabbiano, G.

1994-01-01

A recent reanaylsis of Einstein data, and new ROSAT observations, have revealed the presence of at least two components in the X-ray spectra of X-ray faint early-type galaxies: a relatively hard component (kT greater than 1.5 keV), and a very soft component (kT approximately 0.2-0.3 keV). In this paper we address the problem of the nature of the very soft component and whether it can be due to a hot interstellar medium (ISM), or is most likely originated by the collective emission of very soft stellar sources. To this purpose, hydrodynamical evolutionary sequences for the secular behavior of gas flows in ellipticals have been performed, varying the Type Ia supernovae rate of explosion, and the dark matter amount and distribution. The results are compared with the observational X-ray data: the average Einstein spectrum for six X-ray faint early-type galaxies (among which are NGC 4365 and NGC 4697), and the spectrum obtained by the ROSAT pointed observation of NGC 4365. The very soft component could be entirely explained with a hot ISM only in galaxies such as NGC 4697, i.e., when the depth of the potential well-on which the average ISM temperature strongly depends-is quite shallow; in NGC 4365 a diffuse hot ISM would have a temperature larger than that of the very soft component, because of the deeper potential well. So, in NGC 4365 the softest contribution to the X-ray emission comes certainly from stellar sources. As stellar soft X-ray emitters, we consider late-type stellar coronae, supersoft sources such as those discovered by ROSAT in the Magellanic Clouds and M31, and RS CVn systems. All these candidates can be substantial contributors to the very soft emission, though none of them, taken separately, plausibly accounts entirely for its properties. We finally present a model for the X-ray emission of NGC 4365, to reproduce in detail the results of the ROSAT pointed observation, including the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) spectrum and radial surface brightness distribution. The present data may suggest that the X-ray surface brightness is more extended than the optical profile. In this case, a straightforward explanation in terms of stellar sources could not be satisfactory. The available data can be better explained with three different contributions: a very soft component of stellar origin, a hard component from X-ray binaries, and an approximately 0.6 keV hot ISM. The latter can explain the extended X-ray surface brightness profile, if the galaxy has a dark-to-luminous mass ratio of 9, with the dark matter very broadly distributed, and a SN Ia explosive rate of approximately 0.6 the Tammann rate.

The 26 December 2001 Solar Event Responsible for GLE63. I. Observations of a Major Long-Duration Flare with the Siberian Solar Radio Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grechnev, V. V.; Kochanov, A. A.

2016-12-01

Ground level enhancements (GLEs) of cosmic-ray intensity occur, on average, once a year. Because they are rare, studying the solar sources of GLEs is especially important to approach understanding their origin. The SOL2001-12-26 eruptive-flare event responsible for GLE63 seems to be challenging in some aspects. Deficient observations limited our understanding of it. Analysis of additional observations found for this event provided new results that shed light on the flare configuration and evolution. This article addresses the observations of this flare with the Siberian Solar Radio Telescope (SSRT). Taking advantage of its instrumental characteristics, we analyze the detailed SSRT observations of a major long-duration flare at 5.7 GHz without cleaning the images. The analysis confirms that the source of GLE63 was associated with an event in active region 9742 that comprised two flares. The first flare (04:30 - 05:03 UT) reached a GOES importance of about M1.6. Two microwave sources were observed, whose brightness temperatures at 5.7 GHz exceeded 10 MK. The main flare, up to an importance of M7.1, started at 05:04 UT and occurred in strong magnetic fields. The observed microwave sources reached a brightness temperature of about 250 MK. They were not static. After appearing on the weaker-field periphery of the active region, the microwave sources moved toward each other nearly along the magnetic neutral line, approaching the stronger-field core of the active region, and then moved away from the neutral line like expanding ribbons. These motions rule out an association of the non-thermal microwave sources with a single flaring loop.

Airborne active and passive L-band measurements using PALS instrument in SMAPVEX12 soil moisture field campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colliander, Andreas; Yueh, Simon; Chazanoff, Seth; Dinardo, Steven; O'Dwyer, Ian; Jackson, Thomas; McNairn, Heather; Bullock, Paul; Wiseman, Grant; Berg, Aaron; Magagi, Ramata; Njoku, Eni

2012-10-01

NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission is scheduled for launch in late 2014. The objective of the mission is global mapping of soil moisture and freeze/thaw state. Merging of active and passive L-band observations of the mission will enable unprecedented combination of accuracy, resolution, coverage and revisit-time for soil moisture and freeze/thaw state retrieval. For pre-launch algorithm development and validation the SMAP project and NASA coordinated a field campaign named as SMAPVEX12 (Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment 2012) together with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and other Canadian and US institutions in the vicinity of Winnipeg, Canada in June-July, 2012. The main objective of SMAPVEX12 was acquisition of a data record that features long time-series with varying soil moisture and vegetation conditions over an aerial domain of multiple parallel flight lines. The coincident active and passive L-band data was acquired with the PALS (Passive Active L-band System) instrument. The measurements were conducted over the experiment domain every 2-3 days on average, over a period of 43 days. The preliminary calibration of the brightness temperatures obtained in the campaign has been performed. Daily lake calibrations were used to adjust the radiometer calibration parameters, and the obtained measurements were compared against the raw in situ soil moisture measurements. The evaluation shows that this preliminary calibration of the data produces already a consistent brightness temperature record over the campaign duration, and only secondary adjustments and cleaning of the data is need before the data can be applied to the development and validation of SMAP algorithms.

Bright light exposure reduces TH-positive dopamine neurons: implications of light pollution in Parkinson's disease epidemiology.

PubMed

Romeo, Stefania; Viaggi, Cristina; Di Camillo, Daniela; Willis, Allison W; Lozzi, Luca; Rocchi, Cristina; Capannolo, Marta; Aloisi, Gabriella; Vaglini, Francesca; Maccarone, Rita; Caleo, Matteo; Missale, Cristina; Racette, Brad A; Corsini, Giovanni U; Maggio, Roberto

2013-01-01

This study explores the effect of continuous exposure to bright light on neuromelanin formation and dopamine neuron survival in the substantia nigra. Twenty-one days after birth, Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into groups and raised under different conditions of light exposure. At the end of the irradiation period, rats were sacrificed and assayed for neuromelanin formation and number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the substantia nigra. The rats exposed to bright light for 20 days or 90 days showed a relatively greater number of neuromelanin-positive neurons. Surprisingly, TH-positive neurons decreased progressively in the substantia nigra reaching a significant 29% reduction after 90 days of continuous bright light exposure. This decrease was paralleled by a diminution of dopamine and its metabolite in the striatum. Remarkably, in preliminary analysis that accounted for population density, the age and race adjusted Parkinson's disease prevalence significantly correlated with average satellite-observed sky light pollution.

Bright light exposure reduces TH-positive dopamine neurons: implications of light pollution in Parkinson's disease epidemiology

PubMed Central

Romeo, Stefania; Viaggi, Cristina; Di Camillo, Daniela; Willis, Allison W.; Lozzi, Luca; Rocchi, Cristina; Capannolo, Marta; Aloisi, Gabriella; Vaglini, Francesca; Maccarone, Rita; Caleo, Matteo; Missale, Cristina; Racette, Brad A.; Corsini, Giovanni U.; Maggio, Roberto

2013-01-01

This study explores the effect of continuous exposure to bright light on neuromelanin formation and dopamine neuron survival in the substantia nigra. Twenty-one days after birth, Sprague–Dawley albino rats were divided into groups and raised under different conditions of light exposure. At the end of the irradiation period, rats were sacrificed and assayed for neuromelanin formation and number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the substantia nigra. The rats exposed to bright light for 20 days or 90 days showed a relatively greater number of neuromelanin-positive neurons. Surprisingly, TH-positive neurons decreased progressively in the substantia nigra reaching a significant 29% reduction after 90 days of continuous bright light exposure. This decrease was paralleled by a diminution of dopamine and its metabolite in the striatum. Remarkably, in preliminary analysis that accounted for population density, the age and race adjusted Parkinson's disease prevalence significantly correlated with average satellite-observed sky light pollution. PMID:23462874

Long-Term Evaluation of the AMSR-E Soil Moisture Product Over the Walnut Gulch Watershed, AZ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolten, J. D.; Jackson, T. J.; Lakshmi, V.; Cosh, M. H.; Drusch, M.

2005-12-01

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer -Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) was launched aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on May 4th, 2002. Quantitative estimates of soil moisture using the AMSR-E provided data have required routine radiometric data calibration and validation using comparisons of satellite observations, extended targets and field campaigns. The currently applied NASA EOS Aqua ASMR-E soil moisture algorithm is based on a change detection approach using polarization ratios (PR) of the calibrated AMSR-E channel brightness temperatures. To date, the accuracy of the soil moisture algorithm has been investigated on short time scales during field campaigns such as the Soil Moisture Experiments in 2004 (SMEX04). Results have indicated self-consistency and calibration stability of the observed brightness temperatures; however the performance of the moisture retrieval algorithm has been poor. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the quality of the current version of the AMSR-E soil moisture product for a three year period over the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (150 km2) near Tombstone, AZ; the northern study area of SMEX04. This watershed is equipped with hourly and daily recording of precipitation, soil moisture and temperature via a network of raingages and a USDA-NRCS Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) site. Surface wetting and drying are easily distinguished in this area due to the moderately-vegetated terrain and seasonally intense precipitation events. Validation of AMSR-E derived soil moisture is performed from June 2002 to June 2005 using watershed averages of precipitation, and soil moisture and temperature data from the SCAN site supported by a surface soil moisture network. Long-term assessment of soil moisture algorithm performance is investigated by comparing temporal variations of moisture estimates with seasonal changes and precipitation events. Further comparisons are made with a standard soil dataset from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The results of this research will contribute to a better characterization of the low biases and discrepancies currently observed in the AMSR-E soil moisture product.

USSR Report, Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-04-30

References 15: 12 Russian, 3 Western. [147-6900] UDC: 621.316.933.6 WIDE-APERTURE ’ BLACK BOY ’ UHF NOISE EMITTER WITH 104 K BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURE...Ferromagnetic Semiconductors (F. G. Bass, N. N. Nasonov; IZVESTIYA VYSSHIKH UCHEBNYKH ZAVEDENIY RADIOFIZIKA, No 11, Nov 84) 19 A Wide-Aperture ’ Black ... Boy ’ UHF Noise Emitter with 10 K Brightness (S. V. Butakova; IZVESTIYA VYSSHIKH UCHEBNYKH ZAVEDENIY RADIOFIZIKA, No 11, Nov 84) 19 BROADCASTING

Observing Flux Rope Formation During the Impulsive Phase of a Solar Eruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, X.; Zhang, J.; Liu, Y.; Ding, M. D.

2011-05-01

Magnetic flux ropes are believed to be an important structural component of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). While there exists much observational evidence of flux ropes after the eruption, e.g., as seen in remote-sensing coronagraph images or in situ solar wind data, the direct observation of flux ropes during CME impulsive phase has been rare. In this Letter, we present an unambiguous observation of a flux rope still in the formation phase in the low corona. The CME of interest occurred above the east limb on 2010 November 3 with footpoints partially blocked. The flux rope was seen as a bright blob of hot plasma in the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 131 Å passband (peak temperature ~11 MK) rising from the core of the source active region, rapidly moving outward and stretching the surrounding background magnetic field upward. The stretched magnetic field seemed to curve-in behind the core, similar to the classical magnetic reconnection scenario in eruptive flares. On the other hand, the flux rope appeared as a dark cavity in the AIA 211 Å passband (2.0 MK) and 171 Å passband (0.6 MK) in these relatively cool temperature bands, a bright rim clearly enclosed the dark cavity. The bright rim likely represents the pileup of the surrounding coronal plasma compressed by the expanding flux rope. The composite structure seen in AIA multiple temperature bands is very similar to that in the corresponding coronagraph images, which consists of a bright leading edge and a dark cavity, commonly believed to be a flux rope.

The fracture strength of cryomilled 99.7 Al nanopowders consolidated by high frequency induction sintering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Danaf, Ehab A.; Baig, Muneer; Almajid, Abdulhakim A.; Soliman, Mahmoud S.

2014-08-01

Mechanical Attrition of metallic powders induces severe plastic deformation and consequently reduces the average grain size. Powders of 99.7 Al (45μm particle size), cryomilled for 7 hrs having a crystal size of ~ 20 nm, were consolidated by high frequency induction sintering under a constant pressure of 50 MPa and at two temperatures of 500 and 550 °C for two sintering dwell times of 1 and 3 minutes at a constant heating rate of 400 °C/min. The bright field TEM image and X-ray line broadening technique, for the cryomilled powders, were used to measure-the crystallite size. Simple compression at an initial strain rate of 10-4 s-1 was conducted at room temperature, 373 and 473 K, and the yield strength was documented and correlated with the sintering parameters. The as-received 99.7 Al powders-consolidated using one of the sintering parameters was used as a reference material to compare the mechanical properties. Hardness, density and crystal size of the consolidated sample, that gave the highest yield and fracture strength, were measured.

In-situ Microwave Brightness Temperature Variability from Ground-based Radiometer Measurements at Dome C in Antarctica Induced by Wind-formed Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Royer, A.; Picard, G.; Arnaud, L.; Brucker, L.; Fily, M..

2014-01-01

Space-borne microwave radiometers are among the most useful tools to study snow and to collect information on the Antarctic climate. They have several advantages over other remote sensing techniques: high sensitivity to snow properties of interest (temperature, grain size, density), subdaily coverage in the polar regions, and their observations are independent of cloud conditions and solar illumination. Thus, microwave radiometers are widely used to retrieve information over snow-covered regions. For the Antarctic Plateau, many studies presenting retrieval algorithms or numerical simulations have assumed, explicitly or not, that the subpixel-scale heterogeneity is negligible and that the retrieved properties were representative of whole pixels. In this presentation, we investigate the spatial variations of brightness temperature over arange of a few kilometers in the Dome C area (Antarctic Plateau).

Dust ion acoustic freak waves in a plasma with two temperature electrons featuring Tsallis distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chahal, Balwinder Singh; Singh, Manpreet; Shalini; Saini, N. S.

