Attentional enhancement of spatial resolution: linking behavioural and neurophysiological evidence

PubMed Central

Anton-Erxleben, Katharina; Carrasco, Marisa

2014-01-01

Attention allows us to select relevant sensory information for preferential processing. Behaviourally, it improves performance in various visual tasks. One prominent effect of attention is the modulation of performance in tasks that involve the visual system’s spatial resolution. Physiologically, attention modulates neuronal responses and alters the profile and position of receptive fields near the attended location. Here, we develop a hypothesis linking the behavioural and electrophysiological evidence. The proposed framework seeks to explain how these receptive field changes enhance the visual system’s effective spatial resolution and how the same mechanisms may also underlie attentional effects on the representation of spatial information. PMID:23422910

Linear chirped slope profile for spatial calibration in slope measuring deflectometry

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

Siewert, F., E-mail: frank.siewert@helmholtz-berlin.de; Zeschke, T.; Arnold, T.

2016-05-15

Slope measuring deflectometry is commonly used by the X-ray optics community to measure the long-spatial-wavelength surface figure error of optical components dedicated to guide and focus X-rays under grazing incidence condition at synchrotron and free electron laser beamlines. The best performing instruments of this kind are capable of absolute accuracy on the level of 30-50 nrad. However, the exact bandwidth of the measurements, determined at the higher spatial frequencies by the instrument’s spatial resolution, or more generally by the instrument’s modulation transfer function (MTF) is hard to determine. An MTF calibration method based on application of a test surface withmore » a one-dimensional (1D) chirped height profile of constant amplitude was suggested in the past. In this work, we propose a new approach to designing the test surfaces with a 2D-chirped topography, specially optimized for MTF characterization of slope measuring instruments. The design of the developed MTF test samples based on the proposed linear chirped slope profiles (LCSPs) is free of the major drawback of the 1D chirped height profiles, where in the slope domain, the amplitude strongly increases with the local spatial frequency of the profile. We provide the details of fabrication of the LCSP samples. The results of first application of the developed test samples to measure the spatial resolution of the BESSY-NOM at different experimental arrangements are also presented and discussed.« less

Relative humidity vertical profiling using lidar-based synergistic methods in the framework of the Hygra-CD campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labzovskii, Lev D.; Papayannis, Alexandros; Binietoglou, Ioannis; Banks, Robert F.; Baldasano, Jose M.; Toanca, Florica; Tzanis, Chris G.; Christodoulakis, John

2018-02-01

Accurate continuous measurements of relative humidity (RH) vertical profiles in the lower troposphere have become a significant scientific challenge. In recent years a synergy of various ground-based remote sensing instruments have been successfully used for RH vertical profiling, which has resulted in the improvement of spatial resolution and, in some cases, of the accuracy of the measurement. Some studies have also suggested the use of high-resolution model simulations as input datasets into RH vertical profiling techniques. In this paper we apply two synergetic methods for RH profiling, including the synergy of lidar with a microwave radiometer and high-resolution atmospheric modeling. The two methods are employed for RH retrieval between 100 and 6000 m with increased spatial resolution, based on datasets from the HygrA-CD (Hygroscopic Aerosols to Cloud Droplets) campaign conducted in Athens, Greece from May to June 2014. RH profiles from synergetic methods are then compared with those retrieved using single instruments or as simulated by high-resolution models. Our proposed technique for RH profiling provides improved statistical agreement with reference to radiosoundings by 27 % when the lidar-radiometer (in comparison with radiometer measurements) approach is used and by 15 % when a lidar model is used (in comparison with WRF-model simulations). Mean uncertainty of RH due to temperature bias in RH profiling was ˜ 4.34 % for the lidar-radiometer and ˜ 1.22 % for the lidar-model methods. However, maximum uncertainty in RH retrievals due to temperature bias showed that lidar-model method is more reliable at heights greater than 2000 m. Overall, our results have demonstrated the capability of both combined methods for daytime measurements in heights between 100 and 6000 m when lidar-radiometer or lidar-WRF combined datasets are available.

Effective resolution concepts for lidar observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iarlori, M.; Madonna, F.; Rizi, V.; Trickl, T.; Amodeo, A.

2015-12-01

Since its establishment in 2000, EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar NETwork) has provided, through its database, quantitative aerosol properties, such as aerosol backscatter and aerosol extinction coefficients, the latter only for stations able to retrieve it independently (from Raman or high-spectral-resolution lidars). These coefficients are stored in terms of vertical profiles, and the EARLINET database also includes the details of the range resolution of the vertical profiles. In fact, the algorithms used in the lidar data analysis often alter the spectral content of the data, mainly acting as low-pass filters to reduce the high-frequency noise. Data filtering is described by the digital signal processing (DSP) theory as a convolution sum: each filtered signal output at a given range is the result of a linear combination of several signal input data samples (relative to different ranges from the lidar receiver), and this could be seen as a loss of range resolution of the output signal. Low-pass filtering always introduces distortions in the lidar profile shape. Thus, both the removal of high frequency, i.e., the removal of details up to a certain spatial extension, and the spatial distortion produce a reduction of the range resolution. This paper discusses the determination of the effective resolution (ERes) of the vertical profiles of aerosol properties retrieved from lidar data. Large attention has been dedicated to providing an assessment of the impact of low-pass filtering on the effective range resolution in the retrieval procedure.

Effects of Temperature and Air Density Profiles on Ozone Lidar Retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirgis, G.; Langford, A. O.; Senff, C. J.; Alvarez, R. J. _II, II

2017-12-01

The recent reduction in the primary U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone (O3) from 75 to 70 parts-per-billion by volume (ppbv) adds urgency to the need for better understanding of the processes that control ground-level concentrations in the United States. While ground-based in situ sensors are capable of measuring ozone levels, they don't give any insight into upper air transport and mixing. Differential absorption lidars such as the NOAA/ESRL Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) measure continuous vertical ozone profiles with high spatial and temporal resolution. However, the retrieved ozone mixing ratios depend on the temperature and air density profiles used in the analysis. This study analyzes the ozone concentrations for seven field campaigns from 2013 to 2016 to evaluate the impact of the assumed pressure and temperature profiles on the ozone mixing ratio retrieval. Pressure and temperature profiles from various spatial and temporal resolution models (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, NCEP North American Regional Reanalysis, Rapid Refresh, and High-Resolution Rapid Refresh) are compared to reference ozone profiles created with pressure and temperature profiles from ozonesondes launched close to the TOPAZ measurement site. The results show significant biases with respect to time of day and season, altitude, and location of the model-extracted profiles. Limitations and advantages of all datasets used will also be discussed.

Spatial-Resolution Cell Type Proteome Profiling of Cancer Tissue by Fully Integrated Proteomics Technology.

PubMed

Xu, Ruilian; Tang, Jun; Deng, Quantong; He, Wan; Sun, Xiujie; Xia, Ligang; Cheng, Zhiqiang; He, Lisheng; You, Shuyuan; Hu, Jintao; Fu, Yuxiang; Zhu, Jian; Chen, Yixin; Gao, Weina; He, An; Guo, Zhengyu; Lin, Lin; Li, Hua; Hu, Chaofeng; Tian, Ruijun

2018-05-01

Increasing attention has been focused on cell type proteome profiling for understanding the heterogeneous multicellular microenvironment in tissue samples. However, current cell type proteome profiling methods need large amounts of starting materials which preclude their application to clinical tumor specimens with limited access. Here, by seamlessly combining laser capture microdissection and integrated proteomics sample preparation technology SISPROT, specific cell types in tumor samples could be precisely dissected with single cell resolution and processed for high-sensitivity proteome profiling. Sample loss and contamination due to the multiple transfer steps are significantly reduced by the full integration and noncontact design. H&E staining dyes which are necessary for cell type investigation could be selectively removed by the unique two-stage design of the spintip device. This easy-to-use proteome profiling technology achieved high sensitivity with the identification of more than 500 proteins from only 0.1 mm 2 and 10 μm thickness colon cancer tissue section. The first cell type proteome profiling of four cell types from one colon tumor and surrounding normal tissue, including cancer cells, enterocytes, lymphocytes, and smooth muscle cells, was obtained. 5271, 4691, 4876, and 2140 protein groups were identified, respectively, from tissue section of only 5 mm 2 and 10 μm thickness. Furthermore, spatially resolved proteome distribution profiles of enterocytes, lymphocytes, and smooth muscle cells on the same tissue slices and across four consecutive sections with micrometer distance were successfully achieved. This fully integrated proteomics technology, termed LCM-SISPROT, is therefore promising for spatial-resolution cell type proteome profiling of tumor microenvironment with a minute amount of clinical starting materials.

Development of Residual Gas Profile Monitors at GSI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giacomini, T.; Barabin, S.; Forck, P.; Liakin, D.; Skachkov, V.

2004-11-01

Beam profile measurements at modern ion synchrotrons and storage rings require high timing performances on a turn-by-turn basis. High spatial resolutions are essential for cold beams and beamwidth measurings. The currently used RGM supported very interesting measurements and applications. Due to the readout technology the spatial and time resolution is limited. To meet the expanded demands a more comprehensive device is under development. It will be an all-purpose residual gas monitor to cover the wide range of beam currents and transversal particle distributions. Due to the fast profile detection it will operate on primary electrons after residual gas ionization. A magnetic field of 100 mT binds them to the ionization point inside 0.1-mm orbits. The high-resolution mode will be read out by a digital CCD camera with an upstream MCP-phosphor screen assembly. It is planned to read out the fast turn-by-turn mode by an array of 100 photodiodes with a resolution of 1 mm. Every photodiode is equipped with an amplifier-digitizer device providing a frame rate of ˜ 10 MSamples/s.

Evaluation of Heterogeneous Metabolic Profile in an Orthotopic Human Glioblastoma Xenograft Model Using Compressed Sensing Hyperpolarized 3D 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

PubMed Central

Park, Ilwoo; Hu, Simon; Bok, Robert; Ozawa, Tomoko; Ito, Motokazu; Mukherjee, Joydeep; Phillips, Joanna J.; James, C. David; Pieper, Russell O.; Ronen, Sabrina M.; Vigneron, Daniel B.; Nelson, Sarah J.

2013-01-01

High resolution compressed sensing hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was applied in orthotopic human glioblastoma xenografts for quantitative assessment of spatial variations in 13C metabolic profiles and comparison with histopathology. A new compressed sensing sampling design with a factor of 3.72 acceleration was implemented to enable a factor of 4 increase in spatial resolution. Compressed sensing 3D 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data were acquired from a phantom and 10 tumor-bearing rats following injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C]-pyruvate using a 3T scanner. The 13C metabolic profiles were compared with hematoxylin and eosin staining and carbonic anhydrase 9 staining. The high-resolution compressed sensing 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data enabled the differentiation of distinct 13C metabolite patterns within abnormal tissues with high specificity in similar scan times compared to the fully sampled method. The results from pathology confirmed the different characteristics of 13C metabolic profiles between viable, non-necrotic, nonhypoxic tumor, and necrotic, hypoxic tissue. PMID:22851374

Evaluation of heterogeneous metabolic profile in an orthotopic human glioblastoma xenograft model using compressed sensing hyperpolarized 3D 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

PubMed

Park, Ilwoo; Hu, Simon; Bok, Robert; Ozawa, Tomoko; Ito, Motokazu; Mukherjee, Joydeep; Phillips, Joanna J; James, C David; Pieper, Russell O; Ronen, Sabrina M; Vigneron, Daniel B; Nelson, Sarah J

2013-07-01

High resolution compressed sensing hyperpolarized (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was applied in orthotopic human glioblastoma xenografts for quantitative assessment of spatial variations in (13)C metabolic profiles and comparison with histopathology. A new compressed sensing sampling design with a factor of 3.72 acceleration was implemented to enable a factor of 4 increase in spatial resolution. Compressed sensing 3D (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data were acquired from a phantom and 10 tumor-bearing rats following injection of hyperpolarized [1-(13)C]-pyruvate using a 3T scanner. The (13)C metabolic profiles were compared with hematoxylin and eosin staining and carbonic anhydrase 9 staining. The high-resolution compressed sensing (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data enabled the differentiation of distinct (13)C metabolite patterns within abnormal tissues with high specificity in similar scan times compared to the fully sampled method. The results from pathology confirmed the different characteristics of (13)C metabolic profiles between viable, non-necrotic, nonhypoxic tumor, and necrotic, hypoxic tissue. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Edge profile measurements using Thomson scattering on the KSTAR tokamak

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

Lee, J. H., E-mail: jhleel@nfri.re.kr; Ko, W. H.; Department of Nuclear Fusion and Plasma Science, University of Science and Technology

2014-11-15

In the KSTAR Tokamak, a “Tangential Thomson Scattering” (TTS) diagnostic system has been designed and installed to measure electron density and temperature profiles. In the edge system, TTS has 12 optical fiber bundles to measure the edge profiles with 10–15 mm spatial resolution. These 12 optical fibers and their spatial resolution are not enough to measure the pedestal width with a high accuracy but allow observations of L-H transition or H-L transitions at the edge. For these measurements, the prototype ITER edge Thomson Nd:YAG laser system manufactured by JAEA in Japan is installed. In this paper, the KSTAR TTS systemmore » is briefly described and some TTS edge profiles are presented and compared against the KSTAR Charge Exchange Spectroscopy and other diagnostics. The future upgrade plan of the system is also discussed in this paper.« less

Label-free super-resolution with coherent nonlinear structured-illumination microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huttunen, Mikko J.; Abbas, Aazad; Upham, Jeremy; Boyd, Robert W.

2017-08-01

Structured-illumination microscopy enables up to a two-fold lateral resolution improvement by spatially modulating the intensity profile of the illumination beam. We propose a novel way to generalize the concept of structured illumination to nonlinear widefield modalities by spatially modulating, instead of field intensities, the phase of the incident field while interferometrically measuring the complex-valued scattered field. We numerically demonstrate that for second-order and third-order processes an almost four- and six-fold increase in lateral resolution is achievable, respectively. This procedure overcomes the conventional Abbe diffraction limit and provides new possibilities for label-free super-resolution microscopy.

Hyperspectral imaging to investigate the distribution of organic matter and iron down the soil profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hobley, Eleanor; Kriegs, Stefanie; Steffens, Markus

2017-04-01

Obtaining reliable and accurate data regarding the spatial distribution of different soil components is difficult due to issues related with sampling scale and resolution on the one hand and laboratory analysis on the other. When investigating the chemical composition of soil, studies frequently limit themselves to two dimensional characterisations, e.g. spatial variability near the surface or depth distribution down the profile, but rarely combine both approaches due to limitations to sampling and analytical capacities. Furthermore, when assessing depth distributions, samples are taken according to horizon or depth increments, resulting in a mixed sample across the sampling depth. Whilst this facilitates mean content estimation per depth increment and therefore reduces analytical costs, the sample information content with regards to heterogeneity within the profile is lost. Hyperspectral imaging can overcome these sampling limitations, yielding high resolution spectral data of down the soil profile, greatly enhancing the information content of the samples. This can then be used to augment horizontal spatial characterisation of a site, yielding three dimensional information into the distribution of spectral characteristics across a site and down the profile. Soil spectral characteristics are associated with specific chemical components of soil, such as soil organic matter or iron contents. By correlating the content of these soil components with their spectral behaviour, high resolution multi-dimensional analysis of soil chemical composition can be obtained. Here we present a hyperspectral approach to the characterisation of soil organic matter and iron down different soil profiles, outlining advantages and issues associated with the methodology.

Depth-time interpolation of feature trends extracted from mobile microelectrode data with kernel functions.

PubMed

Wong, Stephen; Hargreaves, Eric L; Baltuch, Gordon H; Jaggi, Jurg L; Danish, Shabbar F

2012-01-01

Microelectrode recording (MER) is necessary for precision localization of target structures such as the subthalamic nucleus during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Attempts to automate this process have produced quantitative temporal trends (feature activity vs. time) extracted from mobile MER data. Our goal was to evaluate computational methods of generating spatial profiles (feature activity vs. depth) from temporal trends that would decouple automated MER localization from the clinical procedure and enhance functional localization in DBS surgery. We evaluated two methods of interpolation (standard vs. kernel) that generated spatial profiles from temporal trends. We compared interpolated spatial profiles to true spatial profiles that were calculated with depth windows, using correlation coefficient analysis. Excellent approximation of true spatial profiles is achieved by interpolation. Kernel-interpolated spatial profiles produced superior correlation coefficient values at optimal kernel widths (r = 0.932-0.940) compared to standard interpolation (r = 0.891). The choice of kernel function and kernel width resulted in trade-offs in smoothing and resolution. Interpolation of feature activity to create spatial profiles from temporal trends is accurate and can standardize and facilitate MER functional localization of subcortical structures. The methods are computationally efficient, enhancing localization without imposing additional constraints on the MER clinical procedure during DBS surgery. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Effective resolution concepts for lidar observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iarlori, M.; Madonna, F.; Rizi, V.; Trickl, T.; Amodeo, A.

2015-05-01

Since its first establishment in 2000, EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar NETwork) has been devoted to providing, through its database, exclusively quantitative aerosol properties, such as aerosol backscatter and aerosol extinction coefficients, the latter only for stations able to retrieve it independently (from Raman or High Spectral Resolution Lidars). As these coefficients are provided in terms of vertical profiles, EARLINET database must also include the details on the range resolution of the submitted data. In fact, the algorithms used in the lidar data analysis often alter the spectral content of the data, mainly working as low pass filters with the purpose of noise damping. Low pass filters are mathematically described by the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) theory as a convolution sum. As a consequence, this implies that each filter's output, at a given range (or time) in our case, will be the result of a linear combination of several lidar input data relative to different ranges (times) before and after the given range (time): a first hint of loss of resolution of the output signal. The application of filtering processes will also always distort the underlying true profile whose relevant features, like aerosol layers, will then be affected both in magnitude and in spatial extension. Thus, both the removal of noise and the spatial distortion of the true profile produce a reduction of the range resolution. This paper provides the determination of the effective resolution (ERes) of the vertical profiles of aerosol properties retrieved starting from lidar data. Large attention has been addressed to provide an assessment of the impact of low-pass filtering on the effective range resolution in the retrieval procedure.

Fast-ion D(alpha) measurements and simulations in DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Yadong

The fast-ion Dalpha diagnostic measures the Doppler-shifted Dalpha light emitted by neutralized fast ions. For a favorable viewing geometry, the bright interferences from beam neutrals, halo neutrals, and edge neutrals span over a small wavelength range around the Dalpha rest wavelength and are blocked by a vertical bar at the exit focal plane of the spectrometer. Background subtraction and fitting techniques eliminate various contaminants in the spectrum. Fast-ion data are acquired with a time evolution of ˜1 ms, spatial resolution of ˜5 cm, and energy resolution of ˜10 keV. A weighted Monte Carlo simulation code models the fast-ion Dalpha spectra based on the fast-ion distribution function from other sources. In quiet plasmas, the spectral shape is in excellent agreement and absolute magnitude also has reasonable agreement. The fast-ion D alpha signal has the expected dependencies on plasma and neutral beam parameters. The neutral particle diagnostic and neutron diagnostic corroborate the fast-ion Dalpha measurements. The relative spatial profile is in agreement with the simulated profile based on the fast-ion distribution function from the TRANSP analysis code. During ion cyclotron heating, fast ions with high perpendicular energy are accelerated, while those with low perpendicular energy are barely affected. The spatial profile is compared with the simulated profiles based on the fast-ion distribution functions from the CQL Fokker-Planck code. In discharges with Alfven instabilities, both the spatial profile and spectral shape suggests that fast ions are redistributed. The flattened fast-ion Dalpha profile is in agreement with the fast-ion pressure profile.

SU-F-T-179: Fast and Accurate Profile Acquisition for Proton Beam Using Multi-Ion Chamber Arrays

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

Wang, X; Zou, J; Chen, T

2016-06-15

Purpose: Proton beam profile measurement is more time-consuming than photon beam. Due to the energy modulation during proton delivery, chambers have to move step-by-step instead of continuously. Multi-ion chamber arrays are appealing to this task since multiple measurements can be performed at once. However, their utilization suffers from sparse spatial resolution and potential intrinsic volume-averaging effect of the disk-shaped ion chambers. We proposed an approach to measure proton beam profiles accurately and efficiently. Methods: Mevion S250 proton system and IBA Matrixx ion chamber arrays were used in this study. Matrixx has interchamber distance of 7.62 mm, and chamber diameter ofmore » 4.5 mm. We measured the same beam profile by moving the Matrixx seven times with 1 mm each time along y axis. All 7 measurements were superimposed to get a “finer” profile with 1 mm spatial resolution. Coarser resolution profiles of 2 mm and 3 mm were also generated by using subsets of measurements. Those profiles were compared to the TPS calculated beam profile. Gamma analysis was performed for 2D dose maps to evaluate the difference to TPS dose plane. Results: Preliminary results showed a large discrepancy between the TPS calculated profile and the single measurement profile with 7.6 mm resolution. A good match could be achieved when the resolution reduced to 3 mm by adding one extra measurement. Gamma analysis for 2D dose map of a 10×10 field showed a passing rate (γ ≤ 1) of 90.6% using a 3% and 3mm criterion for single measurement, which increased to 92.3% for 2-measurement superimposition, and slightly further increased to 92.9% for 7-measurement superimposition. Conclusion: The results indicated that 2 measurements shifted by 3mm using Matrixx generated a smooth proton beam profile with good matching to Eclipse beam profile. We suggest using this 2-measurement approach in clinic for double scattering proton beam profile measurement.« less

Scanning capacitance microscope as a tool for the characterization of integrated circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Born, A.; Wiesendanger, R.

With the decreasing size of integrated circuits (ICs), there is an increasing demand for the measurement of doping profiles with high spatial resolution. The scanning capacitance microscope (SCM) offers the possibility of measuring 2D dopant profiles with spatial resolution of less than 20 nm. A great problem of the SCM technique is the influence of previous measurements on subsequent ones. We have observed hysteresis in the SCM images and measured low-frequency C-V curves with high-frequency equipment. A theoretical model was developed to understand this phenomenon. We are now undertaking the first steps using the SCM as a standard device for the characterization of ICs.

Space- and time-resolved raman and breakdown spectroscopy: advanced lidar techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silviu, Gurlui; Marius Mihai, Cazacu; Adrian, Timofte; Oana, Rusu; Georgiana, Bulai; Dimitriu, Dan

2018-04-01

DARLIOES - the advanced LIDAR is based on space- and time-resolved RAMAN and breakdown spectroscopy, to investigate chemical and toxic compounds, their kinetics and physical properties at high temporal (2 ns) and spatial (1 cm) resolution. The high spatial and temporal resolution are needed to resolve a large variety of chemical troposphere compounds, emissions from aircraft, the self-organization space charges induced light phenomena, temperature and humidity profiles, ice nucleation, etc.

Limitation of Liquid Crystal on Silicon Spatial Light Modular for Holographic Three-dimensional Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Xinghua; Wang, Bin; Bos, Philip J.; Anderson, James E.; Kujawinska, Malgorzata; Pouch, John; Miranda, Feliz

2004-01-01

In a 3-D display system based on an opto-electronic reconstruction of a digitally recorded hologram, the field of view of such a system is limited by the spatial resolution of the liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modular (SLM) used to perform the opto-electronic reconstruction. In this article, the special resolution limitation of LCOS SLM associated with the fringe field effect and interpixel coupling is determined by the liquid crystal detector simulation and the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation. The diffraction efficiency loss associated with the imperfection in the phase profile is studied with an example of opto-electronic reconstruction of an amplitude object. A high spatial resolution LCOS SLM with a wide reconstruction angle is proposed.

Spatially-controlled illumination with rescan confocal microscopy enhances image quality, resolution and reduces photodamage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnaswami, Venkataraman; De Luca, Giulia M. R.; Breedijk, Ronald M. P.; Van Noorden, Cornelis J. F.; Manders, Erik M. M.; Hoebe, Ron A.

2017-02-01

Fluorescence microscopy is an important tool in biomedical imaging. An inherent trade-off lies between image quality and photodamage. Recently, we have introduced rescan confocal microscopy (RCM) that improves the lateral resolution of a confocal microscope down to 170 nm. Previously, we have demonstrated that with controlled-light exposure microscopy, spatial control of illumination reduces photodamage without compromising image quality. Here, we show that the combination of these two techniques leads to high resolution imaging with reduced photodamage without compromising image quality. Implementation of spatially-controlled illumination was carried out in RCM using a line scanning-based approach. Illumination is spatially-controlled for every line during imaging with the help of a prediction algorithm that estimates the spatial profile of the fluorescent specimen. The estimation is based on the information available from previously acquired line images. As a proof-of-principle, we show images of N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells, obtained by this new setup with reduced illumination dose, improved resolution and without compromising image quality.

Digital soil classification and elemental mapping using imaging Vis-NIR spectroscopy: How to explicitly quantify stagnic properties of a Luvisol under Norway spruce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kriegs, Stefanie; Buddenbaum, Henning; Rogge, Derek; Steffens, Markus

2015-04-01

Laboratory imaging Vis-NIR spectroscopy of soil profiles is a novel technique in soil science that can determine quantity and quality of various chemical soil properties with a hitherto unreached spatial resolution in undisturbed soil profiles. We have applied this technique to soil cores in order to get quantitative proof of redoximorphic processes under two different tree species and to proof tree-soil interactions at microscale. Due to the imaging capabilities of Vis-NIR spectroscopy a spatially explicit understanding of soil processes and properties can be achieved. Spatial heterogeneity of the soil profile can be taken into account. We took six 30 cm long rectangular soil columns of adjacent Luvisols derived from quaternary aeolian sediments (Loess) in a forest soil near Freising/Bavaria using stainless steel boxes (100×100×300 mm). Three profiles were sampled under Norway spruce and three under European beech. A hyperspectral camera (VNIR, 400-1000 nm in 160 spectral bands) with spatial resolution of 63×63 µm² per pixel was used for data acquisition. Reference samples were taken at representative spots and analysed for organic carbon (OC) quantity and quality with a CN elemental analyser and for iron oxides (Fe) content using dithionite extraction followed by ICP-OES measurement. We compared two supervised classification algorithms, Spectral Angle Mapper and Maximum Likelihood, using different sets of training areas and spectral libraries. As established in chemometrics we used multivariate analysis such as partial least-squares regression (PLSR) in addition to multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) to correlate chemical data with Vis-NIR spectra. As a result elemental mapping of Fe and OC within the soil core at high spatial resolution has been achieved. The regression model was validated by a new set of reference samples for chemical analysis. Digital soil classification easily visualizes soil properties within the soil profiles. By combining both techniques, detailed soil maps, elemental balances and a deeper understanding of soil forming processes at the microscale become feasible for complete soil profiles.

Black hole mass measurement using molecular gas kinematics: what ALMA can do

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, Ilsang

2017-04-01

We study the limits of the spatial and velocity resolution of radio interferometry to infer the mass of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic centres using the kinematics of circum-nuclear molecular gas, by considering the shapes of the galaxy surface brightness profile, signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) of the position-velocity diagram (PVD) and systematic errors due to the spatial and velocity structure of the molecular gas. We argue that for fixed galaxy stellar mass and SMBH mass, the spatial and velocity scales that need to be resolved increase and decrease, respectively, with decreasing Sérsic index of the galaxy surface brightness profile. We validate our arguments using simulated PVDs for varying beam size and velocity channel width. Furthermore, we consider the systematic effects on the inference of the SMBH mass by simulating PVDs including the spatial and velocity structure of the molecular gas, which demonstrates that their impacts are not significant for a PVD with good S/N unless the spatial and velocity scale associated with the systematic effects are comparable to or larger than the angular resolution and velocity channel width of the PVD from pure circular motion. Also, we caution that a bias in a galaxy surface brightness profile owing to the poor resolution of a galaxy photometric image can largely bias the SMBH mass by an order of magnitude. This study shows the promise and the limits of ALMA observations for measuring SMBH mass using molecular gas kinematics and provides a useful technical justification for an ALMA proposal with the science goal of measuring SMBH mass.

Self-sensing cantilevers with integrated conductive coaxial tips for high-resolution electrical scanning probe metrology

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

Haemmerli, Alexandre J.; Pruitt, Beth L., E-mail: pruitt@stanford.edu; Harjee, Nahid

The lateral resolution of many electrical scanning probe techniques is limited by the spatial extent of the electrostatic potential profiles produced by their probes. Conventional unshielded conductive atomic force microscopy probes produce broad potential profiles. Shielded probes could offer higher resolution and easier data interpretation in the study of nanostructures. Electrical scanning probe techniques require a method of locating structures of interest, often by mapping surface topography. As the samples studied with these techniques are often photosensitive, the typical laser measurement of cantilever deflection can excite the sample, causing undesirable changes electrical properties. In this work, we present the design,more » fabrication, and characterization of probes that integrate coaxial tips for spatially sharp potential profiles with piezoresistors for self-contained, electrical displacement sensing. With the apex 100 nm above the sample surface, the electrostatic potential profile produced by our coaxial tips is more than 2 times narrower than that of unshielded tips with no long tails. In a scan bandwidth of 1 Hz–10 kHz, our probes have a displacement resolution of 2.9 Å at 293 K and 79 Å at 2 K, where the low-temperature performance is limited by amplifier noise. We show scanning gate microscopy images of a quantum point contact obtained with our probes, highlighting the improvement to lateral resolution resulting from the coaxial tip.« less

Profiling of Atmospheric Water Vapor with MIR and LASE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, J. R.; Racette, P.; Triesly, M. E.; Browell, E. V.; Ismail, S.; Chang, L. A.; Hildebrand, Peter H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This paper presents the first and the only simultaneous measurements of water vapor by MIR (Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer) and LASE (Lidar Atmospheric Sounding Experiment) on board the same ER-2 aircraft. Water vapor is one of the most important constituents in the Earth's atmosphere, as its spatial and temporal variations affect a wide spectrum of meteorological phenomena ranging from the formation of clouds to the development of severe storms. Its concentration, as measured in terms of relative humidity, determines the extinction coefficient of atmospheric aerosol particles and therefore visibility. These considerations point to the need for effective and frequent measurements of the atmospheric water vapor. The MIR and LASE instruments provide measurements of water vapor profiles with two markedly different techniques. LASE can give water vapor profiles with excellent vertical resolution under clear condition, while MIR can retrieve water vapor profiles with a crude vertical resolution even under a moderate cloud cover. Additionally, millimeter-wave measurements are relatively simple and provide better spatial coverage.

Impact of high-resolution a priori profiles on satellite-based formaldehyde retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Si-Wan; Natraj, Vijay; Lee, Seoyoung; Kwon, Hyeong-Ahn; Park, Rokjin; de Gouw, Joost; Frost, Gregory; Kim, Jhoon; Stutz, Jochen; Trainer, Michael; Tsai, Catalina; Warneke, Carsten

2018-06-01

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is either directly emitted from sources or produced during the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the troposphere. It is possible to infer atmospheric HCHO concentrations using space-based observations, which may be useful for studying emissions and tropospheric chemistry at urban to global scales depending on the quality of the retrievals. In the near future, an unprecedented volume of satellite-based HCHO measurement data will be available from both geostationary and polar-orbiting platforms. Therefore, it is essential to develop retrieval methods appropriate for the next-generation satellites that measure at higher spatial and temporal resolution than the current ones. In this study, we examine the importance of fine spatial and temporal resolution a priori profile information on the retrieval by conducting approximately 45 000 radiative transfer (RT) model calculations in the Los Angeles Basin (LA Basin) megacity. Our analyses suggest that an air mass factor (AMF, a factor converting observed slant columns to vertical columns) based on fine spatial and temporal resolution a priori profiles can better capture the spatial distributions of the enhanced HCHO plumes in an urban area than the nearly constant AMFs used for current operational products by increasing the columns by ˜ 50 % in the domain average and up to 100 % at a finer scale. For this urban area, the AMF values are inversely proportional to the magnitude of the HCHO mixing ratios in the boundary layer. Using our optimized model HCHO results in the Los Angeles Basin that mimic the HCHO retrievals from future geostationary satellites, we illustrate the effectiveness of HCHO data from geostationary measurements for understanding and predicting tropospheric ozone and its precursors.

Objectives and Layout of a High-Resolution X-ray Imaging Crystal Spectrometer for the Large Helical Device (LHD)

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

Bitter, M; Gates, D; Monticello, D

A high-resolution X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer, whose concept was tested on NSTX and Alcator C-Mod, is being designed for LHD. This instrument will record spatially resolved spectra of helium-like Ar16+ and provide ion temperature profiles with spatial and temporal resolutions of < 2 cm and ≥ 10 ms. The stellarator equilibrium reconstruction codes, STELLOPT and PIES, will be used for the tomographic inversion of the spectral data. The spectrometer layout and instrumental features are largely determined by the magnetic field structure of LHD.

Siderophile Element Profile Measurements in Iron Meteorites Using Laser Ablation ICP-MS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, H. C.; Watson, E. B.; McDonough, W. F.

2005-01-01

Understanding the behaviour of siderophile elements during cooling of iron meteorites can lead to insight into the general thermal histories of the meteorites as well as their respective parent bodies. Traditionally trace element analyses in meteorites have been done using techniques that only measure the average concentration in each phase. With these methods, all of the spatial information with respect to the distribution of an element within one phase is lost. Measuring concentration profiles of trace elements in meteorites is now possible, with the advent of high-resolution analytical techniques such as laser ablation, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) with spatial resolution <20 microns. [e.g. 1,2] and secondary ion mass spectrometry [3]. These profiles can give more insight into both the partitioning and diffusive behavior of siderophile elements in metal systems relevant to iron meteorites, as well as parent body cooling rates.

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

Scaduto, DA; Hu, Y-H; Zhao, W

Purpose: Spatial resolution in digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is affected by inherent/binned detector resolution, oblique entry of x-rays, and focal spot size/motion; the limited angular range further limits spatial resolution in the depth-direction. While DBT is being widely adopted clinically, imaging performance metrics and quality control protocols have not been standardized. AAPM Task Group 245 on Tomosynthesis Quality Control has been formed to address this deficiency. Methods: Methods of measuring spatial resolution are evaluated using two prototype quality control phantoms for DBT. Spatial resolution in the detector plane is measured in projection and reconstruction domains using edge-spread function (ESF), point-spreadmore » function (PSF) and modulation transfer function (MTF). Spatial resolution in the depth-direction and effective slice thickness are measured in the reconstruction domain using slice sensitivity profile (SSP) and artifact spread function (ASF). An oversampled PSF in the depth-direction is measured using a 50 µm angulated tungsten wire, from which the MTF is computed. Object-dependent PSF is derived and compared with ASF. Sensitivity of these measurements to phantom positioning, imaging conditions and reconstruction algorithms is evaluated. Results are compared from systems of varying acquisition geometry (9–25 projections over 15–60°). Dependence of measurements on feature size is investigated. Results: Measurements of spatial resolution using PSF and LSF are shown to depend on feature size; depth-direction spatial resolution measurements are shown to similarly depend on feature size for ASF, though deconvolution with an object function removes feature size-dependence. A slanted wire may be used to measure oversampled PSFs, from which MTFs may be computed for both in-plane and depth-direction resolution. Conclusion: Spatial resolution measured using PSF is object-independent with sufficiently small object; MTF is object-independent. Depth-direction spatial resolution may be measured directly using MTF or indirectly using ASF or SSP as surrogate measurements. While MTF is object-independent, it is invalid for nonlinear reconstructions.« less

High Resolution Temperature Measurement of Liquid Stainless Steel Using Hyperspectral Imaging

PubMed Central

Devesse, Wim; De Baere, Dieter; Guillaume, Patrick

2017-01-01

A contactless temperature measurement system is presented based on a hyperspectral line camera that captures the spectra in the visible and near infrared (VNIR) region of a large set of closely spaced points. The measured spectra are used in a nonlinear least squares optimization routine to calculate a one-dimensional temperature profile with high spatial resolution. Measurements of a liquid melt pool of AISI 316L stainless steel show that the system is able to determine the absolute temperatures with an accuracy of 10%. The measurements are made with a spatial resolution of 12 µm/pixel, justifying its use in applications where high temperature measurements with high spatial detail are desired, such as in the laser material processing and additive manufacturing fields. PMID:28067764

High spatial resolution distributed fiber system for multi-parameter sensing based on modulated pulses.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingdong; Zhu, Tao; Zhou, Huan; Huang, Shihong; Liu, Min; Huang, Wei

2016-11-28

We demonstrate a cost-effective distributed fiber sensing system for the multi-parameter detection of the vibration, the temperature, and the strain by integrating phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR) and Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry (B-OTDR). Taking advantage of the fast changing property of the vibration and the static properties of the temperature and the strain, both the width and intensity of the laser pulses are modulated and injected into the single-mode sensing fiber proportionally, so that three concerned parameters can be extracted simultaneously by only one photo-detector and one data acquisition channel. A data processing method based on Gaussian window short time Fourier transform (G-STFT) is capable of achieving high spatial resolution in B-OTDR. The experimental results show that up to 4.8kHz vibration sensing with 3m spatial resolution at 10km standard single-mode fiber can be realized, as well as the distributed temperature and stress profiles along the same fiber with 80cm spatial resolution.

150-μm Spatial Resolution Using Photon-Counting Detector Computed Tomography Technology: Technical Performance and First Patient Images.

PubMed

Leng, Shuai; Rajendran, Kishore; Gong, Hao; Zhou, Wei; Halaweish, Ahmed F; Henning, Andre; Kappler, Steffen; Baer, Matthias; Fletcher, Joel G; McCollough, Cynthia H

2018-05-28

The aims of this study were to quantitatively assess two new scan modes on a photon-counting detector computed tomography system, each designed to maximize spatial resolution, and to qualitatively demonstrate potential clinical impact using patient data. This Health Insurance Portability Act-compliant study was approved by our institutional review board. Two high-spatial-resolution scan modes (Sharp and UHR) were evaluated using phantoms to quantify spatial resolution and image noise, and results were compared with the standard mode (Macro). Patients were scanned using a conventional energy-integrating detector scanner and the photon-counting detector scanner using the same radiation dose. In first patient images, anatomic details were qualitatively evaluated to demonstrate potential clinical impact. Sharp and UHR modes had a 69% and 87% improvement in in-plane spatial resolution, respectively, compared with Macro mode (10% modulation-translation-function values of 16.05, 17.69, and 9.48 lp/cm, respectively). The cutoff spatial frequency of the UHR mode (32.4 lp/cm) corresponded to a limiting spatial resolution of 150 μm. The full-width-at-half-maximum values of the section sensitivity profiles were 0.41, 0.44, and 0.67 mm for the thinnest image thickness for each mode (0.25, 0.25, and 0.5 mm, respectively). At the same in-plane spatial resolution, Sharp and UHR images had up to 15% lower noise than Macro images. Patient images acquired in Sharp mode demonstrated better delineation of fine anatomic structures compared with Macro mode images. Phantom studies demonstrated superior resolution and noise properties for the Sharp and UHR modes relative to the standard Macro mode and patient images demonstrated the potential benefit of these scan modes for clinical practice.

Full Spatial Resolution Infrared Sounding Application in the Preconvection Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.; Liu, G.; Lin, T.

2013-12-01

Advanced infrared (IR) sounders such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) provide atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles with high vertical resolution and high accuracy in preconvection environments. The derived atmospheric stability indices such as convective available potential energy (CAPE) and lifted index (LI) from advanced IR soundings can provide critical information 1 ; 6 h before the development of severe convective storms. Three convective storms are selected for the evaluation of applying AIRS full spatial resolution soundings and the derived products on providing warning information in the preconvection environments. In the first case, the AIRS full spatial resolution soundings revealed local extremely high atmospheric instability 3 h ahead of the convection on the leading edge of a frontal system, while the second case demonstrates that the extremely high atmospheric instability is associated with the local development of severe thunderstorm in the following hours. The third case is a local severe storm that occurred on 7-8 August 2010 in Zhou Qu, China, which caused more than 1400 deaths and left another 300 or more people missing. The AIRS full spatial resolution LI product shows the atmospheric instability 3.5 h before the storm genesis. The CAPE and LI from AIRS full spatial resolution and operational AIRS/AMSU soundings along with Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Sounder derived product image (DPI) products were analyzed and compared. Case studies show that full spatial resolution AIRS retrievals provide more useful warning information in the preconvection environments for determining favorable locations for convective initiation (CI) than do the coarser spatial resolution operational soundings and lower spectral resolution GOES Sounder retrievals. The retrieved soundings are also tested in a regional data assimilation WRF 3D-var system to evaluate the potential assist in the NWP model.

Towards Improving Satellite Tropospheric NO2 Retrieval Products: Impacts of the spatial resolution and lighting NOx production from the a priori chemical transport model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smeltzer, C. D.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Boersma, F.

2009-12-01

Polar orbiting satellite retrievals of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns are important to a variety of scientific applications. These NO2 retrievals rely on a priori profiles from chemical transport models and radiative transfer models to derive the vertical columns (VCs) from slant columns measurements. In this work, we compare the retrieval results using a priori profiles from a global model (TM4) and a higher resolution regional model (REAM) at the OMI overpass hour of 1330 local time, implementing the Dutch OMI NO2 (DOMINO) retrieval. We also compare the retrieval results using a priori profiles from REAM model simulations with and without lightning NOx (NO + NO2) production. A priori model resolution and lightning NOx production are both found to have large impact on satellite retrievals by altering the satellite sensitivity to a particular observation by shifting the NO2 vertical distribution interpreted by the radiation model. The retrieved tropospheric NO2 VCs may increase by 25-100% in urban regions and be reduced by 50% in rural regions if the a priori profiles from REAM simulations are used during the retrievals instead of the profiles from TM4 simulations. The a priori profiles with lightning NOx may result in a 25-50% reduction of the retrieved tropospheric NO2 VCs compared to the a priori profiles without lightning. As first priority, a priori vertical NO2 profiles from a chemical transport model with a high resolution, which can better simulate urban-rural NO2 gradients in the boundary layer and make use of observation-based parameterizations of lightning NOx production, should be first implemented to obtain more accurate NO2 retrievals over the United States, where NOx source regions are spatially separated and lightning NOx production is significant. Then as consequence of a priori NO2 profile variabilities resulting from lightning and model resolution dynamics, geostationary satellite, daylight observations would further promote the next step towards producing a more complete NO2 data product provided sufficient resolution of the observations. Both the corrected retrieval algorithm and the proposed next generation geostationary satellite observations would thus improve emission inventories, better validate model simulations, and advantageously optimize regional specific ozone control strategies.

Objectives and layout of a high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer for the large helical device.