2018-02-01

We present an investigation for the nonlinear dust ion acoustic wave modulation in a plasma composed of charged dust grains, two temperature (cold and hot) nonextensive electrons and ions. For this purpose, the multiscale reductive perturbation technique is used to obtain a nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The critical wave number, which indicates where the modulational instability sets in, has been determined precisely for various regimes. The influence of plasma background nonextensivity on the growth rate of modulational instability is discussed. The modulated wavepackets in the form of either bright or dark type envelope solitons may exist. Formation of rogue waves from bright envelope solitons is also discussed. The investigation indicates that the structural characteristics of these envelope excitations (width, amplitude) are significantly affected by nonextensivity, dust concentration, cold electron-ion density ratio and temperature ratio.

Detection of radio emission from optically identified supernova remnants in M31

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickel, J. R.; Dodorico, S.; Felli, M.; Dopita, M.

1982-01-01

The Very Large Array was used to conduct a radio search at a wavelength of 20 cm for ten optically identified supernova remnants (SNRs) in M31. Five SNRs were detected, and for the other objects, upper limits to the emission were determined. On the average, the surface brightness of an SNR in M31 appears to be fainter than that of an SNR in the Galaxy. It is suggested that the median surface brightness at a given diameter is higher in late-type spirals than in Sb systems.

An equivalent method of mixed dielectric constant in passive microwave/millimeter radiometric measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Jinlong; Tian, Yan; Hu, Fei; Gui, Liangqi; Cheng, Yayun; Peng, Xiaohui

2017-10-01

Dielectric constant is an important role to describe the properties of matter. This paper proposes This paper proposes the concept of mixed dielectric constant(MDC) in passive microwave radiometric measurement. In addition, a MDC inversion method is come up, Ratio of Angle-Polarization Difference(RAPD) is utilized in this method. The MDC of several materials are investigated using RAPD. Brightness temperatures(TBs) which calculated by MDC and original dielectric constant are compared. Random errors are added to the simulation to test the robustness of the algorithm. Keywords: Passive detection, microwave/millimeter, radiometric measurement, ratio of angle-polarization difference (RAPD), mixed dielectric constant (MDC), brightness temperatures, remote sensing, target recognition.

Xenon gas field ion source from a single-atom tip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Wei-Chiao; Lin, Chun-Yueh; Chang, Wei-Tse; Li, Po-Chang; Fu, Tsu-Yi; Chang, Chia-Seng; Tsong, T. T.; Hwang, Ing-Shouh

2017-06-01

Focused ion beam (FIB) systems have become powerful diagnostic and modification tools for nanoscience and nanotechnology. Gas field ion sources (GFISs) built from atomic-size emitters offer the highest brightness among all ion sources and thus can improve the spatial resolution of FIB systems. Here we show that the Ir/W(111) single-atom tip (SAT) can emit high-brightness Xe+ ion beams with a high current stability. The ion emission current versus extraction voltage was analyzed from 150 K up to 309 K. The optimal emitter temperature for maximum Xe+ ion emission was ˜150 K and the reduced brightness at the Xe gas pressure of 1 × 10-4 torr is two to three orders of magnitude higher than that of a Ga liquid metal ion source, and four to five orders of magnitude higher than that of a Xe inductively coupled plasma ion source. Most surprisingly, the SAT emitter remained stable even when operated at 309 K. Even though the ion current decreased with increasing temperature, the current at room temperature (RT) could still reach over 1 pA when the gas pressure was higher than 1 × 10-3 torr, indicating the feasibility of RT-Xe-GFIS for application to FIB systems. The operation temperature of Xe-SAT-GFIS is considerably higher than the cryogenic temperature required for the helium ion microscope (HIM), which offers great technical advantages because only simple or no cooling schemes can be adopted. Thus, Xe-GFIS-FIB would be easy to implement and may become a powerful tool for nanoscale milling and secondary ion mass spectroscopy.

Detecting the brightness temperature from Landsat-8 thermal infra red scanner preceding the Rinjani strombolian eruption 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suwarsono, Hidayat, Suprapto, Totok; Prasasti, Indah; Parwati, Rokhis Khomarudin, M.

2017-07-01

At the end of October to early November 2015, Rinjani Volcano that is located in Lombok Island was erupted and has catapulted the ash, pyroclastic and lava flow. The dispersion of this volcanic ash in the atmosphere has been disrupting flights and the three closest airports to be closed for a while. The existence of Rinjani Volcano geographically plays an important role in the survival of life on the island of Lombok, because large areas of land on the island are a part of the Rinjani Volcano landscape. Based on the experience of violent eruptions that have occurred in the 13th century ago, the monitoring of the volcanism activity of this volcano needs to be done intensively and continuously. This is something important to do an early detection efforts of the volcanic eruption. These efforts need to be done as a preparedness effort in order to minimize adverse impacts that may occur as a result of this eruption. This research tries to detect the volcanic eruption precursor based on changes in temperature conditions of the crater and the surrounding area. We use the medium resolution satellite data, Thermal Infra Red Scanner (TIRS), on board Landsat-8, to monitor the brightness temperature as a representative of surface temperature of the volcanic region. The results showed that the brightness temperature derived from Landsat-8 TIRS is very usefull to predict the strombolian eruption which will occur in the near future. The use of multitemporal image data is important to understand the dynamics of volcanism activity over time.

Satellite Estimation of Daily Land Surface Water Vapor Pressure Deficit from AMSR- E

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, L. A.; Kimball, J. S.; McDonald, K. C.; Chan, S. K.; Njoku, E. G.; Oechel, W. C.

2007-12-01

Vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is a key variable for monitoring land surface water and energy exchanges, and estimating plant water stress. Multi-frequency day/night brightness temperatures from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on EOS Aqua (AMSR-E) were used to estimate daily minimum and average near surface (2 m) air temperatures across a North American boreal-Arctic transect. A simple method for determining daily mean VPD (Pa) from AMSR-E air temperature retrievals was developed and validated against observations across a regional network of eight study sites ranging from boreal grassland and forest to arctic tundra. The method assumes that the dew point and minimum daily air temperatures tend to equilibrate in areas with low night time temperatures and relatively moist conditions. This assumption was tested by comparing the VPD algorithm results derived from site daily temperature observations against results derived from AMSR-E retrieved temperatures alone. An error analysis was conducted to determine the amount of error introduced in VPD estimates given known levels of error in satellite retrieved temperatures. Results indicate that the assumption generally holds for the high latitude study sites except for arid locations in mid-summer. VPD estimates using the method with AMSR-E retrieved temperatures compare favorably with site observations. The method can be applied to land surface temperature retrievals from any sensor with day and night surface or near-surface thermal measurements and shows potential for inferring near-surface wetness conditions where dense vegetation may hinder surface soil moisture retrievals from low-frequency microwave sensors. This work was carried out at The University of Montana, at San Diego State University, and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

A satellite snow depth multi-year average derived from SSM/I for the high latitude regions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biancamaria, S.; Mognard, N.M.; Boone, A.; Grippa, M.; Josberger, E.G.

2008-01-01

The hydrological cycle for high latitude regions is inherently linked with the seasonal snowpack. Thus, accurately monitoring the snow depth and the associated aerial coverage are critical issues for monitoring the global climate system. Passive microwave satellite measurements provide an optimal means to monitor the snowpack over the arctic region. While the temporal evolution of snow extent can be observed globally from microwave radiometers, the determination of the corresponding snow depth is more difficult. A dynamic algorithm that accounts for the dependence of the microwave scattering on the snow grain size has been developed to estimate snow depth from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures and was validated over the U.S. Great Plains and Western Siberia. The purpose of this study is to assess the dynamic algorithm performance over the entire high latitude (land) region by computing a snow depth multi-year field for the time period 1987-1995. This multi-year average is compared to the Global Soil Wetness Project-Phase2 (GSWP2) snow depth computed from several state-of-the-art land surface schemes and averaged over the same time period. The multi-year average obtained by the dynamic algorithm is in good agreement with the GSWP2 snow depth field (the correlation coefficient for January is 0.55). The static algorithm, which assumes a constant snow grain size in space and time does not correlate with the GSWP2 snow depth field (the correlation coefficient with GSWP2 data for January is - 0.03), but exhibits a very high anti-correlation with the NCEP average January air temperature field (correlation coefficient - 0.77), the deepest satellite snow pack being located in the coldest regions, where the snow grain size may be significantly larger than the average value used in the static algorithm. The dynamic algorithm performs better over Eurasia (with a correlation coefficient with GSWP2 snow depth equal to 0.65) than over North America (where the correlation coefficient decreases to 0.29). ?? 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

'Electrically-Hot' Convection and Tropical Cyclone Development in the Eastern Atlantic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leppert, Kenneth, II; Petersen, Walter A.; Williams, Earle

2008-01-01

The depth and intensity of convective-scale "hot" towers in intensifying tropical disturbances has been hypothesized to play a role in tropical cyclogenesis via dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks on the larger meso-to-synoptic scale circulation. In this investigation we investigate the role that widespread and/or intense lightning-producing convection (i.e., "electrically-hot towers") resident in African Easterly Waves (AEW) may play in tropical cyclogenesis over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. NCEP reanalysis data for the months of July to November for the years 2004, 2006, and 2007 are analyzed for the domain of 5 N - 15 N and 500W - 300 E. Specifically, NCEP data for individual AEWs are partitioned into northerly, southerly, trough, and ridge phases using the 700 hPa meridional winds. Subsequently, information from National Hurricane Center storm reports were divided up into developing and non-developing waves (i.e. tropical cyclogenesis). Finally, composites were created of developing and non-developing waves using the NCEP variables, but with the inclusion of lightning flash count and infrared brightness temperature information. The Zeus and World Wide Lightning Location Network lightning data were used for the lightning information, and the IR brightness temperature data was extracted from the NASA global-merged infrared brightness temperature dataset.

Estimation of wind speeds inside Super Typhoon Nepartak from AMSR2 low-frequency brightness temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lei; Yin, Xiaobin; Shi, Hanqing; Wang, Zhenzhan; Xu, Qing

2018-04-01

Accurate estimations of typhoon-level winds are highly desired over the western Pacific Ocean. A wind speed retrieval algorithm is used to retrieve the wind speeds within Super Typhoon Nepartak (2016) using 6.9- and 10.7-GHz brightness temperatures from the Japanese Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) sensor on board the Global Change Observation Mission-Water 1 (GCOM-W1) satellite. The results show that the retrieved wind speeds clearly represent the intensification process of Super Typhoon Nepartak. A good agreement is found between the retrieved wind speeds and the Soil Moisture Active Passive wind speed product. The mean bias is 0.51 m/s, and the root-mean-square difference is 1.93 m/s between them. The retrieved maximum wind speeds are 59.6 m/s at 04:45 UTC on July 6 and 71.3 m/s at 16:58 UTC on July 6. The two results demonstrate good agreement with the results reported by the China Meteorological Administration and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. In addition, Feng-Yun 2G (FY-2G) satellite infrared images, Feng-Yun 3C (FY-3C) microwave atmospheric sounder data, and AMSR2 brightness temperature images are also used to describe the development and structure of Super Typhoon Nepartak.

Data Quality Assessment of FY-3C MWRI Microwave Imager from CMA, ECMWF and the Met Office

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Q.; WU, S.; Dou, F.; Sun, F.; Lawrence, H.; Geer, A.; English, S.; Newman, S.; Bell, W.; Bormann, N.; Carminati, F.

2017-12-01

MWRI is a conical-scanning microwave imager following on from the heritage of similar instruments such as SSMI/S and AMSR-2, with ten channels at frequencies between 10.65 GHz and 89 GHz. MWRI is flown on the China Meteorological Administration's (CMA's) Feng-Yun-3 (FY-3) satellite series, including on FY-3C and the upcoming FY-3D, scheduled for launch in September 2017. Here we present an evaluation of the data from MWRI on the FY-3C satellite launched in 2013. At CMA, the MWRI instrumental parameters and statistics between observation and simulation from RTTOV and CRTM radiative transfer modeling were monitored to characterise instrumental uncertainty from calibration and assess the data quality. The data were also assessed using model-equivalent brightness temperatures from the ECMWF and Met Office short-range forecasts. The forecasts were first transformed into brightness temperature space using the RTTOV radiative transfer code. By analysing observed minus model background ("O-B") brightness temperature departures we were able to investigate the instrument and geophysical state dependence of biases. We show examples of how biases can impact the data quality, related to ascending/descending node differences and radio frequency interference. We discuss the prospects of assimilation of MWRI data at NWP centres.

Microwave emission characteristics of sea ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edgerton, A. T.; Poe, G.

1972-01-01

A general classification is presented for sea ice brightness temperatures with categories of high and low emission, corresponding to young and weathered sea ice, respectively. A sea ice emission model was developed which allows variations of ice salinity and temperature in directions perpendicular to the ice surface.

Simultaneous Luminescence Pressure and Temperature Mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buck, Gregory M. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A simultaneous luminescence pressure and temperature mapping system is developed including improved dye application techniques for surface temperature and pressure measurements from 5 torr to 1000 torr with possible upgrade to from 0.5 torr to several atmospheres with improved camera resolution. Adsorbed perylene dye on slip-cast silica is pressure (oxygen) sensitive and reusable to relatively high temperatures (-150 C). Adsorbed luminescence has an approximately linear color shift with temperature, which can be used for independent temperature mapping and brightness pressure calibration with temperature.

Simultaneous Luminescence Pressure and Temperature Mapping System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buck, Gregory M. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A simultaneous luminescence pressure and temperature mapping system is developed including improved dye application techniques for surface temperature and pressure measurements from 5 torr to 1000 torr with possible upgrade to from 0.5 torr to several atmospheres with improved camera resolution. Adsorbed perylene dye on slip-cast silica is pressure (oxygen) sensitive and reusable to relatively high temperatures (approximately 150 C). Adsorbed luminescence has an approximately linear color shift with temperature, which can be used for independent temperature mapping and brightness pressure calibration with temperature.

Performance and Results from a Space Borne, Uncooled Microbolometer Array Spectral Radiometric Imager

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spinhirne, James M; Scott, V. Stan; Lancaster, Redgie S.; Manizade, Kathrine; Palm, Steven P.

2000-01-01

The Infrared Spectral Imaging Radiometer experiment was flown on a space shuttle mission as a shuttle hitchhiker experiment in August of 1997. The goals of the experiment were to test uncooled array detectors for infrared spectral imaging from space and to apply for the first time retrieval from space of brightness temperatures of cloud, land and sea along with direct laser measurements of cloud top height. The instrument operates in 3 narrow and one broad spectral band, all between 7 and 13 microns in either stare or time-delay and integration mode. The nominal spatial resolution was 1/4 kilometer. Using onboard calibrations along with periodic views of deep space, radiometric calibration of imagery was carried out and performance analyzed. The noise equivalent temperature difference and absolute accuracy reported here varied with operating mode, spectral band and scene temperature but were within requirements. This paper provides a description of the instrument, its operating modes, the method of brightness temperature retrieval, the method of spectral registration and results from the flight.

A Methodology for Surface Soil Moisture and Vegetation Optical Depth Retrieval Using the Microwave Polarization Difference Index

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owe, Manfred; deJeu, Richard; Walker, Jeffrey; Zukor, Dorothy J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A methodology for retrieving surface soil moisture and vegetation optical depth from satellite microwave radiometer data is presented. The procedure is tested with historical 6.6 GHz brightness temperature observations from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer over several test sites in Illinois. Results using only nighttime data are presented at this time, due to the greater stability of nighttime surface temperature estimation. The methodology uses a radiative transfer model to solve for surface soil moisture and vegetation optical depth simultaneously using a non-linear iterative optimization procedure. It assumes known constant values for the scattering albedo and roughness. Surface temperature is derived by a procedure using high frequency vertically polarized brightness temperatures. The methodology does not require any field observations of soil moisture or canopy biophysical properties for calibration purposes and is totally independent of wavelength. Results compare well with field observations of soil moisture and satellite-derived vegetation index data from optical sensors.

Bright Perseids 2007-2012 statistics. Estimation of collision risks in circumterrestrial space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murtazov, A.

2013-09-01

Bright meteors are of serious hazard for space vehicles. In the Persieds shower these are the meteors brighter than 0m [2]. During 2007-2012 we conducted wide-angle CCD observations of bright Perseids [3-5]. Observations were performed near Ryazan, Russia, (= 54.467 N, λ=39.750 E, H=200 m) using a Watec 902H camera and a Computar T2314FICS lens with the effective FOV of 140×100 arc degrees directed towards the local zenith. The sky control and meteor detection were provided using a Pinnacle Media Center EN or the Contrast as a grabber and an Intel Core.2 CPU processor, 1.83GHz, 500Mb RAM. Our results as compared to the visual meteors total number (IMO) are shown in Fig. 1. The averaged Perseids maximum lies within the solar longitudes 140.00-140.25 and here the average total shower spatial density is (80±6)·10-9km-3. The bright Perseids average spatial density maximum is about (6±2) 10-9km-3. The bright Perseids average percentage in the shower is calculated as the integrals ratio under the curves in Fig. 1 and is equal to 5% for the presented range of solar longitudes. It is natural to expect that the space densities of meteoroids decrease exponentially from the maximum [1]: D = D0exp{-B|λ-λ0|}, (1) where: D0 is the maximum meteor spatial density near the solar longitude λ0 and B - the factor determined empirically from observations. The meteoroid flux F is equal to the number of particles passing through the elementary area per time unit: F(λ) = D(λ)·v, (2) where: v - is the meteor shower velocity. During the Perseids' maximum (D0=6·10-9km-3 and v=59km/s) the bright meteoroid flux was equal to F (3.8±1.1)10-7km-2s-1, which corresponds to the hour rate HR15 for our camera FOV. The collision risk R here amounted to one collision per month on average with a 1 sq. km plane located normal to the meteor shower. An artificial space object rotating around the Earth constantly changes its orientation relative to the meteor shower, the Sun, and a ground-based observer. From time to time, the Earth occults the satellite from meteoroids. The number of collisions between this meteor shower's dangerous meteoroids and the satellite during the time Т of its flight around the Earth is 6]: N = K1·K2·K3·S·F (λ)·T. (3) Here К1 accounts for the Earth's geliocentric position in the current season relative to the meteor shower radiant. К2 accounts for the satellite's plane surfaces relative to the meteor shower radiant. К3 is defined by the satellite's orbit parameters. Calculations are done in the ecliptic reference system (Fig. 2), wherein a satellite can be considered located in the ecliptic plane. In this figure: N is the normal to the satellite's surface; , , Е - directions to the vernal equinoctial point, the Sun and the Earth; λR, λ, - ecliptic longitudes of the meteor radiant and the Sun; λE - the ecliptic satellitecentric Earth longitude; bR and bE - consequent ecliptic latitudes of meteor shower radiant and the Earth.

Hi-C Observations of Penumbral Bright Dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alpert, S.; Tiwari, S. K.; Moore, R. L.; Savage, S. L.; Winebarger, A. R.

2014-12-01

We use high-quality data obtained by the High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) to examine bright dots (BDs) in a sunspot's penumbra. The sizes of these BDs are on the order of 1 arcsecond (1") and are therefore hard to identify using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly's (AIA) 0.6" pixel-1 resolution. These BDs become readily apparent with Hi-C's 0.1" pixel-1 resolution. Tian et al. (2014) found penumbral BDs in the transition region (TR) by using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). However, only a few of their dots could be associated with any enhanced brightness in AIA channels. In this work, we examine the characteristics of the penumbral BDs observed by Hi-C in a sunspot penumbra, including their sizes, lifetimes, speeds, and intensity. We also attempt to relate these BDs to the IRIS BDs. There are fewer Hi-C BDs in the penumbra than seen by IRIS, though different sunspots were studied. We use 193Å Hi-C data from July 11, 2012 which observed from ~18:52:00 UT--18:56:00 UT and supplement it with data from AIA's 193Å passband to see the complete lifetime of the dots that were born before and/or lasted longer than Hi-C's 5-minute observation period. We use additional AIA passbands and compare the light curves of the BDs at different temperatures to test whether the Hi-C BDs are TR BDs. We find that most Hi-C BDs show clear movement, and of those that do, they move in a radial direction, toward or away from the sunspot umbra. Single BDs interact with other BDs, combining to fade away or brighten. The BDs that do not interact with other BDs tend to move less. Our BDs are similar to the exceptional IRIS BDs: they move slower on average and their sizes and lifetimes are on the high end of the distribution of IRIS BDs. We infer that our penumbral BDs are some of the larger BDs observed by IRIS, those that are bright enough in TR emission to be seen in the 193Å band of Hi-C.

Comparison of measured and modeled gas-puff emissions on Alcator C-Mod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baek, Seung-Gyou; Terry, J. L.; Stotler, D. P.; Labombard, B. L.; Brunner, D. F.

2017-10-01

Understanding neutral transport in tokamak boundary plasmas is important because of its possible effects on the pedestal and scrape-off layer (SOL). On Alcator C-Mod, measured neutral line emissions from externally-puffed deuterium and helium gases are compared with the synthetic results of a neutral transport code, DEGAS 2. The injected gas flow rate and the camera response are absolutely calibrated. Time-averaged SOL density and temperature profiles are input to a steady-state simulation. An updated helium atomic model is employed in DEGAS2. Good agreement is found for the D α peak brightness and profile shape. However, the measured helium I line brightness is found to be lower than that in the simulation results by a roughly a factor of three over a wide range of density particularly in the far SOL region. Two possible causes for this discrepancy are reviewed. First, local cooling due to gas puff may suppress the line emission. Second, time-dependent turbulence effect may impact the helium neutral transport. Unlike deuterium atoms that gain energy from charge exchange and dissociation processes, helium neutrals remain cold and have a relatively short mean free path, known to make them prone to turbulence based on the Kubo number criterion. Supported by USDoE awards: DE-FC02-99ER54512, DE-SC0014251, and DE-AC02-09CH11466.

A simplified Suomi NPP VIIRS dust detection algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yikun; Sun, Lin; Zhu, Jinshan; Wei, Jing; Su, Qinghua; Sun, Wenxiao; Liu, Fangwei; Shu, Meiyan

2017-11-01

Due to the complex characteristics of dust and sparse ground-based monitoring stations, dust monitoring is facing severe challenges, especially in dust storm-prone areas. Aim at constructing a high-precision dust storm detection model, a pixel database, consisted of dusts over a variety of typical feature types such as cloud, vegetation, Gobi and ice/snow, was constructed, and their distributions of reflectance and Brightness Temperatures (BT) were analysed, based on which, a new Simplified Dust Detection Algorithm (SDDA) for the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Visible infrared Imaging Radiometer (NPP VIIRS) is proposed. NPP VIIRS images covering the northern China and Mongolian regions, where features serious dust storms, were selected to perform the dust detection experiments. The monitoring results were compared with the true colour composite images, and results showed that most of the dust areas can be accurately detected, except for fragmented thin dusts over bright surfaces. The dust ground-based measurements obtained from the Meteorological Information Comprehensive Analysis and Process System (MICAPS) and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument Aerosol Index (OMI AI) products were selected for comparison purposes. Results showed that the dust monitoring results agreed well in the spatial distribution with OMI AI dust products and the MICAPS ground-measured data with an average high accuracy of 83.10%. The SDDA is relatively robust and can realize automatic monitoring for dust storms.

On the Response of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager to the Marine Environment: Implications for Atmospheric Parameter Retrievals. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.

1990-01-01

A reasonably rigorous basis for understanding and extracting the physical information content of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) satellite images of the marine environment is provided. To this end, a comprehensive algebraic parameterization is developed for the response of the SSM/I to a set of nine atmospheric and ocean surface parameters. The brightness temperature model includes a closed-form approximation to microwave radiative transfer in a non-scattering atmosphere and fitted models for surface emission and scattering based on geometric optics calculations for the roughened sea surface. The combined model is empirically tuned using suitable sets of SSM/I data and coincident surface observations. The brightness temperature model is then used to examine the sensitivity of the SSM/I to realistic variations in the scene being observed and to evaluate the theoretical maximum precision of global SSM/I retrievals of integrated water vapor, integrated cloud liquid water, and surface wind speed. A general minimum-variance method for optimally retrieving geophysical parameters from multichannel brightness temperature measurements is outlined, and several global statistical constraints of the type required by this method are computed. Finally, a unified set of efficient statistical and semi-physical algorithms is presented for obtaining fields of surface wind speed, integrated water vapor, cloud liquid water, and precipitation from SSM/I brightness temperature data. Features include: a semi-physical method for retrieving integrated cloud liquid water at 15 km resolution and with rms errors as small as approximately 0.02 kg/sq m; a 3-channel statistical algorithm for integrated water vapor which was constructed so as to have improved linear response to water vapor and reduced sensitivity to precipitation; and two complementary indices of precipitation activity (based on 37 GHz attenuation and 85 GHz scattering, respectively), each of which are relatively insensitive to variations in other environmental parameters.

Passive Microwave Remote Sensing of Colorado Watersheds Using Calibrated, Enhanced-Resolution Brightness Temperatures (CETB) from AMSR-E and SSM/I for Estimation of Snowmelt Timing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, M.; Ramage, J. M.; Troy, T. J.; Brodzik, M. J.

2017-12-01

Understanding the timing of snowmelt is critical for water resources management in snow-dominated watersheds. Passive microwave remote sensing has been used to estimate melt-refreeze events through brightness temperature satellite observations taken with sensors like the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). Previous studies were limited to lower resolution ( 25 km) datasets, making it difficult to quantify the snowpack in heterogeneous, high-relief areas. This study investigates the use of newly available passive microwave calibrated, enhanced-resolution brightness temperatures (CETB) produced at the National Snow and Ice Data Center to estimate melt timing at much higher spatial resolution ( 3-6 km). CETB datasets generated from SSM/I and AMSR-E records will be used to examine three mountainous basins in Colorado. The CETB datasets retain twice-daily (day/night) observations of brightness temperatures. Therefore, we employ the diurnal amplitude variation (DAV) method to detect melt onset and melt occurrences to determine if algorithms developed for legacy data are valid with the improved CETB dataset. We compare melt variability with nearby stream discharge records to determine an optimum melt onset algorithm using the newly reprocessed data. This study investigates the effectiveness of the CETB product for several locations in Colorado (North Park, Rabbit Ears, Fraser) that were the sites of previous ground/airborne surveys during the NASA Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX 2002-2003). In summary, this work lays the foundation for the utilization of higher resolution reprocessed CETB data for snow evolution more broadly in a range of environments. Consequently, the new processing methods and improved spatial resolution will enable hydrologists to better analyze trends in snow-dominated mountainous watersheds for more effective water resources management.

Mapping Solid and Liquid Meltwater Retention on the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets from Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, J.; Bringer, A.; Jezek, K. C.; Johnson, J. T.; Scambos, T.; Forster, R. R.; Long, D. G.

2017-12-01

We use satellite and airborne microwave radiometry to explore the potential for mapping both solid (infiltration ice) and liquid (firn aquifers) meltwater retention on ice sheets. Meltwater retention in firn is currently poorly understood, especially on an ice sheet-scale, however, critical to understanding the ultimate fate of liquid meltwater produced at the surface of ice sheets. Is it contributing to sea level? Or, is it being buffered prior to escaping into the ocean? We previously developed a simple satellite retrieval technique to map firn aquifers on the Greenland ice sheet using distinct L-band brightness temperature signatures that decrease on timescales of months following surface freeze-up, however, similar L-band brightness temperature signatures that decrease on timescales ranging from weeks to days are also present throughout the percolation facies of both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. We hypothesize this characteristic family of temporal signatures represents meltwater retention within firn, where slowly decreasing signatures are characteristic of meltwater retention within perennial firn aquifers, and rapidly decreasing signatures are characteristic of meltwater retention as superimposed ice. Decreasing signatures on timescales between likely represent a continuum of firn characteristics, such as transient firn aquifers, perched firn aquifers, ice layers, ice pipes and lenses, and iced firn. To investigate these temporal signatures, we use L-band (1.4 GHz) brightness temperature observations collected over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets by the interferometric MIRAS instrument aboard ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, and the radiometer aboard NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. We will also investigate spectral signatures using multi-frequency L-band brightness temperature data (0.5-2 GHz) to be collected over several firn aquifer areas on the Greenland ice sheet by the Ohio State University developed Ultra-Wideband Software-Defined Microwave Radiometer (UWBRAD) as part of our airborne field campaign to be conducted in September 2017.