PubMed

Bitter, M; Hill, K; Gates, D; Monticello, D; Neilson, H; Reiman, A; Roquemore, A L; Morita, S; Goto, M; Yamada, H; Rice, J E

2010-10-01

A high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer, whose concept was tested on NSTX and Alcator C-Mod, is being designed for the large helical device (LHD). This instrument will record spatially resolved spectra of helium-like Ar(16+) and will provide ion temperature profiles with spatial and temporal resolutions of <2 cm and ≥10 ms, respectively. The spectrometer layout and instrumental features are largely determined by the magnetic field structure of LHD. The stellarator equilibrium reconstruction codes, STELLOPT and PIES, will be used for the tomographic inversion of the spectral data.

Application of spatially resolved high resolution crystal spectrometry to inertial confinement fusion plasmas.

PubMed

Hill, K W; Bitter, M; Delgado-Aparacio, L; Pablant, N A; Beiersdorfer, P; Schneider, M; Widmann, K; Sanchez del Rio, M; Zhang, L

2012-10-01

High resolution (λ∕Δλ ∼ 10 000) 1D imaging x-ray spectroscopy using a spherically bent crystal and a 2D hybrid pixel array detector is used world wide for Doppler measurements of ion-temperature and plasma flow-velocity profiles in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. Meter sized plasmas are diagnosed with cm spatial resolution and 10 ms time resolution. This concept can also be used as a diagnostic of small sources, such as inertial confinement fusion plasmas and targets on x-ray light source beam lines, with spatial resolution of micrometers, as demonstrated by laboratory experiments using a 250-μm (55)Fe source, and by ray-tracing calculations. Throughput calculations agree with measurements, and predict detector counts in the range 10(-8)-10(-6) times source x-rays, depending on crystal reflectivity and spectrometer geometry. Results of the lab demonstrations, application of the technique to the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and predictions of performance on NIF will be presented.

Raster profile development for the spatial data transfer standard

USGS Publications Warehouse

Szemraj, John A.

1993-01-01

The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), recently approved as Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 173, is designed to transfer various types of spatial data. Implementing all of the standard's options at one time is impractical. Profiles, or limited subsets of the SDTS, are the mechanisms by which the standards will be implemented. The development of a raster profile is being coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SDTS Task Force. This raster profile is intended to accommodate digital georeferenced image data and regularly spaces, georeferenced gridded data. The USGS's digital elevation models (DEMs) and digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQs), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) advanced very huh resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and Landsat data, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth observing system (EOS) data are among the candidate data sets for this profile. Other raster profiles, designed to support nongeoreferenced and other types of "raw" sensor data will be consider in the future. As with the Topological Vector Profile (TVP) for the SDTS, development of the raster profile includes designing a prototype profile, testing the prototype profile using sample data sets, and finally, requesting and receiving FIPS approval.

Cloud and Aerosol Properties, Precipitable Water, and Profiles of Temperature and Water Vapor from MODIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.; Menzel, W. Paul; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Tanre, Didier; Gao, Bo-Cai; Platnick, Steven; Ackerman, Steven A.; Remer, Lorraine A.; Pincus, Robert; Hubanks, Paul A.

2003-01-01

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is an earth-viewing sensor that flies on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively. MODIS scans a swath width of 2330 km that is sufficiently wide to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km. MODIS provides images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 pm with spatial resolutions of 250 m (2 bands), 500 m (5 bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to en- able advanced studies of land, ocean, and atmospheric properties. Twenty-six bands are used to derive atmospheric properties such as cloud mask, atmospheric profiles, aerosol properties, total precipitable water, and cloud properties. In this paper we describe each of these atmospheric data products, including characteristics of each of these products such as file size, spatial resolution used in producing the product, and data availability.

Distributed fiber-optic temperature sensing for hydrologic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selker, John S.; ThéVenaz, Luc; Huwald, Hendrik; Mallet, Alfred; Luxemburg, Wim; van de Giesen, Nick; Stejskal, Martin; Zeman, Josef; Westhoff, Martijn; Parlange, Marc B.

2006-12-01

Instruments for distributed fiber-optic measurement of temperature are now available with temperature resolution of 0.01°C and spatial resolution of 1 m with temporal resolution of fractions of a minute along standard fiber-optic cables used for communication with lengths of up to 30,000 m. We discuss the spectrum of fiber-optic tools that may be employed to make these measurements, illuminating the potential and limitations of these methods in hydrologic science. There are trade-offs between precision in temperature, temporal resolution, and spatial resolution, following the square root of the number of measurements made; thus brief, short measurements are less precise than measurements taken over longer spans in time and space. Five illustrative applications demonstrate configurations where the distributed temperature sensing (DTS) approach could be used: (1) lake bottom temperatures using existing communication cables, (2) temperature profile with depth in a 1400 m deep decommissioned mine shaft, (3) air-snow interface temperature profile above a snow-covered glacier, (4) air-water interfacial temperature in a lake, and (5) temperature distribution along a first-order stream. In examples 3 and 4 it is shown that by winding the fiber around a cylinder, vertical spatial resolution of millimeters can be achieved. These tools may be of exceptional utility in observing a broad range of hydrologic processes, including evaporation, infiltration, limnology, and the local and overall energy budget spanning scales from 0.003 to 30,000 m. This range of scales corresponds well with many of the areas of greatest opportunity for discovery in hydrologic science.

Snowpack spatial and temporal variability assessment using SMP high-resolution penetrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komarov, Anton; Seliverstov, Yuriy; Sokratov, Sergey; Grebennikov, Pavel

2017-04-01

This research is focused on study of spatial and temporal variability of structure and characteristics of snowpack, quick identification of layers based on hardness and dispersion values received from snow micro penetrometer (SMP). We also discuss the detection of weak layers and definition of their parameters in non-alpine terrain. As long as it is the first SMP tool available in Russia, our intent is to test it in different climate and weather conditions. During two separate snowpack studies in plain and mountain landscapes, we derived density and grain size profiles by comparing snow density and grain size from snowpits and SMP measurements. The first case study was MSU meteorological observatory test site in Moscow. SMP data was obtained by 6 consecutive measurements along 10 m transects with a horizontal resolution of approximately 50 cm. The detailed description of snowpack structure, density, grain size, air and snow temperature was also performed. By comparing this information, the detailed scheme of snowpack evolution was created. The second case study was in Khibiny mountains. One 10-meter-long transect was made. SMP, density, grain size and snow temperature data was obtained with horizontal resolution of approximately 50 cm. The high-definition profile of snowpack density variation was acquired using received data. The analysis of data reveals high spatial and temporal variability in snow density and layer structure in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. It indicates that the spatial variability is exhibiting similar spatial patterns as surface topology. This suggests a strong influence from such factors as wind and liquid water pressure on the temporal and spatial evolution of snow structure. It was also defined, that spatial variation of snowpack characteristics is substantial even within homogeneous plain landscape, while in high-latitude mountain regions it grows significantly.

Intra-pixel variability in satellite tropospheric NO2 column densities derived from simultaneous space-borne and airborne observations over the South African Highveld

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broccardo, Stephen; Heue, Klaus-Peter; Walter, David; Meyer, Christian; Kokhanovsky, Alexander; van der A, Ronald; Piketh, Stuart; Langerman, Kristy; Platt, Ulrich

2018-05-01

Aircraft measurements of NO2 using an imaging differential optical absorption spectrometer (iDOAS) instrument over the South African Highveld region in August 2007 are presented and compared to satellite measurements from OMI and SCIAMACHY. In situ aerosol and trace-gas vertical profile measurements, along with aerosol optical thickness and single-scattering albedo measurements from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), are used to devise scenarios for a radiative transfer modelling sensitivity study. Uncertainty in the air-mass factor due to variations in the aerosol and NO2 profile shape is constrained and used to calculate vertical column densities (VCDs), which are compared to co-located satellite measurements. The lower spatial resolution of the satellites cannot resolve the detailed plume structures revealed in the aircraft measurements. The airborne DOAS in general measured steeper horizontal gradients and higher peak NO2 vertical column density. Aircraft measurements close to major sources, spatially averaged to the satellite resolution, indicate NO2 column densities more than twice those measured by the satellite. The agreement between the high-resolution aircraft instrument and the satellite instrument improves with distance from the source, this is attributed to horizontal and vertical dispersion of NO2 in the boundary layer. Despite the low spatial resolution, satellite images reveal point sources and plumes that retain their structure for several hundred kilometres downwind.

Development of scanning x-ray fluorescence microscope with spatial resolution of 30 nm using Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror optics

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

Matsuyama, S.; Mimura, H.; Yumoto, H.

We developed a high-spatial-resolution scanning x-ray fluorescence microscope (SXFM) using Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors. As a result of two-dimensional focusing tests at BL29XUL of SPring-8, the full width at half maximum of the focused beam was achieved to be 50x30 nm{sup 2} (VxH) under the best focusing conditions. The measured beam profiles were in good agreement with simulated results. Moreover, beam size was controllable within the wide range of 30-1400 nm by changing the virtual source size, although photon flux and size were in a trade-off relationship. To demonstrate SXFM performance, a fine test chart fabricated using focused ion beam system wasmore » observed to determine the best spatial resolution. The element distribution inside a logo mark of SPring-8 in the test chart, which has a minimum linewidth of approximately 50-60 nm, was visualized with a spatial resolution better than 30 nm using the smallest focused x-ray beam.« less

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.

Field testing of a convergent array of acoustic Doppler profilers for high-resolution velocimetry in energetic tidal currents

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

Harding, Samuel F.; Sellar, Brian; Richmond, Marshall C.

An array of single-beam acoustic Doppler profilers has been developed for the high resolution measurement of three-dimensional tidal flow velocities and subsequently tested in an energetic tidal site. This configuration has been developed to increase spatial resolution of velocity measurements in comparison to conventional acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs) which characteristically use divergent acoustic beams emanating from a single instrument. This is achieved using geometrically convergent acoustic beams creating a sample volume at the focal point of 0.03 m3. Away from the focal point, the array is also able to simultaneously reconstruct three-dimensional velocity components in a profile throughout the watermore » column, and is referred to herein as a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler (C-ADP). Mid-depth profiling is achieved through integration of the sensor platform with the operational commercial-scale Alstom 1MW DeepGen-IV Tidal Turbine deployed at the European Marine Energy Center, Orkney Isles, UK. This proof-of-concept paper outlines the C-ADP system configuration and comparison to measurements provided by co-installed reference instrumentation.« less

A study of the feasibility of ultraviolet spectrometry for cometary missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feldman, P. D.

1979-01-01

Ultraviolet spectra fo the comet West obtained by sounding rocket experiments in 1976 are reproduced and interpreted in order to estimate the expected brightness of the emission features and determine the spatial extent of these features for the proposed Halley Flyby/Tempel 2 rendezvous and the possible Halley or Encke flybys close to perihelion. A coma model was constructed and evaluated for the physical condition of candidate targets such as heliocentric distance, gas production, and composition. In addition to brightness profiles, the neutral and ion densities of the principal species are also dervied. The brightness profiles can be used to determine the feasibility of utilizing the space telescope to provide supporting observations during the mission. Basic parameters identified are spectral range, wavelength resolution, spatial resolution, sensitivity and dynamic range, rejection of scattered light, and integration or accumulation time.

Models of Mars' atmosphere (1974)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Atmospheric models for support of design and mission planning of space vehicles that are to orbit the planet Mars, enter its atmosphere, or land on the surface are presented. Quantitative data for the Martian atmosphere were obtained from Earth-base observations and from spacecraft that have orbited Mars or passed within several planetary radii. These data were used in conjunction with existing theories of planetary atmospheres to predict other characteristics of the Martian atmosphere. Earth-based observations provided information on the composition, temperature, and optical properties of Mars with rather coarse spatial resolution, whereas spacecraft measurements yielded data on composition, temperature, pressure, density, and atmospheric structure with moderately good spatial resolution. The models provide the temperature, pressure, and density profiles required to perform basic aerodynamic analyses. The profiles are supplemented by computed values of viscosity, specific heat, and speed of sound.

Remote Sensing and Reflectance Profiling in Entomology.

PubMed

Nansen, Christian; Elliott, Norman

2016-01-01

Remote sensing describes the characterization of the status of objects and/or the classification of their identity based on a combination of spectral features extracted from reflectance or transmission profiles of radiometric energy. Remote sensing can be benchtop based, and therefore acquired at a high spatial resolution, or airborne at lower spatial resolution to cover large areas. Despite important challenges, airborne remote sensing technologies will undoubtedly be of major importance in optimized management of agricultural systems in the twenty-first century. Benchtop remote sensing applications are becoming important in insect systematics and in phenomics studies of insect behavior and physiology. This review highlights how remote sensing influences entomological research by enabling scientists to nondestructively monitor how individual insects respond to treatments and ambient conditions. Furthermore, novel remote sensing technologies are creating intriguing interdisciplinary bridges between entomology and disciplines such as informatics and electrical engineering.

Spatial Variations of Chemical Abundances in Titan's Atmosphere as Revealed by ALMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thelen, Alexander E.; Nixon, Conor; Chanover, Nancy J.; Molter, Edward; Serigano, Joseph; Cordiner, Martin; Charnley, Steven B.; Teanby, Nicholas A.; Irwin, Patrick

2016-10-01

Complex organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere - formed through the dissociation of N2 and CH4 - exhibit latitudinal variations in abundance as observed by Cassini. Chemical species including hydrocarbons - such as CH3CCH - and nitriles - HCN, HC3N, CH3CN, and C2H5CN - may show spatial abundance variations as a result of atmospheric circulation, photochemical production and subsequent destruction throughout Titan's seasonal cycle. Recent calibration images of Titan taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) with beam sizes of ~0.3'' allow for measurements of rotational transition lines of these species in spatially resolved regions of Titan's disk. We present abundance profiles obtained from public ALMA data taken in 2014, as Titan transitioned into northern summer. Abundance profiles in Titan's lower/middle atmosphere were retrieved by modeling high resolution ALMA spectra using the Non-linear Optimal Estimator for MultivariatE Spectral analySIS (NEMESIS) radiative transfer code. These retrievals were performed using spatial temperature profiles obtained by modeling strong CO lines from datasets taken in similar times with comparable resolution. We compare the abundance variations of chemical species to measurements made using Cassini data. Comparisons of chemical species with strong abundance enhancements over the poles will inform our knowledge of chemical lifetimes in Titan's atmosphere, and allow us to observe the important changes in production and circulation of numerous organic molecules which are attributed to Titan's seasons.

Three Dimensional High-Resolution Reconstruction of the Ionosphere Over the Very Large Array

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-15

Watts Progress Report, Dec 10; 1 Final Report: Three Dimensional High-Resolution Reconstruction of the Ionosphere over the Very Large Array...proposed research is reconstruct the three-dimensional regional electron density profile of Earth’s ionosphere with spatial resolution of better than 10 km...10x better sensitivity to total electron content (TEC, or chord integrated density) in the ionosphere that does GPS. The proposal funds the

Development of a spatially resolving x-ray crystal spectrometer for measurement of ion-temperature (T(i)) and rotation-velocity (v) profiles in ITER.

PubMed

Hill, K W; Bitter, M; Delgado-Aparicio, L; Johnson, D; Feder, R; Beiersdorfer, P; Dunn, J; Morris, K; Wang, E; Reinke, M; Podpaly, Y; Rice, J E; Barnsley, R; O'Mullane, M; Lee, S G

2010-10-01

Imaging x-ray crystal spectrometer (XCS) arrays are being developed as a US-ITER activity for Doppler measurement of T(i) and v profiles of impurities (W, Kr, and Fe) with ∼7 cm (a/30) and 10-100 ms resolution in ITER. The imaging XCS, modeled after a prototype instrument on Alcator C-Mod, uses a spherically bent crystal and 2D x-ray detectors to achieve high spectral resolving power (E/dE>6000) horizontally and spatial imaging vertically. Two arrays will measure T(i) and both poloidal and toroidal rotation velocity profiles. The measurement of many spatial chords permits tomographic inversion for the inference of local parameters. The instrument design, predictions of performance, and results from C-Mod are presented.

The measurement of radiation dose profiles for electron-beam computed tomography using film dosimetry.

PubMed

Zink, F E; McCollough, C H

1994-08-01

The unique geometry of electron-beam CT (EBCT) scanners produces radiation dose profiles with widths which can be considerably different from the corresponding nominal scan width. Additionally, EBCT scanners produce both complex (multiple-slice) and narrow (3 mm) radiation profiles. This work describes the measurement of the axial dose distribution from EBCT within a scattering phantom using film dosimetry methods, which offer increased convenience and spatial resolution compared to thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) techniques. Therapy localization film was cut into 8 x 220 mm strips and placed within specially constructed light-tight holders for placement within the cavities of a CT Dose Index (CTDI) phantom. The film was calibrated using a conventional overhead x-ray tube with spectral characteristics matched to the EBCT scanner (130 kVp, 10 mm A1 HVL). The films were digitized at five samples per mm and calibrated dose profiles plotted as a function of z-axis position. Errors due to angle-of-incidence and beam hardening were estimated to be less than 5% and 10%, respectively. The integral exposure under film dose profiles agreed with ion-chamber measurements to within 15%. Exposures measured along the radiation profile differed from TLD measurements by an average of 5%. The film technique provided acceptable accuracy and convenience in comparison to conventional TLD methods, and allowed high spatial-resolution measurement of EBCT radiation dose profiles.

Characterization of spatially resolved high resolution x-ray spectrometers for HEDP and light-source experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, K. W.; Bitter, M.; Delgado-Aparicio, L.; Efthimion, P.; Pablant, N.; Lu, J.; Beiersdorfer, P.; Chen, H.; Magee, E.

2014-10-01

A high resolution 1D imaging x-ray spectrometer concept comprising a spherically bent crystal and a 2D pixelated detector is being optimized for diagnostics of small sources such as high energy density physics (HEDP) and synchrotron radiation or x-ray free electron laser experiments. This instrument is used on tokamak experiments for measurement of spatial profiles of Doppler ion temperature and plasma flow velocity, as well as electron temperature. Laboratory measurements demonstrate a resolving power, E/ ΔE of 10,000 and spatial resolution better than 10 μm. Good performance is obtained for Bragg angles ranging from 23 to 63 degrees. Initial tests of the instrument on HEDP plasmas are being performed with a goal of developing spatially resolved ion and electron temperature diagnostics. This work was performed under the auspices of the US DOE by PPPL under Contract DE-AC02-09CH11466 and by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Theoretical evaluation of accuracy in position and size of brain activity obtained by near-infrared topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawaguchi, Hiroshi; Hayashi, Toshiyuki; Kato, Toshinori; Okada, Eiji

2004-06-01

Near-infrared (NIR) topography can obtain a topographical distribution of the activated region in the brain cortex. Near-infrared light is strongly scattered in the head, and the volume of tissue sampled by a source-detector pair on the head surface is broadly distributed in the brain. This scattering effect results in poor resolution and contrast in the topographic image of the brain activity. In this study, a one-dimensional distribution of absorption change in a head model is calculated by mapping and reconstruction methods to evaluate the effect of the image reconstruction algorithm and the interval of measurement points for topographic imaging on the accuracy of the topographic image. The light propagation in the head model is predicted by Monte Carlo simulation to obtain the spatial sensitivity profile for a source-detector pair. The measurement points are one-dimensionally arranged on the surface of the model, and the distance between adjacent measurement points is varied from 4 mm to 28 mm. Small intervals of the measurement points improve the topographic image calculated by both the mapping and reconstruction methods. In the conventional mapping method, the limit of the spatial resolution depends upon the interval of the measurement points and spatial sensitivity profile for source-detector pairs. The reconstruction method has advantages over the mapping method which improve the results of one-dimensional analysis when the interval of measurement points is less than 12 mm. The effect of overlapping of spatial sensitivity profiles indicates that the reconstruction method may be effective to improve the spatial resolution of a two-dimensional reconstruction of topographic image obtained with larger interval of measurement points. Near-infrared topography with the reconstruction method potentially obtains an accurate distribution of absorption change in the brain even if the size of absorption change is less than 10 mm.

Differential Deposition Technique for Figure Corrections in Grazing Incidence X-ray Optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kilaru, Kiranmayee; Ramsey, Brian D.; Gubarev, Mikhail

2009-01-01

A differential deposition technique is being developed to correct the low- and mid-spatial-frequency deviations in the axial figure profile of Wolter type grazing incidence X-ray optics. These deviations arise due to various factors in the fabrication process and they degrade the performance of the optics by limiting the achievable angular resolution. In the differential deposition technique, material of varying thickness is selectively deposited along the length of the optic to minimize these deviations, thereby improving the overall figure. High resolution focusing optics being developed at MSFC for small animal radionuclide imaging are being coated to test the differential deposition technique. The required spatial resolution for these optics is 100 m. This base resolution is achievable with the regular electroform-nickel-replication fabrication technique used at MSFC. However, by improving the figure quality of the optics through differential deposition, we aim at significantly improving the resolution beyond this value.

High spatial resolution with zoomable saw-tooth refractive lenses?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jark, Werner

2011-09-01

Refractive x-ray lenses can be assembled from two opposing saw-tooth structures, when they are inclined with respect to each other and almost touch at one end. An incident plane wave will then traverse a varying number of triangular prisms, which direct the beam towards the optical axis and focus it. Optically speaking the plane wave traverses a parabolic lens profile, which is approximated by trapezoidal segments. The parabolic profile will focus ideally, when a lens can be discussed in the "thin lens" approximation. Now the saw-tooth refractive lens is found to be too "thick". The residual aberrations limit the focusing capability to just submicrometer focusing, significantly above the limit in diffraction limited focusing. It is shown that the aberrations can be removed by introducing a variation into the originally constant saw-tooth angle. After this modification the lens can be operated in the diffraction limited regime. Spot sizes even below 0.1 micrometer are then feasible. This performance in terms of spatial resolution is found to be limited to focusing to microspots and is not available, when the saw-tooth refractive lens is used in an imaging setup. In this case the spatial resolution deteriorates rapidly with increasing off axis distance of the object to be imaged.

Verification of intensity modulated profiles using a pixel segmented liquid-filled linear array.

PubMed

Pardo, J; Roselló, J V; Sánchez-Doblado, F; Gómez, F

2006-06-07

A liquid isooctane (C8H18) filled ionization chamber linear array developed for radiotherapy quality assurance, consisting of 128 pixels (each of them with a 1.7 mm pitch), has been used to acquire profiles of several intensity modulated fields. The results were compared with film measurements using the gamma test. The comparisons show a very good matching, even in high gradient dose regions. The volume-averaging effect of the pixels is negligible and the spatial resolution is enough to verify these regions. However, some mismatches between the detectors have been found in regions where low-energy scattered photons significantly contribute to the total dose. These differences are not very important (in fact, the measurements of both detectors are in agreement using the gamma test with tolerances of 3% and 3 mm in most of those regions), and may be associated with the film energy dependence. In addition, the linear array repeatability (0.27% one standard deviation) is much better than the film one ( approximately 3%). The good repeatability, small pixel size and high spatial resolution make the detector ideal for the real time profile verification of high gradient beam profiles like those present in intensity modulated radiation therapy and radiosurgery.

A refraction-corrected tomographic algorithm for immersion laser-ultrasonic imaging of solids with piecewise linear surface profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarubin, V.; Bychkov, A.; Simonova, V.; Zhigarkov, V.; Karabutov, A.; Cherepetskaya, E.

2018-05-01

In this paper, a technique for reflection mode immersion 2D laser-ultrasound tomography of solid objects with piecewise linear 2D surface profiles is presented. Pulsed laser radiation was used for generation of short ultrasonic probe pulses, providing high spatial resolution. A piezofilm sensor array was used for detection of the waves reflected by the surface and internal inhomogeneities of the object. The original ultrasonic image reconstruction algorithm accounting for refraction of acoustic waves at the liquid-solid interface provided longitudinal resolution better than 100 μm in the polymethyl methacrylate sample object.

Spatial Variability of Wet Troposphere Delays Over Inland Water Bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehran, Ali; Clark, Elizabeth A.; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.

2017-11-01

Satellite radar altimetry has enabled the study of water levels in large lakes and reservoirs at a global scale. The upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission (scheduled launch 2020) will simultaneously measure water surface extent and elevation at an unprecedented accuracy and resolution. However, SWOT retrieval accuracy will be affected by a number of factors, including wet tropospheric delay—the delay in the signal's passage through the atmosphere due to atmospheric water content. In past applications, the wet tropospheric delay over large inland water bodies has been corrected using atmospheric moisture profiles based on atmospheric reanalysis data at relatively coarse (tens to hundreds of kilometers) spatial resolution. These products cannot resolve subgrid variations in wet tropospheric delays at the spatial resolutions (of 1 km and finer) that SWOT is intended to resolve. We calculate zenith wet tropospheric delays (ZWDs) and their spatial variability from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical weather prediction model simulations at 2.33 km spatial resolution over the southwestern U.S., with attention in particular to Sam Rayburn, Ray Hubbard, and Elephant Butte Reservoirs which have width and length dimensions that are of order or larger than the WRF spatial resolution. We find that spatiotemporal variability of ZWD over the inland reservoirs depends on climatic conditions at the reservoir location, as well as distance from ocean, elevation, and surface area of the reservoir, but that the magnitude of subgrid variability (relative to analysis and reanalysis products) is generally less than 10 mm.

Development of new family of wide-angle anamorphic lens with controlled distortion profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauvin, Jonny; Doucet, Michel; Wang, Min; Thibault, Simon; Blanc, Benjamin

2005-08-01

It is well known that a fish-eye lens produces a circular image of the scene with a particular distortion profile. When using a fish-eye lens with a standard sensor (e.g. 1/3", 1/4",.), only a part of the rectangular detector area is used, leaving many pixels unused. We proposed a new approach to get enhanced resolution for panoramic imaging. In this paper, various arrangements of innovative 180-degree anamorphic wide-angle lens design are considered. Their performances as well as lens manufacturability are also discussed. The concept of the design is to use anamorphic optics to produce elliptical image that maximize pixel resolution in both axis. Furthermore, a non-linear distortion profile is also introduced to enhance spatial resolution for specific field angle. Typical applications such as panoramic photography, video conferencing, and homeland/transportation security are also presented.

Confocal detection of Rayleigh scattering for residual stress measurement in chemically tempered glass

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

Hödemann, S., E-mail: siim.hodemann@ut.ee; Möls, P.; Kiisk, V.

2015-12-28

A new optical method is presented for evaluation of the stress profile in chemically tempered (chemically strengthened) glass based on confocal detection of scattered laser beam. Theoretically, a lateral resolution of 0.2 μm and a depth resolution of 0.6 μm could be achieved by using a confocal microscope with high-NA immersion objective. The stress profile in the 250 μm thick surface layer of chemically tempered lithium aluminosilicate glass was measured with a high spatial resolution to illustrate the capability of the method. The confocal method is validated using transmission photoelastic and Na{sup +} ion concentration profile measurement. Compositional influence on the stress-optic coefficientmore » is calculated and discussed. Our method opens up new possibilities for three-dimensional scattered light tomography of mechanical imaging in birefringent materials.« less

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in clinical CT systems. Part II. Experimental assessment of spatial resolution performance.

PubMed

Li, Ke; Garrett, John; Ge, Yongshuai; Chen, Guang-Hong

2014-07-01

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) methods have been introduced to clinical CT systems and are being used in some clinical diagnostic applications. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally assess the unique spatial resolution characteristics of this nonlinear reconstruction method and identify its potential impact on the detectabilities and the associated radiation dose levels for specific imaging tasks. The thoracic section of a pediatric phantom was repeatedly scanned 50 or 100 times using a 64-slice clinical CT scanner at four different dose levels [CTDIvol =4, 8, 12, 16 (mGy)]. Both filtered backprojection (FBP) and MBIR (Veo(®), GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were used for image reconstruction and results were compared with one another. Eight test objects in the phantom with contrast levels ranging from 13 to 1710 HU were used to assess spatial resolution. The axial spatial resolution was quantified with the point spread function (PSF), while the z resolution was quantified with the slice sensitivity profile. Both were measured locally on the test objects and in the image domain. The dependence of spatial resolution on contrast and dose levels was studied. The study also features a systematic investigation of the potential trade-off between spatial resolution and locally defined noise and their joint impact on the overall image quality, which was quantified by the image domain-based channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detectability index d'. (1) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR depends on both radiation dose level and image contrast level, whereas it is supposedly independent of these two factors in FBP. The axial spatial resolution of MBIR always improved with an increasing radiation dose level and/or contrast level. (2) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR became equivalent to that of FBP at some transitional contrast level, above which MBIR demonstrated superior spatial resolution than FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.

Spatial Structure of a Braided River: Metric Resolution Hydrodynamic Modeling Reveals What SWOT Might See

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schubert, J.; Sanders, B. F.; Andreadis, K.

2013-12-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, currently under study by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), is designed to provide global spatial measurements of surface water properties at resolutions better than 10 m and with centimetric accuracy. The data produced by SWOT will include irregularly spaced point clouds of the water surface height, with point spacings from roughly 2-50 m depending on a point's location within SWOT's swath. This could offer unprecedented insight into the spatial structure of rivers. Features that may be resolved include backwater profiles behind dams, drawdown profiles, uniform flow sections, critical flow sections, and even riffle-pool flow structures. In the event that SWOT scans a river during a major flood, it becomes possible to delineate the limits of the flood as well as the spatial structure of the water surface elevation, yielding insight into the dynamic interaction of channels and flood plains. The Platte River in Nebraska, USA, is a braided river with a width and slope of approximately 100 m and 100 cm/km, respectively. A 1 m resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the river basin, based on airborne lidar collected during low-flow conditions, was used to parameterize a two-dimensional, variable resolution, unstructured grid, hydrodynamic model that uses 3 m resolution triangles in low flow channels and 10 m resolution triangles in the floodplain. Use of a fine resolution mesh guarantees that local variability in topography is resolved, and after applying the hydrodynamic model, the effects of topographic variability are expressed as variability in the water surface height, depth-averaged velocity and flow depth. Flow is modeled over a reach length of 10 km for multi-day durations to capture both frequent (diurnal variations associated with regulated flow) and infrequent (extreme flooding) flow phenomena. Model outputs reveal a number of interesting features, including a high degree of variability in the water depth and velocity and lesser variability in the free-surface profile and river discharge. Hydraulic control sections are also revealed, and shown to depend on flow stage. Reach-averaging of model output is applied to study the macro-scale balance of forces in this system, and the scales at which such a force balance is appropriate. We find that the reach-average slope exhibits a declining reach-length dependence with increasing reach length, up to reach lengths of 1 km. Hence, 1 km appears to be the minimum appropriate length for reach-averaging, and at this scale, a diffusive-wave momentum balance is a reasonable approximation suitable for emerging models of discharge estimation that rely only on SWOT-observable river properties (width, height, slope, etc.).

Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons with an imaging camera and its implications to spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Wei, Wanchun; Broussard, Leah J.; Hoffbauer, Mark Arles; ...

2016-05-16

Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) is demonstrated using an imaging charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. A spatial resolution less than 15μm has been achieved, which is equivalent to a UCN energy resolution below 2 pico-electron-volts through the relation δE=m 0gδx. Here, the symbols δE, δx, m 0 and g are the energy resolution, the spatial resolution, the neutron rest mass and the gravitational acceleration, respectively. A multilayer surface convertor described previously is used to capture UCNs and then emits visible light for CCD imaging. Particle identification and noise rejection are discussed through the use of light intensity profile analysis. Asmore » a result, this method allows different types of UCN spectroscopy and other applications.« less

Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons with an imaging camera and its implications to spectroscopy

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

Wei, Wanchun; Broussard, Leah J.; Hoffbauer, Mark Arles

Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) is demonstrated using an imaging charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. A spatial resolution less than 15μm has been achieved, which is equivalent to a UCN energy resolution below 2 pico-electron-volts through the relation δE=m 0gδx. Here, the symbols δE, δx, m 0 and g are the energy resolution, the spatial resolution, the neutron rest mass and the gravitational acceleration, respectively. A multilayer surface convertor described previously is used to capture UCNs and then emits visible light for CCD imaging. Particle identification and noise rejection are discussed through the use of light intensity profile analysis. Asmore » a result, this method allows different types of UCN spectroscopy and other applications.« less

An online, energy-resolving beam profile detector for laser-driven proton beams

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

Metzkes, J.; Rehwald, M.; Obst, L.

In this paper, a scintillator-based online beam profile detector for the characterization of laser-driven proton beams is presented. Using a pixelated matrix with varying absorber thicknesses, the proton beam is spatially resolved in two dimensions and simultaneously energy-resolved. A thin plastic scintillator placed behind the absorber and read out by a CCD camera is used as the active detector material. The spatial detector resolution reaches down to ∼4 mm and the detector can resolve proton beam profiles for up to 9 proton threshold energies. With these detector design parameters, the spatial characteristics of the proton distribution and its cut-off energymore » can be analyzed online and on-shot under vacuum conditions. The paper discusses the detector design, its characterization and calibration at a conventional proton source, as well as the first detector application at a laser-driven proton source.« less

An online, energy-resolving beam profile detector for laser-driven proton beams.

PubMed

Metzkes, J; Zeil, K; Kraft, S D; Karsch, L; Sobiella, M; Rehwald, M; Obst, L; Schlenvoigt, H-P; Schramm, U

2016-08-01

In this paper, a scintillator-based online beam profile detector for the characterization of laser-driven proton beams is presented. Using a pixelated matrix with varying absorber thicknesses, the proton beam is spatially resolved in two dimensions and simultaneously energy-resolved. A thin plastic scintillator placed behind the absorber and read out by a CCD camera is used as the active detector material. The spatial detector resolution reaches down to ∼4 mm and the detector can resolve proton beam profiles for up to 9 proton threshold energies. With these detector design parameters, the spatial characteristics of the proton distribution and its cut-off energy can be analyzed online and on-shot under vacuum conditions. The paper discusses the detector design, its characterization and calibration at a conventional proton source, as well as the first detector application at a laser-driven proton source.

Cassini atmospheric chemistry mapper. Volume 1. Investigation and technical plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, William Hayden; Baines, Kevin Hays; Drossart, Pierre; Fegley, Bruce; Orton, Glenn; Noll, Keith; Reitsema, Harold; Bjoraker, Gordon L.

1990-01-01

The Cassini Atmospheric Chemistry Mapper (ACM) enables a broad range of atmospheric science investigations for Saturn and Titan by providing high spectral and spatial resolution mapping and occultation capabilities at 3 and 5 microns. ACM can directly address the major atmospheric science objectives for Saturn and for Titan, as defined by the Announcement of Opportunity, with pivotal diagnostic measurements not accessible to any other proposed Cassini instrument. ACM determines mixing ratios for atmospheric molecules from spectral line profiles for an important and extensive volume of the atmosphere of Saturn (and Jupiter). Spatial and vertical profiles of disequilibrium species abundances define Saturn's deep atmosphere, its chemistry, and its vertical transport phenomena. ACM spectral maps provide a unique means to interpret atmospheric conditions in the deep (approximately 1000 bar) atmosphere of Saturn. Deep chemistry and vertical transport is inferred from the vertical and horizontal distribution of a series of disequilibrium species. Solar occultations provide a method to bridge the altitude range in Saturn's (and Titan's) atmosphere that is not accessible to radio science, thermal infrared, and UV spectroscopy with temperature measurements to plus or minus 2K from the analysis of molecular line ratios and to attain an high sensitivity for low-abundance chemical species in the very large column densities that may be achieved during occultations for Saturn. For Titan, ACM solar occultations yield very well resolved (1/6 scale height) vertical mixing ratios column abundances for atmospheric molecular constituents. Occultations also provide for detecting abundant species very high in the upper atmosphere, while at greater depths, detecting the isotopes of C and O, constraining the production mechanisms, and/or sources for the above species. ACM measures the vertical and horizontal distribution of aerosols via their opacity at 3 microns and, particularly, at 5 microns. ACM recovers spatially-resolved atmospheric temperatures in Titan's troposphere via 3- and 5-microns spectral transitions. Together, the mixing ratio profiles and the aerosol distributions are utilized to investigate the photochemistry of the stratosphere and consequent formation processes for aerosols. Finally, ring opacities, observed during solar occultations and in reflected sunlight, provide a measurement of the particle size and distribution of ring material. ACM will be the first high spectral resolution mapping spectrometer on an outer planet mission for atmospheric studies while retaining a high resolution spatial mapping capability. ACM, thus, opens an entirely new range of orbital scientific studies of the origin, physio-chemical evolution and structure of the Saturn and Titan atmospheres. ACM provides high angular resolution spectral maps, viewing nadir and near-limb thermal radiation and reflected sunlight; sounds planetary limbs, spatially resolving vertical profiles to several atmospheric scale heights; and measures solar occultations, mapping both atmospheres and rings. ACM's high spectral and spatial resolution mapping capability is achieved with a simplified Fourier Transform spectrometer with a no-moving parts, physically compact design. ACM's simplicity guarantees an inherent stability essential for reliable performance throughout the lengthy Cassini Orbiter mission.

Land cover mapping and change detection in urban watersheds using QuickBird high spatial resolution satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hester, David Barry

The objective of this research was to develop methods for urban land cover analysis using QuickBird high spatial resolution satellite imagery. Such imagery has emerged as a rich commercially available remote sensing data source and has enjoyed high-profile broadcast news media and Internet applications, but methods of quantitative analysis have not been thoroughly explored. The research described here consists of three studies focused on the use of pan-sharpened 61-cm spatial resolution QuickBird imagery, the spatial resolution of which is the highest of any commercial satellite. In the first study, a per-pixel land cover classification method is developed for use with this imagery. This method utilizes a per-pixel classification approach to generate an accurate six-category high spatial resolution land cover map of a developing suburban area. The primary objective of the second study was to develop an accurate land cover change detection method for use with QuickBird land cover products. This work presents an efficient fuzzy framework for transforming map uncertainty into accurate and meaningful high spatial resolution land cover change analysis. The third study described here is an urban planning application of the high spatial resolution QuickBird-based land cover product developed in the first study. This work both meaningfully connects this exciting new data source to urban watershed management and makes an important empirical contribution to the study of suburban watersheds. Its analysis of residential roads and driveways as well as retail parking lots sheds valuable light on the impact of transportation-related land use on the suburban landscape. Broadly, these studies provide new methods for using state-of-the-art remote sensing data to inform land cover analysis and urban planning. These methods are widely adaptable and produce land cover products that are both meaningful and accurate. As additional high spatial resolution satellites are launched and the cost of high resolution imagery continues to decline, this research makes an important contribution to this exciting era in the science of remote sensing.

Flight Test Results of a Synthetic Vision Elevation Database Integrity Monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

deHaag, Maarten Uijt; Sayre, Jonathon; Campbell, Jacob; Young, Steve; Gray, Robert

2001-01-01

This paper discusses the flight test results of a real-time Digital Elevation Model (DEM) integrity monitor for Civil Aviation applications. Providing pilots with Synthetic Vision (SV) displays containing terrain information has the potential to improve flight safety by improving situational awareness and thereby reducing the likelihood of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). Utilization of DEMs, such as the digital terrain elevation data (DTED), requires a DEM integrity check and timely integrity alerts to the pilots when used for flight-critical terrain-displays, otherwise the DEM may provide hazardous misleading terrain information. The discussed integrity monitor checks the consistency between a terrain elevation profile synthesized from sensor information, and the profile given in the DEM. The synthesized profile is derived from DGPS and radar altimeter measurements. DEMs of various spatial resolutions are used to illustrate the dependency of the integrity monitor s performance on the DEMs spatial resolution. The paper will give a description of proposed integrity algorithms, the flight test setup, and the results of a flight test performed at the Ohio University airport and in the vicinity of Asheville, NC.

Image pre-processing method for near-wall PIV measurements over moving curved interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, L. C.; Zhu, Y. D.; Jia, Y. X.; Yuan, H. J.; Lee, C. B.

2017-03-01

PIV measurements near a moving interface are always difficult. This paper presents a PIV image pre-processing method that returns high spatial resolution velocity profiles near the interface. Instead of re-shaping or re-orientating the interrogation windows, interface tracking and an image transformation are used to stretch the particle image strips near a curved interface into rectangles. Then the adaptive structured interrogation windows can be arranged at specified distances from the interface. Synthetic particles are also added into the solid region to minimize interfacial effects and to restrict particles on both sides of the interface. Since a high spatial resolution is only required in high velocity gradient region, adaptive meshing and stretching of the image strips in the normal direction is used to improve the cross-correlation signal-to-noise ratio (SN) by reducing the velocity difference and the particle image distortion within the interrogation window. A two dimensional Gaussian fit is used to compensate for the effects of stretching particle images. The working hypothesis is that fluid motion near the interface is ‘quasi-tangential flow’, which is reasonable in most fluid-structure interaction scenarios. The method was validated against the window deformation iterative multi-grid scheme (WIDIM) using synthetic image pairs with different velocity profiles. The method was tested for boundary layer measurements of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate, near a rotating blade and near a flexible flapping flag. This image pre-processing method provides higher spatial resolution than conventional WIDIM and good robustness for measuring velocity profiles near moving interfaces.

Tropospheric Wind Monitoring During Day-of-Launch Operations for NASA's Space Shuttle Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, Ryan; Leach, Richard

2004-01-01

The Environments Group at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center monitors the winds aloft above Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in support of the Space Shuttle Program day-of-launch operations. Assessment of tropospheric winds is used to support the ascent phase of launch. Three systems at KSC are used to generate independent tropospheric wind profiles prior to launch; 1) high resolution jimsphere balloon system, 2) 50-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (DRWP) and 3) low resolution radiosonde system. All independent sources are compared against each other for accuracy. To assess spatial and temporal wind variability during launch countdown each jimsphere profile is compared against a design wind database to ensure wind change does not violate wind change criteria.

Lidar Data Products and Applications Enabled by Conical Scanning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwemmer, Geary K.; Miller, David O.; Wilkerson, Thomas D.; Lee, Sang-Woo

2004-01-01

Several new data products and applications for elastic backscatter lidar are achieved using simple conical scanning. Atmospheric boundary layer spatial and temporal structure is revealed with resolution not possible with static pointing lidars. Cloud fractional coverage as a function of altitude is possible with high temporal resolution. Wind profiles are retrieved from the cloud and aerosol structure motions revealed by scanning. New holographic technology will soon allow quasi-conical scanning and push-broom lidar imaging without mechanical scanning, high resolution, on the order of seconds.

Producing superfluid circulation states using phase imprinting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Avinash; Dubessy, Romain; Badr, Thomas; De Rossi, Camilla; de Goër de Herve, Mathieu; Longchambon, Laurent; Perrin, Hélène

2018-04-01

We propose a method to prepare states of given quantized circulation in annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) confined in a ring trap using the method of phase imprinting without relying on a two-photon angular momentum transfer. The desired phase profile is imprinted on the atomic wave function using a short light pulse with a tailored intensity pattern generated with a spatial light modulator. We demonstrate the realization of "helicoidal" intensity profiles suitable for this purpose. Due to the diffraction limit, the theoretical steplike intensity profile is not achievable in practice. We investigate the effect of imprinting an intensity profile smoothed by a finite optical resolution onto the annular BEC with a numerical simulation of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This allows us to optimize the intensity pattern for a given target circulation to compensate for the limited resolution.