Enchanced methods of hydrophilized CdSe quantum dots synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potapkin, D. V.; Zharkova, I. S.; Goryacheva, I. Y.

2015-03-01

Quantum dots are bright and stable fluorescence signal sources, but for most of applications they need an additional hydrophilization step. Unfortunately, most of existing approaches lead to QD's fluorescence quenching, so there is a need for additional enhancing of hydrophilized QD's brightness like UV irradiation, which can be used both on water insoluble QD's with oleic acid ligands (in toluene) and on hydrophilized QD's covered with UV-stable polymer (in aqueous solution). For synthesis of bright water-soluble fluorescent labels CdSe/CdS/ZnS colloidal quantum dots were covered with PAMAM dendrimer and irradiated with UV lamp in quartz cuvettes for 3 hours at the room temperature and then compared with control sample.

Ultra-bright emission from hexagonal boron nitride defects as a new platform for bio-imaging and bio-labelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elbadawi, Christopher; Tran, Trong Toan; Shimoni, Olga; Totonjian, Daniel; Lobo, Charlene J.; Grosso, Gabriele; Moon, Hyowan; Englund, Dirk R.; Ford, Michael J.; Aharonovich, Igor; Toth, Milos

2016-12-01

Bio-imaging requires robust ultra-bright probes without causing any toxicity to the cellular environment, maintain their stability and are chemically inert. In this work we present hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanoflakes which exhibit narrowband ultra-bright single photon emitters1. The emitters are optically stable at room temperature and under ambient environment. hBN has also been noted to be noncytotoxic and seen significant advances in functionalization with biomolecules2,3. We further demonstrate two methods of engineering this new range of extremely robust multicolour emitters across the visible and near infrared spectral ranges for large scale sensing and biolabeling applications.

Spectral modelling of multicomponent landscapes in the Sahel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanan, N. P.; Prince, S. D.; Hiernaux, P. H. Y.

1991-01-01

Simple additive models are used to examine the infuence of differing soil types on the spatial average spectral reflectance and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The spatial average NDVI is shown to be a function of the brightness (red plus near-infrared reflectances), the NDVI, and the fractional cover of the components. In landscapes where soil and vegetation can be considered the only components, the NDVI-brightness model can be inverted to obtain the NDVI of vegetation. The red and near-infrared component reflectances of soil and vegetation are determined on the basis of aerial photoradiometer data from Mali. The relationship between the vegetation component NDVI and plant cover is found to be better than between the NDVI of the entire landscape and plant cover. It is concluded that the usefulness of this modeling approach depends on the existence of clearly distinguishable landscape components.

Understanding Bright 13 keV Kr K-shell X-ray Sources at the NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

May, M. J.; Colvin, J. D.; Kemp, G. E.; Fournier, K. B.; Scott, H.; Patel, M.; Barrios, Widmann; Widmann, K.

2015-11-01

High x-ray conversion efficiency (CE) K-shell Kr sources are being investigated for High Energy Density experiments. These sources are 4.1 mm in diameter 4.4 mm tall hollow epoxy tubes having a 40 μm thick wall holding either 1.2 or 1.5 atm of Kr gas. The CE of K-shell Kr is dependent upon the peak electron temperature in the radiating plasma. In the NIF experiments, the available energy heats the source to Te = 6-7 keV, well below the temperature of Te ~25 keV needed to optimize the Kr CE. The CE is a steep function of the peak electron temperature. A spatially averaged electron temperature can be estimated from measured He(α) and Ly(α) line ratios. Some disagreement has been observed in the simulated and measured line ratios for some of these K-shell sources. Disagreements have been observed between the simulated and measured line ratios for some of these K-shell sources. To help understand this issue, Kr gas pipes have been shot with 3 ω light at ?750 kJ at ~210, ~140 TW and ~120 TW power levels with 3.7, 5.2 and 6.7 ns pulses, respectively. The power and pulse length scaling of the measured CE and K-shell line ratios and their comparison to simulations will be discussed. This work was performed under the auspic

Observations of Typhoon Center by Using Satellite-derived Normalized Difference Convection Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chung-Chih; Chen, Chun-Hsu

2015-04-01

A technique involving differencing water vapor and infrared window channel brightness temperature values to identify and quantify intense convection in tropical cyclones using bispectral geostationary satellite imagery was proposed by Olander and Velden (2009). Rouse et al. (1974) calculated a normalized ratio of the near infrared and red bands and proposed an index called the normalized difference vegetation index. It was then used in many fields such as estimations of vegetation biomass, leaf area, the proportion of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, etc. The present study used the spectral features of the IR1 and WV channels of the satellite to define a new index, the brightness temperature of the infrared window channel minus the brightness temperature of the water vapor channel divided by the brightness temperature of the infrared window channel plus the brightness temperature of the water vapor channel. The values obtained by this formula are called the Normalized Difference Convection Index (NDCI) values. The NDCI value is between -1 and 1. The NDCI value at WV = 0K is the highest, 1; while that at IR1 = 0K is the lowest, -1. In cases of a clear sky or atmosphere with thin cloud and dry air, NDCI values should be larger than 0. In cases of a convective cloud system, NDCI values should be lower than 0. In addition, the newly defined NDCI does show significant difference from simple difference of IR1-WV. For example, the NDCI value is -0.0017 at IR1=299K and WV=300K, while the NDCI value is -0.0033 at IR1=149K and WV=150K. The two times difference of NDCI values shows the features of clouds with NDCI value -0.0017 are quite different from those with NDCI value -0.0033. The former may be low level clouds, but the latter may be deep convections. However, the simple difference of IR1-WV cannot be used to distinguish the difference. The NDCI was applied to determine the centers of Typhoon Longwang (2005). The results showed that the two-dimensional NDCI analysis helped to identify positions of overshooting areas. In addition, because the NDCI values near a typhoon eye were rather significant, if a typhoon eye was formed, the NDCI cross-section analysis could help to confirm its position. When the center of a typhoon was covered by the high Anvils and Cirrus Layers, it could still be found qualitatively through the two-dimensional analysis. Keywords:Typhoon, Satellite imagery, Normalized Difference Convection Index

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Beam Measurements and the Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Uranus and Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasselfield, Matthew; Moodley, Kavilan; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Fowler, Joseph W.; Gallardo, Patricio; Gralla, Megan B.;

Passive microwave mapping of ice thickness. Final Report. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Apinis, J. J.; Peake, W. H.

1976-01-01

Basic calculations are presented for evaluating the feasibility of a scanning microwave radiometer system for mapping the thickness of lake ice. An analytical model for the apparent brightness temperature as a function of ice thickness has been developed, and elaborated to include such variables as galactic and atmospheric noise, aspect angle, polarization, temperature gradient in the ice, the presence of transition layers such as snow, slush, and water, increased loss due to air inclusions in the ice layer, and the presence of multiple ice thicknesses within the antenna footprint. It was found that brightness temperature measurements at six or seven frequencies in the range of 0.4 to 0.7 GHz were required to obtain unambiquous thickness estimates. A number of data processing methods were examined. The effects of antenna beamwidth, scanning rate, receiver bandwidth, noise figure, and integration time were studied.

Application and sensitivity investigation of Fourier transforms for microwave radiometric inversions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, J. J.; Balanis, C. A.

1974-01-01

Existing microwave radiometer technology now provides a suitable method for remote determination of the ocean surface's absolute brightness temperature. To extract the brightness temperature of the water from the antenna temperature equation, an unstable Fredholm integral equation of the first kind was solved. Fast Fourier Transform techniques were used to invert the integral after it is placed into a cross-correlation form. Application and verification of the methods to a two-dimensional modeling of a laboratory wave tank system were included. The instability of the Fredholm equation was then demonstrated and a restoration procedure was included which smooths the resulting oscillations. With the recent availability and advances of Fast Fourier Transform techniques, the method presented becomes very attractive in the evaluation of large quantities of data. Actual radiometric measurements of sea water are inverted using the restoration method, incorporating the advantages of the Fast Fourier Transform algorithm for computations.

Identification and Classification of Transient Signatures in Over-Land SSM/I Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.; Conner, Mark D.

1994-01-01

Two distinct yet related factors make it difficult to reliably detect precipitation over land with passive microwave techniques, such as those developed during recent years for the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). The first factor is the general lack of contrast between radiances from the strongly emitting land background and that from a non-scattering atmosphere. Indeed. for certain common combinations of surface emissivity and temperature (both surface and atmospheric), significant changes in atmospheric opacity due to liquid water may have a negligible effect on satellite observed brightness temperatures. and whatever minor change occurs may be of either positive or negative sign. For this reason it is generally necessary for some degree of volume scattering by precipitation-size ice particles to be present in order to reduce the brightness temperature of the atmosphere relative to the warm background. by which process the precipitation may be observed.

PIG (partially ionized globule) anatomy - Density and temperature structure of the bright-rimmed globule IC 1396E

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Serabyn, E.; Guesten, R.; Mundy, L.

1993-01-01

The density and temperature structure of the bright-rimmed cometary globule IC 1396E is estimated, and the possibility that recent internal star formation was triggered by the ionization front in its southern surface is assessed. On the basis of NH3 data, gas temperatures in the globule are found to increase outward from the center, from a minimum of 17 K in its tail to a maximum of 26 K on the surface most directly facing the stars ionizing IC 1396. On the basis of a microturbulent radiative transfer code to model the radial dependence of the CS line intensities, and also the intensities of the optically thin 2-1 and 5-4 lines toward the cloud center, a radial density dependence of r exp -1.55 to r exp -1.75 is found.

The use of stereoscopic satellite observation in the determination of the emissivity of cirrus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szejwach, G.; Sletten, T. N.; Hasler, A. F.

The feasibility of determining cirrus ``emissivity'' from combined stereoscopic and infrared satellite observations in conjunction with radiosounding data is investigated for a particular case study. Simultaneous visible images obtained during SESAME-1979 from two geosynchronous GOES meteorological satellites were processed on the NASA/Goddard interactive system (AOIPS) and were used to determine the stereo cloud top height ZC as described by Hasler [1]. Iso-contours of radiances were outlined on the corresponding infrared image. Total brightness temperature TB and ground surface brightness temperature TS were inferred from the radiances. The special SESAME network of radiosoundings was used to determine the cloud top temperature TCLD at the level defined by ZC. The ``effective cirrus emissivity'' NE where N is the fractional cirrus cloudiness and E is the emissivity in a GOES infrared picture element of about 10 km × 10 km is then computed from TB, TS and TCLD.

Statistical Analysis of the Correlation between Microwave Emission Anomalies and Seismic Activity Based on AMSR-E Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

qin, kai; Wu, Lixin; De Santis, Angelo; Zhang, Bin

2016-04-01

Pre-seismic thermal IR anomalies and ionosphere disturbances have been widely reported by using the Earth observation system (EOS). To investigate the possible physical mechanisms, a series of detecting experiments on rock loaded to fracturing were conducted. Some experiments studies have demonstrated that microwave radiation energy will increase under the loaded rock in specific frequency and the feature of radiation property can reflect the deformation process of rock fracture. This experimental result indicates the possibility that microwaves are emitted before earthquakes. Such microwaves signals are recently found to be detectable before some earthquake cases from the brightness temperature data obtained by the microwave-radiometer Advanced Microwave-Scanning Radiometer for the EOS (AMSR-E) aboard the satellite Aqua. This suggested that AMSR-E with vertical- and horizontal-polarization capability for six frequency bands (6.925, 10.65, 18.7, 23.8, 36.5, and 89.0 GHz) would be feasible to detect an earthquake which is associated with rock crash or plate slip. However, the statistical analysis of the correlation between satellite-observed microwave emission anomalies and seismic activity are firstly required. Here, we focus on the Kamchatka peninsula to carry out a statistical study, considering its high seismicity activity and the dense orbits covering of AMSR-E in high latitudes. 8-years (2003-2010) AMSR-E microwave brightness temperature data were used to reveal the spatio-temporal association between microwave emission anomalies and 17 earthquake events (M>5). Firstly, obvious spatial difference of microwave brightness temperatures between the seismic zone at the eastern side and the non-seismic zone the western side within the Kamchatka peninsula are found. Secondly, using both vertical- and horizontal-polarization to extract the temporal association, it is found that abnormal changes of microwave brightness temperatures appear generally 2 months before the M>6 earthquakes. Since the microwave emissions observed by AMSR-E are affected by various factors (e.g., emission of the earth's surface and emission, absorption and scattering of the atmosphere), further study together with the surface temperature, soil moisture and atmospheric water vapor will remove the weather and climate influences.

Electrically-Active Convection and Tropical Cyclogenesis in the Atlantic and East Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leppert, Kenneth D., II; Petersen, Walter A.

2011-01-01

It has been hypothesized that deep, intense convective-scale hot towers may aid the process of tropical cyclogenesis and intensification through dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks on the larger meso-to-synoptic scale circulation. In this study, we make use of NCEP Reanalysis data and Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) lightning imaging sensor (LIS), precipitation radar (PR), and microwave imager (TMI) data to investigate the role that widespread and/or intense lightning-producing convection (i.e., electrically-hot towers) present in African easterly waves (AEWs) may play in tropical cyclogenesis over the Atlantic, Caribbean, and East Pacific regions. NCEP Reanalysis 700 hPa meridional winds for the months of June to November for the years 2001-2009 were analyzed for the domain of 5 deg. N-20 deg. N and 130 deg. W-20 deg. E in order to partition individual AEWs into northerly, southerly, trough, and ridge phases. Subsequently, information from National Hurricane Center (NHC) storm reports was used to divide the waves into developing and non-developing waves. In addition, information from the NHC reports was used to further divide the developing waves into those waves that spawned storms that only developed to tropical storm strength and those that spawned storms that reached hurricane strength. The developing waves were also divided by the region in which they developed. To assess the evolution of convection associated with the AEWs as they propagated across our analysis domain, the full 130 deg. W-20 deg. E domain was divided into five longitude bands, and waves were analyzed for each band. To help determine the gross nature of the smaller convective scale, composites were created of all developing and non-developing waves as a function of AEW wave phase over the full analysis domain and each longitude band by compositing TRMM PR, TMI, LIS, and IR brightness temperature data extracted from the NASA global-merged infrared brightness temperature dataset. Finally, similar composites were created using various NCEP variables to assess the nature of the larger scale environment and circulation. Results suggest a clear distinction between developing and non-developing waves as developing waves near their region of development in terms of the intensity of convection (indicated by lightning flash rate), coverage of cold cloudiness (indicated by the percentage of a 2.5 deg. by 2.5 deg. box covered by IR brightness temperatures less than 240 deg. K and 210 deg. K), and large-scale variables, such as midlevel moisture and upper-level upward motion. For example, waves that developed in the East Pacific longitude band (i.e., 130 deg. W 95 deg. W) were observed in that band to have a flash rate of 56.4 flashes per day, a coverage by brightness temperatures less than 240 deg. K equal to 15.9%, a coverage by brightness temperatures less than 210 deg. K equal to 2.2%, a 700-hPa specific humidity anomaly of 0.4 g per kilogram, and a 300-hPa omega value of -0.04 Pascals per second in the trough phase compared to the non-developing wave trough values of 22.1 flashes per day, a coverage by brightness temperatures less than 240 deg. K equal to 8.1%, a coverage by brightness temperatures less than 210 deg. K equal to 0.9%, a 700-hPa specific humidity anomaly of -0.3 g per kilogram, and a 300-hPa omega value of -0.01 Pascals per second. Further analysis is being conducted to determine if the aforementioned behavior is observed for developing waves farther from their region of development and to determine any significant differences between waves that spawned storms that reached tropical storm strength and those that spawned storms that reached hurricane strength.

Effect of bright light therapy on delayed sleep/wake cycle and reaction time of athletes participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

PubMed

Rosa, João Paulo P; Silva, Andressa; Rodrigues, Dayane F; Simim, Mário Antônio; Narciso, Fernanda V; Tufik, Sergio; Bichara, Jorge J; Pereira, Sebastian Rafael D; Da Silva, Sidney C; de Mello, Marco Tulio

2018-04-16

This study investigated the effect of using an artificial bright light on the entrainment of the sleep/wake cycle as well as the reaction times of athletes before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A total of 22 athletes from the Brazilian Olympic Swimming Team were evaluated, with the aim of preparing them to compete at a time when they would normally be about to go to bed for the night. During the 8-day acclimatization period, their sleep/wake cycles were assessed by actigraphy, with all the athletes being treated with artificial light therapy for between 30 and 45 min (starting at day 3). In addition, other recommendations to improve sleep hygiene were made to the athletes. In order to assess reaction times, the Psychomotor Vigilance Test was performed before (day 1) and after (day 8) the bright light therapy. As a result of the intervention, the athletes slept later on the third (p = 0.01), seventh (p = 0.01) and eighth (p = 0.01) days after starting bright light therapy. Regarding reaction times, when tested in the morning the athletes showed improved average (p = 0.01) and minimum reaction time (p = 0.03) when comparing day 8 to day 1. When tested in the evening, they showed improved average (p = 0.04), minimum (p = 0.03) and maximum reaction time (p = 0.02) when comparing day 8 to day 1. Light therapy treatment delayed the sleep/wake cycles and improved reaction times of members of the swimming team. The use of bright light therapy was shown to be effective in modulating the sleep/wake cycles of athletes who had to perform in competitions that took place late at night.

NDVI dynamics of the taiga zone in connection with modern climate changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobkov, A.; Panidi, E.; Torlopova, N.; Tsepelev, V.

2015-04-01

This research is dedicated to the investigation of the relations between the XXI century climate changes and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) variability of the taiga zone. For this purposes was used the observations of vegetation variability on the test area located nearby Syktyvkar city (Komi Republic, Russia), 16-day averages of NDVI data derived from TERRA/MODIS space imagery (spatial resolution is about 250 meters), and the air temperature and precipitation observations from Syktyvkar meteorological station. The research results confirmed the statistically significant positive correlation between NDVI and air temperature for all vegetation types of the test area, for both spring and autumn seasons. The weakest correlation was found for coniferous forest, namely, pine forest on poor soils, and the strongest correlation was found for meadows and bogs. Additionally the map of NDVI trends of the test area shows that the sectors of greatest positive trend located on the territories with non-forest cover, and as a result, the positive trend of air temperature is indicated most brightly on vegetation of non-forest lands. Thereby these lands can serve as climate changes indicator in the investigated region. The study was partially supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), research project No. 14-05-00858 a.

Snow specific surface area simulation using the one-layer snow model in the Canadian LAnd Surface Scheme (CLASS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, A.; Royer, A.; Montpetit, B.; Bartlett, P. A.; Langlois, A.

2012-12-01

Snow grain size is a key parameter for modeling microwave snow emission properties and the surface energy balance because of its influence on the snow albedo, thermal conductivity and diffusivity. A model of the specific surface area (SSA) of snow was implemented in the one-layer snow model in the Canadian LAnd Surface Scheme (CLASS) version 3.4. This offline multilayer model (CLASS-SSA) simulates the decrease of SSA based on snow age, snow temperature and the temperature gradient under dry snow conditions, whereas it considers the liquid water content for wet snow metamorphism. We compare the model with ground-based measurements from several sites (alpine, Arctic and sub-Arctic) with different types of snow. The model provides simulated SSA in good agreement with measurements with an overall point-to-point comparison RMSE of 8.1 m2 kg-1, and a RMSE of 4.9 m2 kg-1 for the snowpack average SSA. The model, however, is limited under wet conditions due to the single-layer nature of the CLASS model, leading to a single liquid water content value for the whole snowpack. The SSA simulations are of great interest for satellite passive microwave brightness temperature assimilations, snow mass balance retrievals and surface energy balance calculations with associated climate feedbacks.

Double Bright Band Observations with High-Resolution Vertically Pointing Radar, Lidar, and Profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emory, Amber E.; Demoz, Belay; Vermeesch, Kevin; Hicks, Michael

2014-01-01

On 11 May 2010, an elevated temperature inversion associated with an approaching warm front produced two melting layers simultaneously, which resulted in two distinct bright bands as viewed from the ER-2 Doppler radar system, a vertically pointing, coherent X band radar located in Greenbelt, MD. Due to the high temporal resolution of this radar system, an increase in altitude of the melting layer of approximately 1.2 km in the time span of 4 min was captured. The double bright band feature remained evident for approximately 17 min, until the lower atmosphere warmed enough to dissipate the lower melting layer. This case shows the relatively rapid evolution of freezing levels in response to an advancing warm front over a 2 h time period and the descent of an elevated warm air mass with time. Although observations of double bright bands are somewhat rare, the ability to identify this phenomenon is important for rainfall estimation from spaceborne sensors because algorithms employing the restriction of a radar bright band to a constant height, especially when sampling across frontal systems, will limit the ability to accurately estimate rainfall.

Network based sky Brightness Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenna, Dan; Pulvermacher, R.; Davis, D. R.

2009-01-01

We have developed and are currently testing an autonomous 2 channel photometer designed to measure the night sky brightness in the visual wavelengths over a multi-year campaign. The photometer uses a robust silicon sensor filtered with Hoya CM500 glass. The Sky brightness is measured every minute at two elevation angles typically zenith and 20 degrees to monitor brightness and transparency. The Sky Brightness monitor consists of two units, the remote photometer and a network interface. Currently these devices use 2.4 Ghz transceivers with a free space range of 100 meters. The remote unit is battery powered with day time recharging using a solar panel. Data received by the network interface transmits data via standard POP Email protocol. A second version is under development for radio sensitive areas using an optical fiber for data transmission. We will present the current comparison with the National Park Service sky monitoring camera. We will also discuss the calibration methods used for standardization and temperature compensation. This system is expected to be deployed in the next year and be operated by the International Dark Sky Association SKYMONITOR project.

A Coronal Hole Jet Observed with Hinode and the Solar Dynamics Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Peter H.; Muglach, Karin

2014-01-01

A small blowout jet was observed at the boundary of the south coronal hole on 2011 February 8 at around 21:00 UT. Images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) revealed an expanding loop rising from one footpoint of a compact, bipolar bright point. Magnetograms from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board SDO showed that the jet was triggered by the cancelation of a parasitic positive polarity feature near the negative pole of the bright point. The jet emission was present for 25 mins and it extended 30 Mm from the bright point. Spectra from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on board Hinode yielded a temperature and density of 1.6 MK and 0.9-1.7 × 10( exp 8) cu cm for the ejected plasma. Line-of-sight velocities reached up to 250 km/s. The density of the bright point was 7.6 × 10(exp 8) cu cm, and the peak of the bright point's emission measure occurred at 1.3 MK, with no plasma above 3 MK.

Double bright band observations with high-resolution vertically pointing radar, lidar, and profilers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emory, Amber E.; Demoz, Belay; Vermeesch, Kevin; Hicks, Micheal

2014-07-01

On 11 May 2010, an elevated temperature inversion associated with an approaching warm front produced two melting layers simultaneously, which resulted in two distinct bright bands as viewed from the ER-2 Doppler radar system, a vertically pointing, coherent X band radar located in Greenbelt, MD. Due to the high temporal resolution of this radar system, an increase in altitude of the melting layer of approximately 1.2 km in the time span of 4 min was captured. The double bright band feature remained evident for approximately 17 min, until the lower atmosphere warmed enough to dissipate the lower melting layer. This case shows the relatively rapid evolution of freezing levels in response to an advancing warm front over a 2 h time period and the descent of an elevated warm air mass with time. Although observations of double bright bands are somewhat rare, the ability to identify this phenomenon is important for rainfall estimation from spaceborne sensors because algorithms employing the restriction of a radar bright band to a constant height, especially when sampling across frontal systems, will limit the ability to accurately estimate rainfall.

Substituting the polarizer mechanism with a polarization camera - an experiment to confirm its capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reginald, Nelson Leslie; Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk; Guhathakurta, Madhulika; Yashiro, Seiji

2016-05-01

Experiments that require polarized brightness measurements, traditionally have done so by taking three successive images through a polarizer that is rotated through three well-defined angles. With the advent of the polarization camera, the polarized brightness can be measured from a single image. This also eliminates the need for a polarizer and the associated rotator mechanisms and can contribute towards less weight, size, less power requirements, and importantly higher temporal resolution. We intend to demonstrate the capabilities of the polarization camera by conducting a field experiment in conjunction with the total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 using the Imaging Spectrograph of Coronal Electrons (ISCORE) instrument (Reginald et. al., solar physics, 2009, 260, 347-361). In this instrumental concept four K-coronal images of the corona through four filters centered at 385.0, 398.7, 410.0, 423.3 nm with a bandpass of 4 nm are expected to allow us to determine the coronal electron temperature and electron speed all around the corona. In order to determine the K-coronal brightness through each filter, we would have to take three images by rotating a polarizer through three angles for each of the filters, and it is not feasible owing to the short durations of total solar eclipses. Therefore, in the past we have assumed the total brightness (F + K) measured by each of the four filters to represent K-coronal brightness, which is true in low solar corona. However, with the advent of the polarization camera we can now measure the Stokes Polarization Parameters on a pixel by pixel basis for every image taken by the polarization camera. This allows us to independently quantify the total brightness (K+F) and polarized brightness (K). Also in addition to the four filter images that allow us to measure the electron temperature and electron speed, taking an additional image without a filter will give us enough information to determine the electron density. This instrumental concept was first tried in conjunction with the total solar eclipse of 9 March 2016 in Maba, Indonesia, but was unfortunately clouded out.

Structural changes in the hot Algol OGLE-LMC-DPV-097 and its disc related to its long cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcés L, J.; Mennickent, R. E.; Djurašević, G.; Poleski, R.; Soszyński, I.

2018-06-01

Double Periodic Variables (DPVs) are hot Algols showing a long photometric cycle of uncertain origin. We report the discovery of changes in the orbital light curve of OGLE-LMC-DPV-097 which depend on the phase of its long photometric cycle. During the ascending branch of the long cycle the brightness at the first quadrature is larger than during the second quadrature, during the maximum of the long cycle the brightness is basically the same at both quadratures, during the descending branch the brightness at the second quadrature is larger than during the first quadrature, and during the minimum of the long cycle the secondary minimum disappears. We model the light curve at different phases of the long cycle and find that the data are consistent with changes in the properties of the accretion disc and two disc spots. The disc's size and temperature change with the long-cycle period. We find a smaller and hotter disc at minimum, and larger and cooler disc at maximum. The spot temperatures, locations, and angular sizes also show variability during the long cycle.

Ultrabright continuously tunable terahertz-wave generation at room temperature

PubMed Central

Hayashi, Shin'ichiro; Nawata, Kouji; Taira, Takunori; Shikata, Jun-ichi; Kawase, Kodo; Minamide, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

The hottest frequency region in terms of research currently lies in the ‘frequency gap' region between microwaves and infrared: terahertz waves. Although new methods for generating terahertz radiation have been developed, most sources cannot generate high-brightness terahertz beams. Here we demonstrate the generation of ultrabright terahertz waves (brightness ~0.2 GW/sr·cm2, brightness temperature of ~1018 K, peak power of >50 kW) using parametric wavelength conversion in a nonlinear crystal; this is brighter than many specialized sources such as far-infrared free-electron lasers (~1016 K, ~2 kW). We revealed novel parametric wavelength conversion using stimulated Raman scattering in LiNbO3 without stimulated Brillouin scattering using recently-developed microchip laser. Furthermore, nonlinear up-conversion techniques allow the intense terahertz waves to be visualized and their frequency determined. These results are very promising for extending applied research into the terahertz region, and we expect that this source will open up new research fields such as nonlinear optics in the terahertz region. PMID:24898269

Ultrabright continuously tunable terahertz-wave generation at room temperature.