A Comparison of Foliage Profiles in the Sierra National Forest Obtained with a Full-Waveform Under-Canopy EVI Lidar System with the Foliage Profiles Obtained with an Airborne Full-Waveform LVIS Lidar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Feng; Yang, Xiaoyuan; Strahler, Alan H.; Schaaf, Crystal L.; Yao, Tian; Wang, Zhuosen; Roman, Miguel O.; Woodcock, Curtis E.; Ni-Meister, Wenge; Jupp, David L. B.;

Superresolution parallel magnetic resonance imaging: Application to functional and spectroscopic imaging

PubMed Central

Otazo, Ricardo; Lin, Fa-Hsuan; Wiggins, Graham; Jordan, Ramiro; Sodickson, Daniel; Posse, Stefan

2009-01-01

Standard parallel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques suffer from residual aliasing artifacts when the coil sensitivities vary within the image voxel. In this work, a parallel MRI approach known as Superresolution SENSE (SURE-SENSE) is presented in which acceleration is performed by acquiring only the central region of k-space instead of increasing the sampling distance over the complete k-space matrix and reconstruction is explicitly based on intra-voxel coil sensitivity variation. In SURE-SENSE, parallel MRI reconstruction is formulated as a superresolution imaging problem where a collection of low resolution images acquired with multiple receiver coils are combined into a single image with higher spatial resolution using coil sensitivities acquired with high spatial resolution. The effective acceleration of conventional gradient encoding is given by the gain in spatial resolution, which is dictated by the degree of variation of the different coil sensitivity profiles within the low resolution image voxel. Since SURE-SENSE is an ill-posed inverse problem, Tikhonov regularization is employed to control noise amplification. Unlike standard SENSE, for which acceleration is constrained to the phase-encoding dimension/s, SURE-SENSE allows acceleration along all encoding directions — for example, two-dimensional acceleration of a 2D echo-planar acquisition. SURE-SENSE is particularly suitable for low spatial resolution imaging modalities such as spectroscopic imaging and functional imaging with high temporal resolution. Application to echo-planar functional and spectroscopic imaging in human brain is presented using two-dimensional acceleration with a 32-channel receiver coil. PMID:19341804

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

Li, Ke; Chen, Guang-Hong, E-mail: gchen7@wisc.edu; Garrett, John

Purpose: Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) methods have been introduced to clinical CT systems and are being used in some clinical diagnostic applications. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally assess the unique spatial resolution characteristics of this nonlinear reconstruction method and identify its potential impact on the detectabilities and the associated radiation dose levels for specific imaging tasks. Methods: The thoracic section of a pediatric phantom was repeatedly scanned 50 or 100 times using a 64-slice clinical CT scanner at four different dose levels [CTDI{sub vol} =4, 8, 12, 16 (mGy)]. Both filtered backprojection (FBP) and MBIRmore » (Veo{sup ®}, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were used for image reconstruction and results were compared with one another. Eight test objects in the phantom with contrast levels ranging from 13 to 1710 HU were used to assess spatial resolution. The axial spatial resolution was quantified with the point spread function (PSF), while the z resolution was quantified with the slice sensitivity profile. Both were measured locally on the test objects and in the image domain. The dependence of spatial resolution on contrast and dose levels was studied. The study also features a systematic investigation of the potential trade-off between spatial resolution and locally defined noise and their joint impact on the overall image quality, which was quantified by the image domain-based channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detectability index d′. Results: (1) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR depends on both radiation dose level and image contrast level, whereas it is supposedly independent of these two factors in FBP. The axial spatial resolution of MBIR always improved with an increasing radiation dose level and/or contrast level. (2) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR became equivalent to that of FBP at some transitional contrast level, above which MBIR demonstrated superior spatial resolution than FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Conclusions: Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.« less

Refractive index profiles of Ge-doped optical fibers with nanometer spatial resolution using atomic force microscopy.

PubMed

Pace, P; Huntington, Shane; Lyytikäinen, K; Roberts, A; Love, J

2004-04-05

We show a quantitative connection between Refractive Index Profiles (RIP) and measurements made by an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Germanium doped fibers were chemically etched in hydrofluoric acid solution (HF) and the wet etching characteristics of germanium were studied using an AFM. The AFM profiles were compared to both a concentration profile of the preform determined using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and a RIP of the fiber measured using a commercial profiling instrument, and were found to be in excellent agreement. It is now possible to calculate the RIP of a germanium doped fiber directly from an AFM profile.

The influence of different signal-to-background ratios on spatial resolution and F18-FDG-PET quantification using point spread function and time-of-flight reconstruction.

PubMed

Rogasch, Julian Mm; Hofheinz, Frank; Lougovski, Alexandr; Furth, Christian; Ruf, Juri; Großer, Oliver S; Mohnike, Konrad; Hass, Peter; Walke, Mathias; Amthauer, Holger; Steffen, Ingo G

2014-12-01

F18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) reconstruction algorithms can have substantial influence on quantitative image data used, e.g., for therapy planning or monitoring in oncology. We analyzed radial activity concentration profiles of differently reconstructed FDG-PET images to determine the influence of varying signal-to-background ratios (SBRs) on the respective spatial resolution, activity concentration distribution, and quantification (standardized uptake value [SUV], metabolic tumor volume [MTV]). Measurements were performed on a Siemens Biograph mCT 64 using a cylindrical phantom containing four spheres (diameter, 30 to 70 mm) filled with F18-FDG applying three SBRs (SBR1, 16:1; SBR2, 6:1; SBR3, 2:1). Images were reconstructed employing six algorithms (filtered backprojection [FBP], FBP + time-of-flight analysis [FBP + TOF], 3D-ordered subset expectation maximization [3D-OSEM], 3D-OSEM + TOF, point spread function [PSF], PSF + TOF). Spatial resolution was determined by fitting the convolution of the object geometry with a Gaussian point spread function to radial activity concentration profiles. MTV delineation was performed using fixed thresholds and semiautomatic background-adapted thresholding (ROVER, ABX, Radeberg, Germany). The pairwise Wilcoxon test revealed significantly higher spatial resolutions for PSF + TOF (up to 4.0 mm) compared to PSF, FBP, FBP + TOF, 3D-OSEM, and 3D-OSEM + TOF at all SBRs (each P < 0.05) with the highest differences for SBR1 decreasing to the lowest for SBR3. Edge elevations in radial activity profiles (Gibbs artifacts) were highest for PSF and PSF + TOF declining with decreasing SBR (PSF + TOF largest sphere; SBR1, 6.3%; SBR3, 2.7%). These artifacts induce substantial SUVmax overestimation compared to the reference SUV for PSF algorithms at SBR1 and SBR2 leading to substantial MTV underestimation in threshold-based segmentation. In contrast, both PSF algorithms provided the lowest deviation of SUVmean from reference SUV at SBR1 and SBR2. At high contrast, the PSF algorithms provided the highest spatial resolution and lowest SUVmean deviation from the reference SUV. In contrast, both algorithms showed the highest deviations in SUVmax and threshold-based MTV definition. At low contrast, all investigated reconstruction algorithms performed approximately equally. The use of PSF algorithms for quantitative PET data, e.g., for target volume definition or in serial PET studies, should be performed with caution - especially if comparing SUV of lesions with high and low contrasts.

Increased biomagnetic activity in the ventral pathway in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Maestú, F; Campo, P; Del Río, D; Moratti, S; Gil-Gregorio, P; Fernández, A; Capilla, A; Ortiz, T

2008-06-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients represent an intermediary state between healthy aging and dementia. MCI activation profiles, recorded during a memory task, have been studied either through high spatial resolution or high temporal resolution techniques. However, little is known about the benefit of combining both dimensions. Here, we investigate, by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG), whether spatio-temporal profiles of neuromagnetic activity could differentiate between MCI and age-matched elderly participants. Taking the advantage of the high temporal resolution and good spatial resolution of MEG, neuromagnetic activity from 15 elderly MCI patients and 20 age-matched controls was recorded during the performance of a modified version of the Sternberg paradigm. Behavioral performance was similar in both groups. A between group analysis revealed that MCI patients showed bilateral higher activity in the ventral pathway, in both the target and the non-target stimuli. A within-group analysis of the target stimuli, indicates a lack of asymmetry through all late latency windows in both groups. MCI patients showed a compensatory mechanism represented by an increased bilateral activity of the ventral pathway in order to achieve a behavioral performance similar to the control group. This spatio-temporal pattern of activity could be another tool to differentiate between healthy aging and MCI patients.

Fiber optic sensors for sub-centimeter spatially resolved measurements: Review and biomedical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tosi, Daniele; Schena, Emiliano; Molardi, Carlo; Korganbayev, Sanzhar

2018-07-01

One of the current frontier of optical fiber sensors, and a unique asset of this sensing technology is the possibility to use a whole optical fiber, or optical fiber device, as a sensor. This solution allows shifting the whole sensing paradigm, from the measurement of a single physical parameter (such as temperature, strain, vibrations, pressure) to the measurement of a spatial distribution, or profiling, of a physical parameter along the fiber length. In the recent years, several technologies are achieving this task with unprecedentedly narrow spatial resolution, ranging from the sub-millimeter to the centimeter-level. In this work, we review the main fiber optic sensing technologies that achieve a narrow spatial resolution: Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) dense arrays, chirped FBG (CFBG) sensors, optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) based on either Rayleigh scattering or reflective elements, and microwave photonics (MWP). In the second part of the work, we present the impact of spatially dense fiber optic sensors in biomedical applications, where they find the main impact, presenting the key results obtained in thermo-therapies monitoring, high-resolution diagnostic, catheters monitoring, smart textiles, and other emerging applicative fields.

Three-dimensional reciprocal space x-ray coherent scattering tomography of two-dimensional object.

PubMed

Zhu, Zheyuan; Pang, Shuo

2018-04-01

X-ray coherent scattering tomography is a powerful tool in discriminating biological tissues and bio-compatible materials. Conventional x-ray scattering tomography framework can only resolve isotropic scattering profile under the assumption that the material is amorphous or in powder form, which is not true especially for biological samples with orientation-dependent structure. Previous tomography schemes based on x-ray coherent scattering failed to preserve the scattering pattern from samples with preferred orientations, or required elaborated data acquisition scheme, which could limit its application in practical settings. Here, we demonstrate a simple imaging modality to preserve the anisotropic scattering signal in three-dimensional reciprocal (momentum transfer) space of a two-dimensional sample layer. By incorporating detector movement along the direction of x-ray beam, combined with a tomographic data acquisition scheme, we match the five dimensions of the measurements with the five dimensions (three in momentum transfer domain, and two in spatial domain) of the object. We employed a collimated pencil beam of a table-top copper-anode x-ray tube, along with a panel detector to investigate the feasibility of our method. We have demonstrated x-ray coherent scattering tomographic imaging at a spatial resolution ~2 mm and momentum transfer resolution 0.01 Å -1 for the rotation-invariant scattering direction. For any arbitrary, non-rotation-invariant direction, the same spatial and momentum transfer resolution can be achieved based on the spatial information from the rotation-invariant direction. The reconstructed scattering profile of each pixel from the experiment is consistent with the x-ray diffraction profile of each material. The three-dimensional scattering pattern recovered from the measurement reveals the partially ordered molecular structure of Teflon wrap in our sample. We extend the applicability of conventional x-ray coherent scattering tomography to the reconstruction of two-dimensional samples with anisotropic scattering profile by introducing additional degree of freedom on the detector. The presented method has the potential to achieve low-cost, high-specificity material discrimination based on x-ray coherent scattering. © 2018 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

High resolution main-ion charge exchange spectroscopy in the DIII-D H-mode pedestal.

PubMed

Grierson, B A; Burrell, K H; Chrystal, C; Groebner, R J; Haskey, S R; Kaplan, D H

2016-11-01

A new high spatial resolution main-ion (deuterium) charge-exchange spectroscopy system covering the tokamak boundary region has been installed on the DIII-D tokamak. Sixteen new edge main-ion charge-exchange recombination sightlines have been combined with nineteen impurity sightlines in a tangentially viewing geometry on the DIII-D midplane with an interleaving design that achieves 8 mm inter-channel radial resolution for detailed profiles of main-ion temperature, velocity, charge-exchange emission, and neutral beam emission. At the plasma boundary, we find a strong enhancement of the main-ion toroidal velocity that exceeds the impurity velocity by a factor of two. The unique combination of experimentally measured main-ion and impurity profiles provides a powerful quasi-neutrality constraint for reconstruction of tokamak H-mode pedestals.

Temporal Variability in Vertical Groundwater Fluxes and the Effect of Solar Radiation on Streambed Temperatures Based on Vertical High Resolution Distributed Temperature Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebok, E.; Karan, S.; Engesgaard, P. K.; Duque, C.

2013-12-01

Due to its large spatial and temporal variability, groundwater discharge to streams is difficult to quantify. Methods using vertical streambed temperature profiles to estimate vertical fluxes are often of coarse vertical spatial resolution and neglect to account for the natural heterogeneity in thermal conductivity of streambed sediments. Here we report on a field investigation in a stream, where air, stream water and streambed sediment temperatures were measured by Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) with high spatial resolution to; (i) detect spatial and temporal variability in groundwater discharge based on vertical streambed temperature profiles, (ii) study the thermal regime of streambed sediments exposed to different solar radiation influence, (iii) describe the effect of solar radiation on the measured streambed temperatures. The study was carried out at a field site located along Holtum stream, in Western Denmark. The 3 m wide stream has a sandy streambed with a cobbled armour layer, a mean discharge of 200 l/s and a mean depth of 0.3 m. Streambed temperatures were measured with a high-resolution DTS system (HR-DTS). By helically wrapping the fiber optic cable around two PVC pipes of 0.05 m and 0.075 m outer diameter over 1.5 m length, temperature measurements were recorded with 5.7 mm and 3.8 mm vertical spacing, respectively. The HR-DTS systems were installed 0.7 m deep in the streambed sediments, crossing both the sediment-water and the water-air interface, thus yielding high resolution water and air temperature data as well. One of the HR-DTS systems was installed in the open stream channel with only topographical shading, while the other HR-DTS system was placed 7 m upstream, under the canopy of a tree, thus representing the shaded conditions with reduced influence of solar radiation. Temperature measurements were taken with 30 min intervals between 16 April and 25 June 2013. The thermal conductivity of streambed sediments was calibrated in a 1D flow and heat transport model (HydroGeoSphere). Subsequently, time series of vertical groundwater fluxes were computed based on the high-resolution vertical streambed sediment temperature profiles by coupling the model with PEST. The calculated vertical flux time series show spatial differences in discharge between the two HR-DTS sites. A similar temporal variability in vertical fluxes at the two test sites can also be observed, most likely linked to rainfall-runoff processes. The effect of solar radiation as streambed conduction is visible both at the exposed and shaded test site in form of increased diel temperature oscillations up to 14 cm depth from the streambed surface, with the test site exposed to solar radiation showing larger diel temperature oscillations.

An investigation into factors affecting the precision of CT radiation dose profile width measurements using radiochromic films

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

Li, Baojun, E-mail: Baojunli@bu.edu; Behrman, Richard H.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of x-ray beam energy, exposure intensity, and flat-bed scanner uniformity and spatial resolution on the precision of computed tomography (CT) beam width measurements using Gafchromic XR-QA2 film and an off-the-shelf document scanner. Methods: Small strips of Gafchromic film were placed at isocenter in a CT scanner and exposed at various x-ray beam energies (80–140 kVp), exposure levels (50–400 mA s), and nominal beam widths (1.25, 5, and 10 mm). The films were scanned in reflection mode on a Ricoh MP3501 flat-bed document scanner using several spatial resolution settings (100 to 400 dpi) and at differentmore » locations on the scanner bed. Reflection measurements were captured in digital image files and radiation dose profiles generated by converting the image pixel values to air kerma through film calibration. Beam widths were characterized by full width at half maximum (FWHM) and full width at tenth maximum (FWTM) of dose profiles. Dependences of these parameters on the above factors were quantified in percentage change from the baselines. Results: The uncertainties in both FWHM and FWTM caused by varying beam energy, exposure level, and scanner uniformity were all within 4.5% and 7.6%, respectively. Increasing scanner spatial resolution significantly increased the uncertainty in both FWHM and FWTM, with FWTM affected by almost 8 times more than FWHM (48.7% vs 6.5%). When uncalibrated dose profiles were used, FWHM and FWTM were over-estimated by 11.6% and 7.6%, respectively. Narrower beam width appeared more sensitive to the film calibration than the wider ones (R{sup 2} = 0.68 and 0.85 for FWHM and FWTM, respectively). The global and maximum local background variations of the document scanner were 1.2%. The intrinsic film nonuniformity for an unexposed film was 0.3%. Conclusions: Measurement of CT beam widths using Gafchromic XR-QA2 films is robust against x-ray energy, exposure level, and scanner uniformity. With proper film calibration and scanner resolution setting, it can provide adequate precision for meeting ACR and manufacturer’s tolerances for the measurement of CT dose profiles.« less

Multiscale 2D Inversions of Active-source First-arrival Times in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Y. P.; Zhao, L.; Hung, S. H.

2015-12-01

In this study, we make use of the active-source records collected by the TAIGER (TAiwan Integrated GEodynamics Research) project in 2008 at nearly 1400 locations on the island of Taiwan and the surrounding ocean bottom. We manually picked the first-arrival times from the waveform records to obtain a set of highly accurate P-wave traveltimes. Among the 1400 receivers, more than 1000 were deployed along four almost linear cross-island profiles with inter-seismometer spacing down to 200 m. This ground-truth dataset provides strong constrains on the structure between the exactly known active sources and densely distributed receivers, which can be used to calibrate the seismic structure in the upper crust in Taiwan. In this study, we use this dataset to image the two-dimensional P-wave structure along the four linear profiles. A wavelet parameterization of the model is adopted to achieve an objective and data-adaptive multiscale resolution to the 2D structures. Rigorous estimations of resolution lengths were also conducted to quantify the spatial resolutions of the tomography inversions. The resulting 2D models yield first-arrival time predictions that are in excellent agreement with the observations. The seismic structures along the 2D profiles display strong lateral variations (up to 80% relative to regional average) with more realistic amplitudes of velocity perturbations and spatial patterns consistent with geological zonations of Taiwan

The Influence of Beam Broadening on the Spatial Resolution of Annular Dark Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy.

PubMed

de Jonge, Niels; Verch, Andreas; Demers, Hendrix

2018-02-01

The spatial resolution of aberration-corrected annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy was studied as function of the vertical position z within a sample. The samples consisted of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) positioned in different horizontal layers within aluminum matrices of 0.6 and 1.0 µm thickness. The highest resolution was achieved in the top layer, whereas the resolution was reduced by beam broadening for AuNPs deeper in the sample. To examine the influence of the beam broadening, the intensity profiles of line scans over nanoparticles at a certain vertical location were analyzed. The experimental data were compared with Monte Carlo simulations that accurately matched the data. The spatial resolution was also calculated using three different theoretical models of the beam blurring as function of the vertical position within the sample. One model considered beam blurring to occur as a single scattering event but was found to be inaccurate for larger depths of the AuNPs in the sample. Two models were adapted and evaluated that include estimates for multiple scattering, and these described the data with sufficient accuracy to be able to predict the resolution. The beam broadening depended on z 1.5 in all three models.

Exploring the nearshore marine wind profile from field measurements and numerical hindcast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

del Jesus, F.; Menendez, M.; Guanche, R.; Losada, I.

2012-12-01

Wind power is the predominant offshore renewable energy resource. In the last years, offshore wind farms have become a technically feasible source of electrical power. The economic feasibility of offshore wind farms depends on the quality of the offshore wind conditions compared to that of onshore sites. Installation and maintenance costs must be balanced with more hours and a higher quality of the available resources. European offshore wind development has revealed that the optimum offshore sites are those in which the distance from the coast is limited with high available resource. Due to the growth in the height of the turbines and the complexity of the coast, with interactions between inland wind/coastal orography and ocean winds, there is a need for field measurements and validation of numerical models to understand the marine wind profile near the coast. Moreover, recent studies have pointed out that the logarithmic law describing the vertical wind profile presents limitations. The aim of this work is to characterize the nearshore vertical wind profile in the medium atmosphere boundary layer. Instrumental observations analyzed in this work come from the Idermar project (www.Idermar.es). Three floating masts deployed at different locations on the Cantabrian coast provide wind measurements from a height of 20 to 90 meters. Wind speed and direction are measured as well as several meteorological variables at different heights of the profile. The shortest wind time series has over one year of data. A 20 year high-resolution atmospheric hindcast, using the WRF-ARW model and focusing on hourly offshore wind fields, is also analyzed. Two datasets have been evaluated: a European reanalysis with a ~15 Km spatial resolution, and a hybrid downscaling of wind fields with a spatial resolution of one nautical mile over the northern coast of Spain.. These numerical hindcasts have been validated based on field measurement data. Several parameterizations of the vertical wind profile are evaluated and, based on this work, a particular parameterization of the wind profile is proposed.

Dryline on 22 May 2002 During IHOP: Convective Scale Measurements at the Profiling Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demoz, Belay; Flamant, Cyrille; Miller, David; Evans, Keith; Fabry, Federic; DiGirolamo, Paolo; Whiteman, David; Geerts, Bart; Weckwerth, Tammy; Brown, William

2004-01-01

A unique set of measurements of wind, water vapor mixing ratio and boundary layer height variability was observed during the first MOP dryline mission of 22 May 2002. Water vapor mixing ratio from the Scanning Raman Lidar (SRL), high-resolution profiles of aerosol backscatter from the HARLIE and wind profiles from the GLOW are combined with the vertical velocity derived from the NCAR/ISS/MAPR and the high-resolution FMCW radar to reveal the convective variability of the cumulus cloud-topped boundary layer. A combined analysis of the in-situ and remote sensing data from aircraft, radiosonde, lidars, and radars reveals moisture variability within boundary layer updraft and downdraft regions as well as characterizes the boundary layer height variability in the dry and moist sides of the dryline. The profiler site measurements will be tied to aircraft data to reveal the relative intensity and location of these updrafts to the dry line. This study provides unprecedented high temporal and spatial resolution measurements of wind, moisture and backscatter within a dryline and the associated convective boundary layer.

A temporally and spatially resolved electron density diagnostic method for the edge plasma based on Stark broadening

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

Zafar, A., E-mail: zafara@ornl.gov; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830; Martin, E. H.

2016-11-15

An electron density diagnostic (≥10{sup 10} cm{sup −3}) capable of high temporal (ms) and spatial (mm) resolution is currently under development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The diagnostic is based on measuring the Stark broadened, Doppler-free spectral line profile of the n = 6–2 hydrogen Balmer series transition. The profile is then fit to a fully quantum mechanical model including the appropriate electric and magnetic field operators. The quasi-static approach used to calculate the Doppler-free spectral line profile is outlined here and the results from the model are presented for H-δ spectra for electron densities of 10{sup 10}–10{sup 13} cm{supmore » −3}. The profile shows complex behavior due to the interaction between the magnetic substates of the atom.« less

Star Formation at z = 2.481 in the Lensed Galaxy SDSS J1110+6459. II. What is Missed at the Normal Resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigby, J. R.; Johnson, T. L.; Sharon, K.; Whitaker, K.; Gladders, M. D.; Florian, M.; Lotz, J.; Bayliss, M.; Wuyts, E.

2017-07-01

For lensed galaxy SGAS J111020.0+645950.8 at redshift z = 2.481, which is magnified by a factor of 28 ± 8, we analyze the morphology of star formation, as traced by rest-frame ultraviolet emission, in both the highly magnified source plane and simulations of how this galaxy would appear without lensing magnification. Were this galaxy not lensed, but rather drawn from a Hubble Space Telescope deep field, we would conclude that almost all its star formation arises from an exponential disk (Sérsic index of 1.0 ± 0.4) with an effective radius of {r}e=2.7+/- 0.3 {kpc} measured from two-dimensional fitting to F606W using Galfit, and {r}e=1.9+/- 0.1 {kpc} measured by fitting a radial profile to F606W elliptical isophotes. At the normal spatial resolution of the deep fields, there is no sign of clumpy star formation within SGAS J111020.0+645950.8. However, the enhanced spatial resolution enabled by gravitational lensing tells a very different story; much of the star formation arises in two dozen clumps with sizes of r = 30-50 pc spread across the 7 kpc length of the galaxy. The color and spatial distribution of the diffuse component suggests that still-smaller clumps are unresolved. Despite this clumpy, messy morphology, the radial profile is still well-characterized by an exponential profile. In this lensed galaxy, stars are forming in complexes with sizes well below 100 pc such sizes are wholly unexplored by surveys of galaxy evolution at 1< z< 3.

Radial scanning diagnostics of bremsstrahlung and line emission in T-10 plasma

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

Nemets, A. R., E-mail: Nemets-AR@nrcki.ru; Krupin, V. A.; Klyuchnikov, L. A., E-mail: lklyuchnikov@list.ru

2016-12-15

The paper describes the scanning spectroscopic diagnostics designed for measurement of line integrated plasma radiation in two visible spectral ranges. This diagnostic system is aimed at measuring the bremsstrahlung absolute values and profile with high spatial resolution. The bremsstrahlung absolute values are used to determine the value and radial distribution of effective plasma ion charge Z{sub eff}(r) in T-10 discharges. The importance of Z{sub eff} measurement is due to its strong influence on plasma heating, confinement, and stability. The spatial distribution of emission for one of the chosen spectral lines is measured simultaneously with bremsstrahlung. The spatial resolution of measurementsmore » is ~1 cm, and the temporal resolution is up to 10 ms. The spectral equipment and methods for its calibration are described. Examples of line integrated brightness distribution in a “continuum window” of 5236 ± 6 Å and brightness of the lines C{sup 5+} (5291 Å), He{sup 1+} (4686 Å), and D{sub β} (4861 Å) are given. Flattening of the bremsstrahlung brightness profile in the central region of the plasma column in some discharges with sawtooth oscillations in the T-10 is observed. The measured effective ion charge profiles in ohmic discharges with high plasma density and low discharge currents demonstrate accumulation of light impurities at the column axis; as a consequence, quenching of sawtooth oscillations in some discharges is observed. The developed diagnostics provides necessary data for investigation of heat, particle, and current transport in the plasma of the T-10. Successful application of the obtained data on Z{sub eff}(r) for investigation of geodesic acoustic modes of plasma oscillations in the T-10 should be specially noted.« less

Tuning donut profile for spatial resolution in stimulated emission depletion microscopy.

PubMed

Neupane, Bhanu; Chen, Fang; Sun, Wei; Chiu, Daniel T; Wang, Gufeng

2013-04-01

In stimulated emission depletion (STED)-based or up-conversion depletion-based super-resolution optical microscopy, the donut-shaped depletion beam profile is of critical importance to its resolution. In this study, we investigate the transformation of the donut-shaped depletion beam focused by a high numerical aperture (NA) microscope objective, and model STED point spread function (PSF) as a function of donut beam profile. We show experimentally that the intensity profile of the dark kernel of the donut can be approximated as a parabolic function, whose slope is determined by the donut beam size before the objective back aperture, or the effective NA. Based on this, we derive the mathematical expression for continuous wave (CW) STED PSF as a function of focal plane donut and excitation beam profiles, as well as dye properties. We find that the effective NA and the residual intensity at the center are critical factors for STED imaging quality and the resolution. The effective NA is critical for STED resolution in that it not only determines the donut shape but also the area the depletion laser power is dispersed. An improperly expanded depletion beam will have negligible improvement in resolution. The polarization of the depletion beam also plays an important role as it affects the residual intensity in the center of the donut. Finally, we construct a CW STED microscope operating at 488 nm excitation and 592 nm depletion with a resolution of 70 nm. Our study provides detailed insight to the property of donut beam, and parameters that are important for the optimal performance of STED microscopes. This paper will provide a useful guide for the construction and future development of STED microscopes.

An objective algorithm for reconstructing the three-dimensional ocean temperature field based on Argo profiles and SST data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Chaojie; Ding, Xiaohua; Zhang, Jie; Yang, Jungang; Ma, Qiang

2017-12-01

While global oceanic surface information with large-scale, real-time, high-resolution data is collected by satellite remote sensing instrumentation, three-dimensional (3D) observations are usually obtained from in situ measurements, but with minimal coverage and spatial resolution. To meet the needs of 3D ocean investigations, we have developed a new algorithm to reconstruct the 3D ocean temperature field based on the Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography (Argo) profiles and sea surface temperature (SST) data. The Argo temperature profiles are first optimally fitted to generate a series of temperature functions of depth, with the vertical temperature structure represented continuously. By calculating the derivatives of the fitted functions, the calculation of the vertical temperature gradient of the Argo profiles at an arbitrary depth is accomplished. A gridded 3D temperature gradient field is then found by applying inverse distance weighting interpolation in the horizontal direction. Combined with the processed SST, the 3D temperature field reconstruction is realized below the surface using the gridded temperature gradient. Finally, to confirm the effectiveness of the algorithm, an experiment in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan is conducted, for which a 3D temperature field is generated. Compared with other similar gridded products, the reconstructed 3D temperature field derived by the proposed algorithm achieves satisfactory accuracy, with correlation coefficients of 0.99 obtained, including a higher spatial resolution (0.25° × 0.25°), resulting in the capture of smaller-scale characteristics. Finally, both the accuracy and the superiority of the algorithm are validated.

Direct band gap measurement of Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S){sub 2} thin films using high-resolution reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy

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

Heo, Sung; College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Cheoncheon-dong 300, Jangan-gu, Suwon 440-746; Lee, Hyung-Ik

2015-06-29

To investigate the band gap profile of Cu(In{sub 1−x},Ga{sub x})(Se{sub 1−y}S{sub y}){sub 2} of various compositions, we measured the band gap profile directly as a function of in-depth using high-resolution reflection energy loss spectroscopy (HR-REELS), which was compared with the band gap profile calculated based on the auger depth profile. The band gap profile is a double-graded band gap as a function of in-depth. The calculated band gap obtained from the auger depth profile seems to be larger than that by HR-REELS. Calculated band gaps are to measure the average band gap of the spatially different varying compositions with respectmore » to considering its void fraction. But, the results obtained using HR-REELS are to be affected by the low band gap (i.e., out of void) rather than large one (i.e., near void). Our findings suggest an analytical method to directly determine the band gap profile as function of in-depth.« less

Measurements of fast ion spatial dynamics during magnetic activity in the RFP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goetz, J. A.; Anderson, J. K.; Bonofiglo, P.; Kim, J.; McConnell, R.; Magee, R. M.

2017-10-01

Fast ions in the RFP are only weakly affected by a stochastic magnetic field and behave nearly classically in concentration too low to excite Alfvenic activity. At high fast ion concentration sourced by H-NBI in 300kA RFP discharges, a substantial drop in core-localized high pitch fast ions is observed during bursts of coupled EPM and IAE (magnetic island-induced Alfven eigenmode) activity (100-200kHz) through neutral particle analysis. Sourcing instead fast deuterium with NBI, the DD fusion products can measure the dynamics of the fast ion density profile. Both a collimated neutron detector and a new 3MeV fusion proton detector loaned by TriAlpha Energy measure the fast ion density profile with 5cm spatial resolution and 100 μs temporal resolution. In D-NBI, the bursting EPM is excited at slightly lower frequency and the IAE activity is nearly absent, likely due to an isotope effect and loss of wave-particle interaction. In these cases, neutral particle analysis shows little change in the core-localized high pitch fast ion content, and the fusion product profile indicates little change in the fast ion density profile, leaving unexplained the mechanism removing EPM drive. We measure a substantial redistribution of the fast ion profile due to strong lower-frequency ( 30kHz) MHD activity that accompanies the current profile relaxation in the RFP. Profile flattening is strongest in low bulk density discharges, which often occur with a total increase in global neutron flux from acceleration of the beam ions. Work supported by US DoE.

IRCI-Free MIMO-OFDM SAR Using Circularly Shifted Zadoff-Chu Sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Yun-He; Xia, Xiang-Gen

2015-05-01

Cyclic prefix (CP) based MIMO-OFDM radar has been recently proposed for distributed transmit antennas, where there is no inter-range-cell interference (IRCI). It can collect full spatial diversity and each transmitter transmits signals with the same frequency band, i.e., the range resolution is not reduced. However, it needs to transmit multiple OFDM pulses consecutively to obtain range profiles for a single swath, which may be too long in time for a reasonable swath width. In this letter, we propose a CP based MIMO-OFDM synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system, where each transmitter transmits only a single OFDM pulse to obtain range profiles for a swath and has the same frequency band, thus the range resolution is not reduced. It is IRCI free and can collect the full spatial diversity if the transmit antennas are distributed. Our main idea is to use circularly shifted Zadoff-Chu sequences as the weighting coefficients in the OFDM pulses for different transmit antennas and apply spatial filters with multiple receive antennas to divide the whole swath into multiple subswaths, and then each subswath is reconstructed/imaged using our proposed IRCI free range reconstruction method.

[Non-invasive, spatially resolved determination of tissue properties of the crystalline lens with regard to rheology, refractive index, density and protein concentration by using Brillouin spectroscopy].

PubMed

Reiss, S; Stachs, O; Guthoff, R; Stolz, H

2011-12-01

The confocal Brillouin spectroscopy is an innovative measurement method that allows the non-invasive determination of the rheological properties of materials. Its application in ophthalmology can offer the possibility to determine in-vivo the deformation properties of sections of transparent biological tissue such as the cornea or eye lens with spatial resolution. This seems to be a promising approach concerning current presbyopia research. Due to the spatially resolved detection of the viscoelastic lens properties, a better understanding of the natural aging process of the lens and the influences of different lens opacities on the stiffness is expected. From the obtained spectral data the relative protein levels, the relative refractive index profile and the relative density profile within the lens tissue can be derived in addition. A measurement set-up for confocal Brillouin microscopy based on spectral analysis of spontaneous Brillouin scattering signals by using a high-resolution dispersive device is presented. First in-vitro test results on animal and human lenses are presented and evaluated concerning their rheological significance. These data are compared with known research results. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Laboratory demonstration of a Brillouin lidar to remotely measure temperature profiles of the ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudolf, Andreas; Walther, Thomas

2014-05-01

We report on the successful laboratory demonstration of a real-time lidar system to remotely measure temperature profiles in water. In the near future, it is intended to be operated from a mobile platform, e.g., a helicopter or vessel, in order to precisely determine the temperature of the surface mixed layer of the ocean with high spatial resolution. The working principle relies on the active generation and detection of spontaneous Brillouin scattering. The light source consists of a frequency-doubled fiber-amplified external cavity diode laser and provides high-energy, Fourier transform-limited laser pulses in the green spectral range. The detector is based on an atomic edge filter and allows the challenging extraction of the temperature information from the Brillouin scattered light. In the lab environment, depending on the amount of averaging, water temperatures were resolved with a mean accuracy of up to 0.07°C and a spatial resolution of 1 m, proving the feasibility and the large potential of the overall system.

Improving Soil Moisture Estimation through the Joint Assimilation of SMOS and GRACE Satellite Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Girotto, Manuela

2018-01-01

Observations from recent soil moisture dedicated missions (e.g. SMOS or SMAP) have been used in innovative data assimilation studies to provide global high spatial (i.e., approximately10-40 km) and temporal resolution (i.e., daily) soil moisture profile estimates from microwave brightness temperature observations. These missions are only sensitive to near-surface soil moisture 0-5 cm). In contrast, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission provides accurate measurements of the entire vertically integrated terrestrial water storage (TWS) 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). In this presentation I will review benefits and drawbacks associated to the assimilation of both types of observations. In particular, I will illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of their joint assimilation for the purpose of improving the entire profile of soil moisture (i.e., surface and deeper water storages).

Profilometry of thin films on rough substrates by Raman spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Ledinský, Martin; Paviet-Salomon, Bertrand; Vetushka, Aliaksei; Geissbühler, Jonas; Tomasi, Andrea; Despeisse, Matthieu; De Wolf , Stefaan; Ballif , Christophe; Fejfar, Antonín

2016-01-01

Thin, light-absorbing films attenuate the Raman signal of underlying substrates. In this article, we exploit this phenomenon to develop a contactless thickness profiling method for thin films deposited on rough substrates. We demonstrate this technique by probing profiles of thin amorphous silicon stripes deposited on rough crystalline silicon surfaces, which is a structure exploited in high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells. Our spatially-resolved Raman measurements enable the thickness mapping of amorphous silicon over the whole active area of test solar cells with very high precision; the thickness detection limit is well below 1 nm and the spatial resolution is down to 500 nm, limited only by the optical resolution. We also discuss the wider applicability of this technique for the characterization of thin layers prepared on Raman/photoluminescence-active substrates, as well as its use for single-layer counting in multilayer 2D materials such as graphene, MoS2 and WS2. PMID:27922033

High resolution main-ion charge exchange spectroscopy in the DIII-D H-mode pedestal

DOE PAGES

Grierson, B. A.; Burrell, K. H.; Chrystal, C.; ...

2016-09-12

A new high spatial resolution main-ion (deuterium) charge-exchange spectroscopy system covering the tokamak boundary region has been installed on the DIII-D tokamak. Sixteen new edge main-ion charge-exchange recombination sightlines have been combined with nineteen impurity sightlines in a tangentially viewing geometry on the DIII-D midplane with an interleaving design that achieves 8 mm inter-channel radial resolution for detailed profiles of main-ion temperature, velocity, charge-exchange emission, and neutral beam emission. At the plasma boundary, we find a strong enhancement of the main-ion toroidal velocity that exceeds the impurity velocity by a factor of two. Furthermore, the unique combination of experimentally measuredmore » main-ion and impurity profiles provides a powerful quasi-neutrality constraint for reconstruction of tokamak H-mode pedestals.« less

Tropospheric Wind Monitoring During Day-of-Launch Operations for National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space Shuttle Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, Ryan K.; Leach, Richard

2004-01-01

The Environments Group at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA/MSFC) monitors the winds aloft at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) during the countdown for all Space Shuttle launches. Assessment of tropospheric winds is used to support the ascent phase of launch. Three systems at KSC are used to generate independent tropospheric wind profiles prior to launch; 1) high resolution Jimsphere balloon system, 2) 50-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (DRWP) and 3) low resolution radiosonde system. Data generated by the systems are used to assess spatial and temporal wind variability during launch countdown to ensure wind change observed does not violate wind change criteria constraints.

Terahertz near-field imaging using subwavelength plasmonic apertures and a quantum cascade laser source.

PubMed

Baragwanath, Adam J; Freeman, Joshua R; Gallant, Andrew J; Zeitler, J Axel; Beere, Harvey E; Ritchie, David A; Chamberlain, J Martyn

2011-07-01

The first demonstration, to our knowledge, of near-field imaging using subwavelength plasmonic apertures with a terahertz quantum cascade laser source is presented. "Bull's-eye" apertures, featuring subwavelength circular apertures flanked by periodic annular corrugations were created using a novel fabrication method. A fivefold increase in intensity was observed for plasmonic apertures over plain apertures of the same diameter. Detailed studies of the transmitted beam profiles were undertaken for apertures with both planarized and corrugated exit facets, with the former producing spatially uniform intensity profiles and subwavelength spatial resolution. Finally, a proof-of-concept imaging experiment is presented, where an inhomogeneous pharmaceutical drug coating is investigated.

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

Hill, K W; Delgado-Aprico, L; Johnson, D

Imaging XCS arrays are being developed as a US-ITER activity for Doppler measurement of Ti and v profiles of impurities (W, Kr, Fe) with ~7 cm (a/30) and 10-100 ms resolution in ITER. The imaging XCS, modeled after a PPPL-MIT instrument on Alcator C-Mod, uses a spherically bent crystal and 2d x-ray detectors to achieve high spectral resolving power (E/dE>6000) horizontally and spatial imaging vertically. Two arrays will measure Ti and both poloidal and toroidal rotation velocity profiles. Measurement of many spatial chords permits tomographic inversion for inference of local parameters. The instrument design, predictions of performance, and results frommore » C-Mod will be presented.« less

High-resolution observations of the globular cluster NGC 7099

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sams, Bruce Jones, III

The globular cluster NGC 7099 is a prototypical collapsed core cluster. Through a series of instrumental, observational, and theoretical observations, I have resolved its core structure using a ground based telescope. The core has a radius of 2.15 arcsec when imaged with a V band spatial resolution of 0.35 arcsec. Initial attempts at speckle imaging produced images of inadequate signal to noise and resolution. To explain these results, a new, fully general signal-to-noise model has been developed. It properly accounts for all sources of noise in a speckle observation, including aliasing of high spatial frequencies by inadequate sampling of the image plane. The model, called Full Speckle Noise (FSN), can be used to predict the outcome of any speckle imaging experiment. A new high resolution imaging technique called ACT (Atmospheric Correlation with a Template) was developed to create sharper astronomical images. ACT compensates for image motion due to atmospheric turbulence. ACT is similar to the Shift and Add algorithm, but uses apriori spatial knowledge about the image to further constrain the shifts. In this instance, the final images of NGC 7099 have resolutions of 0.35 arcsec from data taken in 1 arcsec seeing. The PAPA (Precision Analog Photon Address) camera was used to record data. It is subject to errors when imaging cluster cores in a large field of view. The origin of these errors is explained, and several ways to avoid them proposed. New software was created for the PAPA camera to properly take flat field images taken in a large field of view. Absolute photometry measurements of NGC 7099 made with the PAPA camera are accurate to 0.1 magnitude. Luminosity sampling errors dominate surface brightness profiles of the central few arcsec in a collapsed core cluster. These errors set limits on the ultimate spatial accuracy of surface brightness profiles.

Digital Fresnel reflection holography for high-resolution 3D near-wall flow measurement.

PubMed

Kumar, S Santosh; Hong, Jiarong

2018-05-14

We propose a novel backscatter holographic imaging system, as a compact and effective tool for 3D near-wall flow diagnostics at high resolutions, utilizing light reflected at the solid-liquid interface as a reference beam. The technique is fully calibrated, and is demonstrated in a densely seeded channel to achieve a spatial resolution of near-wall flows equivalent to or exceeding prior digital inline holographic measurements using local tracer seeding technique. Additionally, we examined the effects of seeding concentration and laser coherence on the measurement resolution and sample volume resolved, demonstrating the potential to manipulate sample domain by tuning the laser coherence profile.

Pattern detection in stream networks: Quantifying spatialvariability in fish distribution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torgersen, Christian E.; Gresswell, Robert E.; Bateman, Douglas S.

2004-01-01

Biological and physical properties of rivers and streams are inherently difficult to sample and visualize at the resolution and extent necessary to detect fine-scale distributional patterns over large areas. Satellite imagery and broad-scale fish survey methods are effective for quantifying spatial variability in biological and physical variables over a range of scales in marine environments but are often too coarse in resolution to address conservation needs in inland fisheries management. We present methods for sampling and analyzing multiscale, spatially continuous patterns of stream fishes and physical habitat in small- to medium-size watersheds (500–1000 hectares). Geospatial tools, including geographic information system (GIS) software such as ArcInfo dynamic segmentation and ArcScene 3D analyst modules, were used to display complex biological and physical datasets. These tools also provided spatial referencing information (e.g. Cartesian and route-measure coordinates) necessary for conducting geostatistical analyses of spatial patterns (empirical semivariograms and wavelet analysis) in linear stream networks. Graphical depiction of fish distribution along a one-dimensional longitudinal profile and throughout the stream network (superimposed on a 10-metre digital elevation model) provided the spatial context necessary for describing and interpreting the relationship between landscape pattern and the distribution of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) in western Oregon, U.S.A. The distribution of coastal cutthroat trout was highly autocorrelated and exhibited a spherical semivariogram with a defined nugget, sill, and range. Wavelet analysis of the main-stem longitudinal profile revealed periodicity in trout distribution at three nested spatial scales corresponding ostensibly to landscape disturbances and the spacing of tributary junctions.

Two-Photon Absorption Based Nanoscopic Velocimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Audrey; Abdalrahman, Akrm; Deng, Jianyu; Wang, Guiren

2017-11-01

Most velocimeters in micro/nanofluidics rely on particles as flow tracers, such as micro Particle Image Velocimetry (μPIV). However, for many microflows, such as electrokinetic and near wall flow, magnetophoresis, acoustophoresis, photophoresis and thermophoresis, particles have different velocity from their surrounding fluids. Although most molecular tracer based velocimeters can use neutral dye to measure average velocity, their temporal and spatial resolution are limited. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) based laser-induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometer (LIFPA), i.e. STED-LIFPA has achieved 70 nm spatial resolution. However, STED nanoscopy is very complicated for most users. Here we developed a two-photon absorption LIFPA (TP-LIFPA), which is relatively easier to operate. TP-LIFPA can take advantage of the two-photon microscopy to increase spatial resolution. We use a femtolaser to excite a dye. A microcapillary tube is used to test the feasibility of TP-LIFPA. TP-LIFPA can successfully measure the velocity profile in the capillary. The resolution of TP-LIFPA is estimated to be about 90 nm. The work indicates TP-LIFPA is a new promising nanoscopic velocimeter for interfacial flows, especially within 100 nm at the interfacial area between two phases in the future. The work was supported by NSF under Grant No. MRI CBET-1040227.

Evolution of Satellite Imagers and Sounders for Low Earth Orbit and Technology Directions at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pagano, Thomas S.; McClain, Charles R.

2010-01-01

Imagers and Sounders for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) provide fundamental global daily observations of the Earth System for scientists, researchers, and operational weather agencies. The imager provides the nominal 1-2 km spatial resolution images with global coverage in multiple spectral bands for a wide range of uses including ocean color, vegetation indices, aerosol, snow and cloud properties, and sea surface temperature. The sounder provides vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, water vapor cloud properties, and trace gases including ozone, carbon monoxide, methane and carbon dioxide. Performance capabilities of these systems has evolved with the optical and sensing technologies of the decade. Individual detectors were incorporated on some of the first imagers and sounders that evolved to linear array technology in the '80's. Signal-to-noise constraints limited these systems to either broad spectral resolution as in the case of the imager, or low spatial resolution as in the case of the sounder. Today's area 2-dimensional large format array technology enables high spatial and high spectral resolution to be incorporated into a single instrument. This places new constraints on the design of these systems and enables new capabilities for scientists to examine the complex processes governing the Earth System.

Preliminary investigations into macroscopic attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared imaging of intact spherical domains: spatial resolution and image distortion.

PubMed

Everall, Neil J; Priestnall, Ian M; Clarke, Fiona; Jayes, Linda; Poulter, Graham; Coombs, David; George, Michael W

2009-03-01

This paper describes preliminary investigations into the spatial resolution of macro attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging and the distortions that arise when imaging intact, convex domains, using spheres as an extreme example. The competing effects of shallow evanescent wave penetration and blurring due to finite spatial resolution meant that spheres within the range 20-140 microm all appeared to be approximately the same size ( approximately 30-35 microm) when imaged with a numerical aperture (NA) of approximately 0.2. A very simple model was developed that predicted this extreme insensitivity to particle size. On the basis of these studies, it is anticipated that ATR imaging at this NA will be insensitive to the size of intact highly convex objects. A higher numerical aperture device should give a better estimate of the size of small spheres, owing to superior spatial resolution, but large spheres should still appear undersized due to the shallow sampling depth. An estimate of the point spread function (PSF) was required in order to develop and apply the model. The PSF was measured by imaging a sharp interface; assuming an Airy profile, the PSF width (distance from central maximum to first minimum) was estimated to be approximately 20 and 30 microm for IR bands at 1600 and 1000 cm(-1), respectively. This work has two significant limitations. First, underestimation of domain size only arises when imaging intact convex objects; if surfaces are prepared that randomly and representatively section through domains, the images can be analyzed to calculate parameters such as domain size, area, and volume. Second, the model ignores reflection and refraction and assumes weak absorption; hence, the predicted intensity profiles are not expected to be accurate; they merely give a rough estimate of the apparent sphere size. Much further work is required to place the field of quantitative ATR-FT-IR imaging on a sound basis.

Atmospheric turbulence profiling with SLODAR using multiple adaptive optics wavefront sensors.

PubMed

Wang, Lianqi; Schöck, Matthias; Chanan, Gary

2008-04-10

The slope detection and ranging (SLODAR) method recovers atmospheric turbulence profiles from time averaged spatial cross correlations of wavefront slopes measured by Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors. The Palomar multiple guide star unit (MGSU) was set up to test tomographic multiple guide star adaptive optics and provided an ideal test bed for SLODAR turbulence altitude profiling. We present the data reduction methods and SLODAR results from MGSU observations made in 2006. Wind profiling is also performed using delayed wavefront cross correlations along with SLODAR analysis. The wind profiling analysis is shown to improve the height resolution of the SLODAR method and in addition gives the wind velocities of the turbulent layers.

Space-based observations of nitrogen dioxide: Trends in anthropogenic emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, Ashley Ray

Space-based instruments provide routine global observations, offering a unique perspective on the spatial and temporal variation of atmospheric constituents. In this dissertation, trends in regional-scale anthropogenic nitrogen oxide emissions (NO + NO2 ≡ NOx) are investigated using high resolution observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). By comparing trends in OMI observations with those from ground-based measurements and an emissions inventory, I show that satellite observations are well-suited for capturing changes in emissions over time. The high spatial and temporal resolutions of the observations provide a uniquely complete view of regional-scale changes in the spatial patterns of NO 2. I show that NOx concentrations have decreased significantly in urban regions of the United States between 2005 and 2011, with an average reduction of 32 ± 7%. By examining day-of-week and interannual trends, I show that these reductions can largely be attributed to improved emission control technology in the mobile source fleet; however, I also show that the economic downturn of the late 2000's has impacted emissions. Additionally, I describe the development of a high-resolution retrieval of NO2 from OMI observations known as the Berkeley High Resolution (BEHR) retrieval. The BEHR product uses higher spatial and temporal resolution terrain and profile parameters than the operational retrievals and is shown to provide a more quantitative measure of tropospheric NO2 column density. These results have important implications for future retrievals of NO2 from space-based observations.

The VIRUS-P Exploration of Nearby Galaxies (VENGA): spatially resolved gas-phase metallicity distributions in barred and unbarred spirals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaplan, Kyle F.; Jogee, Shardha; Kewley, Lisa; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Weinzirl, Tim; Song, Mimi; Drory, Niv; Luo, Rongxin; van den Bosch, Remco C. E.

2016-10-01

We present a study of the excitation conditions and metallicity of ionized gas (Zgas) in eight nearby barred and unbarred spiral galaxies from the VIRUS-P Exploration of Nearby Galaxies (VENGA) survey, which provides high spatial sampling and resolution (median ˜387 pc), large coverage from the bulge to outer disc, broad wavelength range (3600-6800 Å), and medium spectral resolution (˜120 km s-1 at 5000 Å). Our results are: (1) We present high resolution gas excitation maps to differentiate between regions with excitation typical of Seyfert, LINER, or recent star formation. We find LINER-type excitation at large distances (3-10 kpc) from the centre, and associate this excitation with diffuse ionized gas (DIG). (2) After excluding spaxels dominated by Seyfert, LINER, or DIG, we produce maps with the best spatial resolution and sampling to date of the ionization parameter q, star formation rate, and Zgas using common strong line diagnostics. We find that isolated barred and unbarred spirals exhibit similarly shallow Zgas profiles from the inner kpc out to large radii (7-10 kpc or 0.5-1.0 R25). This implies that if profiles had steeper gradients at earlier epochs, then the present-day bar is not the primary driver flattening gradients over time. This result contradicts earlier claims, but agrees with recent IFU studies. (3) The Zgas gradients in our z ˜ 0 massive spirals are markedly shallower, by ˜0.2 dex kpc-1, than published gradients for lensed lower mass galaxies at z ˜ 1.5-2.0. Cosmologically motivated hydrodynamical simulations best match this inferred evolution, but the match is sensitive to adopted stellar feedback prescriptions.

imVisIR - a new tool for high resolution soil characterisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffens, Markus; Buddenbaum, Henning

2014-05-01

The physical and chemical heterogeneities of soils are the source of a vast functional diversity of soil properties in a multitude of spatial domains. But many studies do not consider the spatial variability of soil types, diagnostic horizons and properties. These lateral and vertical heterogeneities of soils or soil horizons are mostly neglected due to the limitations in the available soil data and missing techniques to gather the information. We present an imaging technique that enables the spatially accurate, high resolution assessment (63×63 µm2 per pixel) of complete soil profiles consisting of mineral and organic horizons. We used a stainless steel box (100×100×300 mm3) to sample various soil types and a hyperspectral camera to record the bidirectional reflectance of the large undisturbed soil samples in the visible and near infrared (Vis-NIR) part of the electromagnetic spectrum (400-1000 nm in 160 spectral bands). Various statistical, geostatistical and image processing tools were used to 1) assess the spatial variability of the soil profile as a whole; 2) classify diagnostic horizons; 3) extrapolate elemental concentrations of small sampling areas to the complete image and calculate high resolution chemometric maps of up to five elements (C, N, Al, Fe, Mn); and 4) derive maps of the chemical composition of soil organic matter. Imaging Vis-NIR (imVisIR) has the potential to significantly improve soil classification, assessment of elemental budgets and balances and the understanding of soil forming processes and mechanisms. It will help to identify areas of interest for techniques working on smaller scales and enable the upscaling and referencing of this information to the complete pedon.

Spatial variability of summer Florida precipitation and its impact on microwave radiometer rainfall-measurement systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, B. J.; Austin, G. L.

1993-01-01

Three-dimensional radar data for three summer Florida storms are used as input to a microwave radiative transfer model. The model simulates microwave brightness observations by a 19-GHz, nadir-pointing, satellite-borne microwave radiometer. The statistical distribution of rainfall rates for the storms studied, and therefore the optimal conversion between microwave brightness temperatures and rainfall rates, was found to be highly sensitive to the spatial resolution at which observations were made. The optimum relation between the two quantities was less sensitive to the details of the vertical profile of precipitation. Rainfall retrievals were made for a range of microwave sensor footprint sizes. From these simulations, spatial sampling-error estimates were made for microwave radiometers over a range of field-of-view sizes. The necessity of matching the spatial resolution of ground truth to radiometer footprint size is emphasized. A strategy for the combined use of raingages, ground-based radar, microwave, and visible-infrared (VIS-IR) satellite sensors is discussed.

Advances of a Brillouin Scattering Lidar System for the Detection of Temperature Profiles in the Ocean: Laboratory Measurements and Field Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walther, T.; Rupp, D.; Friman, S.; Trees, C.; Fournier, G.

2016-02-01

Recently we have demonstrated the feasibility of remotely measuring temperature profiles in water under a laboratory environment employing our real-time Brillouin Scattering LIDAR (BSL) system. The working principle is based on the frequency and time resolved detection of the backscattered spontaneous Brillouin signal of a short light pulse fired into the ocean. The light source consists of a frequency-doubled fiber-amplified External Cavity Diode Laser (ECDL) providing high-energy, Fourier transform-limited laser pulses in the green spectral range. The Brillouin shift is detected with high accuracy (low uncertainty) by employing an edge filter based on an Excited State Faraday Anomalous Dispersion Optical Filter (ESFADOF). Time-resolution allows for the depth resolution and the frequency resolved shift is proportional to the speed of sound. Thus, the temperature profile can be extracted from the measurements. In our laboratory setup we were able to resolve water temperatures with a mean accuracy of up to 0.07 oC and a spatial resolution of 1 m depending on the amount of averaging. In order to prepare the system for a first field test under realistic conditions on the coast of the Mediterranean at CMRE in La Spezia, almost all of the components have been upgraded. This first test is planned for November 2015. We will present the above mentioned measurements, details about the upgrades and report on our experiences during this maritime field test.Ultimately, the plan is to operate the system from a mobile platform, e.g., a helicopter or vessel, in order to precisely determine the temperature of the surface mixed layer of the ocean with high spatial resolution.

Soil water content spatial pattern estimated by thermal inertia from air-borne sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppola, Antonio; Basile, Angelo; Esposito, Marco; Menenti, Massimo; Buonanno, Maurizio

2010-05-01

Remote sensing of soil water content from air- or space-borne platforms offer the possibility to provide large spatial coverage and temporal continuity. The water content can be actually monitored in a thin soil layer, usually up to a depth of 0.05m below the soil surface. To the contrary, difficulties arise in the estimation of the water content storage along the soil profile and its spatial (horizontal) distribution, which are closely connected to soil hydraulic properties and their spatial distribution. A promising approach for estimating soil water contents profiles is the integration of remote sensing of surface water content and hydrological modeling. A major goal of the scientific group is to develop a practical and robust procedure for estimating water contents throughout the soil profile from surface water content. As a first step, in this work, we will show some preliminary results from aircraft images analysis and their validation by field campaigns data. The data extracted from the airborne sensors provided the opportunity of retrieving land surface temperatures with a very high spatial resolution. The surface water content pattern, as deduced by the thermal inertia estimations, was compared to the surface water contents maps measured in situ by time domain reflectometry-based probes.

Solar microwave bursts - A review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kundu, M. R.; Vlahos, L.

1982-01-01

Observational and theoretical results on the physics of microwave bursts that occur in the solar atmosphere are reviewed. Special attention is given to the advances made in burst physics over the last few years with the great improvement in spatial and time resolution, especially with instruments like the NRAO three-element interferometer, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, and more recently the Very Large Array. Observations made on the preflare build-up of an active region at centimeter wavelengths are reviewed. Three distinct phases in the evolution of cm bursts, namely the impulsive phase, the post-burst phase, and the gradual rise and fall, are discussed. Attention is also given to the flux density spectra of centimeter bursts. Descriptions are given of observations of fine structures with temporal resolution of 10-100 ms in the intensity profiles of cm-wavelength bursts. High spatial resolution observations are analyzed, with special reference to the one- and two-dimensional maps of cm burst sources.

Design Parameters and Objectives of a High-­Resolution X-­ray Imaging Crystal Spectrometer for the Large Helical Device (LHD)

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

Bitter, M; Gates, D; Neilson, H

A high-resolution X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer, whose instrumental concept was thoroughly tested on NSTX and Alcator C-Mod, is presently being designed for LHD. The instrument will record spatially resolved spectra of helium-like Ar16+ and provide ion temperature profiles with spatial and temporal resolutions of 1 cm and > 10 ms which are obtained by a tomographic inversion of the spectral data, using the stellarator equilibrium reconstruction codes, STELLOPT and PIES. Since the spectrometer will be equipped with radiation hardened, high count rate, PILATUS detectors,, it is expected to be operational for all experimental conditions on LHD, which include plasmas ofmore » high density and plasmas with auxiliary RF and neutral beam heating. The special design features required by the magnetic field structure at LHD will be described.« less

Improving the surface metrology accuracy of optical profilers by using multiple measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xudong; Huang, Qiushi; Shen, Zhengxiang; Wang, Zhanshan

2016-10-01

The performance of high-resolution optical systems is affected by small angle scattering at the mid-spatial-frequency irregularities of the optical surface. Characterizing these irregularities is, therefore, important. However, surface measurements obtained with optical profilers are influenced by additive white noise, as indicated by the heavy-tail effect observable on their power spectral density (PSD). A multiple-measurement method is used to reduce the effects of white noise by averaging individual measurements. The intensity of white noise is determined using a model based on the theoretical PSD of fractal surface measurements with additive white noise. The intensity of white noise decreases as the number of times of multiple measurements increases. Using multiple measurements also increases the highest observed spatial frequency; this increase is derived and calculated. Additionally, the accuracy obtained using multiple measurements is carefully studied, with the analysis of both the residual reference error after calibration, and the random errors appearing in the range of measured spatial frequencies. The resulting insights on the effects of white noise in optical profiler measurements and the methods to mitigate them may prove invaluable to improve the quality of surface metrology with optical profilers.

Measurements of vector fields with diode array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiehr, E. J.; Scholiers, W.

1985-01-01

A polarimeter was designed for high spatial and spectral resolution. It consists of a quarter-wave plate alternately operating in two positions for Stoke-V measurements and an additional quarter-wave plate for Stokes-U and -Q measurements. The spatial range covers 75 arcsec, the spectral window of about 1.8 a allows the simultaneous observations of neighboring lines. The block diagram of the data processing and acquisition system consists of five memories each one having a capacity of 10 to the 4th power 16-bit words. The total time to acquire profiles of Stokes parameters can be chosen by selecting the number of successive measurements added in the memories, each individual measurement corresponding to an integration time of 0.5 sec. Typical values range between 2 and 60 sec depending on the brightness of the structure, the amount of polarization and a compromise between desired signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution.

Model of diffusion-assisted direct laser writing by means of nanopolymerization in the presence of radical quencher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikulin, Alexander; Bityurin, Nikita; Sokolov, Viktor I.

2015-12-01

Diffusion-assisted direct laser writing (DA-DLW) by multiphoton polymerization has been recently shown to be one of the most promising methods for the high-resolution 3D nanofabrication [I. Sakellari, et al., ACS Nano 6, 2302 (2012)]. The improvement of the writing spatial resolution has been observed under certain conditions when the mobile radical quencher (polymerization inhibitor) is added to the photosensitive composition. In this work, we present a theoretical study of this method, focusing on the resolution capabilities and optimal writing parameters. The laser beam absorption in the polymerizable composition causes the localized depletion of the quencher molecules. If the quencher depletion is balanced by its diffusion from the outside of the focal volume, the quasi-stationary non-equillibrium concentration spatial profile with zero minimum can be obtained. The polymer is then effectively formed only in the domain where the quencher is depleted. The spatially-distributed quencher, in this case, has the effect similar to that of the vortex beam in STimulated Emission Microscopy (STED).

Development and validation of a short-lag spatial coherence theory for photoacoustic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Michelle T.; Lediju Bell, Muyinatu A.

2018-02-01

We previously derived spatial coherence theory to be implemented for studying theoretical properties of ShortLag Spatial Coherence (SLSC) beamforming applied to photoacoustic images. In this paper, our newly derived theoretical equation is evaluated to generate SLSC images of a point target and a 1.2 mm diameter target and corresponding lateral profiles. We compared SLSC images simulated solely based on our theory to SLSC images created after beamforming acoustic channel data from k-Wave simulations of 1.2 mm-diameter disc target. This process was repeated for a point target and the full width at half the maximum signal amplitudes were measured to estimate the resolution of each imaging system. Resolution as a function of lag was comparable for the first 10% of the receive aperture (i.e., the short-lag region), after which resolution measurements diverged by a maximum of 1 mm between the two types of simulated images. These results indicate the potential for both simulation methods to be utilized as independent resources to study coherence-based photoacoustic beamformers when imaging point-like targets.

Model of diffusion-assisted direct laser writing by means of nanopolymerization in the presence of radical quencher

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

Pikulin, Alexander, E-mail: pikulin@ufp.appl.sci-nnov.ru; Bityurin, Nikita; Institute of Applied Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 46, Ul’yanov Str., Nizhniy Novgorod, 603950

Diffusion-assisted direct laser writing (DA-DLW) by multiphoton polymerization has been recently shown to be one of the most promising methods for the high-resolution 3D nanofabrication [I. Sakellari, et al., ACS Nano 6, 2302 (2012)]. The improvement of the writing spatial resolution has been observed under certain conditions when the mobile radical quencher (polymerization inhibitor) is added to the photosensitive composition. In this work, we present a theoretical study of this method, focusing on the resolution capabilities and optimal writing parameters. The laser beam absorption in the polymerizable composition causes the localized depletion of the quencher molecules. If the quencher depletionmore » is balanced by its diffusion from the outside of the focal volume, the quasi-stationary non-equillibrium concentration spatial profile with zero minimum can be obtained. The polymer is then effectively formed only in the domain where the quencher is depleted. The spatially-distributed quencher, in this case, has the effect similar to that of the vortex beam in STimulated Emission Microscopy (STED)« less

Observations of winds with an incoherent lidar detector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abreu, Vincent J.; Barnes, John E.; Hays, Paul B.

1992-01-01

A Fabry-Perot interferometer and image-plane detector system to be used as a receiver for a Doppler lidar have been developed. This system incorporates the latest technology in multichannel detectors, and it is an important step toward the development of operational wind profiler systems for the atmosphere. The instrumentation includes a stable high-resolution optically contacted plane etalon and a multiring anode detector to scan the image plane of the Fabry-Perot interferometer spatially. The high wavelength resolution provided by the interferometer permits the aerosol and molecular components of the backscattered signal to be distinguished, and the Doppler shift of either component can then be used to determine the wind altitude profile. The receiver performance has been tested by measuring the wind profile in the boundary layer. The Fabry-Perot interferometer and image-plane detector characteristics are described and sample measurements are presented. The potential of the system as a wind profiler in the troposphere, the stratosphere, and the mesosphere is also considered.

Performance Calculations for the ITER Core Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (CIXS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, K. W.; Delgado-Aparicio, L.; Pablant, N.; Johnson, D.; Feder, R.; Klabacha, J.; Stratton, B.; Bitter, M.; Beiersdorfer, P.; Barnsley, R.; Bertschinger, G.; O'Mullane, M.; Lee, S. G.

2013-10-01

The US is providing a 1D imaging x-ray crystal spectrometer system as a primary diagnostic for measuring profiles of ion temperature (Ti) and toroidal flow velocity (v) in the ITER plasma core (r/a = 0-0.85). The diagnostic must provide high spectral resolution (E/ ΔE > 5,000), spatial resolution of 10 cm, and time resolution of 10-100 ms, and must operate and survive in an environment having high neutron and gamma-ray fluxes. This work presents spectral simulations and tomographic inversions for obtaining local Ti and v, comparisons of the expected count rate profiles to the requirements, the degradation of performance due to the nuclear radiation background, and measurements of the rejection of nuclear background by detector pulse-height discrimination. This work was performed under the auspices of the DOE by PPPL under contract DE-AC02-09CH11466 and by LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

2D electron density profile measurement in tokamak by laser-accelerated ion-beam probe.

PubMed

Chen, Y H; Yang, X Y; Lin, C; Wang, L; Xu, M; Wang, X G; Xiao, C J

2014-11-01

A new concept of Heavy Ion Beam Probe (HIBP) diagnostic has been proposed, of which the key is to replace the electrostatic accelerator of traditional HIBP by a laser-driven ion accelerator. Due to the large energy spread of ions, the laser-accelerated HIBP can measure the two-dimensional (2D) electron density profile of tokamak plasma. In a preliminary simulation, a 2D density profile was reconstructed with a spatial resolution of about 2 cm, and with the error below 15% in the core region. Diagnostics of 2D density fluctuation is also discussed.

Two-dimensional dopant profiling of gallium nitride p-n junctions by scanning capacitance microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamhamdi, M.; Cayrel, F.; Frayssinet, E.; Bazin, A. E.; Yvon, A.; Collard, E.; Cordier, Y.; Alquier, D.

2016-04-01

Two-dimensional imaging of dopant profiles for n and p-type regions are relevant for the development of new power semiconductors, especially for gallium nitride (GaN) for which classical profiling techniques are not adapted. This is a challenging task since it needs a technique with simultaneously good sensitivity, high spatial resolution and high dopant gradient resolution. To face these challenges, scanning capacitance microscopy combined with Atomic Force Microscopy is a good candidate, presenting reproducible results, as demonstrated in literature. In this work, we attempt to distinguish reliably and qualitatively the various doping concentrations and type at p-n and unipolar junctions. For both p-n and unipolar junctions three kinds of samples were prepared and measured separately. The space-charge region of the p-n metallurgical junction, giving rise to different contrasts under SCM imaging, is clearly observed, enlightening the interest of the SCM technique.

Determination of atmospheric moisture structure and infrared cooling rates from high resolution MAMS radiance data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menzel, W. Paul; Moeller, Christopher C.; Smith, William L.

1991-01-01

This program has applied Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) high resolution data to the problem of monitoring atmospheric quantities of moisture and radiative flux at small spatial scales. MAMS, with 100-m horizontal resolution in its four infrared channels, was developed to study small scale atmospheric moisture and surface thermal variability, especially as related to the development of clouds, precipitation, and severe storms. High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) data has been used to develop a high spectral resolution retrieval algorithm for producing vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and moisture. The results of this program are summarized and a list of publications resulting from this contract is presented. Selected publications are attached as an appendix.

A neutron camera system for MAST.

PubMed

Cecconello, M; Turnyanskiy, M; Conroy, S; Ericsson, G; Ronchi, E; Sangaroon, S; Akers, R; Fitzgerald, I; Cullen, A; Weiszflog, M

2010-10-01

A prototype neutron camera has been developed and installed at MAST as part of a feasibility study for a multichord neutron camera system with the aim to measure the spatial and time resolved 2.45 MeV neutron emissivity profile. Liquid scintillators coupled to a fast digitizer are used for neutron/gamma ray digital pulse shape discrimination. The preliminary results obtained clearly show the capability of this diagnostic to measure neutron emissivity profiles with sufficient time resolution to study the effect of fast ion loss and redistribution due to magnetohydrodynamic activity. A minimum time resolution of 2 ms has been achieved with a modest 1.5 MW of neutral beam injection heating with a measured neutron count rate of a few 100 kHz.

Sludge accumulation and distribution impact the hydraulic performance in waste stabilisation ponds.

PubMed

Coggins, Liah X; Ghisalberti, Marco; Ghadouani, Anas

2017-03-01

Waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs) are used worldwide for wastewater treatment, and throughout their operation require periodic sludge surveys. Sludge accumulation in WSPs can impact performance by reducing the effective volume of the pond, and altering the pond hydraulics and wastewater treatment efficiency. Traditionally, sludge heights, and thus sludge volume, have been measured using low-resolution and labour intensive methods such as 'sludge judge' and the 'white towel test'. A sonar device, a readily available technology, fitted to a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was shown to improve the spatial resolution and accuracy of sludge height measurements, as well as reduce labour and safety requirements. Coupled with a dedicated software package, the profiling of several WSPs has shown that the ROV with autonomous sonar device is capable of providing sludge bathymetry with greatly increased spatial resolution in a greatly reduced profiling time, leading to a better understanding of the role played by sludge accumulation in hydraulic performance of WSPs. The high-resolution bathymetry collected was used to support a much more detailed hydrodynamic assessment of systems with low, medium and high accumulations of sludge. The results of the modelling show that hydraulic performance is not only influenced by the sludge accumulation, but also that the spatial distribution of sludge plays a critical role in reducing the treatment capacity of these systems. In a range of ponds modelled, the reduction in residence time ranged from 33% in a pond with a uniform sludge distribution to a reduction of up to 60% in a pond with highly channelized flow. The combination of high-resolution measurement of sludge accumulation and hydrodynamic modelling will help in the development of frameworks for wastewater sludge management, including the development of more reliable computer models, and could potentially have wider application in the monitoring of other small to medium water bodies, such as channels, recreational water bodies, and commercial ports. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of a vertical high-resolution distributed-temperature-sensing system in a shallow thermohaline environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suárez, F.; Aravena, J. E.; Hausner, M. B.; Childress, A. E.; Tyler, S. W.

2011-03-01

In shallow thermohaline-driven lakes it is important to measure temperature on fine spatial and temporal scales to detect stratification or different hydrodynamic regimes. Raman spectra distributed temperature sensing (DTS) is an approach available to provide high spatial and temporal temperature resolution. A vertical high-resolution DTS system was constructed to overcome the problems of typical methods used in the past, i.e., without disturbing the water column, and with resistance to corrosive environments. This paper describes a method to quantitatively assess accuracy, precision and other limitations of DTS systems to fully utilize the capacity of this technology, with a focus on vertical high-resolution to measure temperatures in shallow thermohaline environments. It also presents a new method to manually calibrate temperatures along the optical fiber achieving significant improved resolution. The vertical high-resolution DTS system is used to monitor the thermal behavior of a salt-gradient solar pond, which is an engineered shallow thermohaline system that allows collection and storage of solar energy for a long period of time. The vertical high-resolution DTS system monitors the temperature profile each 1.1 cm vertically and in time averages as small as 10 s. Temperature resolution as low as 0.035 °C is obtained when the data are collected at 5-min intervals.

Application of GPS radio occultation to the assessment of temperature profile retrievals from microwave and infrared sounders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltz, M.; Knuteson, R.; Ackerman, S.; Revercomb, H.

2014-05-01

Comparisons of satellite temperature profile products from GPS radio occultation (RO) and hyperspectral infrared (IR)/microwave (MW) sounders are made using a previously developed matchup technique. The profile matchup technique matches GPS RO and IR/MW sounder profiles temporally, within 1 h, and spatially, taking into account the unique RO profile geometry and theoretical spatial resolution by calculating a ray-path averaged sounder profile. The comparisons use the GPS RO dry temperature product. Sounder minus GPS RO differences are computed and used to calculate bias and RMS profile statistics, which are created for global and 30° latitude zones for selected time periods. These statistics are created from various combinations of temperature profile data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate (COSMIC) network, Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) instrument, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)/AMSU, and Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS)/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sounding systems. By overlaying combinations of these matchup statistics for similar time and space domains, comparisons of different sounders' products, sounder product versions, and GPS RO products can be made. The COSMIC GPS RO network has the spatial coverage, time continuity, and stability to provide a common reference for comparison of the sounder profile products. The results of this study demonstrate that GPS RO has potential to act as a common temperature reference and can help facilitate inter-comparison of sounding retrieval methods and also highlight differences among sensor product versions.

Application of GPS radio occultation to the assessment of temperature profile retrievals from microwave and infrared sounders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltz, M.; Knuteson, R.; Ackerman, S.; Revercomb, H.

2014-11-01

Comparisons of satellite temperature profile products from GPS radio occultation (RO) and hyperspectral infrared (IR)/microwave (MW) sounders are made using a previously developed matchup technique. The profile matchup technique matches GPS RO and IR/MW sounder profiles temporally, within 1 h, and spatially, taking into account the unique RO profile geometry and theoretical spatial resolution by calculating a ray-path averaged sounder profile. The comparisons use the GPS RO dry temperature product. Sounder minus GPS RO differences are computed and used to calculate bias and rms profile statistics, which are created for global and 30° latitude zones for selected time periods. These statistics are created from various combinations of temperature profile data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate (COSMIC) network, Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) instrument, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)/AMSU, and Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS)/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sounding systems. By overlaying combinations of these matchup statistics for similar time and space domains, comparisons of different sounders' products, sounder product versions, and GPS RO products can be made. The COSMIC GPS RO network has the spatial coverage, time continuity, and stability to provide a common reference for comparison of the sounder profile products. The results of this study demonstrate that GPS RO has potential to act as a common temperature reference and can help facilitate inter-comparison of sounding retrieval methods and also highlight differences among sensor product versions.

Complex EUV imaging reflectometry: spatially resolved 3D composition determination and dopant profiling with a tabletop 13nm source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, Christina L.; Tanksalvala, Michael; Gerrity, Michael; Miley, Galen P.; Esashi, Yuka; Horiguchi, Naoto; Zhang, Xiaoshi; Bevis, Charles S.; Karl, Robert; Johnsen, Peter; Adams, Daniel E.; Kapteyn, Henry C.; Murnane, Margaret M.

2018-03-01

With increasingly 3D devices becoming the norm, there is a growing need in the semiconductor industry and in materials science for high spatial resolution, non-destructive metrology techniques capable of determining depth-dependent composition information on devices. We present a solution to this problem using ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) implemented using a commercially available, tabletop 13 nm source. We present the design, simulations, and preliminary results from our new complex EUV imaging reflectometer, which uses coherent 13 nm light produced by tabletop high harmonic generation. This tool is capable of determining spatially-resolved composition vs. depth profiles for samples by recording ptychographic images at multiple incidence angles. By harnessing phase measurements, we can locally and nondestructively determine quantities such as device and thin film layer thicknesses, surface roughness, interface quality, and dopant concentration profiles. Using this advanced imaging reflectometer, we can quantitatively characterize materials-sciencerelevant and industry-relevant nanostructures for a wide variety of applications, spanning from defect and overlay metrology to the development and optimization of nano-enhanced thermoelectric or spintronic devices.

Space telescope searches for black holes in galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harms, Richard J.

1989-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will allow astronomers to obtain luminosity profiles, rotation curves, and velocity dispersions at angular scales that are an order of magnitude superior to those obtained previously. This enhanced spatial resolution will greatly improve the sensitivity for detecting centrally condensed matter in nearby galactic nuclei including, possibly, black holes.

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.

Extended-range high-resolution dynamical downscaling over a continental-scale spatial domain with atmospheric and surface nudging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husain, S. Z.; Separovic, L.; Yu, W.; Fernig, D.

2014-12-01

Extended-range high-resolution mesoscale simulations with limited-area atmospheric models when applied to downscale regional analysis fields over large spatial domains can provide valuable information for many applications including the weather-dependent renewable energy industry. Long-term simulations over a continental-scale spatial domain, however, require mechanisms to control the large-scale deviations in the high-resolution simulated fields from the coarse-resolution driving fields. As enforcement of the lateral boundary conditions is insufficient to restrict such deviations, large scales in the simulated high-resolution meteorological fields are therefore spectrally nudged toward the driving fields. Different spectral nudging approaches, including the appropriate nudging length scales as well as the vertical profiles and temporal relaxations for nudging, have been investigated to propose an optimal nudging strategy. Impacts of time-varying nudging and generation of hourly analysis estimates are explored to circumvent problems arising from the coarse temporal resolution of the regional analysis fields. Although controlling the evolution of the atmospheric large scales generally improves the outputs of high-resolution mesoscale simulations within the surface layer, the prognostically evolving surface fields can nevertheless deviate from their expected values leading to significant inaccuracies in the predicted surface layer meteorology. A forcing strategy based on grid nudging of the different surface fields, including surface temperature, soil moisture, and snow conditions, toward their expected values obtained from a high-resolution offline surface scheme is therefore proposed to limit any considerable deviation. Finally, wind speed and temperature at wind turbine hub height predicted by different spectrally nudged extended-range simulations are compared against observations to demonstrate possible improvements achievable using higher spatiotemporal resolution.

Satellite-derived vertical profiles of temperature and dew point for mesoscale weather forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masselink, Thomas; Schluessel, P.

1995-12-01

Weather forecast-models need spatially high resolutioned vertical profiles of temperature and dewpoint for their initialisation. These profiles can be supplied by a combination of data from the Tiros-N Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) and the imaging Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on board the NOAA polar orbiting sate!- lites. In cloudy cases the profiles derived from TOVS data only are of insufficient accuracy. The stanthrd deviations from radiosonde ascents or numerical weather analyses likely exceed 2 K in temperature and 5Kin dewpoint profiles. It will be shown that additional cloud information as retrieved from AVHIRR allows a significant improvement in theaccuracy of vertical profiles. The International TOVS Processing Package (ITPP) is coupled to an algorithm package called AVHRR Processing scheme Over cLouds, Land and Ocean (APOLLO) where parameters like cloud fraction and cloud-top temperature are determined with higher accuracy than obtained from TOVS retrieval alone. Furthermore, a split-window technique is applied to the cloud-free AVHRR imagery in order to derive more accurate surface temperatures than can be obtained from the pure TOVS retrieval. First results of the impact of AVHRR cloud detection on the quality of the profiles are presented. The temperature and humidity profiles of different retrieval approaches are validated against analyses of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weatherforecasts.

SRXRF analysis with spatial resolution of dental calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Héctor Jorge; Pérez, Carlos Alberto; Grenón, Miriam

2000-09-01

This work presents elemental-composition studies of dental calculus by X-ray fluorescence analysis using synchrotron radiation. The intrinsic characteristics of synchrotron light allow for a semi-quantitative analysis with spatial resolution. The experiments were carried out in the high-vacuum station of the XRF beamline at the Synchrotron Light National Laboratory (Campinas, Brazil). All the measurements were performed in conventional geometry (45°+45°) and the micro-collimation was attained via a pair of orthogonal slits mounted in the beamline. In this way, pixels of 50 μm×50 μm were obtained keeping a high flux of photons on the sample. Samples of human dental calculus were measured in different positions along their growing axis, in order to determine variations of the compositions in the pattern of deposit. Intensity ratios of minor elements and traces were obtained, and linear profiles and surface distributions were determined. As a general summary, we can conclude that μXRF experiments with spatial resolution on dental calculus are feasible with simple collimation and adequate positioning systems, keeping a high flux of photon. These results open interesting perspectives for the future station of the line, devoted to μXRF, which will reach resolutions of the order of 10 μm.

Enabling Characteristics Of Optical Autocovariance Lidar For Global Wind And Aerosol Profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grund, C. J.; Stephens, M.; Lieber, M.; Weimer, C.

2008-12-01

Systematic global wind measurements with 70 km horizontal resolution and, depending on altitude from the PBL to stratosphere, 250m-2km vertical resolution and 0.5m/s - 2 m/s velocity precision are recognized as key to the understanding and monitoring of complex climate modulations, validation of models, and improved precision and range for weather forecasts. Optical Autocovariance Wind Lidar (OAWL) is a relatively new interferometric direct detection Doppler lidar approach that promises to meet the required wind profile resolution at substantial mass, cost, and power savings, and at reduced technical risk for a space-based system meeting the most demanding velocity precision and spatial and temporal resolution requirements. A proof of concept Optical Autocovariance Wind Lidar (OAWL) has been demonstrated, and a robust multi- wavelength, field-widened (more than 100 microR) lidar system suitable for high altitude (over 16km) aircraft demonstration is under construction. Other advantages of the OAWL technique include insensitivity to aerosol/molecular backscatter mixing ratio, freedom from complex receiver/transmitter optical frequency lock loops, prospects for practical continuous large-area coverage wind profiling from GEO, and the availability of simultaneous multiple wavelength High Spectral Resolution Lidar (OA-HSRL) for aerosol identification and optical property measurements. We will discuss theory, development and demonstration status, advantages, limitations, and space-based performance of OAWL and OA-HSRL, as well as the potential for combined mission synergies.

Development of high-resolution x-ray CT system using parallel beam geometry

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

Yoneyama, Akio, E-mail: akio.yoneyama.bu@hitachi.com; Baba, Rika; Hyodo, Kazuyuki

2016-01-28

For fine three-dimensional observations of large biomedical and organic material samples, we developed a high-resolution X-ray CT system. The system consists of a sample positioner, a 5-μm scintillator, microscopy lenses, and a water-cooled sCMOS detector. Parallel beam geometry was adopted to attain a field of view of a few mm square. A fine three-dimensional image of birch branch was obtained using a 9-keV X-ray at BL16XU of SPring-8 in Japan. The spatial resolution estimated from the line profile of a sectional image was about 3 μm.

Assessing the performance of multiple spectral-spatial features of a hyperspectral image for classification of urban land cover classes using support vector machines and artificial neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pullanagari, Reddy; Kereszturi, Gábor; Yule, Ian J.; Ghamisi, Pedram

2017-04-01

Accurate and spatially detailed mapping of complex urban environments is essential for land managers. Classifying high spectral and spatial resolution hyperspectral images is a challenging task because of its data abundance and computational complexity. Approaches with a combination of spectral and spatial information in a single classification framework have attracted special attention because of their potential to improve the classification accuracy. We extracted multiple features from spectral and spatial domains of hyperspectral images and evaluated them with two supervised classification algorithms; support vector machines (SVM) and an artificial neural network. The spatial features considered are produced by a gray level co-occurrence matrix and extended multiattribute profiles. All of these features were stacked, and the most informative features were selected using a genetic algorithm-based SVM. After selecting the most informative features, the classification model was integrated with a segmentation map derived using a hidden Markov random field. We tested the proposed method on a real application of a hyperspectral image acquired from AisaFENIX and on widely used hyperspectral images. From the results, it can be concluded that the proposed framework significantly improves the results with different spectral and spatial resolutions over different instrumentation.

Effect of subaperture beamforming on phase coherence imaging.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Hideyuki; Kanai, Hiroshi

2014-11-01

High-frame-rate echocardiography using unfocused transmit beams and parallel receive beamforming is a promising method for evaluation of cardiac function, such as imaging of rapid propagation of vibration of the heart wall resulting from electrical stimulation of the myocardium. In this technique, high temporal resolution is realized at the expense of spatial resolution and contrast. The phase coherence factor has been developed to improve spatial resolution and contrast in ultrasonography. It evaluates the variance in phases of echo signals received by individual transducer elements after delay compensation, as in the conventional delay-andsum beamforming process. However, the phase coherence factor suppresses speckle echoes because phases of speckle echoes fluctuate as a result of interference of echoes. In the present study, the receiving aperture was divided into several subapertures, and conventional delay-and-sum beamforming was performed with respect to each subaperture to suppress echoes from scatterers except for that at a focal point. After subaperture beamforming, the phase coherence factor was obtained from beamformed RF signals from respective subapertures. By means of this procedure, undesirable echoes, which can interfere with the echo from a focal point, can be suppressed by subaperture beamforming, and the suppression of the phase coherence factor resulting from phase fluctuation caused by such interference can be avoided. In the present study, the effect of subaperture beamforming in high-frame-rate echocardiography with the phase coherence factor was evaluated using a phantom. By applying subaperture beamforming, the average intensity of speckle echoes from a diffuse scattering medium was significantly higher (-39.9 dB) than that obtained without subaperture beamforming (-48.7 dB). As for spatial resolution, the width at half-maximum of the lateral echo amplitude profile obtained without the phase coherence factor was 1.06 mm. By using the phase coherence factor, spatial resolution was improved significantly, and subaperture beamforming achieved a better spatial resolution of 0.75 mm than that of 0.78 mm obtained without subaperture beamforming.