PubMed

Hayashi, Shin'ichiro; Nawata, Kouji; Taira, Takunori; Shikata, Jun-ichi; Kawase, Kodo; Minamide, Hiroaki

2014-06-05

The hottest frequency region in terms of research currently lies in the 'frequency gap' region between microwaves and infrared: terahertz waves. Although new methods for generating terahertz radiation have been developed, most sources cannot generate high-brightness terahertz beams. Here we demonstrate the generation of ultrabright terahertz waves (brightness ~0.2 GW/sr·cm(2), brightness temperature of ~10(18) K, peak power of >50 kW) using parametric wavelength conversion in a nonlinear crystal; this is brighter than many specialized sources such as far-infrared free-electron lasers (~10(16) K, ~2 kW). We revealed novel parametric wavelength conversion using stimulated Raman scattering in LiNbO3 without stimulated Brillouin scattering using recently-developed microchip laser. Furthermore, nonlinear up-conversion techniques allow the intense terahertz waves to be visualized and their frequency determined. These results are very promising for extending applied research into the terahertz region, and we expect that this source will open up new research fields such as nonlinear optics in the terahertz region.

Through thick and thin: quantitative classification of photometric observing conditions on Paranal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerber, Florian; Querel, Richard R.; Neureiter, Bianca; Hanuschik, Reinhard

2016-07-01

A Low Humidity and Temperature Profiling (LHATPRO) microwave radiometer is used to monitor sky conditions over ESO's Paranal observatory. It provides measurements of precipitable water vapour (PWV) at 183 GHz, which are being used in Service Mode for scheduling observations that can take advantage of favourable conditions for infrared (IR) observations. The instrument also contains an IR camera measuring sky brightness temperature at 10.5 μm. It is capable of detecting cold and thin, even sub-visual, cirrus clouds. We present a diagnostic diagram that, based on a sophisticated time series analysis of these IR sky brightness data, allows for the automatic and quantitative classification of photometric observing conditions over Paranal. The method is highly sensitive to the presence of even very thin clouds but robust against other causes of sky brightness variations. The diagram has been validated across the complete range of conditions that occur over Paranal and we find that the automated process provides correct classification at the 95% level. We plan to develop our method into an operational tool for routine use in support of ESO Science Operations.

Forward-Looking Infrared Cameras for Micrometeorological Applications within Vineyards

PubMed Central

Katurji, Marwan; Zawar-Reza, Peyman

2016-01-01

We apply the principles of atmospheric surface layer dynamics within a vineyard canopy to demonstrate the use of forward-looking infrared cameras measuring surface brightness temperature (spectrum bandwidth of 7.5 to 14 μm) at a relatively high temporal rate of 10 s. The temporal surface brightness signal over a few hours of the stable nighttime boundary layer, intermittently interrupted by periods of turbulent heat flux surges, was shown to be related to the observed meteorological measurements by an in situ eddy-covariance system, and reflected the above-canopy wind variability. The infrared raster images were collected and the resultant self-organized spatial cluster provided the meteorological context when compared to in situ data. The spatial brightness temperature pattern was explained in terms of the presence or absence of nighttime cloud cover and down-welling of long-wave radiation and the canopy turbulent heat flux. Time sequential thermography as demonstrated in this research provides positive evidence behind the application of thermal infrared cameras in the domain of micrometeorology, and to enhance our spatial understanding of turbulent eddy interactions with the surface. PMID:27649208

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faye, Mbaye; Bordessoule, Michel; Kanouté, Brahim

When using bright, small effective size sources, such as synchrotron radiation light beam, for broadband spectroscopy at spectral or spatial high resolution for mid-IR FTIR measurements, a marked detectivity improvement can be achieved by setting up a device matching the detector optical étendue to that of the source. Further improvement can be achieved by reducing the background unmodulated flux and other intrinsic noise sources using a lower temperature cryogen, such as liquid helium. By the combined use of cooled apertures, cold reimaging optics, filters and adapted detector polarization, and preamplification electronics, the sensitivity of a HgCdTe photoconductive IR detector canmore » be improved by a significant factor with respect to standard commercial devices (more than one order of magnitude on average over 6–20 μm region) and the usable spectral range extended to longer wavelengths. The performances of such an optimized detector developed on the AILES Beamline at SOLEIL are presented here.« less

EVIDENCE FOR POLAR X-RAY JETS AS SOURCES OF MICROSTREAM PEAKS IN THE SOLAR WIND

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neugebauer, Marcia, E-mail: mneugeb@lpl.arizona.edu

2012-05-01

It is proposed that the interplanetary manifestations of X-ray jets observed in solar polar coronal holes during periods of low solar activity are the peaks of the so-called microstreams observed in the fast polar solar wind. These microstreams exhibit velocity fluctuations of {+-}35 km s{sup -1}, higher kinetic temperatures, slightly higher proton fluxes, and slightly higher abundances of the low-first-ionization-potential element iron relative to oxygen ions than the average polar wind. Those properties can all be explained if the fast microstreams result from the magnetic reconnection of bright-point loops, which leads to X-ray jets which, in turn, result in solarmore » polar plumes. Because most of the microstream peaks are bounded by discontinuities of solar origin, jets are favored over plumes for the majority of the microstream peaks.« less

Effect of K3PO4 addition as sintering inhibitor during calcination of Y2O3 nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soga, K.; Okumura, Y.; Tsuji, K.; Venkatachalam, N.

2009-11-01

Erbium-doped yttrium oxide nanoparticle is one of the most important for fluorescence bioimaging under near infrared excitation. Particle size of it below 100 nm is an important requirement for a cellular bioimaging. However, the synthesis with such small particles is difficult at the calcination temperature above 1200 °C due to the sintering and crystal growth of the particles. In this study, yttrium oxide nanoparticles with average size of 30 nm were successfully synthesized by using K3PO4 as a sintering inhibitor during the calcination. A single phase of cubic Y2O3 as the resultant material was confirmed by XRD, which was also confirmed to emit a bright upconversion emission under 980-nm excitation. Improvement of chemical durability due to the introduction of phosphate group on the surface of the Y2O3 particles is also reported.

Luminescent carbon quantum dots with high quantum yield as a single white converter for white light emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, X. T.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, X. G., E-mail: liuxuguang@tyut.edu.cn

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with high quantum yield (51.4%) were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method using thiosalicylic acid and ethylenediamine as precursor. The CQDs have the average diameter of 2.3 nm and possess excitation-independent emission wavelength in the range from 320 to 440 nm excitation. Under an ultraviolet (UV) excitation, the CQDs aqueous solutions emit bright blue fluorescence directly and exhibit broad emission with a high spectral component ratio of 67.4% (blue to red intensity to total intensity). We applied the CQDs as a single white-light converter for white light emitting diodes (WLEDs) using a UV-LED chip as the excitation lightmore » source. The resulted WLED shows superior performance with corresponding color temperature of 5227 K and the color coordinates of (0.34, 0.38) belonging to the white gamut.« less

Brightness and magnetic evolution of solar coronal bright points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ugarte Urra, Ignacio

This thesis presents a study of the brightness and magnetic evolution of several Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coronal bright points (hereafter BPs). The study was carried out using several instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, supported by the high resolution imaging from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer. The results confirm that, down to 1" resolution, BPs are made of small loops with lengths of [approximate]6 Mm and cross-sections of ≈2 Mm. The loops are very dynamic, evolving in time scales as short as 1 - 2 minutes. This is reflected in a highly variable EUV response with fluctuations highly correlated in spectral lines at transition region temperatures, but not always at coronal temperatures. A wavelet analysis of the intensity variations reveals the existence of quasi-periodic oscillations with periods ranging 400--1000s, in the range of periods characteristic of the chromospheric network. The link between BPs and network bright points is discussed, as well as the interpretation of the oscillations in terms of global acoustic modes of closed magnetic structures. A comparison of the magnetic flux evolution of the magnetic polarities to the EUV flux changes is also presented. Throughout their lifetime, the intrinsic EUV emission of BPs is found to be dependent on the total magnetic flux of the polarities. In short time scales, co-spatial and co-temporal coronal images and magnetograms, reveal the signature of heating events that produce sudden EUV brightenings simultaneous to magnetic flux cancellations. This is interpreted in terms of magnetic reconnection events. Finally, a electron density study of six coronal bright points produces values of ≈1.6×10 9 cm -3 , closer to active region plasma than to quiet Sun. The analysis of a large coronal loop (half length of 72 Mm) introduces the discussion on the prospects of future plasma diagnostics of BPs with forthcoming solar missions.

Measurement of brightness temperature of two-dimensional electron gas in channel of a high electron mobility transistor at ultralow dissipation power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korolev, A. M.; Shulga, V. M.; Turutanov, O. G.; Shnyrkov, V. I.

2016-07-01

A technically simple and physically clear method is suggested for direct measurement of the brightness temperature of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel of a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The usage of the method was demonstrated with the pseudomorphic HEMT as a specimen. The optimal HEMT dc regime, from the point of view of the "back action" problem, was found to belong to the unsaturated area of the static characteristics possibly corresponding to the ballistic electron transport mode. The proposed method is believed to be a convenient tool to explore the ballistic transport, electron diffusion, 2DEG properties and other electrophysical processes in heterostructures.

Preliminary results of radiometric measurements of clear air and cloud brightness (antenna) temperatures at 37GHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arakelyan, A. K.; Hambaryan, A. K.; Arakelyan, A. A.

2012-05-01

In this paper the results of polarization measurements of clear air and clouds brightness temperatures at 37GHz are presented. The results were obtained during the measurements carried out in Armenia from the measuring complex built under the framework of ISTC Projects A-872 and A-1524. The measurements were carried out at vertical and horizontal polarizations, under various angles of sensing by Ka-band combined scatterometric-radiometric system (ArtAr-37) developed and built by ECOSERV Remote Observation Centre Co.Ltd. under the framework of the above Projects. In the paper structural and operational features of the utilized system and the whole measuring complex will be considered and discussed as well.

The SEASAT altimeter wet tropospheric range correction revisited

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tapley, D. B.; Lundberg, J. B.; Born, G. H.

1984-01-01

An expanded set of radiosonde observations was used to calculate the wet tropospheric range correction for the brightness temperature measurements of the SEASAT scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR). The accuracy of the conventional algorithm for wet tropospheric range correction was evaluated. On the basis of the expanded observational data set, the algorithm was found to have a bias of about 1.0 cm, and a standard deviation 2.8 cm. In order to improve the algorithm, the exact linear, quadratic and logarithmic relationships between brightness temperatures and range corrections were determined. Various combinations of measurement parameters were used to reduce the standard deviation between SEASAT SMMR and radiosonde observations to about 2.1 cm. The performance of various range correction formulas is compared in a table.

Propagation of waves in a bounded random layer with laminar structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karam, M. A.; Fung, A. K.

1985-01-01

A closed form solution has been developed to obtain the intensity propagating in a bounded layer with laminar structure. Then, the brightness temperature due to an arbitrary temperature profile has been derived. Results are specialized to a half space to compare with those reported in the literature.

Calibration of Hurricane Imaging Radiometer C-Band Receivers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biswas, Sayak K.; Cecil, Daniel J.; James, Mark W.

2017-01-01

The laboratory calibration of airborne Hurricane Imaging Radiometer's C-Band multi-frequency receivers is described here. The method used to obtain the values of receiver frontend loss, internal cold load brightness temperature and injected noise diode temperature is presented along with the expected RMS uncertainty in the final calibration.

In-depth Analysis of Land Surface Emissivity using Microwave Polarization Difference Index to Improve Satellite QPE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Y.; Kirstetter, P. E.; Hong, Y.; Wen, Y.; Turk, J.; Gourley, J. J.

2015-12-01

One of primary uncertainties in satellite overland quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) from passive sensors such as radiometers is the impact on the brightness temperatures by the surface land emissivity. The complexity of surface land emissivity is linked to its temporal variations (diurnal and seasonal) and spatial variations (subsurface vertical profiles of soil moisture, vegetation structure and surface temperature) translating into sub-pixel heterogeneity within the satellite field of view (FOV). To better extract the useful signal from hydrometeors, surface land emissivity needs to be determined and filtered from the satellite-measured brightness temperatures. Based on the dielectric properties of surface land cover constitutes, Microwave Polarization Differential index (MPDI) is expected to carry the composite effect of surface land properties on land surface emissivity, with a higher MPDI indicating a lower emissivity. This study analyses the dependence of MPDI to soil moisture, vegetation and surface skin temperature over 9 different land surface types. Such analysis is performed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from MODIS, the near surface air temperature from the RAP model and ante-precedent precipitation accumulation from the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor as surrogates for the vegetation, surface skin temperature and shallow layer soil moisture, respectively. This paper provides 1) evaluations of brightness temperature-based MPDI from the TRMM and GPM Microwave Imagers in both raining and non-raining conditions to test the dependence of MPDI to precipitation; 2) comparisons of MPDI categorized into instantly before, during and immediately after selected precipitation events to examine the impact of modest-to-heavy precipitation on the spatial pattern of MPDI; 3) inspections of relationship between MPDI versus rain fraction and rain rate within the satellite sensors FOV to investigate the behaviors of MPDI in varying precipitation conditions; 4) analysis of discrepancies of MPDI over 10.65, 19.35, 37 and 85.8 GHz to identify the sensitivity of MPDS to microwave wavelengths.

Optically dark excitonic states mediated exciton and biexciton valley dynamics in monolayer WSe₂.