Simulation of heat and mass transfer in turbulent channel flow using the spectral-element method: effect of spatial resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryzhenkov, V.; Ivashchenko, V.; Vinuesa, R.; Mullyadzhanov, R.

2016-10-01

We use the open-source code nek5000 to assess the accuracy of high-order spectral element large-eddy simulations (LES) of a turbulent channel flow depending on the spatial resolution compared to the direct numerical simulation (DNS). The Reynolds number Re = 6800 is considered based on the bulk velocity and half-width of the channel. The filtered governing equations are closed with the dynamic Smagorinsky model for subgrid stresses and heat flux. The results show very good agreement between LES and DNS for time-averaged velocity and temperature profiles and their fluctuations. Even the coarse LES grid which contains around 30 times less points than the DNS one provided predictions of the friction velocity within 2.0% accuracy interval.

Active chiral control of GHz acoustic whispering-gallery modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mezil, Sylvain; Fujita, Kentaro; Otsuka, Paul H.; Tomoda, Motonobu; Clark, Matt; Wright, Oliver B.; Matsuda, Osamu

2017-10-01

We selectively generate chiral surface-acoustic whispering-gallery modes in the gigahertz range on a microscopic disk by means of an ultrafast time-domain technique incorporating a spatial light modulator. Active chiral control is achieved by making use of an optical pump spatial profile in the form of a semicircular arc, positioned on the sample to break the symmetry of clockwise- and counterclockwise-propagating modes. Spatiotemporal Fourier transforms of the interferometrically monitored two-dimensional acoustic fields measured to micron resolution allow individual chiral modes and their azimuthal mode order, both positive and negative, to be distinguished. In particular, for modes with 15-fold rotational symmetry, we demonstrate ultrafast chiral control of surface acoustic waves in a micro-acoustic system with picosecond temporal resolution. Applications include nondestructive testing and surface acoustic wave devices.

High-resolution velocimetry in energetic tidal currents using a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler

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

Sellar, Brian; Harding, Samuel F.; Richmond, Marshall C.

An array of convergent acoustic Doppler velocimeters has been developed and tested for the high resolution measurement of three-dimensional tidal flow velocities in an energetic tidal site. This configuration has been developed to increase spatial resolution of velocity measurements in comparison to conventional acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs) which characteristically use diverging acoustic beams emanating from a single instrument. This is achieved using converging acoustic beams with a sample volume at the focal point of 0.03 m 3. The array is also able to simultaneously measure three-dimensional velocity components in a profile throughout the water column, and as such is referredmore » to herein as a converging-beam acoustic Doppler profiler (CADP). Mid-depth profiling is achieved through integration of the sensor platform with the operational Alstom 1MW DeepGen-IV Tidal Turbine. This proof-of-concept paper outlines system configuration and comparison to measurements provided by co-installed reference instrumentation. Comparison of CADP to standard ADP velocity measurements reveals a mean difference of 8 mm/s, standard deviation of 18 mm/s, and order-of-magnitude reduction in realizable length-scale. CADP focal point measurements compared to a proximal single-beam reference show peak cross-correlation coefficient of 0.96 over 4.0 s averaging period and a 47% reduction in Doppler noise. The dual functionality of the CADP as a profiling instrument with a high resolution focal point make this configuration a unique and valuable advancement in underwater velocimetry enabling improved turbulence, resource and structural loading quantification and validation of numerical simulations. Alternative modes of operation have been implemented including noise-reducing bi-static sampling. Since waves are simultaneously measured it is expected that derivatives of this system will be a powerful tool in wave-current interaction studies.« less

Experimental study on the crack detection with optimized spatial wavelet analysis and windowing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghanbari Mardasi, Amir; Wu, Nan; Wu, Christine

2018-05-01

In this paper, a high sensitive crack detection is experimentally realized and presented on a beam under certain deflection by optimizing spatial wavelet analysis. Due to the crack existence in the beam structure, a perturbation/slop singularity is induced in the deflection profile. Spatial wavelet transformation works as a magnifier to amplify the small perturbation signal at the crack location to detect and localize the damage. The profile of a deflected aluminum cantilever beam is obtained for both intact and cracked beams by a high resolution laser profile sensor. Gabor wavelet transformation is applied on the subtraction of intact and cracked data sets. To improve detection sensitivity, scale factor in spatial wavelet transformation and the transformation repeat times are optimized. Furthermore, to detect the possible crack close to the measurement boundaries, wavelet transformation edge effect, which induces large values of wavelet coefficient around the measurement boundaries, is efficiently reduced by introducing different windowing functions. The result shows that a small crack with depth of less than 10% of the beam height can be localized with a clear perturbation. Moreover, the perturbation caused by a crack at 0.85 mm away from one end of the measurement range, which is covered by wavelet transform edge effect, emerges by applying proper window functions.

Assessment of a vertical high-resolution distributed-temperature-sensing system in a shallow thermohaline environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suárez, F.; Aravena, J. E.; Hausner, M. B.; Childress, A. E.; Tyler, S. W.

2011-01-01

In shallow thermohaline-driven lakes it is important to measure temperature on fine spatial and temporal scales to detect stratification or different hydrodynamic regimes. Raman spectra distributed temperature sensing (DTS) is an approach available to provide high spatial and temporal temperature resolution. A vertical high-resolution DTS system was constructed to overcome the problems of typical methods used in the past, i.e., without disturbing the water column, and with resistance to corrosive environments. This system monitors the temperature profile each 1.1 cm vertically and in time averages as small as 10 s. Temperature resolution as low as 0.035 °C is obtained when the data are collected at 5-min intervals. The vertical high-resolution DTS system is used to monitor the thermal behavior of a salt-gradient solar pond, which is an engineered shallow thermohaline system that allows collection and storage of solar energy for a long period of time. This paper describes a method to quantitatively assess accuracy, precision and other limitations of DTS systems to fully utilize the capacity of this technology. It also presents, for the first time, a method to manually calibrate temperatures along the optical fiber.

Beam deviation method as a diagnostic tool for the plasma focus.

PubMed

Schmidt, H; Rückle, B

1978-04-15

The application of an optical method for density measurements in cylindrical plasmas is described. The angular deviation of a probing light beam sent through a plasma is proportional to the maximum of the density in the plasma column. The deviation does not depend on the plasma dimensions; however, it is influenced to a certain degree by the density profile. The method is successfully applied to the investigation of a dense plasma focus with a time resolution of 2 nsec and a spatial resolution (in axial direction) of 2 mm.

High-resolution velocimetry in energetic tidal currents using a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sellar, Brian; Harding, Samuel; Richmond, Marshall

2015-08-01

An array of single-beam acoustic Doppler profilers has been developed for the high resolution measurement of three-dimensional tidal flow velocities and subsequently tested in an energetic tidal site. This configuration has been developed to increase spatial resolution of velocity measurements in comparison to conventional acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs) which characteristically use divergent acoustic beams emanating from a single instrument. This is achieved using geometrically convergent acoustic beams creating a sample volume at the focal point of 0.03 m3. Away from the focal point, the array is also able to simultaneously reconstruct three-dimensional velocity components in a profile throughout the water column, and is referred to herein as a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler (C-ADP). Mid-depth profiling is achieved through integration of the sensor platform with the operational commercial-scale Alstom 1 MW DeepGen-IV Tidal Turbine deployed at the European Marine Energy Center, Orkney Isles, UK. This proof-of-concept paper outlines the C-ADP system configuration and comparison to measurements provided by co-installed reference instrumentation. Comparison of C-ADP to standard divergent ADP (D-ADP) velocity measurements reveals a mean difference of 8 mm s-1, standard deviation of 18 mm s-1, and an order of magnitude reduction in realisable length scale. C-ADP focal point measurements compared to a proximal single-beam reference show peak cross-correlation coefficient of 0.96 over 4.0 s averaging period and a 47% reduction in Doppler noise. The dual functionality of the C-ADP as a profiling instrument with a high resolution focal point make this configuration a unique and valuable advancement in underwater velocimetry enabling improved quantification of flow turbulence. Since waves are simultaneously measured via profiled velocities, pressure measurements and surface detection, it is expected that derivatives of this system will be a powerful tool in wave-current interaction studies.

Ultrasound modulation of bioluminescence generated inside a turbid medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Junaid; Jayet, Baptiste; Hill, Philip J.; Mather, Melissa L.; Dehghani, Hamid; Morgan, Stephen P.

2017-03-01

In vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) has poor spatial resolution owing to strong light scattering by tissue, which also affects quantitative accuracy. This paper proposes a hybrid acousto-optic imaging platform that images bioluminescence modulated at ultrasound (US) frequency inside an optically scattering medium. This produces an US modulated light within the tissue that reduces the effects of light scattering and improves the spatial resolution. The system consists of a continuously excited 3.5 MHz US transducer applied to a tissue like phantom of known optical properties embedded with bio-or chemiluminescent sources that are used to mimic in vivo experiments. Scanning US over the turbid medium modulates the luminescent sources deep inside tissue at several US scan points. These modulated signals are recorded by a photomultiplier tube and lock-in detection to generate a 1D profile. Indeed, high frequency US enables small focal volume to improve spatial resolution, but this leads to lower signal-to-noise ratio. First experimental results show that US enables localization of a small luminescent source (around 2 mm wide) deep ( 20 mm) inside a tissue phantom having a scattering coefficient of 80 cm-1. Two sources separated by 10 mm could be resolved 20 mm inside a chicken breast.

Laser Doppler detection systems for gas velocity measurement.

PubMed

Huffaker, R M

1970-05-01

The velocity of gas flow has been remotely measured using a technique which involves the coherent detection of scattered laser radiation from small particles suspended in the fluid utilizing the doppler effect. Suitable instrumentation for the study of wind tunnel type and atmospheric flows are described. Mainly for reasons of spatial resolution, a function of the laser wavelength, the wind tunnel system utilizes an argon laser operating at 0.5 micro. The relaxed spatial resolution requirement of atmospheric applications allows the use of a carbon dioxide laser, which has superior performance at a wavelength of 10.6 micro, a deduction made from signal-to-noise ratio considerations. Theoretical design considerations are given which consider Mie scattering predictions, two-phase flow effects, photomixing fundamentals, laser selection, spatial resolution, and spectral broadening effects. Preliminary experimental investigations using the instrumentation are detailed. The velocity profile of the flow field generated by a 1.27-cm diam subsonic jet was investigated, and the result compared favorably with a hot wire investigation conducted in the same jet. Measurements of wind velocity at a range of 50 m have also shown the considerable promise of the atmospheric system.

Comparison of two confocal micro-XRF spectrometers with different design aspects

PubMed Central

Smolek, S; Nakazawa, T; Tabe, A; Nakano, K; Tsuji, K; Streli, C; Wobrauschek, P

2014-01-01

Two different confocal micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometers have been developed and installed at Osaka City University and the Vienna University of Technology Atominstitut. The Osaka City University system is a high resolution spectrometer operating in air. The Vienna University of Technology Atominstitut spectrometer has a lower spatial resolution but is optimized for light element detection and operates under vacuum condition. The performance of both spectrometers was compared. In order to characterize the spatial resolution, a set of nine specially prepared single element thin film reference samples (500 nm in thickness, Al, Ti, Cr, Fe Ni, Cu, Zr, Mo, and Au) was used. Lower limits of detection were determined using the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard reference material glass standard 1412. A paint layer sample (cultural heritage application) and paint on automotive steel samples were analyzed with both instruments. The depth profile information was acquired by scanning the sample perpendicular to the surface. © 2013 The Authors. X-Ray Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:26430286

Comparison of two confocal micro-XRF spectrometers with different design aspects.

PubMed

Smolek, S; Nakazawa, T; Tabe, A; Nakano, K; Tsuji, K; Streli, C; Wobrauschek, P

2014-03-01

Two different confocal micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometers have been developed and installed at Osaka City University and the Vienna University of Technology Atominstitut. The Osaka City University system is a high resolution spectrometer operating in air. The Vienna University of Technology Atominstitut spectrometer has a lower spatial resolution but is optimized for light element detection and operates under vacuum condition. The performance of both spectrometers was compared. In order to characterize the spatial resolution, a set of nine specially prepared single element thin film reference samples (500 nm in thickness, Al, Ti, Cr, Fe Ni, Cu, Zr, Mo, and Au) was used. Lower limits of detection were determined using the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard reference material glass standard 1412. A paint layer sample (cultural heritage application) and paint on automotive steel samples were analyzed with both instruments. The depth profile information was acquired by scanning the sample perpendicular to the surface. © 2013 The Authors. X-Ray Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Attribution of soil information associated with modeling background clutter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mason, George; Melloh, Rae

2006-05-01

This paper examines the attribution of data fields required to generate high resolution soil profiles for support of Computational Test Bed (CTB) used for countermine research. The countermine computational test bed is designed to realistically simulate the geo-environment to support the evaluation of sensors used to locate unexploded ordnance. The goal of the CTB is to derive expected moisture, chemical compounds, and measure heat migration over time, from which we expect to optimize sensor performance. Several tests areas were considered for the collection of soils data to populate the CTB. Collection of bulk soil properties has inherent spatial resolution limits. Novel techniques are therefore required to populate a high resolution model. This paper presents correlations between spatial variability in texture as related to hydraulic permeability and heat transfer properties of the soil. The extracted physical properties are used to exercise models providing a signature of subsurface media and support the simulation of detection by various sensors of buried and surface ordnance.

Modeling of light distribution in the brain for topographical imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okada, Eiji; Hayashi, Toshiyuki; Kawaguchi, Hiroshi

2004-07-01

Multi-channel optical imaging system can obtain a topographical distribution of the activated region in the brain cortex by a simple mapping algorithm. Near-infrared light is strongly scattered in the head and the volume of tissue that contributes to the change in the optical signal detected with source-detector pair on the head surface is broadly distributed in the brain. This scattering effect results in poor resolution and contrast in the topographic image of the brain activity. We report theoretical investigations on the spatial resolution of the topographic imaging of the brain activity. The head model for the theoretical study consists of five layers that imitate the scalp, skull, subarachnoid space, gray matter and white matter. The light propagation in the head model is predicted by Monte Carlo simulation to obtain the spatial sensitivity profile for a source-detector pair. The source-detector pairs are one dimensionally arranged on the surface of the model and the distance between the adjoining source-detector pairs are varied from 4 mm to 32 mm. The change in detected intensity caused by the absorption change is obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. The position of absorption change is reconstructed by the conventional mapping algorithm and the reconstruction algorithm using the spatial sensitivity profiles. We discuss the effective interval between the source-detector pairs and the choice of reconstruction algorithms to improve the topographic images of brain activity.

A reanalysis dataset of the South China Sea.

PubMed

Zeng, Xuezhi; Peng, Shiqiu; Li, Zhijin; Qi, Yiquan; Chen, Rongyu

2014-01-01

Ocean reanalysis provides a temporally continuous and spatially gridded four-dimensional estimate of the ocean state for a better understanding of the ocean dynamics and its spatial/temporal variability. Here we present a 19-year (1992-2010) high-resolution ocean reanalysis dataset of the upper ocean in the South China Sea (SCS) produced from an ocean data assimilation system. A wide variety of observations, including in-situ temperature/salinity profiles, ship-measured and satellite-derived sea surface temperatures, and sea surface height anomalies from satellite altimetry, are assimilated into the outputs of an ocean general circulation model using a multi-scale incremental three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme, yielding a daily high-resolution reanalysis dataset of the SCS. Comparisons between the reanalysis and independent observations support the reliability of the dataset. The presented dataset provides the research community of the SCS an important data source for studying the thermodynamic processes of the ocean circulation and meso-scale features in the SCS, including their spatial and temporal variability.

Computational imaging of defects in commercial substrates for electronic and photonic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuzawa, Masayuki; Kashiwagi, Ryo; Yamada, Masayoshi

2012-03-01

Computational defect imaging has been performed in commercial substrates for electronic and photonic devices by combining the transmission profile acquired with an imaging type of linear polariscope and the computational algorithm to extract a small amount of birefringence. The computational images of phase retardation δ exhibited spatial inhomogeneity of defect-induced birefringence in GaP, LiNbO3, and SiC substrates, which were not detected by conventional 'visual inspection' based on simple optical refraction or transmission because of poor sensitivity. The typical imaging time was less than 30 seconds for 3-inch diameter substrate with the spatial resolution of 200 μm, while that by scanning polariscope was 2 hours to get the same spatial resolution. Since our proposed technique have been achieved high sensitivity, short imaging time, and wide coverage of substrate materials, which are practical advantages over the laboratory-scale apparatus such as X-ray topography and electron microscope, it is useful for nondestructive inspection of various commercial substrates in production of electronic and photonic devices.

A reanalysis dataset of the South China Sea

PubMed Central

Zeng, Xuezhi; Peng, Shiqiu; Li, Zhijin; Qi, Yiquan; Chen, Rongyu

2014-01-01

Ocean reanalysis provides a temporally continuous and spatially gridded four-dimensional estimate of the ocean state for a better understanding of the ocean dynamics and its spatial/temporal variability. Here we present a 19-year (1992–2010) high-resolution ocean reanalysis dataset of the upper ocean in the South China Sea (SCS) produced from an ocean data assimilation system. A wide variety of observations, including in-situ temperature/salinity profiles, ship-measured and satellite-derived sea surface temperatures, and sea surface height anomalies from satellite altimetry, are assimilated into the outputs of an ocean general circulation model using a multi-scale incremental three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme, yielding a daily high-resolution reanalysis dataset of the SCS. Comparisons between the reanalysis and independent observations support the reliability of the dataset. The presented dataset provides the research community of the SCS an important data source for studying the thermodynamic processes of the ocean circulation and meso-scale features in the SCS, including their spatial and temporal variability. PMID:25977803

Nonlinear Focal Modulation Microscopy.

PubMed

Zhao, Guangyuan; Zheng, Cheng; Kuang, Cuifang; Zhou, Renjie; Kabir, Mohammad M; Toussaint, Kimani C; Wang, Wensheng; Xu, Liang; Li, Haifeng; Xiu, Peng; Liu, Xu

2018-05-11

We demonstrate nonlinear focal modulation microscopy (NFOMM) to achieve superresolution imaging. Traditional approaches to superresolution that utilize point scanning often rely on spatially reducing the size of the emission pattern by directly narrowing (e.g., through minimizing the detection pinhole in Airyscan, Zeiss) or indirectly peeling its outer profiles [e.g., through depleting the outer emission region in stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy]. We show that an alternative conceptualization that focuses on maximizing the optical system's frequency shifting ability offers advantages in further improving resolution while reducing system complexity. In NFOMM, a spatial light modulator and a suitably intense laser illumination are used to implement nonlinear focal-field modulation to achieve a transverse spatial resolution of ∼60  nm (∼λ/10). We show that NFOMM is comparable with STED microscopy and suitable for fundamental biology studies, as evidenced in imaging nuclear pore complexes, tubulin and vimentin in Vero cells. Since NFOMM is readily implemented as an add-on module to a laser-scanning microscope, we anticipate wide utility of this new imaging technique.

Nonlinear Focal Modulation Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Guangyuan; Zheng, Cheng; Kuang, Cuifang; Zhou, Renjie; Kabir, Mohammad M.; Toussaint, Kimani C.; Wang, Wensheng; Xu, Liang; Li, Haifeng; Xiu, Peng; Liu, Xu

2018-05-01

We demonstrate nonlinear focal modulation microscopy (NFOMM) to achieve superresolution imaging. Traditional approaches to superresolution that utilize point scanning often rely on spatially reducing the size of the emission pattern by directly narrowing (e.g., through minimizing the detection pinhole in Airyscan, Zeiss) or indirectly peeling its outer profiles [e.g., through depleting the outer emission region in stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy]. We show that an alternative conceptualization that focuses on maximizing the optical system's frequency shifting ability offers advantages in further improving resolution while reducing system complexity. In NFOMM, a spatial light modulator and a suitably intense laser illumination are used to implement nonlinear focal-field modulation to achieve a transverse spatial resolution of ˜60 nm (˜λ /10 ). We show that NFOMM is comparable with STED microscopy and suitable for fundamental biology studies, as evidenced in imaging nuclear pore complexes, tubulin and vimentin in Vero cells. Since NFOMM is readily implemented as an add-on module to a laser-scanning microscope, we anticipate wide utility of this new imaging technique.

High-resolution imaging of a shock front in plastic by phase contrast imaging at LCLS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beckwith, M.; Jiang, S.; Zhao, Y.; Schropp, A.; Fernandez-Panella, A.; Rinderknecht, H. G.; Wilks, S.; Fournier, K.; Galtier, E.; Xing, Z.; Granados, E.; Gamboa, E.; Glenzer, S. H.; Heimann, P.; Zastrau, U.; Cho, B. I.; Eggert, J. H.; Collins, G. W.; Ping, Y.

2017-10-01

Understanding the propagation of shock waves is important for many areas of high energy density physics, including inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and shock compression science. In order to probe the shock front structures in detail, a diagnostic capable of detecting both the small spatial and temporal changes in the material is required. Here we show the experiment using hard X-ray phase contrast imaging (PCI) to probe the shock wave propagation in polyimide with submicron spatial resolution. The experiment was performed at the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) endstation of the Linac Coherent Lightsource (LCLS). PCI together with the femtosecond time scales of x-ray free electron lasers enables the imaging of optically opaque materials that undergo rapid temporal and spatial changes. The result reveals the evolution of the density profile with time. Work performed under DOE Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 with support from OFES Early Career and LLNL LDRD program.

Transcriptome In Vivo Analysis (TIVA) of spatially defined single cells in intact live mouse and human brain tissue

PubMed Central

Lovatt, Ditte; Ruble, Brittani K.; Lee, Jaehee; Dueck, Hannah; Kim, Tae Kyung; Fisher, Stephen; Francis, Chantal; Spaethling, Jennifer M.; Wolf, John A.; Grady, M. Sean; Ulyanova, Alexandra V.; Yeldell, Sean B.; Griepenburg, Julianne C.; Buckley, Peter T.; Kim, Junhyong; Sul, Jai-Yoon; Dmochowski, Ivan J.; Eberwine, James

2014-01-01

Transcriptome profiling is an indispensable tool in advancing the understanding of single cell biology, but depends upon methods capable of isolating mRNA at the spatial resolution of a single cell. Current capture methods lack sufficient spatial resolution to isolate mRNA from individual in vivo resident cells without damaging adjacent tissue. Because of this limitation, it has been difficult to assess the influence of the microenvironment on the transcriptome of individual neurons. Here, we engineered a Transcriptome In Vivo Analysis (TIVA)-tag, which upon photoactivation enables mRNA capture from single cells in live tissue. Using the TIVA-tag in combination with RNA-seq to analyze transcriptome variance among single dispersed cells and in vivo resident mouse and human neurons, we show that the tissue microenvironment shapes the transcriptomic landscape of individual cells. The TIVA methodology provides the first noninvasive approach for capturing mRNA from single cells in their natural microenvironment. PMID:24412976

SU-G-BRB-10: New Generation of High Frame-Rate and High Spatial-Resolution EPID QA System for Full-Body MLC-Based Robotic Radiosurgery

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

Han, B; Xing, L; Wang, L

Purpose: To systematically investigate an ultra-high spatial-resolution amorphous silicon flat-panel electronic portal imaging device (EPID) for MLC-based full-body robotic radiosurgery geometric and dosimetric quality assurance (QA). Methods: The high frame-rate and ultra-high spatial resolution EPID is an outstanding detector for measuring profiles, MLC-shaped radiosurgery field aperture verification, and small field dosimetry. A Monte Carlo based technique with a robotic linac specific response and calibration is developed to convert a raw EPID-measured image of a radiosurgery field into water-based dose distribution. The technique is applied to measure output factors and profiles for 6MV MLC-defined radiosurgery fields with various sizes ranging frommore » 7.6mm×7.7mm to 100mm×100.1mm and the results are compared with the radiosurgery diode scan measurements in water tank. The EPID measured field sizes and the penumbra regions are analyzed to evaluate the MLC positioning accuracy. Results: For all MLC fields, the EPID measured output factors of MLC-shaped fields are in good agreement with the diode measurements. The mean output difference between the EPID and diode measurement is 0.05±0.87%. The max difference is −1.33% for 7.6mm×7.7mm field. The MLC field size derived from the EPID measurements are in good agreement comparing to the diode scan result. For crossline field sizes, the mean difference is −0.17mm±0.14mm with a maximum of −0.35mm for the 30.8mm×30.8mm field. For inline field sizes, the mean difference is +0.08mm±0.18mm with a maximum of +0.45mm for the 100mm×100.1mm field. The high resolution EPID is able to measure the whole radiation field, without the need to align the detector center perfectly at field center as diode or ion chamber measurement. The setup time is greatly reduced so that the whole process is possible for machine and patient-specific QA. Conclusion: The high spatial-resolution EPID is proved to be an accurate and efficient tool for QA of MLC-equipped robotic radiosurgery system.« less

Scanning Backscatter Lidar Observations for Characterizing 4-D Cloud and Aerosol Fields to Improve Radiative Transfer Parameterizations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwemmer, Geary K.; Miller, David O.

2005-01-01

Clouds have a powerful influence on atmospheric radiative transfer and hence are crucial to understanding and interpreting the exchange of radiation between the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and space. Because clouds are highly variable in space, time and physical makeup, it is important to be able to observe them in three dimensions (3-D) with sufficient resolution that the data can be used to generate and validate parameterizations of cloud fields at the resolution scale of global climate models (GCMs). Simulation of photon transport in three dimensionally inhomogeneous cloud fields show that spatial inhomogeneities tend to decrease cloud reflection and absorption and increase direct and diffuse transmission, Therefore it is an important task to characterize cloud spatial structures in three dimensions on the scale of GCM grid elements. In order to validate cloud parameterizations that represent the ensemble, or mean and variance of cloud properties within a GCM grid element, measurements of the parameters must be obtained on a much finer scale so that the statistics on those measurements are truly representative. High spatial sampling resolution is required, on the order of 1 km or less. Since the radiation fields respond almost instantaneously to changes in the cloud field, and clouds changes occur on scales of seconds and less when viewed on scales of approximately 100m, the temporal resolution of cloud properties should be measured and characterized on second time scales. GCM time steps are typically on the order of an hour, but in order to obtain sufficient statistical representations of cloud properties in the parameterizations that are used as model inputs, averaged values of cloud properties should be calculated on time scales on the order of 10-100 s. The Holographic Airborne Rotating Lidar Instrument Experiment (HARLIE) provides exceptional temporal (100 ms) and spatial (30 m) resolution measurements of aerosol and cloud backscatter in three dimensions. HARLIE was used in a ground-based configuration in several recent field campaigns. Principal data products include aerosol backscatter profiles, boundary layer heights, entrainment zone thickness, cloud fraction as a function of altitude and horizontal wind vector profiles based on correlating the motions of clouds and aerosol structures across portions of the scan. Comparisons will be made between various cloud detecting instruments to develop a baseline performance metric.

A motional Stark effect diagnostic analysis routine for improved resolution of iota in the core of the large helical device.

PubMed

Dobbins, T J; Ida, K; Suzuki, C; Yoshinuma, M; Kobayashi, T; Suzuki, Y; Yoshida, M

2017-09-01

A new Motional Stark Effect (MSE) analysis routine has been developed for improved spatial resolution in the core of the Large Helical Device (LHD). The routine was developed to reduce the dependency of the analysis on the Pfirsch-Schlüter (PS) current in the core. The technique used the change in the polarization angle as a function of flux in order to find the value of diota/dflux at each measurement location. By integrating inwards from the edge, the iota profile can be recovered from this method. This reduces the results' dependency on the PS current because the effect of the PS current on the MSE measurement is almost constant as a function of flux in the core; therefore, the uncertainty in the PS current has a minimal effect on the calculation of the iota profile. In addition, the VMEC database was remapped from flux into r/a space by interpolating in mode space in order to improve the database core resolution. These changes resulted in a much smoother iota profile, conforming more to the physics expectations of standard discharge scenarios in the core of the LHD.

Resolving galaxy cluster gas properties at z ˜ 1 with XMM-Newton and Chandra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartalucci, I.; Arnaud, M.; Pratt, G. W.; Démoclès, J.; van der Burg, R. F. J.; Mazzotta, P.

2017-02-01

Massive, high-redshift, galaxy clusters are useful laboratories to test cosmological models and to probe structure formation and evolution, but observations are challenging due to cosmological dimming and angular distance effects. Here we present a pilot X-ray study of the five most massive (M500 > 5 × 1014M⊙), distant (z 1), clusters detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich effect. We optimally combine XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observations by leveraging the throughput of XMM-Newton to obtain spatially-resolved spectroscopy, and the spatial resolution of Chandra to probe the bright inner parts and to detect embedded point sources. Capitalising on the excellent agreement in flux-related measurements, we present a new method to derive the density profiles, which are constrained in the centre by Chandra and in the outskirts by XMM-Newton. We show that the Chandra-XMM-Newton combination is fundamental for morphological analysis at these redshifts, the Chandra resolution being required to remove point source contamination, and the XMM-Newton sensitivity allowing higher significance detection of faint substructures. Measuring the morphology using images from both instruments, we found that the sample is dominated by dynamically disturbed objects. We use the combined Chandra-XMM-Newton density profiles and spatially-resolved temperature profiles to investigate thermodynamic quantities including entropy and pressure. From comparison of the scaled profiles with the local REXCESS sample, we find no significant departure from standard self-similar evolution, within the dispersion, at any radius, except for the entropy beyond 0.7 R500. The baryon mass fraction tends towards the cosmic value, with a weaker dependence on mass than that observed in the local Universe. We make a comparison with the predictions from numerical simulations. The present pilot study demonstrates the utility and feasibility of spatially-resolved analysis of individual objects at high-redshift through the combination of XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. Observations of a larger sample will allow a fuller statistical analysis to be undertaken, in particular of the intrinsic scatter in the structural and scaling properties of the cluster population.

Direct Imaging of Radionuclide-Produced Electrons and Positrons with an Ultrathin Phosphor

PubMed Central

Chen, Liying; Gobar, Lisa S.; Knowles, Negar G.; Liu, Zhonglin; Gmitro, Arthur F.; Barrett, Harrison H.

2008-01-01

Current electron detectors are either unable to image in vivo or lack sufficient spatial resolution because of electron scattering in thick detector materials. This study was aimed at developing a sensitive high-resolution system capable of detecting electron-emitting isotopes in vivo. Methods The system uses a lens-coupled charge-coupled-device camera to capture the scintillation light excited by an electron-emitting object near an ultrathin phosphor. The spatial resolution and sensitivity of the system were measured with a 3.7-kBq 90Y/90Sr β-source and a 70-µm resin bead labeled with 99mTc. Finally, we imaged the 99mTc-pertechnetate concentration in the mandibular gland of a mouse in vivo. Results Useful images were obtained with only a few hundred emitted β particles from the 90Y/90Sr source or conversion electrons from the 99mTc bead source. The in vivo image showed a clear profile of the mandibular gland and many fine details with exposures of as low as 30 s. All measurements were consistent with a spatial resolution of about 50 µm, corresponding to 2.5 detector pixels with the current camera. Conclusion Our new electron-imaging system can image electron-emitting isotope distributions at high resolution and sensitivity. The system is useful for in vivo imaging of small animals and small, exposed regions on humans. The ability to image β particles, positrons, and conversion electrons makes the system applicable to most isotopes. PMID:18552136

Remote fluorescence imaging of dynamic concentration profiles with micrometer resolution using a coherent optical fiber bundle.

PubMed

Amatore, Christian; Chovin, Arnaud; Garrigue, Patrick; Servant, Laurent; Sojic, Neso; Szunerits, Sabine; Thouin, Laurent

2004-12-15

Dynamic concentration profiles within the diffusion layer of an electrode were imaged in situ using fluorescence detection through a multichannel imaging fiber. In this work, a coherent optical fiber bundle is positioned orthogonal to the surface of an electrode and is used to report spatial and temporal micrometric changes in the fluorescence intensity of an initial fluorescent species. The fluorescence signal is directly related to the local concentration of a redox fluorescent reagent, which is electrochemically modulated by the electrode. Fluorescence images are collected through the optical fiber bundle during the oxidation of tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) to ruthenium(III) at a diffusion-limited rate and allow the concentration profiles of Ru(II) reagent to be monitored in situ as a function of time. Tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) is excited at 485 nm and emits fluorescence at 605 nm, whereas the Ru(III) oxidation state is not fluorescent. Our experiments emphasize the influence of two parameters on the micrometer spatial resolution: the numerical aperture of optical fibers within the bundle and the Ru(II) bulk concentration. The extent of the volume probed by each individual fiber of the bundle is discussed qualitatively in terms of a primary inner-filter effect and refractive index gradient. Experimentally measured fluorescence intensity profiles were found to be in very good agreement with concentration profiles predicted upon considering planar diffusion and thus validate the concept of this new application of imaging fibers. The originality of this remote approach is to provide a global view of the entire diffusion layer at a given time through one single image and to allow the time expansion of the diffusion layer to be followed quantitatively in real time.

Developing a bright 17 keV x-ray source for probing high-energy-density states of matter at high spatial resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huntington, C. M.; Park, H.-S.; Maddox, B. R.; Barrios, M. A.; Benedetti, R.; Braun, D. G.; Hohenberger, M.; Landen, O. L.; Regan, S. P.; Wehrenberg, C. E.; Remington, B. A.

2015-04-01

A set of experiments were performed on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to develop and optimize a bright, 17 keV x-ray backlighter probe using laser-irradiated Nb foils. High-resolution one-dimensional imaging was achieved using a 15 μm wide slit in a Ta substrate to aperture the Nb Heα x-rays onto an open-aperture, time integrated camera. To optimize the x-ray source for imaging applications, the effect of laser pulse shape and spatial profile on the target was investigated. Two laser pulse shapes were used—a "prepulse" shape that included a 3 ns, low-intensity laser foot preceding the high-energy 2 ns square main laser drive, and a pulse without the laser foot. The laser spatial profile was varied by the use of continuous phase plates (CPPs) on a pair of shots compared to beams at best focus, without CPPs. A comprehensive set of common diagnostics allowed for a direct comparison of imaging resolution, total x-ray conversion efficiency, and x-ray spectrum between shots. The use of CPPs was seen to reduce the high-energy tail of the x-ray spectrum, whereas the laser pulse shape had little effect on the high-energy tail. The measured imaging resolution was comparably high for all combinations of laser parameters, but a higher x-ray flux was achieved without phase plates. This increased flux was the result of smaller laser spot sizes, which allowed us to arrange the laser focal spots from multiple beams and produce an x-ray source which was more localized behind the slit aperture. Our experiments are a first demonstration of point-projection geometry imaging at NIF at the energies (>10 keV) necessary for imaging denser, higher-Z targets than have previously been investigated.

Dynamics of Vegetatin Indices in Tropical and Subtropical Savannas Defined by Ecoregions and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectoradiometer (MODIS) Land Cover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, Michael J.; Roman, Miguel O.; Schaaf, Crytal B.

2011-01-01

In this study, we explored the capacity of vegetation indices derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) reflectance products to characterize global savannas in Australia, Africa and South America. The savannas were spatially defined and subdivided using the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) global ecoregions and MODIS land cover classes. Average annual profiles of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, shortwave infrared ratio (SWIR32), White Sky Albedo (WSA) and the Structural Scattering Index (SSI) were created. Metrics derived from average annual profiles of vegetation indices were used to classify savanna ecoregions. The response spaces between vegetation indices were used to examine the potential to derive structural and fractional cover measures. The ecoregions showed distinct temporal profiles and formed groups with similar structural properties, including higher levels of woody vegetation, similar forest savanna mixtures and similar grassland predominance. The potential benefits from the use of combinations of indices to characterize savannas are discussed.

New Thomson scattering diagnostic on RFX-mod.

PubMed

Alfier, A; Pasqualotto, R

2007-01-01

This article describes the completely renovated Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic employed in the modified Reversed Field eXperiment (RFX-mod) since it restarted operation in 2005. The system measures plasma electron temperature and density profiles along an equatorial diameter, measuring in 84 positions with 7 mm spatial resolution. The custom built Nd:YLF laser produces a burst of 10 pulses at 50 Hz with energy of 3 J, providing ten profile measurements in a plasma discharge of about 300 ms duration. An optical delay system accommodates three scattering volumes in each of the 28 interference filter spectrometers. Avalanche photodiodes detect the Thomson scattering signals and allow them to be recorded by means of waveform digitizers. Electron temperature is obtained using an alternative relative calibration method, based on the use of a supercontinuum light source. Rotational Raman scattering in nitrogen has supplied the absolute calibration for the electron density measurements. During RFX-mod experimental campaigns in 2005, the TS diagnostic has demonstrated its performance, routinely providing reliable high resolution profiles.

Imaging of turbulent structures and tomographic reconstruction of TORPEX plasma emissivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iraji, D.; Furno, I.; Fasoli, A.; Theiler, C.

2010-12-01

In the TORPEX [A. Fasoli et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 055902 (2006)], a simple magnetized plasma device, low frequency electrostatic fluctuations associated with interchange waves, are routinely measured by means of extensive sets of Langmuir probes. To complement the electrostatic probe measurements of plasma turbulence and study of plasma structures smaller than the spatial resolution of probes array, a nonperturbative direct imaging system has been developed on TORPEX, including a fast framing Photron-APX-RS camera and an image intensifier unit. From the line-integrated camera images, we compute the poloidal emissivity profile of the plasma by applying a tomographic reconstruction technique using a pixel method and solving an overdetermined set of equations by singular value decomposition. This allows comparing statistical, spectral, and spatial properties of visible light radiation with electrostatic fluctuations. The shape and position of the time-averaged reconstructed plasma emissivity are observed to be similar to those of the ion saturation current profile. In the core plasma, excluding the electron cyclotron and upper hybrid resonant layers, the mean value of the plasma emissivity is observed to vary with (Te)α(ne)β, in which α =0.25-0.7 and β =0.8-1.4, in agreement with collisional radiative model. The tomographic reconstruction is applied to the fast camera movie acquired with 50 kframes/s rate and 2 μs of exposure time to obtain the temporal evolutions of the emissivity fluctuations. Conditional average sampling is also applied to visualize and measure sizes of structures associated with the interchange mode. The ω-time and the two-dimensional k-space Fourier analysis of the reconstructed emissivity fluctuations show the same interchange mode that is detected in the ω and k spectra of the ion saturation current fluctuations measured by probes. Small scale turbulent plasma structures can be detected and tracked in the reconstructed emissivity movies with the spatial resolution down to 2 cm, well beyond the spatial resolution of the probe array.

River Discharge and Bathymetry Estimation from Hydraulic Inversion of Surface Currents and Water Surface Elevation Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simeonov, J.; Holland, K. T.

2015-12-01

We developed an inversion model for river bathymetry and discharge estimation based on measurements of surface currents, water surface elevation and shoreline coordinates. The model uses a simplification of the 2D depth-averaged steady shallow water equations based on a streamline following system of coordinates and assumes spatially uniform bed friction coefficient and eddy viscosity. The spatial resolution of the predicted bathymetry is related to the resolution of the surface currents measurements. The discharge is determined by minimizing the difference between the predicted and the measured streamwise variation of the total head. The inversion model was tested using in situ and remote sensing measurements of the Kootenai River east of Bonners Ferry, ID. The measurements were obtained in August 2010 when the discharge was about 223 m3/s and the maximum river depth was about 6.5 m. Surface currents covering a 10 km reach with 8 m spatial resolution were estimated from airborne infrared video and were converted to depth-averaged currents using acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements along eight cross-stream transects. The streamwise profile of the water surface elevation was measured using real-time kinematic GPS from a drifting platform. The value of the friction coefficient was obtained from forward calibration simulations that minimized the difference between the predicted and measured velocity and water level along the river thalweg. The predicted along/cross-channel water depth variation was compared to the depth measured with a multibeam echo sounder. The rms error between the measured and predicted depth along the thalweg was found to be about 60cm and the estimated discharge was 5% smaller than the discharge measured by the ADCP.

SUMER: Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilhelm, K.; Axford, W. I.; Curdt, W.; Gabriel, A. H.; Grewing, M.; Huber, M. C. E.; Jordan, M. C. E.; Lemaire, P.; Marsch, E.; Poland, A. I.

1988-01-01

The SUMER (solar ultraviolet measurements of emitted radiation) experiment is described. It will study flows, turbulent motions, waves, temperatures and densities of the plasma in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Structures and events associated with solar magnetic activity will be observed on various spatial and temporal scales. This will contribute to the understanding of coronal heating processes and the solar wind expansion. The instrument will take images of the Sun in EUV (extreme ultra violet) light with high resolution in space, wavelength and time. The spatial resolution and spectral resolving power of the instrument are described. Spectral shifts can be determined with subpixel accuracy. The wavelength range extends from 500 to 1600 angstroms. The integration time can be as short as one second. Line profiles, shifts and broadenings are studied. Ratios of temperature and density sensitive EUV emission lines are established.

MRI of Retinal Free Radical Production With Laminar Resolution In Vivo

PubMed Central

Berkowitz, Bruce A.; Lewin, Alfred S.; Biswal, Manas R.; Bredell, Bryce X.; Davis, Christopher; Roberts, Robin

2016-01-01

Purpose Recent studies have suggested the hypothesis that quench-assisted 1/T1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures free radical production with laminar resolution in vivo without the need of a contrast agent. Here, we test this hypothesis further by examining the spatial and detection sensitivity of quench-assisted 1/T1 MRI to strain, age, or retinal cell layer-specific genetic manipulations. Methods We studied: adult wild-type mice; mice at postnatal day 7 (P7); cre dependent retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-specific MnSOD knockout mice; doxycycline-treated Sod2flox/flox mice lacking the cre transgene; and α-transducin knockout (Gnat1−/−) mice on a C57Bl/6 background. Transretinal 1/T1 profiles were mapped in vivo in the dark without or with antioxidant treatment, or followed by light exposure. We calibrated profiles spatially using optical coherence tomography. Results Dark-adapted RPE-specific MnSOD knockout mice had greater than normal 1/T1 in the RPE and outer nuclear layers that was corrected to wild-type levels by antioxidant treatment. Dark and light Gnat1−/− mice also had greater than normal outer retinal 1/T1 values. In adult wild-type mice, dark values of 1/T1 in the ellipsoid region and in the outer segment were suppressed by 13 minutes of light. By 29 minutes of light, 1/T1 reduction extended to the outer nuclear layer. Gnat1−/− mice demonstrated a faster light-evoked suppression of 1/T1 values in the outer retina. In P7 mice, transretinal 1/T1 profiles were the same in dark and light. Conclusions Quench-assisted MRI has the laminar resolution and detection sensitivity to evaluate normal and pathologic production of free radicals in vivo. PMID:26886890

The influence of focal spot blooming on high-contrast spatial resolution in CT imaging.

PubMed

Grimes, Joshua; Duan, Xinhui; Yu, Lifeng; Halaweish, Ahmed F; Haag, Nicole; Leng, Shuai; McCollough, Cynthia

2015-10-01

The objective of this work was to investigate focal spot blooming effects on the spatial resolution of CT images and to evaluate an x-ray tube that uses dynamic focal spot control for minimizing focal spot blooming. The influence of increasing tube current at a fixed tube potential of 80 kV on high-contrast spatial resolution of seven different CT scanner models (scanners A-G), including one scanner that uses dynamic focal spot control to reduce focal spot blooming (scanner A), was evaluated. Spatial resolution was assessed using a wire phantom for the modulation transfer function (MTF) calculation and a copper disc phantom for measuring the slice sensitivity profile (SSP). The impact of varying the tube potential was investigated on two scanner models (scanners A and B) by measuring the MTF and SSP and also by using the resolution bar pattern module of the ACR CT phantom. The phantoms were scanned at 70-150 kV on scanner A and 80-140 kV on scanner B, with tube currents from 100 mA up to the maximum tube current available on each scanner. The images were reconstructed using a slice thickness of 0.6 mm with both smooth and sharp kernels. Additionally, focal spot size at varying tube potentials and currents was directly measured using pinhole and slit camera techniques. Evaluation of the MTF and SSP data from the 7 CT scanner models evaluated demonstrated decreased focal spot blooming for newer scanners, as evidenced by decreasing deviations in MTF and SSP as tube current varied. For scanners A and B, where focal spot blooming effects as a function of tube potential were assessed, the spatial resolution variation in the axial plane was much smaller on scanner A compared to scanner B as tube potential and current changed. On scanner A, the 50% MTF never decreased by more than 2% from the 50% MTF measured at 100 mA. On scanner B, the 50% MTF decreased by as much as 19% from the 50% MTF measured at 100 mA. Assessments of the SSP, the bar patterns in the ACR phantom and the pinhole and slit camera measurements were consistent with the MTF calculations. Focal spot blooming has a noticeable effect on spatial resolution in CT imaging. The focal spot shaping technology of scanner A greatly reduced blooming effects.

Impacts of model spatial resolution on the vertical structure of convection in the tropics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bui, Hien Xuan; Yu, Jia-Yuh; Chou, Chia

2018-02-01

This study examined the impacts of model horizontal resolution on vertical structures of convection in the tropics by performing sensitivity experiments with the NCAR CESM1. It was found that contributions to the total precipitation between top-heavy and bottom-heavy convection are different among various resolutions. A coarser resolution tends to produce a greater contribution from top-heavy convection and, as a result, stronger precipitation in the western Pacific ITCZ; while there is less contribution from bottom-heavy convection and weaker precipitation in the eastern Pacific ITCZ. In the western Pacific ITCZ, where the convection is dominated by a top-heavy structure, the stronger precipitation in coarser resolution experiments is due to changes in temperature and moisture profiles associated with a warmer environment (i.e., thermodynamical effect). In the eastern Pacific ITCZ, where the convection is dictated by a bottom-heavy structure, the stronger precipitation in finer resolution experiments comes from changes in convection structure (i.e., dynamic effect) which favors a greater contribution of bottom-heavy convection as the model resolution goes higher. The moisture budget analysis further suggested that the very different behavior in precipitation tendencies in response to model resolution changes between the western and eastern Pacific ITCZs are determined mainly by changes in convective structure rather than changes in convective strength. This study pointed out the importance of model spatial resolution in reproducing a reasonable contribution to the total precipitation between top-heavy and bottom-heavy structure of convection in the tropical Pacific ITCZs.

3D undersampled golden-radial phase encoding for DCE-MRA using inherently regularized iterative SENSE.

PubMed

Prieto, Claudia; Uribe, Sergio; Razavi, Reza; Atkinson, David; Schaeffter, Tobias

2010-08-01

One of the current limitations of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR angiography is the requirement of both high spatial and high temporal resolution. Several undersampling techniques have been proposed to overcome this problem. However, in most of these methods the tradeoff between spatial and temporal resolution is constant for all the time frames and needs to be specified prior to data collection. This is not optimal for dynamic contrast-enhanced MR angiography where the dynamics of the process are difficult to predict and the image quality requirements are changing during the bolus passage. Here, we propose a new highly undersampled approach that allows the retrospective adaptation of the spatial and temporal resolution. The method combines a three-dimensional radial phase encoding trajectory with the golden angle profile order and non-Cartesian Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE) reconstruction. Different regularization images, obtained from the same acquired data, are used to stabilize the non-Cartesian SENSE reconstruction for the different phases of the bolus passage. The feasibility of the proposed method was demonstrated on a numerical phantom and in three-dimensional intracranial dynamic contrast-enhanced MR angiography of healthy volunteers. The acquired data were reconstructed retrospectively with temporal resolutions from 1.2 sec to 8.1 sec, providing a good depiction of small vessels, as well as distinction of different temporal phases.

Spatial downscaling of soil prediction models based on weighted generalized additive models in smallholder farm settings.

PubMed

Xu, Yiming; Smith, Scot E; Grunwald, Sabine; Abd-Elrahman, Amr; Wani, Suhas P; Nair, Vimala D

2017-09-11

Digital soil mapping (DSM) is gaining momentum as a technique to help smallholder farmers secure soil security and food security in developing regions. However, communications of the digital soil mapping information between diverse audiences become problematic due to the inconsistent scale of DSM information. Spatial downscaling can make use of accessible soil information at relatively coarse spatial resolution to provide valuable soil information at relatively fine spatial resolution. The objective of this research was to disaggregate the coarse spatial resolution soil exchangeable potassium (K ex ) and soil total nitrogen (TN) base map into fine spatial resolution soil downscaled map using weighted generalized additive models (GAMs) in two smallholder villages in South India. By incorporating fine spatial resolution spectral indices in the downscaling process, the soil downscaled maps not only conserve the spatial information of coarse spatial resolution soil maps but also depict the spatial details of soil properties at fine spatial resolution. The results of this study demonstrated difference between the fine spatial resolution downscaled maps and fine spatial resolution base maps is smaller than the difference between coarse spatial resolution base maps and fine spatial resolution base maps. The appropriate and economical strategy to promote the DSM technique in smallholder farms is to develop the relatively coarse spatial resolution soil prediction maps or utilize available coarse spatial resolution soil maps at the regional scale and to disaggregate these maps to the fine spatial resolution downscaled soil maps at farm scale.

Geostatistical analysis of centimeter-scale hydraulic conductivity variations at the MADE site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohling, Geoffrey C.; Liu, Gaisheng; Knobbe, Steven J.; Reboulet, Edward C.; Hyndman, David W.; Dietrich, Peter; Butler, James J., Jr.

2012-02-01

Spatial variations in hydraulic conductivity (K) provide critical controls on solute transport in the subsurface. Recently, new direct-push tools were developed for high-resolution characterization of K variations in unconsolidated settings. These tools were applied to obtain 58 profiles (vertical resolution of 1.5 cm) from the heavily studied macrodispersion experiment (MADE) site. We compare the data from these 58 profiles with those from the 67 flowmeter profiles that have served as the primary basis for characterizing the heterogeneous aquifer at the site. Overall, the patterns of variation displayed by the two data sets are quite similar, in terms of both large-scale structure and autocorrelation characteristics. The direct-push K values are, on average, roughly a factor of 5 lower than the flowmeter values. This discrepancy appears to be attributable, at least in part, to opposite biases between the two methods, with the current versions of the direct-push tools underestimating K in the highly permeable upper portions of the aquifer and the flowmeter overestimating K in the less permeable lower portions. The vertically averaged K values from a series of direct-push profiles in the vicinity of two pumping tests at the site are consistent with the K estimates from those tests, providing evidence that the direct-push estimates are of a reasonable magnitude. The results of this field demonstration show that direct-push profiling has the potential to characterize highly heterogeneous aquifers with a speed and resolution that has not previously been possible.

The Two-Dimensional Gabor Function Adapted to Natural Image Statistics: A Model of Simple-Cell Receptive Fields and Sparse Structure in Images.

PubMed

Loxley, P N

2017-10-01

The two-dimensional Gabor function is adapted to natural image statistics, leading to a tractable probabilistic generative model that can be used to model simple cell receptive field profiles, or generate basis functions for sparse coding applications. Learning is found to be most pronounced in three Gabor function parameters representing the size and spatial frequency of the two-dimensional Gabor function and characterized by a nonuniform probability distribution with heavy tails. All three parameters are found to be strongly correlated, resulting in a basis of multiscale Gabor functions with similar aspect ratios and size-dependent spatial frequencies. A key finding is that the distribution of receptive-field sizes is scale invariant over a wide range of values, so there is no characteristic receptive field size selected by natural image statistics. The Gabor function aspect ratio is found to be approximately conserved by the learning rules and is therefore not well determined by natural image statistics. This allows for three distinct solutions: a basis of Gabor functions with sharp orientation resolution at the expense of spatial-frequency resolution, a basis of Gabor functions with sharp spatial-frequency resolution at the expense of orientation resolution, or a basis with unit aspect ratio. Arbitrary mixtures of all three cases are also possible. Two parameters controlling the shape of the marginal distributions in a probabilistic generative model fully account for all three solutions. The best-performing probabilistic generative model for sparse coding applications is found to be a gaussian copula with Pareto marginal probability density functions.

Numerical restoration of surface vortices in Nb films measured by a scanning SQUID microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Atsuki; Thanh Huy, Ho; Dang, Vu The; Miyoshi, Hiroki; Hayashi, Masahiko; Ishida, Takekazu

2017-07-01

In the present work, we investigated a vortex profile appeared on a pure Nb film (500 nm in thickness, 10 mm x 10 mm) by using a scanning SQUID microscope. We found that the local magnetic distribution thus observed is broadened compared to a true vortex profile in the superconducting film. We therefore applied the numerical method to improve a spatial resolution of the scanning SQUID microscope. The method is based on the inverse Biot-Savart law and the Fourier transformation to recover a real-space image. We found that the numerical analyses give a smaller vortex than the raw vortex profile observed by the scanning microscope.

SoilGrids1km — Global Soil Information Based on Automated Mapping

PubMed Central

Hengl, Tomislav; de Jesus, Jorge Mendes; MacMillan, Robert A.; Batjes, Niels H.; Heuvelink, Gerard B. M.; Ribeiro, Eloi; Samuel-Rosa, Alessandro; Kempen, Bas; Leenaars, Johan G. B.; Walsh, Markus G.; Gonzalez, Maria Ruiperez

2014-01-01

Background Soils are widely recognized as a non-renewable natural resource and as biophysical carbon sinks. As such, there is a growing requirement for global soil information. Although several global soil information systems already exist, these tend to suffer from inconsistencies and limited spatial detail. Methodology/Principal Findings We present SoilGrids1km — a global 3D soil information system at 1 km resolution — containing spatial predictions for a selection of soil properties (at six standard depths): soil organic carbon (g kg−1), soil pH, sand, silt and clay fractions (%), bulk density (kg m−3), cation-exchange capacity (cmol+/kg), coarse fragments (%), soil organic carbon stock (t ha−1), depth to bedrock (cm), World Reference Base soil groups, and USDA Soil Taxonomy suborders. Our predictions are based on global spatial prediction models which we fitted, per soil variable, using a compilation of major international soil profile databases (ca. 110,000 soil profiles), and a selection of ca. 75 global environmental covariates representing soil forming factors. Results of regression modeling indicate that the most useful covariates for modeling soils at the global scale are climatic and biomass indices (based on MODIS images), lithology, and taxonomic mapping units derived from conventional soil survey (Harmonized World Soil Database). Prediction accuracies assessed using 5–fold cross-validation were between 23–51%. Conclusions/Significance SoilGrids1km provide an initial set of examples of soil spatial data for input into global models at a resolution and consistency not previously available. Some of the main limitations of the current version of SoilGrids1km are: (1) weak relationships between soil properties/classes and explanatory variables due to scale mismatches, (2) difficulty to obtain covariates that capture soil forming factors, (3) low sampling density and spatial clustering of soil profile locations. However, as the SoilGrids system is highly automated and flexible, increasingly accurate predictions can be generated as new input data become available. SoilGrids1km are available for download via http://soilgrids.org under a Creative Commons Non Commercial license. PMID:25171179

Influence of Elevation Data Resolution on Spatial Prediction of Colluvial Soils in a Luvisol Region

PubMed Central

Penížek, Vít; Zádorová, Tereza; Kodešová, Radka; Vaněk, Aleš

2016-01-01

The development of a soil cover is a dynamic process. Soil cover can be altered within a few decades, which requires updating of the legacy soil maps. Soil erosion is one of the most important processes quickly altering soil cover on agriculture land. Colluvial soils develop in concave parts of the landscape as a consequence of sedimentation of eroded material. Colluvial soils are recognised as important soil units because they are a vast sink of soil organic carbon. Terrain derivatives became an important tool in digital soil mapping and are among the most popular auxiliary data used for quantitative spatial prediction. Prediction success rates are often directly dependent on raster resolution. In our study, we tested how raster resolution (1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 30 meters) influences spatial prediction of colluvial soils. Terrain derivatives (altitude, slope, plane curvature, topographic position index, LS factor and convergence index) were calculated for the given raster resolutions. Four models were applied (boosted tree, neural network, random forest and Classification/Regression Tree) to spatially predict the soil cover over a 77 ha large study plot. Models training and validation was based on 111 soil profiles surveyed on a regular sampling grid. Moreover, the predicted real extent and shape of the colluvial soil area was examined. In general, no clear trend in the accuracy prediction was found without the given raster resolution range. Higher maximum prediction accuracy for colluvial soil, compared to prediction accuracy of total soil cover of the study plot, can be explained by the choice of terrain derivatives that were best for Colluvial soils differentiation from other soil units. Regarding the character of the predicted Colluvial soils area, maps of 2 to 10 m resolution provided reasonable delineation of the colluvial soil as part of the cover over the study area. PMID:27846230

Edge Thomson scattering diagnostic on COMPASS tokamak: Installation, calibration, operation, improvements

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

Bohm, P., E-mail: bohm@ipp.cas.cz; Bilkova, P.; Melich, R.

2014-11-15

The core Thomson scattering diagnostic (TS) on the COMPASS tokamak was put in operation and reported earlier. Implementation of edge TS, with spatial resolution along the laser beam up to ∼1/100 of the tokamak minor radius, is presented now. The procedure for spatial calibration and alignment of both core and edge systems is described. Several further upgrades of the TS system, like a triggering unit and piezo motor driven vacuum window shutter, are introduced as well. The edge TS system, together with the core TS, is now in routine operation and provides electron temperature and density profiles.

Edge technique lidar for high accuracy, high spatial resolution wind measurement in the Planetary Boundary Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Korb, C. L.; Gentry, Bruce M.

1995-01-01

The goal of the Army Research Office (ARO) Geosciences Program is to measure the three dimensional wind field in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) over a measurement volume with a 50 meter spatial resolution and with measurement accuracies of the order of 20 cm/sec. The objective of this work is to develop and evaluate a high vertical resolution lidar experiment using the edge technique for high accuracy measurement of the atmospheric wind field to meet the ARO requirements. This experiment allows the powerful capabilities of the edge technique to be quantitatively evaluated. In the edge technique, a laser is located on the steep slope of a high resolution spectral filter. This produces large changes in measured signal for small Doppler shifts. A differential frequency technique renders the Doppler shift measurement insensitive to both laser and filter frequency jitter and drift. The measurement is also relatively insensitive to the laser spectral width for widths less than the width of the edge filter. Thus, the goal is to develop a system which will yield a substantial improvement in the state of the art of wind profile measurement in terms of both vertical resolution and accuracy and which will provide a unique capability for atmospheric wind studies.

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

Tregillis, Ian Lee

This document examines the performance of a generic flat-mirror multimonochromatic imager (MMI), with special emphasis on existing instruments at NIF and Omega. We begin by deriving the standard equation for the mean number of photons detected per resolution element. The pinhole energy bandwidth is a contributing factor; this is dominated by the finite size of the source and may be considerable. The most common method for estimating the spatial resolution of such a system (quadrature addition) is, technically, mathematically invalid for this case. However, under the proper circumstances it may produce good estimates compared to a rigorous calculation based onmore » the convolution of point-spread functions. Diffraction is an important contribution to the spatial resolution. Common approximations based on Fraunhofer (farfield) diffraction may be inappropriate and misleading, as the instrument may reside in multiple regimes depending upon its configuration or the energy of interest. It is crucial to identify the correct diffraction regime; Fraunhofer and Fresnel (near-field) diffraction profiles are substantially different, the latter being considerably wider. Finally, we combine the photonics and resolution analyses to derive an expression for the minimum signal level such that the resulting images are not dominated by photon statistics. This analysis is consistent with observed performance of the NIF MMI.« less

Genome-wide profiling of chromosome interactions in Plasmodium falciparum characterizes nuclear architecture and reconfigurations associated with antigenic variation

PubMed Central

Lemieux, Jacob E; Kyes, Sue A; Otto, Thomas D; Feller, Avi I; Eastman, Richard T; Pinches, Robert A; Berriman, Matthew; Su, Xin-zhuan; Newbold, Chris I

2013-01-01

Spatial relationships within the eukaryotic nucleus are essential for proper nuclear function. In Plasmodium falciparum, the repositioning of chromosomes has been implicated in the regulation of the expression of genes responsible for antigenic variation, and the formation of a single, peri-nuclear nucleolus results in the clustering of rDNA. Nevertheless, the precise spatial relationships between chromosomes remain poorly understood, because, until recently, techniques with sufficient resolution have been lacking. Here we have used chromosome conformation capture and second-generation sequencing to study changes in chromosome folding and spatial positioning that occur during switches in var gene expression. We have generated maps of chromosomal spatial affinities within the P. falciparum nucleus at 25 Kb resolution, revealing a structured nucleolus, an absence of chromosome territories, and confirming previously identified clustering of heterochromatin foci. We show that switches in var gene expression do not appear to involve interaction with a distant enhancer, but do result in local changes at the active locus. These maps reveal the folding properties of malaria chromosomes, validate known physical associations, and characterize the global landscape of spatial interactions. Collectively, our data provide critical information for a better understanding of gene expression regulation and antigenic variation in malaria parasites. PMID:23980881

Advantages of a Vertical High-Resolution Distributed-Temperature-Sensing System Used to Evaluate the Thermal Behavior of Green Roofs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hausner, M. B.; Suarez, F. I.; Cousiño, J. A.; Victorero, F.; Bonilla, C. A.; Gironas, J. A.; Vera, S.; Bustamante, W.; Rojas, V.; Leiva, E.; Pasten, P.

2015-12-01

Technological innovations used for sustainable urban development, green roofs offer a range of benefits, including reduced heat island effect, rooftop runoff, roof surface temperatures, energy consumption, and noise levels inside buildings, as well as increased urban biodiversity. Green roofs feature layered construction, with the most important layers being the vegetation and the substrate layers located above the traditional roof. These layers provide both insulation and warm season cooling by latent heat flux, reducing the thermal load to the building. To understand and improve the processes driving this thermal energy reduction, it is important to observe the thermal dynamics of a green roof at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales. Traditionally, to observe the thermal behavior of green roofs, a series of thermocouples have been installed at discrete depths within the layers of the roof. Here, we present a vertical high-resolution distributed-temperature-sensing (DTS) system installed in different green roof modules of the Laboratory of Vegetated Infrastructure for Buildings (LIVE -its acronym in Spanish) of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. This DTS system allows near-continuous measurement of the thermal profile at spatial and temporal resolutions of approximately 1 cm and 30 s, respectively. In this investigation, the temperature observations from the DTS system are compared with the measurements of a series of thermocouples installed in the green roofs. This comparison makes it possible to assess the value of thermal observations at better spatial and temporal resolutions. We show that the errors associated with lower resolution observations (i.e., from the thermocouples) are propagated in the calculations of the heat fluxes through the different layers of the green roof. Our results highlight the value of having a vertical high-resolution DTS system to observe the thermal dynamics in green roofs.

Improving spatial and spectral resolution of TCV Thomson scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawke, J.; Andrebe, Y.; Bertizzolo, R.; Blanchard, P.; Chavan, R.; Decker, J.; Duval, B.; Lavanchy, P.; Llobet, X.; Marlétaz, B.; Marmillod, P.; Pochon, G.; Toussaint, M.

2017-12-01

The recently completed MST2 upgrade to the Thomson scattering (TS) system on TCV (Tokamak à Configuration Variable) at the Swiss Plasma Center aims to provide an enhanced spatial and spectral resolution while maintaining the high level of diagnostic flexibility for the study of TCV plasmas. The MST2 (Medium Sized Tokamak) is a work program within the Eurofusion ITER physics department, aimed at exploiting Europe's medium sized tokamak programs for a better understanding of ITER physics. This upgrade to the TCV Thomson scattering system involved the installation of 40 new compact 5-channel spectrometers and modifications to the diagnostics fiber optic design. The complete redesign of the fiber optic backplane incorporates fewer larger diameter fibers, allowing for a higher resolution in both the core and edge of TCV plasmas along the laser line, with a slight decrease in the signal to noise ratio of Thomson measurements. The 40 new spectrometers added to the system are designed to cover the full range of temperatures expected in TCV, able to measure electron temperatures (Te) with high precision between (6 eV and 20 keV) . The design of these compact spectrometers stems originally from the design utilized in the MAST (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) TS system located in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. This design was implemented on TCV with an overall layout of optical fibers and spectrometers to achieve an overall increase in the spatial resolution, specifically a resolution of approximately 1% of the minor radius within the plasma pedestal region. These spectrometers also enhance the diagnostic spectral resolution, especially within the plasma edge, due to the low Te measurement capabilities. These additional spectrometers allow for a much greater diagnostic flexibility, allowing for quality full Thomson profiles in 75% of TCV plasma configurations.

LASER BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE: Optoacoustic laser monitoring of cooling and freezing of tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larin, Kirill V.; Larina, I. V.; Motamedi, M.; Esenaliev, R. O.

2002-11-01

Real-time monitoring of cooling and freezing of tissues, cells, and other biological objects with a high spatial and time resolution, which is necessary for selective destruction of cancer and benign tumours during cryotherapy, as well as for preventing any damage to the structure and functioning of biological objects in cryobiology, is considered. The optoacoustic method, based on the measurement and analysis of acoustic waves induced by short laser pulses, is proposed for monitoring the cooling and freezing of the tissue. The effect of cooling and freezing on the amplitude and time profile of acoustic signals generated in real tissues and in a model object is studied. The experimental results indicate that the optoacoustic laser technique can be used for real-time monitoring of cooling and freezing of biological objects with a submillimeter spatial resolution and a high contrast.

The chilling truth about the solar chromosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayres, Thomas R.

The notion that much of the solar gas in the low chromosphere is cool is discussed in terms of its validity. The dark CO absorption cores recorded at the extreme limb of the sun are described, including the 3-2 R14 line with a core-brightness temperature of 3620 K. A bifurcation in the plasma energy balance described to explain the high altitude cold gas is reviewed in terms of recent investigations. Spectral simulations of CO are described which examine the range of thermal profiles allowed by CO observations with low spatial resolution and limb darkening. Weak emission shoulders in the K line demonstrate that a cool chromosphere with Ca II emission is feasible, although the cold gas requires a surface coverage of as little as 20 percent to reproduce the limb darkening. To distinguish between the thermal bifurcation notion and the neophotosphere concept, observations of the high spatial resolution spectra of the CO bands are required.

Study of 3D bathymetry modelling using LAPAN Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 02 (LSU-02) photo data with stereo photogrammetry technique, Wawaran Beach, Pacitan, East Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sari, N. M.; Nugroho, J. T.; Chulafak, G. A.; Kushardono, D.

2018-05-01

Coastal is an ecosystem that has unique object and phenomenon. The potential of the aerial photo data with very high spatial resolution covering coastal area is extensive. One of the aerial photo data can be used is LAPAN Surveillance UAV 02 (LSU-02) photo data which is acquired in 2016 with a spatial resolution reaching 10cm. This research aims to create an initial bathymetry model with stereo photogrammetry technique using LSU-02 data. In this research the bathymetry model was made by constructing 3D model with stereo photogrammetry technique that utilizes the dense point cloud created from overlapping of those photos. The result shows that the 3D bathymetry model can be built with stereo photogrammetry technique. It can be seen from the surface and bathymetry transect profile.

Fine Particulate Matter Predictions Using High Resolution Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chudnovsky, Alexandra A.; Koutrakis, Petros; Kloog, Itai; Melly, Steven; Nordio, Francesco; Lyapustin, Alexei; Wang, Jujie; Schwartz, Joel

2014-01-01

To date, spatial-temporal patterns of particulate matter (PM) within urban areas have primarily been examined using models. On the other hand, satellites extend spatial coverage but their spatial resolution is too coarse. In order to address this issue, here we report on spatial variability in PM levels derived from high 1 km resolution AOD product of Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm developed for MODIS satellite. We apply day-specific calibrations of AOD data to predict PM(sub 2.5) concentrations within the New England area of the United States. To improve the accuracy of our model, land use and meteorological variables were incorporated. We used inverse probability weighting (IPW) to account for nonrandom missingness of AOD and nested regions within days to capture spatial variation. With this approach we can control for the inherent day-to-day variability in the AOD-PM(sub 2.5) relationship, which depends on time-varying parameters such as particle optical properties, vertical and diurnal concentration profiles and ground surface reflectance among others. Out-of-sample "ten-fold" cross-validation was used to quantify the accuracy of model predictions. Our results show that the model-predicted PM(sub 2.5) mass concentrations are highly correlated with the actual observations, with out-of- sample R(sub 2) of 0.89. Furthermore, our study shows that the model captures the pollution levels along highways and many urban locations thereby extending our ability to investigate the spatial patterns of urban air quality, such as examining exposures in areas with high traffic. Our results also show high accuracy within the cities of Boston and New Haven thereby indicating that MAIAC data can be used to examine intra-urban exposure contrasts in PM(sub 2.5) levels.

Global lunar-surface mapping experiment using the Lunar Imager/Spectrometer on SELENE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haruyama, Junichi; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Ohtake, Makiko; Morota, Tomokatsu; Honda, Chikatoshi; Yokota, Yasuhiro; Torii, Masaya; Ogawa, Yoshiko

2008-04-01

The Moon is the nearest celestial body to the Earth. Understanding the Moon is the most important issue confronting geosciences and planetary sciences. Japan will launch the lunar polar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya) (Kato et al., 2007) in 2007 as the first mission of the Japanese long-term lunar exploration program and acquire data for scientific knowledge and possible utilization of the Moon. An optical sensing instrument called the Lunar Imager/Spectrometer (LISM) is loaded on SELENE. The LISM requirements for the SELENE project are intended to provide high-resolution digital imagery and spectroscopic data for the entire lunar surface, acquiring these data for scientific knowledge and possible utilization of the Moon. Actually, LISM was designed to include three specialized sub-instruments: a terrain camera (TC), a multi-band imager (MI), and a spectral profiler (SP). The TC is a high-resolution stereo camera with 10-m spatial resolution from a SELENE nominal altitude of 100 km and a stereo angle of 30° to provide stereo pairs from which digital terrain models (DTMs) with a height resolution of 20 m or better will be produced. The MI is a multi-spectral imager with four and five color bands with 20 m and 60 m spatial resolution in visible and near-infrared ranges, which will provide data to be used to distinguish the geological units in detail. The SP is a line spectral profiler with a 400-m-wide footprint and 300 spectral bands with 6-8 nm spectral resolution in the visible to near-infrared ranges. The SP data will be sufficiently powerful to identify the lunar surface's mineral composition. Moreover, LISM will provide data with a spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and covered spectral range superior to that of past Earth-based and spacecraft-based observations. In addition to the hardware instrumentation, we have studied operation plans for global data acquisition within the limited total data volume allotment per day. Results show that the TC and MI can achieve global observations within the restrictions by sharing the TC and MI observation periods, adopting appropriate data compression, and executing necessary SELENE orbital plane change operations to ensure global coverage by MI. Pre-launch operation planning has resulted in possible global TC high-contrast imagery, TC stereoscopic imagery, and MI 9-band imagery in one nominal mission period. The SP will also acquire spectral line profiling data for nearly the entire lunar surface. The east-west interval of the SP strip data will be 3-4 km at the equator by the end of the mission and shorter at higher latitudes. We have proposed execution of SELENE roll cant operations three times during the nominal mission period to execute calibration site observations, and have reached agreement on this matter with the SELENE project. We present LISM global surface mapping experiments for instrumentation and operation plans. The ground processing systems and the data release plan for LISM data are discussed briefly.

Quantifying measurement uncertainty and spatial variability in the context of model evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choukulkar, A.; Brewer, A.; Pichugina, Y. L.; Bonin, T.; Banta, R. M.; Sandberg, S.; Weickmann, A. M.; Djalalova, I.; McCaffrey, K.; Bianco, L.; Wilczak, J. M.; Newman, J. F.; Draxl, C.; Lundquist, J. K.; Wharton, S.; Olson, J.; Kenyon, J.; Marquis, M.

2017-12-01

In an effort to improve wind forecasts for the wind energy sector, the Department of Energy and the NOAA funded the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2). As part of the WFIP2 field campaign, a large suite of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation was deployed to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington from October 2015 - March 2017. The array of instrumentation deployed included 915-MHz wind profiling radars, sodars, wind- profiling lidars, and scanning lidars. The role of these instruments was to provide wind measurements at high spatial and temporal resolution for model evaluation and improvement of model physics. To properly determine model errors, the uncertainties in instrument-model comparisons need to be quantified accurately. These uncertainties arise from several factors such as measurement uncertainty, spatial variability, and interpolation of model output to instrument locations, to name a few. In this presentation, we will introduce a formalism to quantify measurement uncertainty and spatial variability. The accuracy of this formalism will be tested using existing datasets such as the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) campaign. Finally, the uncertainties in wind measurement and the spatial variability estimates from the WFIP2 field campaign will be discussed to understand the challenges involved in model evaluation.

Validation of the design of a high resolution all-reflection Michelson interferometer for atmospheric spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Scott M.

1993-06-01

The design of a high resolution plane grating all-reflection Michelson interferometer for ionospheric spectroscopy was analyzed using ray tracing techniques. This interferometer produces an interference pattern whose spatial frequency is wavelength dependent. The instrument is intended for remote observations of the atomic oxygen triplet emission line profile at 1304 A in the thermosphere from sounding rocket or satellite platforms. The device was modeled using the PC-based ray tracing application, DART, and results analyzed through fourier techniques using the PC with Windows version of the Interactive Data Language (IDL). Through these methods, instrument resolution, resolving power, and bandpass were determined. An analysis of the effects of aperture size and shape on instrument performance was also conducted.

Assessing representation errors of IAGOS CO2, CO and CH4 profile observations: the impact of spatial variations in near-field emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boschetti, Fabio; Thouret, Valerie; Nedelec, Philippe; Chen, Huilin; Gerbig, Christoph

2015-04-01

Airborne platforms have their main strength in the ability of collecting mixing ratio and meteorological data at different heights across a vertical profile, allowing an insight in the internal structure of the atmosphere. However, rental airborne platforms are usually expensive, limiting the number of flights that can be afforded and hence on the amount of data that can be collected. To avoid this disadvantage, the MOZAIC/IAGOS (Measurements of Ozone and water vapor by Airbus In-service airCraft/In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) program makes use of commercial airliners, providing data on a regular basis. It is therefore considered an important tool in atmospheric investigations. However, due to the nature of said platforms, MOZAIC/IAGOS's profiles are located near international airports, which are usually significant emission sources, and are in most cases close to major urban settlements, characterized by higher anthropogenic emissions compared to rural areas. When running transport models at finite resolution, these local emissions can heavily affect measurements resulting in biases in model/observation mismatch. Model/observation mismatch can include different aspects in both horizontal and vertical direction, for example spatial and temporal resolution of the modeled fluxes, or poorly represented convective transport or turbulent mixing in the boundary layer. In the framework of the IGAS (IAGOS for GMES Atmospheric Service) project, whose aim is to improve connections between data collected by MOZAIC/IAGOS and Copernicus Atmospheric Service, the present study is focused on the effect of the spatial resolution of emission fluxes, referred to here as representation error. To investigate this, the Lagrangian transport model STILT (Stochastic Time Inverted Lagrangian Transport) was coupled with EDGAR (Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research) version-4.3 emission inventory at European regional scale. EDGAR's simulated fluxes for CO, CO2 and CH4 with a spatial resolution of 10x10 km for the time frame 2006-2011 was be aggregated into coarser and coarser grid cells in order to evaluate the representation error at different spatial scales. The dependence of representation error from wind direction and month of the year was evaluated for different location in the European domain, for both random and bias component. The representation error was then validated against the model-data mismatch derived from the comparison of MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) reanalysis with IAGOS observations for CO to investigate its suitability for modeling applications. We found that the random and bias components of the representation error show a similar pattern dependent on wind direction. In addition, we found a clear linear relationship between the representation error and the model-data mismatch for both (random and bias) components, indicating that about 50% of the model-data mismatch is related to the representation error. This suggests that the representation error derived using STILT provides useful information for better understanding causes for model-data mismatch.

An OSSE Study for Deep Argo Array using the GFDL Ensemble Coupled Data Assimilation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, You-Soon; Zhang, Shaoqing; Rosati, Anthony; Vecchi, Gabriel A.; Yang, Xiaosong

2018-03-01

An observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) using an ensemble coupled data assimilation system was designed to investigate the impact of deep ocean Argo profile assimilation in a biased numerical climate system. Based on the modern Argo observational array and an artificial extension to full depth, "observations" drawn from one coupled general circulation model (CM2.0) were assimilated into another model (CM2.1). Our results showed that coupled data assimilation with simultaneous atmospheric and oceanic constraints plays a significant role in preventing deep ocean drift. However, the extension of the Argo array to full depth did not significantly improve the quality of the oceanic climate estimation within the bias magnitude in the twin experiment. Even in the "identical" twin experiment for the deep Argo array from the same model (CM2.1) with the assimilation model, no significant changes were shown in the deep ocean, such as in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the Antarctic bottom water cell. The small ensemble spread and corresponding weak constraints by the deep Argo profiles with medium spatial and temporal resolution may explain why the deep Argo profiles did not improve the deep ocean features in the assimilation system. Additional studies using different assimilation methods with improved spatial and temporal resolution of the deep Argo array are necessary in order to more thoroughly understand the impact of the deep Argo array on the assimilation system.

Speed Profiles for Improvement of Maritime Emission Estimation.

PubMed

Yau, Pui Shan; Lee, Shun-Cheng; Ho, Kin Fai

2012-12-01

Maritime emissions play an important role in anthropogenic emissions, particularly for cities with busy ports such as Hong Kong. Ship emissions are strongly dependent on vessel speed, and thus accurate vessel speed is essential for maritime emission studies. In this study, we determined minute-by-minute high-resolution speed profiles of container ships on four major routes in Hong Kong waters using Automatic Identification System (AIS). The activity-based ship emissions of NO(x), CO, HC, CO(2), SO(2), and PM(10) were estimated using derived vessel speed profiles, and results were compared with those using the speed limits of control zones. Estimation using speed limits resulted in up to twofold overestimation of ship emissions. Compared with emissions estimated using the speed limits of control zones, emissions estimated using vessel speed profiles could provide results with up to 88% higher accuracy. Uncertainty analysis and sensitivity analysis of the model demonstrated the significance of improvement of vessel speed resolution. From spatial analysis, it is revealed that SO(2) and PM(10) emissions during maneuvering within 1 nautical mile from port were the highest. They contributed 7%-22% of SO(2) emissions and 8%-17% of PM(10) emissions of the entire voyage in Hong Kong.

Resolving anatomical and functional structure in human brain organization: identifying mesoscale organization in weighted network representations.

PubMed

Lohse, Christian; Bassett, Danielle S; Lim, Kelvin O; Carlson, Jean M

2014-10-01

Human brain anatomy and function display a combination of modular and hierarchical organization, suggesting the importance of both cohesive structures and variable resolutions in the facilitation of healthy cognitive processes. However, tools to simultaneously probe these features of brain architecture require further development. We propose and apply a set of methods to extract cohesive structures in network representations of brain connectivity using multi-resolution techniques. We employ a combination of soft thresholding, windowed thresholding, and resolution in community detection, that enable us to identify and isolate structures associated with different weights. One such mesoscale structure is bipartivity, which quantifies the extent to which the brain is divided into two partitions with high connectivity between partitions and low connectivity within partitions. A second, complementary mesoscale structure is modularity, which quantifies the extent to which the brain is divided into multiple communities with strong connectivity within each community and weak connectivity between communities. Our methods lead to multi-resolution curves of these network diagnostics over a range of spatial, geometric, and structural scales. For statistical comparison, we contrast our results with those obtained for several benchmark null models. Our work demonstrates that multi-resolution diagnostic curves capture complex organizational profiles in weighted graphs. We apply these methods to the identification of resolution-specific characteristics of healthy weighted graph architecture and altered connectivity profiles in psychiatric disease.

Measurement of shear-induced diffusion of red blood cells using dynamic light scattering-optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jianbo; Erdener, Sefik Evren; Li, Baoqiang; Fu, Buyin; Sakadzic, Sava; Carp, Stefan A.; Lee, Jonghwan; Boas, David A.

2018-02-01

Dynamic Light Scattering-Optical Coherence Tomography (DLS-OCT) takes the advantages of using DLS to measure particle flow and diffusion within an OCT resolution-constrained 3D volume, enabling the simultaneous measurements of absolute RBC velocity and diffusion coefficient with high spatial resolution. In this work, we applied DLS-OCT to measure both RBC velocity and the shear-induced diffusion coefficient within penetrating venules of the somatosensory cortex of anesthetized mice. Blood flow laminar profile measurements indicate a blunted laminar flow profile, and the degree of blunting decreases with increasing vessel diameter. The measured shear-induced diffusion coefficient was proportional to the flow shear rate with a magnitude of 0.1 to 0.5 × 10-6 mm2 . These results provide important experimental support for the recent theoretical explanation for why DCS is dominantly sensitive to RBC diffusive motion.

Efficient design and verification of diagnostics for impurity transport experiments.

PubMed

Chilenski, M A; Greenwald, M J; Marzouk, Y M; Rice, J E; White, A E

2018-01-01

Recent attempts to measure impurity transport in Alcator C-Mod using an x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer and laser blow-off impurity injector have failed to yield unique reconstructions of the transport coefficient profiles. This paper presents a fast, linearized model which was constructed to estimate diagnostic requirements for impurity transport experiments. The analysis shows that the spectroscopic diagnostics on Alcator C-Mod should be capable of inferring simple profiles of impurity diffusion D Z and convection V Z accurate to better than ±10% uncertainty, suggesting that the failure to infer unique D Z and V Z from experimental data is attributable to an inadequate analysis procedure rather than the result of insufficient diagnostics. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that even a modest spatial resolution can overcome a low time resolution. This approach can be adapted to design and verify diagnostics for transport experiments on any magnetic confinement device.

Monitoring the Vertical Distribution of Rainfall-Induced Strain Changes in a Landslide Measured by Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing With Rayleigh Backscattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kogure, Tetsuya; Okuda, Yudai

2018-05-01

Distributed fiber optic sensing with Rayleigh backscattering, which has been recognized as a novel technique for measuring differences in temperature or strain, was adopted in a borehole to a depth of 16 m in an actual landslide to detect a vertical profile of strain changes. Strain changes were measured every 6 hr from 19 June 2017 to 18 October 2017 with a spatial resolution of 10 cm and strain resolution of 1.87 μɛ. The measurements provided a clear-cut vertical profile of the strain changes caused by rainfalls that cannot be detected by conventional methods. The results show that there are two types of deformation in the landslide mass: (1) sliding at the boundary between tuff and mudstone and (2) creep in mudstone layers. Activation of deeper sections of the landslide by heavy rainfalls has also been detected.

NASA's Advancements in Space-Based Spectrometry Lead to Improvements in Weather Prediction and Understanding of Climate Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel

2010-01-01

AIRS is a precision state of the art High Spectral Resolution Multi-detector IR grating array spectrometer that was launched into a polar orbit on EOS Aqua in 2002. AIRS measures most of the infra-red spectrum with very low noise from 650/cm to 2660/cm with a resolving power of 2400 at a spatial resolution of 13 km. The objectives of AIRS were to perform accurate determination of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles in up to 90% partial cloud cover conditions for the purpose of improving numerical weather prediction and understanding climate processes. AIRS data has also been used to determine accurate trace gas profiles. A brief overview of the retrieval methodology used to analyze AIRS observations under partial cloud cover will be presented and sample results will be shown from the weather and climate perspectives.

Enhancing Spatial Resolution of Remotely Sensed Imagery Using Deep Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, J. M.; Bridges, S.; Collins, C.; Rushing, J.; Graves, S. J.

2017-12-01

Researchers at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville are using Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to develop a method for enhancing the spatial resolutions of moderate resolution (10-60m) multispectral satellite imagery. This enhancement will effectively match the resolutions of imagery from multiple sensors to provide increased global temporal-spatial coverage for a variety of Earth science products. Our research is centered on using Deep Learning for automatically generating transformations for increasing the spatial resolution of remotely sensed images with different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. One of the most important steps in using images from multiple sensors is to transform the different image layers into the same spatial resolution, preferably the highest spatial resolution, without compromising the spectral information. Recent advances in Deep Learning have shown that CNNs can be used to effectively and efficiently upscale or enhance the spatial resolution of multispectral images with the use of an auxiliary data source such as a high spatial resolution panchromatic image. In contrast, we are using both the spatial and spectral details inherent in low spatial resolution multispectral images for image enhancement without the use of a panchromatic image. This presentation will discuss how this technology will benefit many Earth Science applications that use remotely sensed images with moderate spatial resolutions.

Layout and results from the initial operation of the high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer on the Large Helical Device.