PubMed

Zhang, Minghua; Fu, Jiyong; Dias, A C; Qu, Fanyao

2018-05-18

We present a theory to address the photoluminescence (PL) intensity and valley polarization (VP) dynamics in monolayer WSe$_2$, under the impact of excitonic dark states of both excitons and biexcitons. We find that the PL intensity of all excitonic channels including intravalley exciton (X$_{\\rm b}$), intravalley biexciton (XX$_{\\rm k,k}$) and intervalley biexciton (XX$_{\\rm k,k^\\prime}$) in particular for the {XX$_{\\rm k,k}$} PL is enhanced by laser excitation fluence. In addition, our results indicate the anomalous temperature dependence of PL, i.e., increasing with temperature, as a result of favored phonon assisted dark-to-bright scatterings at high temperatures. Moreover, we observe that the PL is almost immune to intervalley scatterings, which trigger the exchange of excitonic states between the two valleys. As far as the valley polarization is concerned, we find that the VP of X$_{\\rm b}$ shrinks as temperature increases, exhibiting opposite temperature response to PL, while the intravalley XX$_{\\rm k,k}$ VP is found almost independent of temperature. In contrast to both X$_{\\rm b}$ and XX$_{\\rm k,k}$, the intervalley XX$_{\\rm k,k^\\prime}$ VP identically vanishes, because of equal populations of excitons in the $K$ and $K^\\prime$ valleys bounded to form intervalley biexcitons. Notably, it is found that the X$_{\\rm b}$ VP much more strongly depends on bright-dark scattering than that of {XX$_{\\rm k,k}$}, making dark state act as a robust reservoir for valley polarization against intervalley scatterings for X$_{\\rm b}$ at strong bright-dark scatterings, but not for XX$_{\\rm k,k}$. Dark excitonic states enabled enhancement of VP benefits quantum technology for information processing based on the valley degree of freedom in valleytronic devices. Furthermore, the VP has strong dependence on intervalley scattering but maintains essentially constant with excitation fluence. Finally, the time evolution of PL and VP, depending on temperature and excitation fluence, is discussed. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Raman beam combining for laser brightness enhancement

DOEpatents

Dawson, Jay W.; Allen, Graham S.; Pax, Paul H.; Heebner, John E.; Sridharan, Arun K.; Rubenchik, Alexander M.; Barty, Chrisopher B. J.

2015-10-27

An optical source capable of enhanced scaling of pulse energy and brightness utilizes an ensemble of single-aperture fiber lasers as pump sources, with each such fiber laser operating at acceptable pulse energy levels. Beam combining involves stimulated Raman scattering using a Stokes' shifted seed beam, the latter of which is optimized in terms of its temporal and spectral properties. Beams from fiber lasers can thus be combined to attain pulses with peak energies in excess of the fiber laser self-focusing limit of 4 MW while retaining the advantages of a fiber laser system of high average power with good beam quality.

HILIS - A HIGH INTENSITY LIGHT SYSTEM FOR ALGAE FOOD PRODUCTION,

DTIC Science & Technology

ALGAE, PRODUCTION CONTROL), (*FOOD, FEASIBILITY STUDIES), CHLORELLA , CALORIMETRY, NUTRITION, MODEL TESTS, ILLUMINATION, BRIGHTNESS, TEMPERATURE CONTROL, HEAT TRANSFER, SPECTRUM SIGNATURES, TEST METHODS, TEST EQUIPMENT.

Simulation of the lunar surface emission and inversion of the lunar regolith thickness using fusion of optical and microwave remote sensing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Y.-Q.

begin table htbp begin center begin tabular p 442pt hline A correspondence of the lunar regolith layer thickness to the lunar digital elevation mapping DEM is presented to construct the global distribution of lunar regolith layer thickness Based on some measurements the physical temperature distribution over the lunar surface is proposed Albedo of the lunar nearside at the wavelengths 0 42 0 65 0 75 0 95 mu m from the telescopic observation is employed to construct the spatial distribution of the FeO TiO 2 on the lunar regolith layer A statistic relationship between the DEM and FeO TiO 2 content of the lunar nearside is then extended to construction of FeO TiO 2 content of the lunar farside Thus the dielectric permittivity of global lunar regolith layer can be determined par Based on all theses conditions brightness temperature of the lunar regolith layer in passive microwave remote sensing which is planned for China s Chang-E lunar project is numerically simulated by a parallel layer model using the fluctuation dissipation theorem par Furthermore taking these simulations as observations an inversion method of the lunar regolith layer thickness is developed by using three- or two-channels brightness temperatures When the FeO TiO 2 content is low and the four channels brightness temperatures in Chang-E project are well distinguishable the regolith layer thickness and physical temperature of the underlying lunar rocky media can be inverted by the three-channels approach When the FeO TiO 2 content is so high that the

The thermal infrared radiance properties of dust aerosol over ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Zengzhou; Pan, Delu; Tu, Qianguang; Gong, Fang; Chen, Jianyu

2015-10-01

Asian dust storms, which can long-range transport to ocean, often occur on spring. The present of Asian dust aerosols over ocean makes some difficult for other studies, such as cloud detection, and also take some advantage for ocean, such as take nutrition into the ocean by dry or wet deposition. Therefore, it is important to study the dust aerosol and retrieve the properties of dust from satellite observations that is mainly from the thermal infrared radiance. In this paper, the thermal infrared radiance properties of dust aerosol over ocean are analyzed from MODIS and MTSAT2 observations and Streamer model simulations. By analyzing some line samples and a series of dust aerosol region, it shows that the dust aerosol brightness temperature at 12μm (BT12) is always greater than BT11 and BT8.5, and BT8.5 is general greater than BT11. The brightness temperature different between 11μm and 12μm (BTD11-12) increases with the dust intensity. And the BTD11-12 will become positive when the atmospheric relative humidity is greater than 70%. The BTD11-12 increases gradually with the surface temperature while the effect on BTD11-12 of dust layer temperature is not evident. Those are caused by the transmission of the dust aerosol is different at the two thermal infrared channels. During daytime, dust infrared brightness temperature at mid-infrared bands should reduce the visual radiance, which takes about 25K or less. In general, BT3.7 is greater than BT11 for dust aerosol. Those results are helpful to monitor or retrieve dust aerosol physical properties over ocean from satellite.

Three-Dimensional Structure and Evolution of Extreme-Ultraviolet Bright Points Observed by STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwon, Ryun Young; Chae, Jongchul; Davila, Joseph M.; Zhang, Jie; Moon, Yong-Jae; Poomvises, Watanachak; Jones, Shaela I.

2012-01-01

We unveil the three-dimensional structure of quiet-Sun EUV bright points and their temporal evolution by applying a triangulation method to time series of images taken by SECCHI/EUVI on board the STEREO twin spacecraft. For this study we examine the heights and lengths as the components of the three-dimensional structure of EUV bright points and their temporal evolutions. Among them we present three bright points which show three distinct changes in the height and length: decreasing, increasing, and steady. We show that the three distinct changes are consistent with the motions (converging, diverging, and shearing, respectively) of their photospheric magnetic flux concentrations. Both growth and shrinkage of the magnetic fluxes occur during their lifetimes and they are dominant in the initial and later phases, respectively. They are all multi-temperature loop systems which have hot loops (approx. 10(exp 6.2) K) overlying cooler ones (approx 10(exp 6.0) K) with cool legs (approx 10(exp 4.9) K) during their whole evolutionary histories. Our results imply that the multi-thermal loop system is a general character of EUV bright points. We conclude that EUV bright points are flaring loops formed by magnetic reconnection and their geometry may represent the reconnected magnetic field lines rather than the separator field lines.

Effects of dim or bright-light exposure during the daytime on human gastrointestinal activity.

PubMed

Sone, Yoshiaki; Hyun, Ki-Ja; Nishimura, Shinya; Lee, Young-Ah; Tokura, Hiromi

2003-01-01

On the basis of our previous findings that bright-light exposure during the daytime has profound influence on physiological parameters such as melatonin secretion and tympanic temperature in humans, we proposed the hypothesis that bright vs. dim light-exposure during the daytime has a different influence on the activity of the digestive system via the endocrine and/or autonomic nervous system. To examine this hypothesis, we conducted a series of counterbalanced experiments in which subjects stayed the daytime (7:00 to 15:00h) under either a dim (80 lux) or bright (5,000 lux) light condition. We measured gastrointestinal activity using a breath hydrogen (indicative of carbohydrate malabsorption) and an electrogastrography (EGG, indicative of gastric myoelectric activity) test. The results showed the postprandial breath hydrogen excretion during the following nighttime period after daytime exposure to the dim-light condition was significantly higher than under the bright-light condition (p < 0.05). In addition, the spectrum total power of the EGG recorded after taking the evening meal was significantly lower for the dim than bright-light condition (p < 0.05). These results support our hypothesis and indicate that dim-light exposure during the daytime suppresses the digestion of the evening meal, resulting in malabsorption of dietary carbohydrates in it.

On the Long-Term Stability of Microwave Radiometers Using Noise Diodes for Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Shannon T.; Desai, Shailen; Lu, Wenwen; Tanner, Alan B.

2007-01-01

Results are presented from the long-term monitoring and calibration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jason Microwave Radiometer (JMR) on the Jason-1 ocean altimetry satellite and the ground-based Advanced Water Vapor Radiometers (AWVRs) developed for the Cassini Gravity Wave Experiment. Both radiometers retrieve the wet tropospheric path delay (PD) of the atmosphere and use internal noise diodes (NDs) for gain calibration. The JMR is the first radiometer to be flown in space that uses NDs for calibration. External calibration techniques are used to derive a time series of ND brightness for both instruments that is greater than four years. For the JMR, an optimal estimator is used to find the set of calibration coefficients that minimize the root-mean-square difference between the JMR brightness temperatures and the on-Earth hot and cold references. For the AWVR, continuous tip curves are used to derive the ND brightness. For the JMR and AWVR, both of which contain three redundant NDs per channel, it was observed that some NDs were very stable, whereas others experienced jumps and drifts in their effective brightness. Over the four-year time period, the ND stability ranged from 0.2% to 3% among the diodes for both instruments. The presented recalibration methodology demonstrates that long-term calibration stability can be achieved with frequent recalibration of the diodes using external calibration techniques. The JMR PD drift compared to ground truth over the four years since the launch was reduced from 3.9 to - 0.01 mm/year with the recalibrated ND time series. The JMR brightness temperature calibration stability is estimated to be 0.25 K over ten days.

Bright triplet excitons in caesium lead halide perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, Michael A.; Vaxenburg, Roman; Nedelcu, Georgian; Sercel, Peter C.; Shabaev, Andrew; Mehl, Michael J.; Michopoulos, John G.; Lambrakos, Samuel G.; Bernstein, Noam; Lyons, John L.; Stöferle, Thilo; Mahrt, Rainer F.; Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Norris, David J.; Rainò, Gabriele; Efros, Alexander L.

2018-01-01

Nanostructured semiconductors emit light from electronic states known as excitons. For organic materials, Hund’s rules state that the lowest-energy exciton is a poorly emitting triplet state. For inorganic semiconductors, similar rules predict an analogue of this triplet state known as the ‘dark exciton’. Because dark excitons release photons slowly, hindering emission from inorganic nanostructures, materials that disobey these rules have been sought. However, despite considerable experimental and theoretical efforts, no inorganic semiconductors have been identified in which the lowest exciton is bright. Here we show that the lowest exciton in caesium lead halide perovskites (CsPbX3, with X = Cl, Br or I) involves a highly emissive triplet state. We first use an effective-mass model and group theory to demonstrate the possibility of such a state existing, which can occur when the strong spin-orbit coupling in the conduction band of a perovskite is combined with the Rashba effect. We then apply our model to CsPbX3 nanocrystals, and measure size- and composition-dependent fluorescence at the single-nanocrystal level. The bright triplet character of the lowest exciton explains the anomalous photon-emission rates of these materials, which emit about 20 and 1,000 times faster than any other semiconductor nanocrystal at room and cryogenic temperatures, respectively. The existence of this bright triplet exciton is further confirmed by analysis of the fine structure in low-temperature fluorescence spectra. For semiconductor nanocrystals, which are already used in lighting, lasers and displays, these excitons could lead to materials with brighter emission. More generally, our results provide criteria for identifying other semiconductors that exhibit bright excitons, with potential implications for optoelectronic devices.

Microwave Brightness Temperature and Its Relation to Atmospheric General Circulation Features

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-17

absolute temperature. Molecules may absorb electromagnetic radiation and transition to a higher energy level, or emit radiation and transition to a lower...Walker, 1970). In the microwave region, thermal emission is the only 10 source of radiation and is dependent on the absolute temperature of the...substance as determined by the Planck function. The relationship between absolute temperature and radiation emitted is given by Planck’s Law for a

Optical sensing in laser machining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smurov, Igor; Doubenskaia, Maria

2009-05-01

Optical monitoring of temperature evolution and temperature distribution in laser machining provides important information to optimise and to control technological process under study. The multi-wavelength pyrometer is used to measure brightness temperature under the pulsed action of Nd:YAG laser on stainless steel substrates. Specially developed "notch" filters (10-6 transparency at 1.06 μm wavelength) are applied to avoid the influence of laser radiation on temperature measurements. The true temperature is restored based on the method of multi-colour pyrometry. Temperature monitoring of the thin-walled gilded kovar boxes is applied to detect deviation of the welding seam from its optimum position. The pyrometers are used to control CO2-laser welding of steel and Ti plates: misalignment of the welded plates, variation of the welding geometry, internal defects, deviation of the laser beam trajectory from the junction, etc. The temperature profiles along and across the welding axis are measured by the 2D pyrometer. When using multi-component powder blends in laser cladding, for example metal matrix composite with ceramic reinforcement, one needs to control temperature of the melt to avoid thermal decomposition of certain compounds (as WC) and to assure melting of the base metal (as Co). Infra-red camera FLIR Phoenix RDAS provides detailed information on distribution of brightness temperature in laser cladding zone. CCD-camera based diagnostic system is used to measure particles-in-flight velocity and size distribution.

Effect of bright light on EEG activities and subjective sleepiness to mental task during nocturnal sleep deprivation.

PubMed

Yokoi, Mari; Aoki, Ken; Shimomura, Yoshihiro; Iwanaga, Koichi; Katsuura, Tetsuo; Shiomura, Yoshihiro

2003-11-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the exposure to bright light on EEG activity and subjective sleepiness at rest and at the mental task during nocturnal sleep deprivation. Eight male subjects lay awake in semi-supine in a reclining seat from 21:00 to 04:30 under the bright (BL; >2500 lux) or the dim (DL; <150 lux) light conditions. During the sleep deprivation, the mental task (Stroop color-word conflict test: CWT) was performed each 15 min in one hour. EEG, subjective sleepiness, rectal and mean skin temperatures and urinary melatonin concentrations were measured. The subjective sleepiness increased with time of sleep deprivation during both rest and CWT under the DL condition. The exposure to bright light delayed for 2 hours the increase in subjective sleepiness at rest and suppressed the increase in that during CWT. The bright light exposure also delayed the increase in the theta and alpha wave activities in EEG at rest. In contrast, the effect of the bright light exposure on the theta and alpha wave activities disappeared by CWT. Additionally, under the BL condition, the entire theta activity during CWT throughout nocturnal sleep deprivation increased significantly from that in a rest condition. Our results suggest that the exposure to bright light throughout nocturnal sleep deprivation influences the subjective sleepiness during the mental task and the EEG activity, as well as the subjective sleepiness at rest. However, the effect of the bright light exposure on the EEG activity at the mental task diminishes throughout nocturnal sleep deprivation.

Development of on-line laser power monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Chien-Fang; Lee, Meng-Shiou; Li, Kuan-Ming

2016-03-01

Since the laser was invented, laser has been applied in many fields such as material processing, communication, measurement, biomedical engineering, defense industries and etc. Laser power is an important parameter in laser material processing, i.e. laser cutting, and laser drilling. However, the laser power is easily affected by the environment temperature, we tend to monitor the laser power status, ensuring there is an effective material processing. Besides, the response time of current laser power meters is too long, they cannot measure laser power accurately in a short time. To be more precisely, we can know the status of laser power and help us to achieve an effective material processing at the same time. To monitor the laser power, this study utilize a CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) camera to develop an on-line laser power monitoring system. The CMOS camera captures images of incident laser beam after it is split and attenuated by beam splitter and neutral density filter. By comparing the average brightness of the beam spots and measurement results from laser power meter, laser power can be estimated. Under continuous measuring mode, the average measuring error is about 3%, and the response time is at least 3.6 second shorter than thermopile power meters; under trigger measuring mode which enables the CMOS camera to synchronize with intermittent laser output, the average measuring error is less than 3%, and the shortest response time is 20 millisecond.

Joint Assimilation of SMOS Brightness Temperature and GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage Observations for Improved Soil Moisture Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Girotto, Manuela; Reichle, Rolf H.; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Rodell, Matthew

2017-01-01

Observations from recent soil moisture missions (e.g. SMOS) have been used in innovative data assimilation studies to provide global high spatial (i.e. 40 km) and temporal resolution (i.e. 3-days) soil moisture profile estimates from microwave brightness temperature observations. In contrast with microwave-based satellite missions that are only sensitive to near-surface soil moisture (0 - 5 cm), the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission provides accurate measurements of the entire vertically integrated terrestrial water storage column but, it is characterized by low spatial (i.e. 150,000 km2) and temporal (i.e. monthly) resolutions. Data assimilation studies have shown that GRACE-TWS primarily affects (in absolute terms) deeper moisture storages (i.e., groundwater). This work hypothesizes that unprecedented soil water profile accuracy can be obtained through the joint assimilation of GRACE terrestrial water storage and SMOS brightness temperature observations. A particular challenge of the joint assimilation is the use of the two different types of measurements that are relevant for hydrologic processes representing different temporal and spatial scales. The performance of the joint assimilation strongly depends on the chosen assimilation methods, measurement and model error spatial structures. The optimization of the assimilation technique constitutes a fundamental step toward a multi-variate multi-resolution integrative assimilation system aiming to improve our understanding of the global terrestrial water cycle.

Joint assimilation of SMOS brightness temperature and GRACE terrestrial water storage observations for improved soil moisture estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girotto, M.; Reichle, R. H.; De Lannoy, G.; Rodell, M.

2017-12-01

Observations from recent soil moisture missions (e.g. SMOS) have been used in innovative data assimilation studies to provide global high spatial (i.e. 40 km) and temporal resolution (i.e. 3-days) soil moisture profile estimates from microwave brightness temperature observations. In contrast with microwave-based satellite missions that are only sensitive to near-surface soil moisture (0-5 cm), the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission provides accurate measurements of the entire vertically integrated terrestrial water storage column but, it is characterized by low spatial (i.e. 150,000 km2) and temporal (i.e. monthly) resolutions. Data assimilation studies have shown that GRACE-TWS primarily affects (in absolute terms) deeper moisture storages (i.e., groundwater). This work hypothesizes that unprecedented soil water profile accuracy can be obtained through the joint assimilation of GRACE terrestrial water storage and SMOS brightness temperature observations. A particular challenge of the joint assimilation is the use of the two different types of measurements that are relevant for hydrologic processes representing different temporal and spatial scales. The performance of the joint assimilation strongly depends on the chosen assimilation methods, measurement and model error spatial structures. The optimization of the assimilation technique constitutes a fundamental step toward a multi-variate multi-resolution integrative assimilation system aiming to improve our understanding of the global terrestrial water cycle.

Small-Scale Features in Pulsating Aurora

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Sarah; Jaynes, Allison N.; Knudsen, David J.; Trondsen, Trond; Lessard, Marc

2011-01-01

A field study was conducted from March 12-16, 2002 using a narrow-field intensified CCD camera installed at Churchill, Manitoba. The camera was oriented along the local magnetic zenith where small-scale black auroral forms are often visible. This analysis focuses on such forms occurring within a region of pulsating aurora. The observations show black forms with irregular shape and nonuniform drift with respect to the relatively stationary pulsating patches. The pulsating patches occur within a diffuse auroral background as a modulation of the auroral brightness in a localized region. The images analyzed show a decrease in the brightness of the diffuse background in the region of the pulsating patch at the beginning of the offphase of the modulation. Throughout the off phase the brightness of the diffuse aurora gradually increases back to the average intensity. The time constant for this increase is measured as the first step toward determining the physical process.

Ultra-bright pulsed electron beam with low longitudinal emittance

DOEpatents

Zolotorev, Max

2010-07-13

A high-brightness pulsed electron source, which has the potential for many useful applications in electron microscopy, inverse photo-emission, low energy electron scattering experiments, and electron holography has been described. The source makes use of Cs atoms in an atomic beam. The source is cycled beginning with a laser pulse that excites a single Cs atom on average to a band of high-lying Rydberg nP states. The resulting valence electron Rydberg wave packet evolves in a nearly classical Kepler orbit. When the electron reaches apogee, an electric field pulse is applied that ionizes the atom and accelerates the electron away from its parent ion. The collection of electron wave packets thus generated in a series of cycles can occupy a phase volume near the quantum limit and it can possess very high brightness. Each wave packet can exhibit a considerable degree of coherence.

IUE detection of bursts of H Ly-alpha emission from Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clarke, J. T.; Moos, H. W.; Atreya, S. K.; Lane, A. L.

1981-01-01

A new investigation is reported of the potential sources of Ly-alpha emission in a series of observations of the Saturnian system carried out between January and July 1980 using the short wavelength spectrograph of the IUE Observatory. It is noted that north-south maps of the Ly-alpha emission across the planet disk show pronounced spatial asymmetries in emission brightness. These asymmetries vary to a marked extent on a time scale of days and are interpreted as bursts of Ly-alpha emission of as much as 1 kR brightness averaged over a 6 x 10 arcsec area, above a constant planetary emission level of 700-800 R. In fact, the Ly-alpha emission peaks manifest themselves as essentially point source features in these data; it is pointed out that if the emitting region is smaller than the 6 x 10 arcsec instrumental resolution, the surface brightness must be proportionally higher.

IUE observations of the Jovian HI Lyman alpha emission (1979 - 1982)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skinner, T. E.; Durrance, S. T.; Feldman, P. D.; Moos, H. W.

1982-01-01

Observations of the Jovian H ion Lyman emission made with the IUE observatory beginning in December 1978 just before the time of the Voyager encounters and extending through January 1982 are presented. A constant disk center brightness of about 8 kR is observed for the central meridian longitude range wavelength III approximately equal 200 deg to 360 deg and a variable brightness 9-15 kR is found for the range lambda III approximately 50 deg to 150 deg. These brightness values persisted throughout the three years of observation. The hydrogen bulge near wavelength III approximately equal 100 deg appears to be a permanent feature of the Jovian atmosphere, and no long term change of the planetary Lyman emission is seen. Since the early IUE observations were made near the two Voyager encounters, this indicates that no substantial changes in the atomic hydrogen concentration or the average atmospheric conditions took place between then and now.

Picosecond Pulse Recirculation for High Average Brightness Thomson Scattering-based Gamma-ray Sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Semenov, V. A.

2009-06-12

Pulse recirculation has been successfully demonstrated with the interaction laser system of LLNL's Thomson-Radiated Extreme X-ray (T-REX) source. The recirculation increased twenty-eight times the intensity of the light coming out of the laser system, demonstrating the capability of increasing the gamma-ray flux emitted by T-REX. The technical approach demonstrated could conceivably increase the average gamma-ray flux output by up to a hundred times.

Surface Temperature Measurements from a Stator Vane Doublet in a Turbine Engine Afterburner Flame using Ultra-Bright Cr-Doped GdAlO3 Thermographic Phosphor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldridge, Jeffrey I.; Jenkins, Thomas P.; Allison, Stephen W.; Wolfe, Douglas E.; Howard, Robert P.

2013-01-01

Luminescence-based surface temperature measurements from an ultra-bright Cr-doped GdAlO3 perovskite (GAP:Cr) coating were successfully conducted on an air-film-cooled stator vane doublet exposed to the afterburner flame of a J85 test engine at University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). The objective of the testing at UTSI was to demonstrate that reliable thermal barrier coating (TBC) surface temperatures based on luminescence decay of a thermographic phosphor could be obtained from the surface of an actual engine component in an aggressive afterburner flame environment and to address the challenges of a highly radiant background and high velocity gases. A high-pressure turbine vane doublet from a Honeywell TECH7000 turbine engine was coated with a standard electron-beam physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD) 200-m-thick TBC composed of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) onto which a 25-m-thick GAP:Cr thermographic phosphor layer was deposited by EB-PVD. The ultra-bright broadband luminescence from the GAP:Cr thermographic phosphor is shown to offer the advantage of over an order-of-magnitude greater emission intensity compared to rare-earth-doped phosphors in the engine test environment. This higher emission intensity was shown to be very desirable for overcoming the necessarily restricted probe light collection solid angle and for achieving high signal-to-background levels. Luminescence-decay-based surface temperature measurements varied from 500 to over 1000C depending on engine operating conditions and level of air film cooling.

Evidence for Precursors of the Coronal Hole Jets in Solar Bright Points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagashvili, Salome R.; Shergelashvili, Bidzina M.; Japaridze, Darejan R.; Kukhianidze, Vasil; Poedts, Stefaan; Zaqarashvili, Teimuraz V.; Khodachenko, Maxim L.; De Causmaecker, Patrick

2018-03-01

A set of 23 observations of coronal jet events that occurred in coronal bright points has been analyzed. The focus was on the temporal evolution of the mean brightness before and during coronal jet events. In the absolute majority of the cases either single or recurrent coronal jets (CJs) were preceded by slight precursor disturbances observed in the mean intensity curves. The key conclusion is that we were able to detect quasi-periodical oscillations with characteristic periods from sub-minute up to 3–4 minute values in the bright point brightness that precedes the jets. Our basic claim is that along with the conventionally accepted scenario of bright-point evolution through new magnetic flux emergence and its reconnection with the initial structure of the bright point and the coronal hole, certain magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillatory and wavelike motions can be excited and these can take an important place in the observed dynamics. These quasi-oscillatory phenomena might play the role of links between different epochs of the coronal jet ignition and evolution. They can be an indication of the MHD wave excitation processes due to the system entropy variations, density variations, or shear flows. It is very likely a sharp outflow velocity transverse gradients at the edges between the open and closed field line regions. We suppose that magnetic reconnections can be the source of MHD waves due to impulsive generation or rapid temperature variations, and shear flow driven nonmodel MHD wave evolution (self-heating and/or overreflection mechanisms).

High-Resolution Radar Imagery of Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harmon, John K.; Nolan, M. C.

2009-09-01

We present high-resolution radar images of Mars obtained during the 2005 and 2007 oppositions. The images were constructed from long-code delay-Doppler observations made with the Arecibo S-band (13-cm) radar. The average image resolution of 3 km represented a better than order-of-magnitude improvement over pre-upgrade Arecibo imagery of the planet. Images of depolarized reflectivity (an indicator primarily of wavelength-scale surface roughness) show the same bright volcanic flow features seen in earlier imagery, but with much finer detail. A new image of the Elysium region shows fine detail in the radar-bright channels of Athabasca Vallis, Marte Vallis, and Grjota Vallis. The new images of Tharsis and Olympus Mons also show a complex array of radar-bright and radar-dark features. Southern Amazonis exhibits some of the most complex and puzzling radar-bright structure on the planet. Another curiosity is the Chryse/Xanthe/Channels region, where we find some radar-bright features in or adjacent to fluvial chaos structures. Chryse/Xanthe is also the only region of Mars showing radar-bright craters (which are rare on Mars but common on the Moon and Mercury). We also obtained the first delay-Doppler image showing the enhanced backscatter from the residual south polar ice cap. In addition to the depolarized imagery, we were able to make the first delay-Doppler images of the circular polarization ratio (an important diagnostic for surface roughness texture). We find that vast areas of the radar-bright volcanic regions have polarization ratios close to unity. Such high ratios are rare for terrestrial lava flows and only seen for extremely blocky surfaces giving high levels of multiple scattering.

Influence of interplanetary magnetic field and solar wind on auroral brightness in different regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Y. F.; Lu, J. Y.; Wang, J.-S.; Peng, Z.; Zhou, L.

2013-01-01