PubMed

Pablant, N A; Bitter, M; Delgado-Aparicio, L; Goto, M; Hill, K W; Lazerson, S; Morita, S; Roquemore, A L; Gates, D; Monticello, D; Nielson, H; Reiman, A; Reinke, M; Rice, J E; Yamada, H

2012-08-01

First results of ion and electron temperature profile measurements from the x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS) diagnostic on the Large Helical Device (LHD) are presented. This diagnostic system has been operational since the beginning of the 2011 LHD experimental campaign and is the first application of the XICS diagnostic technique to helical plasma geometry. The XICS diagnostic provides measurements of ion and electron temperature profiles in LHD with a spatial resolution of 2 cm and a maximum time resolution of 5 ms (typically 20 ms). Ion temperature profiles from the XICS diagnostic are possible under conditions where charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) is not possible (high density) or is perturbative to the plasma (low density or radio frequency heated plasmas). Measurements are made by using a spherically bent crystal to provide a spectrally resolved 1D image of the plasma from line integrated emission of helium-like Ar(16 +). The final hardware design and configuration are detailed along with the calibration procedures. Line-integrated ion and electron temperature measurements are presented, and the measurement accuracy is discussed. Finally central temperature measurements from the XICS system are compared to measurements from the Thomson scattering and CXRS systems, showing excellent agreement.

MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS)—Application of Spatial Proteomics for Ovarian Cancer Classification and Diagnosis

PubMed Central

Gustafsson, Johan O. R.; Oehler, Martin K.; Ruszkiewicz, Andrew; McColl, Shaun R.; Hoffmann, Peter

2011-01-01

MALDI imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) allows acquisition of mass data for metabolites, lipids, peptides and proteins directly from tissue sections. IMS is typically performed either as a multiple spot profiling experiment to generate tissue specific mass profiles, or a high resolution imaging experiment where relative spatial abundance for potentially hundreds of analytes across virtually any tissue section can be measured. Crucially, imaging can be achieved without prior knowledge of tissue composition and without the use of antibodies. In effect MALDI-IMS allows generation of molecular data which complement and expand upon the information provided by histology including immuno-histochemistry, making its application valuable to both cancer biomarker research and diagnostics. The current state of MALDI-IMS, key biological applications to ovarian cancer research and practical considerations for analysis of peptides and proteins on ovarian tissue are presented in this review. PMID:21340013

MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS)-application of spatial proteomics for ovarian cancer classification and diagnosis.

PubMed

Gustafsson, Johan O R; Oehler, Martin K; Ruszkiewicz, Andrew; McColl, Shaun R; Hoffmann, Peter

2011-01-21

MALDI imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) allows acquisition of mass data for metabolites, lipids, peptides and proteins directly from tissue sections. IMS is typically performed either as a multiple spot profiling experiment to generate tissue specific mass profiles, or a high resolution imaging experiment where relative spatial abundance for potentially hundreds of analytes across virtually any tissue section can be measured. Crucially, imaging can be achieved without prior knowledge of tissue composition and without the use of antibodies. In effect MALDI-IMS allows generation of molecular data which complement and expand upon the information provided by histology including immuno-histochemistry, making its application valuable to both cancer biomarker research and diagnostics. The current state of MALDI-IMS, key biological applications to ovarian cancer research and practical considerations for analysis of peptides and proteins on ovarian tissue are presented in this review.

Estimation of Geotropic Currents in the Bay of Bengal using In-situ Observations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

T, V. R.

2014-12-01

Geostraphic Currents (GCs) can be estimated from temperature and salinity observations. In this study an attempt has been made to compute GC using temperature and salinity observations from Expendable Bathy Thermograph (XBT) and CTD over Bay of Bengal (BoB). Although in recent time we have Argo observations but it is for a limited period and coarse temporal resolutions. In BoB Bengal, where not enough simultaneous hydrographic temperature and salinity data are available with reasonable spatial resolution (~one degree spatial resolution) and for a longer period. To overcome the limitations of GC computed from XBT profiles, temperature-salinity relationships were used from simultaneous temperature and salinity observations. We have demonstrated that GCs can be computed with an accuracy of less than 8.5 cm/s (root mean square error) at the surface with respect to temperature from XBT and salinity from climatological record. This error reduces with increasing depth. Finally, we demonstrated the application of this approach to study the temporal variation of the GCs during 1992 to 2012 along an XBT transect.

Importance of A Priori Vertical Ozone Profiles for TEMPO Air Quality Retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, M. S.; Sullivan, J. T.; Liu, X.; Zoogman, P.; Newchurch, M.; Kuang, S.; McGee, T. J.; Leblanc, T.

2017-12-01

Ozone (O3) is a toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality. Typically, monitoring of surface air quality and O3 mixing ratios is conducted using in situ measurement networks. This is partially due to high-quality information related to air quality being limited from space-borne platforms due to coarse spatial resolution, limited temporal frequency, and minimal sensitivity to lower tropospheric and surface-level O3. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite is designed to address the limitations of current space-based platforms and to improve our ability to monitor North American air quality. TEMPO will provide hourly data of total column and vertical profiles of O3 with high spatial resolution to be used as a near-real-time air quality product. TEMPO O3 retrievals will apply the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory profile algorithm developed based on work from GOME, GOME-2, and OMI. This algorithm is suggested to use a priori O3 profile information from a climatological data-base developed from long-term ozone-sonde measurements (tropopause-based (TB-Clim) O3 climatology). This study evaluates the TB-Clim dataset and model simulated O3 profiles, which could potentially serve as a priori O3 profile information in TEMPO retrievals, from near-real-time data assimilation model products (NASA GMAO's operational GEOS-5 FP model and reanalysis data from MERRA2) and a full chemical transport model (CTM), GEOS-Chem. In this study, vertical profile products are evaluated with surface (0-2 km) and tropospheric (0-10 km) TOLNet observations and the theoretical impact of individual a priori profile sources on the accuracy of TEMPO O3 retrievals in the troposphere and at the surface are presented. Results indicate that while the TB-Clim climatological dataset can replicate seasonally-averaged tropospheric O3 profiles, model-simulated profiles from a full CTM resulted in more accurate tropospheric and surface-level O3 retrievals from TEMPO when compared to hourly and daily-averaged TOLNet observations. Furthermore, it is shown that when large surface O3 mixing ratios are observed, TEMPO retrieval values at the surface are most accurate when applying CTM a priori profile information compared to all other data products.

Fabry-Perot observations of comet Austin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schultz, David; Scherb, F.; Roesler, F. L.; Li, G.; Harlander, J.; Roberts, T. P. P.; Vandenberk, D.; Nossal, S.; Coakley, M.; Oliversen, Ronald J.

1990-01-01

Preliminary results of a program to observe Comet Austin (1990c1) from 16 April to 4 May and from 11 May to 27 May 1990 using the West Auxiliary of the McMath Solar Telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona were presetned. The observations were made with a 15 cm duel-etalon Fabry-Perot scanning and imaging spectrometer with two modes of operation: a high resolution mode with a velocity resolution of 1.2 km/s and a medium resolution mode with a velocity resolution 10 km/s. Scanning data was obtained with an RCA C31034A photomultiplier tube and imaging data was obtained with a Photometrics LN2 cooled CCD camera with a 516 by 516 Ford chip. The results include: (1) information on the coma outflow velocity from high resolution spectral profiles of (OI)6300 and NH2 emissions, (2) gaseous water production rates from medium resolution observation of (OI)6300, (3) spectra of H2O(+) emissions in order to study the ionized component of the coma, (4) spatial distribution of H2O(+) emission features from sequences of velocity resolved images (data cubes), and (5) spatial distribution of (OI)6300 and NH2 emissions from medium resolution images. The field of view on the sky was 10.5 arcminutes in diameter. In the imaging mode the CCD was binned 4 by 4 resulting in 7.6 sec power pixel and a subarray readout for a field of view of 10.5 min.

One- and two-dimensional dopant/carrier profiling for ULSI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandervorst, W.; Clarysse, T.; De Wolf, P.; Trenkler, T.; Hantschel, T.; Stephenson, R.; Janssens, T.

1998-11-01

Dopant/carrier profiles constitute the basis of the operation of a semiconductor device and thus play a decisive role in the performance of a transistor and are subjected to the same scaling laws as the other constituents of a modern semiconductor device and continuously evolve towards shallower and more complex configurations. This evolution has increased the demands on the profiling techniques in particular in terms of resolution and quantification such that a constant reevaluation and improvement of the tools is required. As no single technique provides all the necessary information (dopant distribution, electrical activation,..) with the requested spatial and depth resolution, the present paper attempts to provide an assessment of those tools which can be considered as the main metrology technologies for ULSI-applications. For 1D-dopant profiling secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has progressed towards a generally accepted tool meeting the requirements. For 1D-carrier profiling spreading resistance profiling and microwave surface impedance profiling are envisaged as the best choices but extra developments are required to promote them to routinely applicable methods. As no main metrology tool exist for 2D-dopant profiling, main emphasis is on 2D-carrier profiling tools based on scanning probe microscopy. Scanning spreading resistance (SSRM) and scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) are the preferred methods although neither of them already meets all the requirements. Complementary information can be extracted from Nanopotentiometry which samples the device operation in more detail. Concurrent use of carrier profiling tools, Nanopotentiometry, analysis of device characteristics and simulations is required to provide a complete characterization of deep submicron devices.

High resolution aquifer characterization using crosshole GPR full-waveform tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gueting, N.; Vienken, T.; Klotzsche, A.; Van Der Kruk, J.; Vanderborght, J.; Caers, J.; Vereecken, H.; Englert, A.

2016-12-01

Limited knowledge about the spatial distribution of aquifer properties typically constrains our ability to predict subsurface flow and transport. Here, we investigate the value of using high resolution full-waveform inversion of cross-borehole ground penetrating radar (GPR) data for aquifer characterization. By stitching together GPR tomograms from multiple adjacent crosshole planes, we are able to image, with a decimeter scale resolution, the dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity of an alluvial aquifer along cross-sections of 50 m length and 10 m depth. A logistic regression model is employed to predict the spatial distribution of lithological facies on the basis of the GPR results. Vertical profiles of porosity and hydraulic conductivity from direct-push, flowmeter and grain size data suggest that the GPR predicted facies classification is meaningful with regard to porosity and hydraulic conductivity, even though the distributions of individual facies show some overlap and the absolute hydraulic conductivities from the different methods (direct-push, flowmeter, grain size) differ up to approximately one order of magnitude. Comparison of the GPR predicted facies architecture with tracer test data suggests that the plume splitting observed in a tracer experiment was caused by a hydraulically low-conductive sand layer with a thickness of only a few decimeters. Because this sand layer is identified by GPR full-waveform inversion but not by conventional GPR ray-based inversion we conclude that the improvement in spatial resolution due to full-waveform inversion is crucial to detect small-scale aquifer structures that are highly relevant for solute transport.

Spatial resolution test of a beam diagnostic system for DESIREE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Susanta; Kallberg, A.

2010-11-01

A diagnostic system based on the observation of low energy ( ˜ 10 eV) secondary electrons (SE) produced by a beam, striking a metallic foil has been built to monitor and to cover the wide range of beam intensities and energies for Double ElectroStatic Ion Ring ExpEriment [1,2].The system consists of a Faraday cup to measure the beam current, a collimator with circular apertures of different diameters to measure the spatial resolution of the system, a beam profile monitoring system (BPMS), and a control unit. The BPMS, in turn, consists of an aluminim (Al) foil, a grid placed in front of the Al foil to accelerate the SE, position sensitive MCP, fluorescent screen, and a CCD camera to capture the images. The collimator contains a set of circular holes of different diameters and separations (d) between them. The collimator cuts out from the beam areas equal to the holes with separation d mm between the beams centers and creates well separated (distinguishable) narrow beams of approximately same intensity close to each other. A 10 keV proton beam was used. The spatial resolution of the system was tested for different Al plate and MCP voltages and resolution of better than 2 mm was achieved. Ref.: 1. K. Kruglov {et al}., NIM A 441 (2000) 595; 701 (2002) 193c, 2. MSL and Atomic Physics, Stockholm Univ.(www.msl.se, http://www.atom.physto.se/Cederquist/desiree/web/hc.html).

Multispectral imaging determination of pigment concentration profiles in meat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sáenz Gamasa, Carlos; Hernández Salueña, Begoña; Alberdi Odriozola, Coro; Alfonso Ábrego, Santiago; Berrogui Arizu, Miguel; Diñeiro Rubial, José Manuel

2006-01-01

The possibility of using multispectral techniques to determine the concentration profiles of myoglobin derivatives as a function of the distance to the meat surface during meat oxygenation is demonstrated. Reduced myoglobin (Mb) oxygenated oxymyoglobin (MbO II) and oxidized Metmyoglobin (MMb) concentration profiles are determined with a spatial resolutions better than of 0.01235 mm/pixel. Pigment concentrations are calculated using (K/S) ratios at isobestic points (474, 525, 572 and 610 nm) of the three forms of myoglobin pigments. This technique greatly improves previous methods, based on visual determination of pigment layers by their color, which allowed only estimations of pigment layer position and width. The multispectral technique avoids observer and illumination related bias in the pigment layer determination.

Damping profile of standing kink oscillations observed by SDO/AIA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascoe, D. J.; Goddard, C. R.; Nisticò, G.; Anfinogentov, S.; Nakariakov, V. M.

2016-01-01

Aims: Strongly damped standing and propagating kink oscillations are observed in the solar corona. This can be understood in terms of mode coupling, which causes the wave energy to be converted from the bulk transverse oscillation to localised, unresolved azimuthal motions. The damping rate can provide information about the loop structure, and theory predicts two possible damping profiles. Methods: We used the recently compiled catalogue of decaying standing kink oscillations of coronal loops to search for examples with high spatial and temporal resolution and sufficient signal quality to allow the damping profile to be examined. The location of the loop axis was tracked, detrended, and fitted with sinusoidal oscillations with Gaussian and exponential damping profiles. Results: Using the highest quality data currently available, we find that for the majority of our cases a Gaussian profile describes the damping behaviour at least as well as an exponential profile, which is consistent with the recently developed theory for the damping profile due to mode coupling.

Comparing long-term geomorphic model outcomes with sediment archives highlights the need for high-resolution Holocene land cover reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Brue, Hanne; Verstraeten, Gert

2013-04-01

During the last decade, several global land cover reconstructions have been produced that enable to quantify human impact on the landscape since the introduction of agriculture. Application of these land cover maps in geomorphic models potentially allows to estimate the anthropogenic impact on sediment fluxes and thus to reconstruct changes in landscape morphology through time. However, current land cover reconstructions face some drawbacks. First of all, their low spatial resolution (i.e. 5 arc-minutes at best) questions their use in geomorphic models, as sub-catchment vegetation patterns play an important role in sediment dynamics. Existing global land cover reconstructions also do not differentiate the typology of human impact (cropland, grazing land, disturbed forests), although the susceptibility of different anthropogenic land uses towards erosion varies greatly. Finally, the various land cover reconstructions differ significantly regarding the estimated intensity of human impact for the preindustrial period. In this study, we assessed the performance of a spatially distributed erosion and sediment redistribution model that operates at high resolution (100 m) to the quality and spatial resolution of input land cover maps. This was done through a comparison of two sets of model runs. Firstly, low-resolution land cover (expressed as percentage of non-natural vegetation) maps were resampled to a spatial resolution of 100 m without differentiation of non-natural vegetation types. For the second set of model runs, estimated non-natural vegetation was differentiated in areas of cropland and grassland, and spatially allocated to a high-resolution grid (100 m) using a logistic model that relates contemporary land cover classes to slope, soil characteristics, landforms and distance to rivers. For both land cover maps, different scenarios for the ratio between cropland and grassland were simulated. Analyses were performed for several time periods throughout the Holocene, for the Scheldt River Basin (19,000 km2) in Belgium and northern France. Results indicate that low-resolution land cover information, regardless of the considered cropland/grassland ratio, leads to largely overestimated sediment fluxes when compared to field-based sediment budgets. Allocation of land cover to a higher spatial resolution yields far better results. Variations in model outcomes are related to differences in landscape connectivity between allocated and non-allocated land cover. These results point towards the need for higher-resolution land cover maps that incorporate the patchiness of vegetation at relevant scales regarding geomorphic processes. Also, model results with allocated and non-allocated land cover maps differ greatly for different cropland/grassland ratios. This indicates that there is not only a need for land cover reconstructions at high spatial resolution, but also that differentiation between cropland and grassland is essential for accurate geomorphic modeling. Further improvements in land cover reconstructions are thus needed before reliable quantitative estimates of anthropogenic impact on soil profiles and sediment redistribution can be simulated at continental scales. Detailed historic sediment budgets can provide an important tool not only for validating but also for reconstructing land cover histories.

Morphology and spatial patterns of Macrotermes mounds in the SE Katanga, D.R. Congo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazirake Mujinya, Basile; Mees, Florias; Erens, Hans; Baert, Geert; Van Ranst, Eric

2015-04-01

The spatial distribution patterns and morphological characteristics of Macrotermes falciger mounds were investigated in the Lubumbashi area, D.R. Congo. Examination of the spatial patterns of M. falciger mounds on high resolution satellite images reveals a mean areal number density of 2.9 ± 0.4 mounds ha-1. The high relative number of inactive mounds in the region, along with their regular distribution pattern, suggests that current termite mound occurrences are largely palaeostructures. Mound positions in the habitat are consistent with intraspecific competition rather than soil and substrate characteristics as controlling factor. Detailed morphological description of five deep termite-mound profiles (~7 m height/depth) shows that carbonate pedofeatures are present in all studied profiles, in contrast to the control soils. They mainly occur in the form of soft powdery masses, nodules and coatings on ped faces, all clearly pedogenic. Carbonate coatings occur mainly between 1 m above the soil surface and 1 m below that level in all mound profiles. Carbonate nodules do show a different distribution pattern at each site. Furthermore, when the studied profiles are considered to represent a toposequence, the stone layer occurs at greater depth in topographically low areas compared to crest and slope positions, which is mainly conditioned by erosion. The clay content of epigeal mounds increases from the summit to the toe slope, which can be largely related to differences in parent material. The Mn-Fe oxide concentrations occurring in all studied termite mound profiles reflect a seasonally high perched water table beneath the mound, which is more pronounced at the lower slope positions.

Depth Profilometry via Multiplexed Optical High-Coherence Interferometry

PubMed Central

Kazemzadeh, Farnoud; Wong, Alexander; Behr, Bradford B.; Hajian, Arsen R.

2015-01-01

Depth Profilometry involves the measurement of the depth profile of objects, and has significant potential for various industrial applications that benefit from non-destructive sub-surface profiling such as defect detection, corrosion assessment, and dental assessment to name a few. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of depth profilometry using an Multiplexed Optical High-coherence Interferometry MOHI instrument. The MOHI instrument utilizes the spatial coherence of a laser and the interferometric properties of light to probe the reflectivity as a function of depth of a sample. The axial and lateral resolutions, as well as imaging depth, are decoupled in the MOHI instrument. The MOHI instrument is capable of multiplexing interferometric measurements into 480 one-dimensional interferograms at a location on the sample and is built with axial and lateral resolutions of 40 μm at a maximum imaging depth of 700 μm. Preliminary results, where a piece of sand-blasted aluminum, an NBK7 glass piece, and an optical phantom were successfully probed using the MOHI instrument to produce depth profiles, demonstrate the feasibility of such an instrument for performing depth profilometry. PMID:25803289

Depth profilometry via multiplexed optical high-coherence interferometry.

PubMed

Kazemzadeh, Farnoud; Wong, Alexander; Behr, Bradford B; Hajian, Arsen R

2015-01-01

Depth Profilometry involves the measurement of the depth profile of objects, and has significant potential for various industrial applications that benefit from non-destructive sub-surface profiling such as defect detection, corrosion assessment, and dental assessment to name a few. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of depth profilometry using an Multiplexed Optical High-coherence Interferometry MOHI instrument. The MOHI instrument utilizes the spatial coherence of a laser and the interferometric properties of light to probe the reflectivity as a function of depth of a sample. The axial and lateral resolutions, as well as imaging depth, are decoupled in the MOHI instrument. The MOHI instrument is capable of multiplexing interferometric measurements into 480 one-dimensional interferograms at a location on the sample and is built with axial and lateral resolutions of 40 μm at a maximum imaging depth of 700 μm. Preliminary results, where a piece of sand-blasted aluminum, an NBK7 glass piece, and an optical phantom were successfully probed using the MOHI instrument to produce depth profiles, demonstrate the feasibility of such an instrument for performing depth profilometry.

Simulation studies of improved sounding systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yates, H.; Wark, D.; Aumann, H.; Evans, N.; Phillips, N.; Susskind, J.; Mcmillin, L.; Goldman, A.; Chahine, M.; Crone, L.

1989-01-01

Two instrument designs for indirect satellite sounding of the atmosphere in the infrared are represented by the High Resolution Infra-Red Sounder, Model 2 (HIRS-2) and by the Advanced Meteorological Temperature Sounder (AMTS). The relative capabilities of the two instruments were tested by simulating satellite measurements from a group of temperature soundings, allowing the two participants to retrieve the temperature profiles from the simulated data, and comparing the results with the original temperature profiles. Four data sets were produced from radiosondes data extrapolated to a suitable altitude, representing continents and oceans, between 30S and 30N. From the information available, temperature profiles were retrieved by two different methods, statistical regression and inversion of the radiative transfer equation. Results show the consequence of greater spectral purity, concomitant increase in the number of spectral intervals, and the better spatial resolution in partly clouded areas. At the same time, the limitation of the HIRS-2 without its companion instrument leads to some results which should be ignored in comparing the two instruments. A clear superiority of AMTS results is shown.

SU-F-T-559: High-Resolution Scintillating Fiber Array for In-Vivo Real-Time SRS and SBRT Patient QA

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

Knewtson, T; Pokhrel, S; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN

2016-06-15

Purpose: A high-resolution scintillating fiber detector was built for in-vivo real-time patient specific quality assurance (QA). The detector is designed for stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to monitor treatment delivery and detect real-time deviations from planned dose to increase patient safety and treatment accuracy. Methods: The detector consists of two high-density scintillating fiber arrays layered to form an X-Y grid which can be attached to the accessory tray of a medical linac for SBRT and cone SRS treatment QA. Fiber arrays consist of 128 scintillating fibers embedded within a precision-machined, high-transmission polymer substrate with 0.8mm pitch. Themore » fibers are coupled on both ends to high-sensitivity photodetectors and the output is recorded through a high-speed analog-to-digital converter to capture the linac pulse sequence as treatment delivery progresses. The detector has a software controlled 360 degree rotational system to capture angular beam projections for high-resolution beam profile reconstruction. Results: The detector was validated using SRS cone sizes from 6mm to 34mm and MLC defined field sizes from 5×5mm2 to 100×100mm2. The detector output response is linear with dose and is dose rate independent. Each field can be reconstructed accurately with a spatial resolution of 0.8mm and the current beam output is displayed every 50msec. Dosimetric errors of 1% with respect to the treatment plan can be identified and clinically significant deviations from the expected treatment can be displayed in real-time to alert the therapists. Conclusion: The high resolution detector is capable of reconstructing beam profiles in real-time with submillimeter resolution and 1% dose resolution. This system has the ability to project in-vivo both spatial and dosimetric errors during SBRT and SRS treatments when only a non-clinically significant fraction of the intended dose was delivered. The device has the potential to establish new standards for in-vivo patient specific QA.« less

Effects of spatial resolution ratio in image fusion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ling, Y.; Ehlers, M.; Usery, E.L.; Madden, M.

2008-01-01

In image fusion, the spatial resolution ratio can be defined as the ratio between the spatial resolution of the high-resolution panchromatic image and that of the low-resolution multispectral image. This paper attempts to assess the effects of the spatial resolution ratio of the input images on the quality of the fused image. Experimental results indicate that a spatial resolution ratio of 1:10 or higher is desired for optimal multisensor image fusion provided the input panchromatic image is not downsampled to a coarser resolution. Due to the synthetic pixels generated from resampling, the quality of the fused image decreases as the spatial resolution ratio decreases (e.g. from 1:10 to 1:30). However, even with a spatial resolution ratio as small as 1:30, the quality of the fused image is still better than the original multispectral image alone for feature interpretation. In cases where the spatial resolution ratio is too small (e.g. 1:30), to obtain better spectral integrity of the fused image, one may downsample the input high-resolution panchromatic image to a slightly lower resolution before fusing it with the multispectral image.

Turbulent Structure Under Short Fetch Wind Waves

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

1970) developed the LFT utilizing the concurrent measurement of sea surface elevation (η) and the near surface velocities to isolate the wave...Layers and Air-Sea Transfer program by making very high spatial resolution profile measurements of the 3-D velocity field into the crest-trough...distribution is unlimited TURBULENT STRUCTURE UNDER SHORT FETCH WIND WAVES Michael J. Papa Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy B.S., United States Naval

Mass Spectrometry Imaging proves differential absorption profiles of well-characterised permeability markers along the crypt-villus axis.

PubMed

Nilsson, Anna; Peric, Alexandra; Strimfors, Marie; Goodwin, Richard J A; Hayes, Martin A; Andrén, Per E; Hilgendorf, Constanze

2017-07-25

Knowledge about the region-specific absorption profiles from the gastrointestinal tract of orally administered drugs is a critical factor guiding dosage form selection in drug development. We have used a novel approach to study three well-characterized permeability and absorption marker drugs in the intestine. Propranolol and metoprolol (highly permeable compounds) and atenolol (low-moderate permeability compound) were orally co-administered to rats. The site of drug absorption was revealed by high spatial resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) and complemented by quantitative measurement of drug concentration in tissue homogenates. MALDI-MSI identified endogenous molecular markers that illustrated the villi structures and confirmed the different absorption sites assigned to histological landmarks for the three drugs. Propranolol and metoprolol showed a rapid absorption and shorter transit distance in contrast to atenolol, which was absorbed more slowly from more distal sites. This study provides novel insights into site specific absorption for each of the compounds along the crypt-villus axis, as well as confirming a proximal-distal absorption gradient along the intestine. The combined analytical approach allowed the quantification and spatial resolution of drug distribution in the intestine and provided experimental evidence for the suggested absorption behaviour of low and highly permeable compounds.

Characterization of a Quadrotor Unmanned Aircraft System for Aerosol-Particle-Concentration Measurements.

PubMed

Brady, James M; Stokes, M Dale; Bonnardel, Jim; Bertram, Timothy H

2016-02-02

High-spatial-resolution, near-surface vertical profiling of atmospheric chemical composition is currently limited by the availability of experimental platforms that can sample in constrained environments. As a result, measurements of near-surface gradients in trace gas and aerosol particle concentrations have been limited to studies conducted from fixed location towers or tethered balloons. Here, we explore the utility of a quadrotor unmanned aircraft system (UAS) as a sampling platform to measure vertical and horizontal concentration gradients of trace gases and aerosol particles at high spatial resolution (1 m) within the mixed layer (0-100 m). A 3D Robotics Iris+ autonomous quadrotor UAS was outfitted with a sensor package consisting of a two-channel aerosol optical particle counter and a CO2 sensor. The UAS demonstrated high precision in both vertical (±0.5 m) and horizontal positions (±1 m), highlighting the potential utility of quadrotor UAS drones for aerosol- and trace-gas measurements within complex terrain, such as the urban environment, forest canopies, and above difficult-to-access areas such as breaking surf. Vertical profiles of aerosol particle number concentrations, acquired from flights conducted along the California coastline, were used to constrain sea-spray aerosol-emission rates from coastal wave breaking.

Multiple Velocity Profile Measurements in Hypersonic Flows using Sequentially-Imaged Fluorescence Tagging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bathel, Brett F.; Danehy, Paul M.; Inmian, Jennifer A.; Jones, Stephen B.; Ivey, Christopher B.; Goyne, Christopher P.

2010-01-01

Nitric-oxide planar laser-induced fluorescence (NO PLIF) was used to perform velocity measurements in hypersonic flows by generating multiple tagged lines which fluoresce as they convect downstream. For each laser pulse, a single interline, progressive scan intensified CCD camera was used to obtain separate images of the initial undelayed and delayed NO molecules that had been tagged by the laser. The CCD configuration allowed for sub-microsecond acquisition of both images, resulting in sub-microsecond temporal resolution as well as sub-mm spatial resolution (0.5-mm x 0.7-mm). Determination of axial velocity was made by application of a cross-correlation analysis of the horizontal shift of individual tagged lines. Quantification of systematic errors, the contribution of gating/exposure duration errors, and influence of collision rate on fluorescence to temporal uncertainty were made. Quantification of the spatial uncertainty depended upon the analysis technique and signal-to-noise of the acquired profiles. This investigation focused on two hypersonic flow experiments: (1) a reaction control system (RCS) jet on an Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) wind tunnel model and (2) a 10-degree half-angle wedge containing a 2-mm tall, 4-mm wide cylindrical boundary layer trip. The experiments were performed at the NASA Langley Research Center's 31-inch Mach 10 wind tunnel.

Fluid flow in a porous medium with transverse permeability discontinuity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlovskaya, Galina E.; Meersmann, Thomas; Jin, Chunyu; Rigby, Sean P.

2018-04-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) velocimetry methods are used to study fully developed axially symmetric fluid flow in a model porous medium of cylindrical symmetry with a transverse permeability discontinuity. Spatial mapping of fluid flow results in radial velocity profiles. High spatial resolution of these profiles allows estimating the slip in velocities at the boundary with a permeability discontinuity zone in a sample. The profiles are compared to theoretical velocity fields for a fully developed axially symmetric flow in a cylinder derived from the Beavers-Joseph [G. S. Beavers and D. D. Joseph, J. Fluid Mech. 30, 197 (1967), 10.1017/S0022112067001375] and Brinkman [H. C. Brinkman, Appl. Sci. Res. A 1, 27 (1947), 10.1007/BF02120313] models. Velocity fields are also computed using pore-scale lattice Boltzmann modeling (LBM) where the assumption about the boundary could be omitted. Both approaches give good agreement between theory and experiment, though LBM velocity fields follow the experiment more closely. This work shows great promise for MRI velocimetry methods in addressing the boundary behavior of fluids in opaque heterogeneous porous media.

Heat Transport upon River-Water Infiltration investigated by Fiber-Optic High-Resolution Temperature Profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogt, T.; Schirmer, M.; Cirpka, O. A.

2010-12-01

Infiltrating river water is of high relevance for drinking water supply by river bank filtration as well as for riparian groundwater ecology. Quantifying flow patterns and velocities, however, is hampered by temporal and spatial variations of exchange fluxes. In recent years, heat has become a popular natural tracer to estimate exchange rates between rivers and groundwater. Nevertheless, field investigations are often limited by insufficient sensors spacing or simplifying assumptions such as one-dimensional flow. Our interest lies in a detailed local survey of river water infiltration at a restored river section at the losing river Thur in northeast Switzerland. Here, we measured three high-resolution temperature profiles along an assumed flow path by means of distributed temperature sensing (DTS) using fiber optic cables wrapped around poles. Moreover, piezometers were equipped with standard temperature sensors for a comparison to the DTS data. Diurnal temperature oscillations were tracked in the river bed and the riparian groundwater and analyzed by means of dynamic harmonic regression and subsequent modeling of heat transport with sinusoidal boundary conditions to quantify seepage velocities and thermal diffusivities. Compared to the standard temperature sensors, the DTS data give a higher vertical resolution, facilitating the detection of process- and structure-dependent patterns of the spatiotemporal temperature field. This advantage overcompensates the scatter in the data due to instrument noise. In particular, we could demonstrate the impact of heat conduction through the unsaturated zone on the riparian groundwater by the high resolution temperature profiles.

Advanced SLMs for microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linnenberger, A.

2018-02-01

Wavefront shaping devices such as deformable mirrors, liquid crystal spatial light modulators (SLMs), and active lenses are of considerable interest in microscopy for aberration correction, volumetric imaging, and programmable excitation. Liquid crystal SLMs are high resolution phase modulators capable of creating complex phase profiles to reshape, or redirect light within a three-dimensional (3D) volume. Recent advances in Meadowlark Optics (MLO) SLMs reduce losses by increasing fill factor from 83.4% to 96%, and improving resolution from 512 x 512 pixels to 1920 x 1152 pixels while maintaining a liquid crystal response time of 300 Hz at 1064 nm. This paper summarizes new SLM capabilities, and benefits for microscopy.

Dual Etalon Cross Tilt Order Sorted Spectrometer (DECTOSS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumer, John B.; Rairden, Richard L.; Mitchell, Keith E.; Roche, Aidan E.; Mergenthaler, John L.

2002-11-01

The Dual Etalon Cross Tilt Order Sorted Spectrometer (DECTOSS) uses relatively inexpensive off the shelf components in a small and simple package to provide ultra high spectral resolution over a limited spectral range. For example, the modest first try laboratory test setup DECTOSS we describe in this presentation achieves resolving power ~ 105 on a spectral range of about 1 nm centered near 760 nm. This ultra high spectral resolution facilitates some important atmospheric remote sensing applications including profiling cirrus and/or aerosol above bright reflective surfaces in the O2 A-band and the column measurements of CO and CO2 utilizing solar reflectance spectra. We show details of the how the use of ultra high spectral resolution in the O2 A-band improves the profiling of cirrus and aerosol. The DECTOSS utilizes a Narrow Band Spectral Filter (NBSF), a Low Resolution Etalon (LRE) and a High Resolution Etalon (HRE). Light passing through these elements is focused on to a 2 Dimensional Array Detector (2DAD). Off the shelf, solid etalons with airgap or solid spacer gap are used in this application. In its simplest application this setup utilizes a spatially uniform extended source so that spatial and spectral structure are not confused. In this presentation we'll show 2D spectral data obtained in a desktop test configuration, and in the first try laboratory test setup. These were obtained by illuminating a Lambertian screen with (1) monochromatic light, and (2) with atmospheric absorption spectra in the oxygen (O2) A-band. Extracting the 1D spectra from these data is a work in progress and we show preliminary results compared with (1) solar absorption data obtained with a large Echelle grating spectrometer, and (2) theoretical spectra. We point out areas for improvement in our laboratory test setup, and general improvements in spectral range and sensitivity that are planned for our next generation field test setup.

Reactor for in situ measurements of spatially resolved kinetic data in heterogeneous catalysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horn, R.; Korup, O.; Geske, M.; Zavyalova, U.; Oprea, I.; Schlögl, R.

2010-06-01

The present work describes a reactor that allows in situ measurements of spatially resolved kinetic data in heterogeneous catalysis. The reactor design allows measurements up to temperatures of 1300 °C and 45 bar pressure, i.e., conditions of industrial relevance. The reactor involves reactants flowing through a solid catalyst bed containing a sampling capillary with a side sampling orifice through which a small fraction of the reacting fluid (gas or liquid) is transferred into an analytical device (e.g., mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, high pressure liquid chromatograph) for quantitative analysis. The sampling capillary can be moved with μm resolution in or against flow direction to measure species profiles through the catalyst bed. Rotation of the sampling capillary allows averaging over several scan lines. The position of the sampling orifice is such that the capillary channel through the catalyst bed remains always occupied by the capillary preventing flow disturbance and fluid bypassing. The second function of the sampling capillary is to provide a well which can accommodate temperature probes such as a thermocouple or a pyrometer fiber. If a thermocouple is inserted in the sampling capillary and aligned with the sampling orifice fluid temperature profiles can be measured. A pyrometer fiber can be used to measure the temperature profile of the solid catalyst bed. Spatial profile measurements are demonstrated for methane oxidation on Pt and methane oxidative coupling on Li/MgO, both catalysts supported on reticulated α -Al2O3 foam supports.

High-resolution simulation of link-level vehicle emissions and concentrations for air pollutants in a traffic-populated eastern Asian city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shaojun; Wu, Ye; Huang, Ruikun; Wang, Jiandong; Yan, Han; Zheng, Yali; Hao, Jiming

2016-08-01

Vehicle emissions containing air pollutants created substantial environmental impacts on air quality for many traffic-populated cities in eastern Asia. A high-resolution emission inventory is a useful tool compared with traditional tools (e.g. registration data-based approach) to accurately evaluate real-world traffic dynamics and their environmental burden. In this study, Macau, one of the most populated cities in the world, is selected to demonstrate a high-resolution simulation of vehicular emissions and their contribution to air pollutant concentrations by coupling multimodels. First, traffic volumes by vehicle category on 47 typical roads were investigated during weekdays in 2010 and further applied in a networking demand simulation with the TransCAD model to establish hourly profiles of link-level vehicle counts. Local vehicle driving speed and vehicle age distribution data were also collected in Macau. Second, based on a localized vehicle emission model (e.g. the emission factor model for the Beijing vehicle fleet - Macau, EMBEV-Macau), this study established a link-based vehicle emission inventory in Macau with high resolution meshed in a temporal and spatial framework. Furthermore, we employed the AERMOD (AMS/EPA Regulatory Model) model to map concentrations of CO and primary PM2.5 contributed by local vehicle emissions during weekdays in November 2010. This study has discerned the strong impact of traffic flow dynamics on the temporal and spatial patterns of vehicle emissions, such as a geographic discrepancy of spatial allocation up to 26 % between THC and PM2.5 emissions owing to spatially heterogeneous vehicle-use intensity between motorcycles and diesel fleets. We also identified that the estimated CO2 emissions from gasoline vehicles agreed well with the statistical fuel consumption in Macau. Therefore, this paper provides a case study and a solid framework for developing high-resolution environment assessment tools for other vehicle-populated cities in eastern Asia.

SoilGrids250m: Global gridded soil information based on machine learning

PubMed Central

Mendes de Jesus, Jorge; Heuvelink, Gerard B. M.; Ruiperez Gonzalez, Maria; Kilibarda, Milan; Blagotić, Aleksandar; Shangguan, Wei; Wright, Marvin N.; Geng, Xiaoyuan; Bauer-Marschallinger, Bernhard; Guevara, Mario Antonio; Vargas, Rodrigo; MacMillan, Robert A.; Batjes, Niels H.; Leenaars, Johan G. B.; Ribeiro, Eloi; Wheeler, Ichsani; Mantel, Stephan; Kempen, Bas

2017-01-01

This paper describes the technical development and accuracy assessment of the most recent and improved version of the SoilGrids system at 250m resolution (June 2016 update). SoilGrids provides global predictions for standard numeric soil properties (organic carbon, bulk density, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), pH, soil texture fractions and coarse fragments) at seven standard depths (0, 5, 15, 30, 60, 100 and 200 cm), in addition to predictions of depth to bedrock and distribution of soil classes based on the World Reference Base (WRB) and USDA classification systems (ca. 280 raster layers in total). Predictions were based on ca. 150,000 soil profiles used for training and a stack of 158 remote sensing-based soil covariates (primarily derived from MODIS land products, SRTM DEM derivatives, climatic images and global landform and lithology maps), which were used to fit an ensemble of machine learning methods—random forest and gradient boosting and/or multinomial logistic regression—as implemented in the R packages ranger, xgboost, nnet and caret. The results of 10–fold cross-validation show that the ensemble models explain between 56% (coarse fragments) and 83% (pH) of variation with an overall average of 61%. Improvements in the relative accuracy considering the amount of variation explained, in comparison to the previous version of SoilGrids at 1 km spatial resolution, range from 60 to 230%. Improvements can be attributed to: (1) the use of machine learning instead of linear regression, (2) to considerable investments in preparing finer resolution covariate layers and (3) to insertion of additional soil profiles. Further development of SoilGrids could include refinement of methods to incorporate input uncertainties and derivation of posterior probability distributions (per pixel), and further automation of spatial modeling so that soil maps can be generated for potentially hundreds of soil variables. Another area of future research is the development of methods for multiscale merging of SoilGrids predictions with local and/or national gridded soil products (e.g. up to 50 m spatial resolution) so that increasingly more accurate, complete and consistent global soil information can be produced. SoilGrids are available under the Open Data Base License. PMID:28207752

SoilGrids250m: Global gridded soil information based on machine learning.

PubMed

Hengl, Tomislav; Mendes de Jesus, Jorge; Heuvelink, Gerard B M; Ruiperez Gonzalez, Maria; Kilibarda, Milan; Blagotić, Aleksandar; Shangguan, Wei; Wright, Marvin N; Geng, Xiaoyuan; Bauer-Marschallinger, Bernhard; Guevara, Mario Antonio; Vargas, Rodrigo; MacMillan, Robert A; Batjes, Niels H; Leenaars, Johan G B; Ribeiro, Eloi; Wheeler, Ichsani; Mantel, Stephan; Kempen, Bas

2017-01-01

This paper describes the technical development and accuracy assessment of the most recent and improved version of the SoilGrids system at 250m resolution (June 2016 update). SoilGrids provides global predictions for standard numeric soil properties (organic carbon, bulk density, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), pH, soil texture fractions and coarse fragments) at seven standard depths (0, 5, 15, 30, 60, 100 and 200 cm), in addition to predictions of depth to bedrock and distribution of soil classes based on the World Reference Base (WRB) and USDA classification systems (ca. 280 raster layers in total). Predictions were based on ca. 150,000 soil profiles used for training and a stack of 158 remote sensing-based soil covariates (primarily derived from MODIS land products, SRTM DEM derivatives, climatic images and global landform and lithology maps), which were used to fit an ensemble of machine learning methods-random forest and gradient boosting and/or multinomial logistic regression-as implemented in the R packages ranger, xgboost, nnet and caret. The results of 10-fold cross-validation show that the ensemble models explain between 56% (coarse fragments) and 83% (pH) of variation with an overall average of 61%. Improvements in the relative accuracy considering the amount of variation explained, in comparison to the previous version of SoilGrids at 1 km spatial resolution, range from 60 to 230%. Improvements can be attributed to: (1) the use of machine learning instead of linear regression, (2) to considerable investments in preparing finer resolution covariate layers and (3) to insertion of additional soil profiles. Further development of SoilGrids could include refinement of methods to incorporate input uncertainties and derivation of posterior probability distributions (per pixel), and further automation of spatial modeling so that soil maps can be generated for potentially hundreds of soil variables. Another area of future research is the development of methods for multiscale merging of SoilGrids predictions with local and/or national gridded soil products (e.g. up to 50 m spatial resolution) so that increasingly more accurate, complete and consistent global soil information can be produced. SoilGrids are available under the Open Data Base License.

Atmospheric parameterization schemes for satellite cloud property retrieval during FIRE IFO 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Titlow, James; Baum, Bryan A.

1993-01-01

Satellite cloud retrieval algorithms generally require atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles to determine such cloud properties as pressure and height. For instance, the CO2 slicing technique called the ratio method requires the calculation of theoretical upwelling radiances both at the surface and a prescribed number (40) of atmospheric levels. This technique has been applied to data from, for example, the High Resolution Infrared Radiometer Sounder (HIRS/2, henceforth HIRS) flown aboard the NOAA series of polar orbiting satellites and the High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS). In this particular study, four NOAA-11 HIRS channels in the 15-micron region are used. The ratio method may be applied to various channel combinations to estimate cloud top heights using channels in the 15-mu m region. Presently, the multispectral, multiresolution (MSMR) scheme uses 4 HIRS channel combination estimates for mid- to high-level cloud pressure retrieval and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data for low-level (is greater than 700 mb) cloud level retrieval. In order to determine theoretical upwelling radiances, atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles must be provided as well as profiles of other radiatively important gas absorber constituents such as CO2, O3, and CH4. The assumed temperature and humidity profiles have a large effect on transmittance and radiance profiles, which in turn are used with HIRS data to calculate cloud pressure, and thus cloud height and temperature. For large spatial scale satellite data analysis, atmospheric parameterization schemes for cloud retrieval algorithms are usually based on a gridded product such as that provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) or the National Meteorological Center (NMC). These global, gridded products prescribe temperature and humidity profiles for a limited number of pressure levels (up to 14) in a vertical atmospheric column. The FIRE IFO 2 experiment provides an opportunity to investigate current atmospheric profile parameterization schemes, compare satellite cloud height results using both gridded products (ECMWF) and high vertical resolution sonde data from the National Weather Service (NWS) and Cross Chain Loran Atmospheric Sounding System (CLASS), and suggest modifications in atmospheric parameterization schemes based on these results.

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

Petasecca, M., E-mail: marcop@uow.edu.au; Newall, M. K.; Aldosari, A. H.

Purpose: Spatial and temporal resolutions are two of the most important features for quality assurance instrumentation of motion adaptive radiotherapy modalities. The goal of this work is to characterize the performance of the 2D high spatial resolution monolithic silicon diode array named “MagicPlate-512” for quality assurance of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) combined with a dynamic multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking technique for motion compensation. Methods: MagicPlate-512 is used in combination with the movable platform HexaMotion and a research version of radiofrequency tracking system Calypso driving MLC tracking software. The authors reconstruct 2D dose distributions of smallmore » field square beams in three modalities: in static conditions, mimicking the temporal movement pattern of a lung tumor and tracking the moving target while the MLC compensates almost instantaneously for the tumor displacement. Use of Calypso in combination with MagicPlate-512 requires a proper radiofrequency interference shielding. Impact of the shielding on dosimetry has been simulated by GEANT4 and verified experimentally. Temporal and spatial resolutions of the dosimetry system allow also for accurate verification of segments of complex stereotactic radiotherapy plans with identification of the instant and location where a certain dose is delivered. This feature allows for retrospective temporal reconstruction of the delivery process and easy identification of error in the tracking or the multileaf collimator driving systems. A sliding MLC wedge combined with the lung motion pattern has been measured. The ability of the MagicPlate-512 (MP512) in 2D dose mapping in all three modes of operation was benchmarked by EBT3 film. Results: Full width at half maximum and penumbra of the moving and stationary dose profiles measured by EBT3 film and MagicPlate-512 confirm that motion has a significant impact on the dose distribution. Motion, no motion, and motion with MLC tracking profiles agreed within 1 and 0.4 mm, respectively, for all field sizes tested. Use of electromagnetic tracking system generates a fluctuation of the detector baseline up to 10% of the full scale signal requiring a proper shielding strategy. MagicPlate-512 is also able to reconstruct the dose variation pulse-by-pulse in each pixel of the detector. An analysis of the dose transients with motion and motion with tracking shows that the tracking feedback algorithm used for this experiment can compensate effectively only the effect of the slower transient components. The fast changing components of the organ motion can contribute only to discrepancy of the order of 15% in penumbral region while the slower components can change the dose profile up to 75% of the expected dose. Conclusions: MagicPlate-512 is shown to be, potentially, a valid alternative to film or 2D ionizing chambers for quality assurance dosimetry in SRS or SBRT. Its high spatial and temporal resolutions allow for accurate reconstruction of the profile in any conditions with motion and with tracking of the motion. It shows excellent performance to reconstruct the dose deposition in real time or retrospectively as a function of time for detailed analysis of the effect of motion in a specific pixel or area of interest.« less

CO emission tracing a warp or radial flow within ≲100 au in the HD 100546 protoplanetary disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, Catherine; Daley, Cail; Facchini, Stefano; Juhász, Attila

2017-11-01

We present spatially resolved Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) images of 12CO J = 3-2 emission from the protoplanetary disk around the Herbig Ae star, HD 100546. We expand upon earlier analyses of this data and model the spatially-resolved kinematic structure of the CO emission. Assuming a velocity profile which prescribes a flat or flared emitting surface in Keplerian rotation, we uncover significant residuals with a peak of ≈7δv, where δv = 0.21 km s-1 is the width of a single spectral resolution element. The shape and extent of the residuals reveal the possible presence of a severely warped and twisted inner disk extending to at most 100 au. Adapting the model to include a misaligned inner gas disk with (I) an inclination almost edge-on to the line of sight, and (II) a position angle almost orthogonal to that of the outer disk reduces the residuals to <3δv. However, these findings are contrasted by recent VLT/SPHERE, MagAO/GPI, and VLTI/PIONIER observations of HD 100546 that show no evidence of a severely misaligned inner dust disk down to spatial scales of 1 au. An alternative explanation for the observed kinematics are fast radial flows mediated by (proto)planets. Inclusion of a radial velocity component at close to free-fall speeds and inwards of ≈50 au results in residuals of ≈4δv. Hence, the model including a radial velocity component only does not reproduce the data as well as that including a twisted and misaligned inner gas disk. Molecular emission data at a higher spatial resolution (of order 10 au) are required to further constrain the kinematics within ≲100 au. HD 100546 joins several other protoplanetary disks for which high spectral resolution molecular emission shows that the gas velocity structure cannot be described by a purely Keplerian velocity profile with a universal inclination and position angle. Regardless of the process, the most likely cause is the presence of an unseen planetary companion.

Imaging of turbulent structures and tomographic reconstruction of TORPEX plasma emissivity

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

Iraji, D.; Furno, I.; Fasoli, A.

In the TORPEX [A. Fasoli et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 055902 (2006)], a simple magnetized plasma device, low frequency electrostatic fluctuations associated with interchange waves, are routinely measured by means of extensive sets of Langmuir probes. To complement the electrostatic probe measurements of plasma turbulence and study of plasma structures smaller than the spatial resolution of probes array, a nonperturbative direct imaging system has been developed on TORPEX, including a fast framing Photron-APX-RS camera and an image intensifier unit. From the line-integrated camera images, we compute the poloidal emissivity profile of the plasma by applying a tomographic reconstruction technique usingmore » a pixel method and solving an overdetermined set of equations by singular value decomposition. This allows comparing statistical, spectral, and spatial properties of visible light radiation with electrostatic fluctuations. The shape and position of the time-averaged reconstructed plasma emissivity are observed to be similar to those of the ion saturation current profile. In the core plasma, excluding the electron cyclotron and upper hybrid resonant layers, the mean value of the plasma emissivity is observed to vary with (T{sub e}){sup {alpha}}(n{sub e}){sup {beta}}, in which {alpha}=0.25-0.7 and {beta}=0.8-1.4, in agreement with collisional radiative model. The tomographic reconstruction is applied to the fast camera movie acquired with 50 kframes/s rate and 2 {mu}s of exposure time to obtain the temporal evolutions of the emissivity fluctuations. Conditional average sampling is also applied to visualize and measure sizes of structures associated with the interchange mode. The {omega}-time and the two-dimensional k-space Fourier analysis of the reconstructed emissivity fluctuations show the same interchange mode that is detected in the {omega} and k spectra of the ion saturation current fluctuations measured by probes. Small scale turbulent plasma structures can be detected and tracked in the reconstructed emissivity movies with the spatial resolution down to 2 cm, well beyond the spatial resolution of the probe array.« less

Real-Time Laser Ultrasound Tomography for Profilometry of Solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarubin, V. P.; Bychkov, A. S.; Karabutov, A. A.; Simonova, V. A.; Kudinov, I. A.; Cherepetskaya, E. B.

2018-01-01

We studied the possibility of applying laser ultrasound tomography for profilometry of solids. The proposed approach provides high spatial resolution and efficiency, as well as profilometry of contaminated objects or objects submerged in liquids. The algorithms for the construction of tomograms and recognition of the profiles of studied objects using the parallel programming technology NDIVIA CUDA are proposed. A prototype of the real-time laser ultrasound profilometer was used to obtain the profiles of solid surfaces of revolution. The proposed method allows the real-time determination of the surface position for cylindrical objects with an approximation accuracy of up to 16 μm.

The SUVIT Instrument on the Solar-C Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarbell, Theodore D.; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi

2014-06-01

Solar-C is a new space mission being proposed to JAXA, with significant contributions anticipated from NASA, ESA, and EU countries. The main scientific objectives are to: reveal the mechanisms for heating and dynamics of the chromosphere and corona and acceleration of the solar wind; determine the physical origin of the large-scale explosions and eruptions that drive short-term solar, heliospheric, and geospace variability; use the solar atmosphere as a laboratory for understanding fundamental physical processes; make unprecedented observations of the polar magnetic fields. The unique approaches of Solar-C to achieve these goals are to: determine the properties and evolution of the 3-dimensional magnetic field, especially on small spatial scales, and for the first time observed in the crucial low beta plasma region; observe all the temperature regimes of the atmosphere seamlessly at the highest spatial resolution ever achieved; observe at high cadence the prevailing dynamics in all regions of the atmosphere; determine physical properties from high resolution spectroscopic measurements throughout the atmosphere and into the solar wind. The powerful suite of instruments onboard Solar-C will be sensitive to temperatures from the photosphere 5500 K) to solar flares 20 MK) with no temperature gap, with spatial resolution at all temperatures of 0.3″ or less (0.1″ in the lower atmosphere) and at high cadence. The purpose of the Solar UV-Visible-IR Telescope (SUVIT) is to obtain chromospheric velocity, temperature, density and magnetic field diagnostics over as wide arange of heights as possible, through high cadence spectral line profiles and vector spectro-polarimetry. SUVIT is a meter-class telescope currently under study at 1.4m in order to obtain sufficientresolution and S/N. SUVIT has two complementary focal plane packages, the Filtergraph that makes high cadence imaging observations with the highest spatial resolution and the Spectro-polarimeter that makes precise spectro-polarimetric observations. With their powerful sets of spectral lines, FG and SP collect physical measurements from the lower photosphere to upper chromosphere with much better spatial and temporal resolution than Hinode SOT.

Practical use of a plastic scintillator for quality assurance of electron beam therapy.

PubMed

Yogo, Katsunori; Tatsuno, Yuya; Tsuneda, Masato; Aono, Yuki; Mochizuki, Daiki; Fujisawa, Yoshiki; Matsushita, Akihiro; Ishigami, Minoru; Ishiyama, Hiromichi; Hayakawa, Kazushige

2017-06-07

Quality assurance (QA) of clinical electron beams is essential for performing accurate and safe radiation therapy. However, with advances in radiation therapy, QA has become increasingly labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this paper, we propose a tissue-equivalent plastic scintillator for quick and easy QA of clinical electron beams. The proposed tool comprises a plastic scintillator plate and a charge-coupled device camera that enable the scintillation light by electron beams to be recorded with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Further, the Cerenkov image is directly subtracted from the scintillation image to discriminate Cerenkov emissions and accurately measure the dose profiles of electron beams with high spatial resolution. Compared with conventional methods, discrepancies in the depth profile improved from 7% to 2% in the buildup region via subtractive corrections. Further, the output brightness showed good linearity with dose, good reproducibility (deviations below 1%), and dose rate independence (within 0.5%). The depth of 50% dose measured with the tool, an index of electron beam quality, was within  ±0.5 mm of that obtained with an ionization chamber. Lateral brightness profiles agreed with the lateral dose profiles to within 4% and no significant improvement was obtained using Cerenkov corrections. Field size agreed to within 0.5 mm with those obtained with ionization chamber. For clinical QA of electron boost treatment, a disk scintillator that mimics the shape of a patient's breast is applied. The brightness distribution and dose, calculated using a treatment planning system, was generally acceptable for clinical use, except in limited zones. Overall, the proposed plastic scintillator plate tool efficiently performs QA for electron beam therapy and enables simultaneous verification of output constancy, beam quality, depth, and lateral dose profiles during monthly QAs at lower doses of irradiation (small monitor units, MUs).

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John T.; Liu, Xiong; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas J.; Langford, Andrew O'Neil; Senff, Christoph J.; Leblanc, Thierry; Berkoff, Timothy;

Evaluating a Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John; Liu, Xiong; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas; Langford, Andrew; Senff, Chris; Leblanc, Thierry; Berkoff, Timothy;

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, M. S.; Sullivan, J. T.; Liu, X.; Newchurch, M.; Kuang, S.; McGee, T. J.; Langford, A. O.; Senff, C. J.; Leblanc, T.; Berkoff, T.; Gronoff, G.; Chen, G.; Strawbridge, K. B.

2016-12-01

Ozone (O3) is a greenhouse gas and toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality. Typically, monitoring of surface air quality and O3 mixing ratios is primarily conducted using in situ measurement networks. This is partially due to high-quality information related to air quality being limited from space-borne platforms due to coarse spatial resolution, limited temporal frequency, and minimal sensitivity to lower tropospheric and surface-level O3. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite is designed to address these limitations of current space-based platforms and to improve our ability to monitor North American air quality. TEMPO will provide hourly data of total column and vertical profiles of O3 with high spatial resolution to be used as a near-real-time air quality product. TEMPO O3 retrievals will apply the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory profile algorithm developed based on work from GOME, GOME-2, and OMI. This algorithm uses a priori O3 profile information from a climatological data-base developed from long-term ozone-sonde measurements (tropopause-based (TB) O3 climatology). It has been shown that satellite O3 retrievals are sensitive to a priori O3 profiles and covariance matrices. During this work we investigate the climatological data to be used in TEMPO algorithms (TB O3) and simulated data from the NASA GMAO Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Forward Processing (FP) near-real-time (NRT) model products. These two data products will be evaluated with ground-based lidar data from the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) at various locations of the US. This study evaluates the TB climatology, GEOS-5 climatology, and 3-hourly GEOS-5 data compared to lower tropospheric observations to demonstrate the accuracy of a priori information to potentially be used in TEMPO O3 algorithms. Here we present our initial analysis and the theoretical impact on TEMPO retrievals in the lower troposphere.

Spatial representation of organic carbon and active-layer thickness of high latitude soils in CMIP5 earth system models

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

Mishra, Umakant; Drewniak, Beth; Jastrow, Julie D.

Soil properties such as soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and active-layer thickness are used in earth system models (F.SMs) to predict anthropogenic and climatic impacts on soil carbon dynamics, future changes in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and associated climate changes in the permafrost regions. Accurate representation of spatial and vertical distribution of these soil properties in ESMs is a prerequisite for redudng existing uncertainty in predicting carbon-climate feedbacks. We compared the spatial representation of SOC stocks and active-layer thicknesses predicted by the coupled Modellntercomparison Project Phase 5 { CMIP5) ESMs with those predicted from geospatial predictions, based on observation datamore » for the state of Alaska, USA. For the geospatial modeling. we used soil profile observations {585 for SOC stocks and 153 for active-layer thickness) and environmental variables (climate, topography, land cover, and surficial geology types) and generated fine-resolution (50-m spatial resolution) predictions of SOC stocks (to 1-m depth) and active-layer thickness across Alaska. We found large inter-quartile range (2.5-5.5 m) in predicted active-layer thickness of CMIP5 modeled results and small inter-quartile range (11.5-22 kg m-2) in predicted SOC stocks. The spatial coefficient of variability of active-layer thickness and SOC stocks were lower in CMIP5 predictions compared to our geospatial estimates when gridded at similar spatial resolutions (24.7 compared to 30% and 29 compared to 38%, respectively). However, prediction errors. when calculated for independent validation sites, were several times larger in ESM predictions compared to geospatial predictions. Primaly factors leading to observed differences were ( 1) lack of spatial heterogeneity in ESM predictions, (2) differences in assumptions concerning environmental controls, and (3) the absence of pedogenic processes in ESM model structures. Our results suggest that efforts to incorporate these factors in F.SMs should reduce current uncertainties associated with ESM predictions of carbon-climate feedbacks.« less

Toward a Unified Representation of Atmospheric Convection in Variable-Resolution Climate Models

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

Walko, Robert

2016-11-07

The purpose of this project was to improve the representation of convection in atmospheric weather and climate models that employ computational grids with spatially-variable resolution. Specifically, our work targeted models whose grids are fine enough over selected regions that convection is resolved explicitly, while over other regions the grid is coarser and convection is represented as a subgrid-scale process. The working criterion for a successful scheme for representing convection over this range of grid resolution was that identical convective environments must produce very similar convective responses (i.e., the same precipitation amount, rate, and timing, and the same modification of themore » atmospheric profile) regardless of grid scale. The need for such a convective scheme has increased in recent years as more global weather and climate models have adopted variable resolution meshes that are often extended into the range of resolving convection in selected locations.« less

Use of Aerial high resolution visible imagery to produce large river bathymetry: a multi temporal and spatial study over the by-passed Upper Rhine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Béal, D.; Piégay, H.; Arnaud, F.; Rollet, A.; Schmitt, L.

2011-12-01

Aerial high resolution visible imagery allows producing large river bathymetry assuming that water depth is related to water colour (Beer-Bouguer-Lambert law). In this paper we aim at monitoring Rhine River geometry changes for a diachronic study as well as sediment transport after an artificial injection (25.000 m3 restoration operation). For that a consequent data base of ground measurements of river depth is used, built on 3 different sources: (i) differential GPS acquisitions, (ii) sounder data and (iii) lateral profiles realized by experts. Water depth is estimated using a multi linear regression over neo channels built on a principal component analysis over red, green and blue bands and previously cited depth data. The study site is a 12 km long reach of the by-passed section of the Rhine River that draws French and German border. This section has been heavily impacted by engineering works during the last two centuries: channelization since 1842 for navigation purposes and the construction of a 45 km long lateral canal and 4 consecutive hydroelectric power plants of since 1932. Several bathymetric models are produced based on 3 different spatial resolutions (6, 13 and 20 cm) and 5 acquisitions (January, March, April, August and October) since 2008. Objectives are to find the optimal spatial resolution and to characterize seasonal effects. Best performances according to the 13 cm resolution show a 18 cm accuracy when suspended matters impacted less water transparency. Discussions are oriented to the monitoring of the artificial reload after 2 flood events during winter 2010-2011. Bathymetric models produced are also useful to build 2D hydraulic model's mesh.

Development and performance evaluation of an experimental fine pitch detector multislice CT scanner.

PubMed

Imai, Yasuhiro; Nukui, Masatake; Ishihara, Yotaro; Fujishige, Takashi; Ogata, Kentaro; Moritake, Masahiro; Kurochi, Haruo; Ogata, Tsuyoshi; Yahata, Mitsuru; Tang, Xiangyang

2009-04-01

The authors have developed an experimental fine pitch detector multislice CT scanner with an ultrasmall focal spot x-ray tube and a high-density matrix detector through current CT technology. The latitudinal size of the x-ray tube focal spot was 0.4 mm. The detector dimension was 1824 channels (azimuthal direction) x 32 rows (longitudinal direction) at row width of 0.3125 mm, in which a thinner reflected separator surrounds each detector cell coupled with a large active area photodiode. They were mounted on a commercial 64-slice CT scanner gantry while the scan field of view (50 cm) and gantry rotation speed (0.35 s) can be maintained. The experimental CT scanner demonstrated the spatial resolution of 0.21-0.22 mm (23.8-22.7 lp/cm) with the acrylic slit phantom and in-plane 50%-MTF 9.0 lp/cm and 10%-MTF 22.0 lp/cm. In the longitudinal direction, it demonstrated the spatial resolution of 0.24 mm with the high-resolution insert of the CATPHAN phantom and 0.34 mm as the full width at half maximum of the slice sensitivity profile. In low-contrast detectability, 3 mm at 0.3% was visualized at the CTDI(vol) of 47.2 mGy. Two types of 2.75 mm diameter vessel phantoms with in-stent stenosis at 25%, 50%, and 75% stair steps were scanned, and the reconstructed images can clearly resolve the stenosis at each case. The experimental CT scanner provides high-resolution imaging while maintaining low-contrast detectability, demonstrating the potentiality for clinical applications demanding high spatial resolution, such as imaging of inner ear, lung, and bone, or low-contrast detectability, such as imaging of coronary artery.

Unravel the submesoscale dynamics of the phytoplanktonic community in the NW Mediterranean Sea by in situ observations: the 2015 OSCAHR cruise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrec, Pierre; Doglioli, Andrea M.; Grégori, Gérald; Della Penna, Alice; Wagener, Thibaut; Rougier, Gille; Bhairy, Nagib; Dugenne, Mathilde; Lahbib, Soumaya; Thyssen, Melilotus

2017-04-01

Submesoscale phenomena have been recently recognized as a key factor in physical-biological-biogeochemical interactions, even if it remains unclear how these processes affect the global state of the ocean. Significant large-scale impacts of submesoscale structures on primary production and influence on the phytoplankton community structure and diversity have also been reported. In the past decade submesoscale dynamics have been predominately studied through the analysis of numerical simulations. Observing the coupled physical and biogeochemical variability at this scale remains challenging due to the ephemeral nature of submesoscale structures. The in-situ study of such structures necessitates multidisciplinary approaches involving in situ observations, remote sensing and modeling. Last progresses in biogeochemical sensor development and advanced methodology including Lagrangian real-time adaptative strategies represent outstanding opportunities. The OSCAHR (Observing Submesoscale Coupling At High Resolution) campaign has been conducted thanks to a multidisciplinary approach in order to improve the understanding of submesoscale processes. An ephemeral submesoscale structure was first identified in the Ligurian Sea in fall 2015 using both satellite and numerical modeling data before the campaign. Afterwards, advanced observing systems for the physical, biological and biogeochemical characterization of the sea surface layer at a high spatial and temporal frequency were deployed during a 10-days cruise. A MVP (Moving Vessel Profiler) was used to obtain high resolution CTD profiles associated to a new pumping system with 1-m vertical resolution. Moreover, along the ship track, in addition to the standard measurements of seawater surface samples (Chl-a, nutrients, O2, SST, SSS …), we deployed an automated flow cytometer for near real-time characterization of phytoplankton functional groups (from micro-phytoplankton down to cyanobacteria). The observed submesoscale feature presented a cyclonic structure with a relatively cold core surrounded by warmer waters. Six phytoplankton groups were identified across the structure with an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. According to our observations, we could quantify the influence of the fast established physical structure on the spatial distribution of the phytoplankton functional groups, giving coherence to the observed community structuration. Moreover, the high resolution of our observations allows us to estimate the growth rate of the main phytoplankton groups. Our innovative adaptative strategy with a multidisciplinary and transversal approach provides a deeper understanding of the marine biogeochemical dynamics through the first trophic levels.

Towards large dynamic range and ultrahigh measurement resolution in distributed fiber sensing based on multicore fiber.

PubMed

Dang, Yunli; Zhao, Zhiyong; Tang, Ming; Zhao, Can; Gan, Lin; Fu, Songnian; Liu, Tongqing; Tong, Weijun; Shum, Perry Ping; Liu, Deming

2017-08-21

Featuring a dependence of Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) on temperature and strain changes over a wide range, Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensors are however essentially subjected to the relatively poor temperature/strain measurement resolution. On the other hand, phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) offers ultrahigh temperature/strain measurement resolution, but the available frequency scanning range is normally narrow thereby severely restricts its measurement dynamic range. In order to achieve large dynamic range and high measurement resolution simultaneously, we propose to employ both the Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) and Φ-OTDR through space-division multiplexed (SDM) configuration based on the multicore fiber (MCF), in which the two sensors are spatially separately implemented in the central core and a side core, respectively. As a proof of concept, the temperature sensing has been performed for validation with 2.5 m spatial resolution over 1.565 km MCF. Large temperature range (10 °C) has been measured by BOTDA and the 0.1 °C small temperature variation is successfully identified by Φ-OTDR with ~0.001 °C resolution. Moreover, the temperature changing process has been recorded by continuously performing the measurement of Φ-OTDR with 80 s frequency scanning period, showing about 0.02 °C temperature spacing at the monitored profile. The proposed system enables the capability to see finer and/or farther upon requirement in distributed optical fiber sensing.

Towards increasing the spatial resolution of luminescence chronologies - Portable luminescence reader measurements and standardized growth curves applied to the beach-ridge plain of Phra Thong Island, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brill, Dominik; Jankaew, Kruawun; Brückner, Helmut

2016-04-01

Since optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is time consuming and cost intensive, age information available for individual study sites is usually restricted to significantly less than 100 ages. In particular the interpretation of complex depositional systems with temporally and spatially diverse sedimentation histories may suffer from the effects of a poor spatial resolution or an ineffective distribution of chronological data. In these cases, time and cost efficient approaches that provide reasonable dating accuracy are required to substitute or complement full luminescence dating. For the sandy beach-ridge plain of Phra Thong Island, Thailand, which is chronologically constrained by a set of approximately 50 luminescence ages, we evaluated the potential (i) of luminescence profiling using a portable luminescence reader, and (ii) of standardized growth curves (SGCs) to improve the resolution and sampling strategy of OSL dating in coastal settings. Although SGCs are related to some shortcomings in dating accuracy, and luminescence profiling with even the favorable conditions provided by the homogeneous sandy stratigraphy of the beach-ridge plain does not equal full luminescence dating, both approaches are capable of reproducing some of the main chronostratigraphic features of the island. This includes the differentiation between Holocene and last interglacial ridges, as well as the identification of the general east-west progradation and some (but not all) of several 1500-2000 year hiatuses within the Holocene sediment succession. However, while both approaches can successfully identify relative chronological trends, robust absolute age estimates can only be achieved by considering the highly variable dosimetry, which is the main contributing factor to bulk luminescence signals apart from deposition age on Phra Thong Island. At Phra Thong, portable reader signals as a proxy for palaeodoses combined with sample-specific dose rates proved as the best compromise between rapid data acquisition and adequate dating accuracy.

High spatial correspondence at a columnar level between activation and resting state fMRI signals and local field potentials.

PubMed

Shi, Zhaoyue; Wu, Ruiqi; Yang, Pai-Feng; Wang, Feng; Wu, Tung-Lin; Mishra, Arabinda; Chen, Li Min; Gore, John C

2017-05-16

Although blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI has been widely used to map brain responses to external stimuli and to delineate functional circuits at rest, the extent to which BOLD signals correlate spatially with underlying neuronal activity, the spatial relationships between stimulus-evoked BOLD activations and local correlations of BOLD signals in a resting state, and whether these spatial relationships vary across functionally distinct cortical areas are not known. To address these critical questions, we directly compared the spatial extents of stimulated activations and the local profiles of intervoxel resting state correlations for both high-resolution BOLD at 9.4 T and local field potentials (LFPs), using 98-channel microelectrode arrays, in functionally distinct primary somatosensory areas 3b and 1 in nonhuman primates. Anatomic images of LFP and BOLD were coregistered within 0.10 mm accuracy. We found that the point spread functions (PSFs) of BOLD and LFP responses were comparable in the stimulus condition, and both estimates of activations were slightly more spatially constrained than local correlations at rest. The magnitudes of stimulus responses in area 3b were stronger than those in area 1 and extended in a medial to lateral direction. In addition, the reproducibility and stability of stimulus-evoked activation locations within and across both modalities were robust. Our work suggests that the intrinsic resolution of BOLD is not a limiting feature in practice and approaches the intrinsic precision achievable by multielectrode electrophysiology.

High spatial correspondence at a columnar level between activation and resting state fMRI signals and local field potentials

PubMed Central

Shi, Zhaoyue; Wu, Ruiqi; Yang, Pai-Feng; Wang, Feng; Wu, Tung-Lin; Mishra, Arabinda; Chen, Li Min; Gore, John C.

2017-01-01

Although blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI has been widely used to map brain responses to external stimuli and to delineate functional circuits at rest, the extent to which BOLD signals correlate spatially with underlying neuronal activity, the spatial relationships between stimulus-evoked BOLD activations and local correlations of BOLD signals in a resting state, and whether these spatial relationships vary across functionally distinct cortical areas are not known. To address these critical questions, we directly compared the spatial extents of stimulated activations and the local profiles of intervoxel resting state correlations for both high-resolution BOLD at 9.4 T and local field potentials (LFPs), using 98-channel microelectrode arrays, in functionally distinct primary somatosensory areas 3b and 1 in nonhuman primates. Anatomic images of LFP and BOLD were coregistered within 0.10 mm accuracy. We found that the point spread functions (PSFs) of BOLD and LFP responses were comparable in the stimulus condition, and both estimates of activations were slightly more spatially constrained than local correlations at rest. The magnitudes of stimulus responses in area 3b were stronger than those in area 1 and extended in a medial to lateral direction. In addition, the reproducibility and stability of stimulus-evoked activation locations within and across both modalities were robust. Our work suggests that the intrinsic resolution of BOLD is not a limiting feature in practice and approaches the intrinsic precision achievable by multielectrode electrophysiology. PMID:28461461

A Combined Infrared and Microwave Technique for Studying the Diurnal Variation of Rainfall over Amazonia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Negri, Andrew J.; Anagnostou, Emmanouil; Adler, Robert F.

1999-01-01

Over 10 years of continuous data from the Special Sensor microwave Imager (SSM/I) aboard a series of Defense Department satellites has made it possible to construct regional rainfall climatologies at high spatial resolution. Using the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF), monthly estimates of precipitation were made over the region of northern Brazil, including the Amazon Basin, for 1987 to 1998. GPROF is a physical approach to passive microwave precipitation retrieval, which uses the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (cloud) model to establish prior probability densities of precipitation structures. Precipitation fields from GPROF were stratified into morning and evening satellite overpasses, and accumulated at monthly intervals at 0.5 degree spatial resolution. Important diurnal effects were noted in the analysis, the most pronounced being a land/sea breeze circulation along the northern coast of Brazil and a mountain/valley circulation along the Andes. There were also indications of morning rainfall maxima along the major rivers, and evening maxima between the rivers. The addition of simultaneous geosynchronous infrared (IR) data leads to the current technique, which takes advantage of the 30 minute sampling and 4 km spatial resolution of the infrared channel and the better physics of the microwave retrieval. The resultant IR method is subsequently used to derive the diurnal variability of rainfall over the Amazon basin, and further, to investigate the relative contribution from its convective and stratiform components.

Reducing representativeness and sampling errors in radio occultation-radiosonde comparisons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilpin, Shay; Rieckh, Therese; Anthes, Richard

2018-05-01

Radio occultation (RO) and radiosonde (RS) comparisons provide a means of analyzing errors associated with both observational systems. Since RO and RS observations are not taken at the exact same time or location, temporal and spatial sampling errors resulting from atmospheric variability can be significant and inhibit error analysis of the observational systems. In addition, the vertical resolutions of RO and RS profiles vary and vertical representativeness errors may also affect the comparison. In RO-RS comparisons, RO observations are co-located with RS profiles within a fixed time window and distance, i.e. within 3-6 h and circles of radii ranging between 100 and 500 km. In this study, we first show that vertical filtering of RO and RS profiles to a common vertical resolution reduces representativeness errors. We then test two methods of reducing horizontal sampling errors during RO-RS comparisons: restricting co-location pairs to within ellipses oriented along the direction of wind flow rather than circles and applying a spatial-temporal sampling correction based on model data. Using data from 2011 to 2014, we compare RO and RS differences at four GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) RS stations in different climatic locations, in which co-location pairs were constrained to a large circle ( ˜ 666 km radius), small circle ( ˜ 300 km radius), and ellipse parallel to the wind direction ( ˜ 666 km semi-major axis, ˜ 133 km semi-minor axis). We also apply a spatial-temporal sampling correction using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis (ERA-Interim) gridded data. Restricting co-locations to within the ellipse reduces root mean square (RMS) refractivity, temperature, and water vapor pressure differences relative to RMS differences within the large circle and produces differences that are comparable to or less than the RMS differences within circles of similar area. Applying the sampling correction shows the most significant reduction in RMS differences, such that RMS differences are nearly identical to the sampling correction regardless of the geometric constraints. We conclude that implementing the spatial-temporal sampling correction using a reliable model will most effectively reduce sampling errors during RO-RS comparisons; however, if a reliable model is not available, restricting spatial comparisons to within an ellipse parallel to the wind flow will reduce sampling errors caused by horizontal atmospheric variability.

Performance comparison of leading image codecs: H.264/AVC Intra, JPEG2000, and Microsoft HD Photo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tran, Trac D.; Liu, Lijie; Topiwala, Pankaj

2007-09-01

This paper provides a detailed rate-distortion performance comparison between JPEG2000, Microsoft HD Photo, and H.264/AVC High Profile 4:4:4 I-frame coding for high-resolution still images and high-definition (HD) 1080p video sequences. This work is an extension to our previous comparative study published in previous SPIE conferences [1, 2]. Here we further optimize all three codecs for compression performance. Coding simulations are performed on a set of large-format color images captured from mainstream digital cameras and 1080p HD video sequences commonly used for H.264/AVC standardization work. Overall, our experimental results show that all three codecs offer very similar coding performances at the high-quality, high-resolution setting. Differences tend to be data-dependent: JPEG2000 with the wavelet technology tends to be the best performer with smooth spatial data; H.264/AVC High-Profile with advanced spatial prediction modes tends to cope best with more complex visual content; Microsoft HD Photo tends to be the most consistent across the board. For the still-image data sets, JPEG2000 offers the best R-D performance gains (around 0.2 to 1 dB in peak signal-to-noise ratio) over H.264/AVC High-Profile intra coding and Microsoft HD Photo. For the 1080p video data set, all three codecs offer very similar coding performance. As in [1, 2], neither do we consider scalability nor complexity in this study (JPEG2000 is operating in non-scalable, but optimal performance mode).

Pore-scale dynamics of salt transport and distribution in drying porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shokri, Nima

2014-01-01

Understanding the physics of water evaporation from saline porous media is important in many natural and engineering applications such as durability of building materials and preservation of monuments, water quality, and mineral-fluid interactions. We applied synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography to investigate the pore-scale dynamics of dissolved salt distribution in a three dimensional drying saline porous media using a cylindrical plastic column (15 mm in height and 8 mm in diameter) packed with sand particles saturated with CaI2 solution (5% concentration by mass) with a spatial and temporal resolution of 12 μm and 30 min, respectively. Every time the drying sand column was set to be imaged, two different images were recorded using distinct synchrotron x-rays energies immediately above and below the K-edge value of Iodine. Taking the difference between pixel gray values enabled us to delineate the spatial and temporal distribution of CaI2 concentration at pore scale. Results indicate that during early stages of evaporation, air preferentially invades large pores at the surface while finer pores remain saturated and connected to the wet zone at bottom via capillary-induced liquid flow acting as evaporating spots. Consequently, the salt concentration increases preferentially in finer pores where evaporation occurs. Higher salt concentration was observed close to the evaporating surface indicating a convection-driven process. The obtained salt profiles were used to evaluate the numerical solution of the convection-diffusion equation (CDE). Results show that the macro-scale CDE could capture the overall trend of the measured salt profiles but fail to produce the exact slope of the profiles. Our results shed new insight on the physics of salt transport and its complex dynamics in drying porous media and establish synchrotron x-ray tomography as an effective tool to investigate the dynamics of salt transport in porous media at high spatial and temporal resolution.

Pore-scale dynamics of salt transport and distribution in drying porous media

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

Shokri, Nima, E-mail: nima.shokri@manchester.ac.uk

2014-01-15

Understanding the physics of water evaporation from saline porous media is important in many natural and engineering applications such as durability of building materials and preservation of monuments, water quality, and mineral-fluid interactions. We applied synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography to investigate the pore-scale dynamics of dissolved salt distribution in a three dimensional drying saline porous media using a cylindrical plastic column (15 mm in height and 8 mm in diameter) packed with sand particles saturated with CaI{sub 2} solution (5% concentration by mass) with a spatial and temporal resolution of 12 μm and 30 min, respectively. Every time the drying sandmore » column was set to be imaged, two different images were recorded using distinct synchrotron x-rays energies immediately above and below the K-edge value of Iodine. Taking the difference between pixel gray values enabled us to delineate the spatial and temporal distribution of CaI{sub 2} concentration at pore scale. Results indicate that during early stages of evaporation, air preferentially invades large pores at the surface while finer pores remain saturated and connected to the wet zone at bottom via capillary-induced liquid flow acting as evaporating spots. Consequently, the salt concentration increases preferentially in finer pores where evaporation occurs. Higher salt concentration was observed close to the evaporating surface indicating a convection-driven process. The obtained salt profiles were used to evaluate the numerical solution of the convection-diffusion equation (CDE). Results show that the macro-scale CDE could capture the overall trend of the measured salt profiles but fail to produce the exact slope of the profiles. Our results shed new insight on the physics of salt transport and its complex dynamics in drying porous media and establish synchrotron x-ray tomography as an effective tool to investigate the dynamics of salt transport in porous media at high spatial and temporal resolution.« less

Patterns of Precipitation and Streamflow Responses to Moisture Fluxes during Atmospheric Rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henn, B. M.; Wilson, A. M.; Asgari Lamjiri, M.; Ralph, M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation from landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) have been shown to dominate the hydroclimate of many parts of the world. ARs are associated with saturated, neutrally-stable profiles in the lower atmosphere, in which forced ascent by topography induces precipitation. Understanding the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over complex terrain during AR-driven precipitation is critical for accurate forcing of distributed hydrologic models and streamflow forecasts. Past studies using radar wind profilers and radiosondes have demonstrated predictability of precipitation rates based on upslope water vapor flux over coastal terrain, with certain levels of moisture flux exhibiting the greatest influence on precipitation. Additionally, these relationships have been extended to show that streamflow in turn responds predictably to upslope vapor flux. However, past studies have focused on individual pairs of profilers and precipitation gauges; the question of how orographic precipitation in ARs is distributed spatially over complex terrain, at different topographic scales, is less well known. Here, we examine profiles of atmospheric moisture transport from radiosondes and wind profilers, against a relatively dense network of precipitation gauges, as well as stream gauges, to assess relationships between upslope moisture flux and the spatial response of precipitation and streamflow. We focus on California's Russian River watershed in the 2016-2017 cool season, when regular radiosonde launches were made at two locations during an active sequence of landfalling ARs. We examine how atmospheric water vapor flux results in precipitation patterns across gauges with different topographic relationships to the prevailing moisture-bearing winds, and conduct a similar comparison of runoff volume response from several unimpaired watersheds in the upper Russian watershed, taking into account antecedent soil moisture conditions that influence runoff generation. Finally, we compare observed spatial patterns of precipitation accumulations to those in a topographically-aided gridded precipitation dataset to understand how atmospheric moisture transport may inform methods to downscale precipitation to high resolution for use in hydrologic modeling.

Advances in Spectral-Spatial Classification of Hyperspectral Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fauvel, Mathieu; Tarabalka, Yuliya; Benediktsson, Jon Atli; Chanussot, Jocelyn; Tilton, James C.

2012-01-01

Recent advances in spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral images are presented in this paper. Several techniques are investigated for combining both spatial and spectral information. Spatial information is extracted at the object (set of pixels) level rather than at the conventional pixel level. Mathematical morphology is first used to derive the morphological profile of the image, which includes characteristics about the size, orientation and contrast of the spatial structures present in the image. Then the morphological neighborhood is defined and used to derive additional features for classification. Classification is performed with support vector machines using the available spectral information and the extracted spatial information. Spatial post-processing is next investigated to build more homogeneous and spatially consistent thematic maps. To that end, three presegmentation techniques are applied to define regions that are used to regularize the preliminary pixel-wise thematic map. Finally, a multiple classifier system is defined to produce relevant markers that are exploited to segment the hyperspectral image with the minimum spanning forest algorithm. Experimental results conducted on three real hyperspectral images with different spatial and spectral resolutions and corresponding to various contexts are presented. They highlight the importance of spectral-spatial strategies for the accurate classification of hyperspectral images and validate the proposed methods.

How Cities Breathe: Ground-Referenced, Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging Precursor Measurements To Space-Based Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leifer, Ira; Tratt, David; Quattrochi, Dale; Bovensmann, Heinrich; Gerilowski, Konstantin; Buchwitz, Michael; Burrows, John

2013-01-01

Methane's (CH4) large global warming potential (Shindell et al., 2012) and likely increasing future emissions due to global warming feedbacks emphasize its importance to anthropogenic greenhouse warming (IPCC, 2007). Furthermore, CH4 regulation has far greater near-term climate change mitigation potential versus carbon dioxide CO2, the other major anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) (Shindell et al., 2009). Uncertainties in CH4 budgets arise from the poor state of knowledge of CH4 sources - in part from a lack of sufficiently accurate assessments of the temporal and spatial emissions and controlling factors of highly variable anthropogenic and natural CH4 surface fluxes (IPCC, 2007) and the lack of global-scale (satellite) data at sufficiently high spatial resolution to resolve sources. Many important methane (and other trace gases) sources arise from urban and mega-urban landscapes where anthropogenic activities are centered - most of humanity lives in urban areas. Studying these complex landscape tapestries is challenged by a wide and varied range of activities at small spatial scale, and difficulty in obtaining up-to-date landuse data in the developed world - a key desire of policy makers towards development of effective regulations. In the developing world, challenges are multiplied with additional political access challenges. As high spatial resolution satellite and airborne data has become available, activity mapping applications have blossomed - i.e., Google maps; however, tap a minute fraction of remote sensing capabilities due to limited (three band) spectral information. Next generation approaches that incorporate high spatial resolution hyperspectral and ultraspectral data will allow detangling of the highly heterogeneous usage megacity patterns by providing diagnostic identification of chemical composition from solids (refs) to gases (refs). To properly enable these next generation technologies for megacity include atmospheric radiative transfer modeling the complex and often aerosol laden, humid, urban microclimates, atmospheric transport and profile monitoring, spatial resolution, temporal cycles (diurnal and seasonal which involve interactions with the surrounding environment diurnal and seasonal cycles) and representative measurement approaches given traffic realities. Promising approaches incorporate contemporaneous airborne remote sensing and in situ measurements, nocturnal surface surveys, with ground station measurement

Combined Use of Satellite Observations with Urban Surface Characteristics to Estimate PM Concentrations by Employing Mixed-Effects Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beloconi, Anton; Benas, Nikolaos; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Kamarianakis, Yiannis

2015-11-01

Linear mixed effects models were developed for the estimation of the average daily Particulate Matter (PM) concentration spatial distribution over the area of Greater London (UK). Both fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) concentrations were predicted for the 2002- 2012 time period, based on satellite data. The latter included Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) at 3×3 km spatial resolution, as well as the Surface Relative Humidity, Surface Temperature and K-Index derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor. For a meaningful interpretation of the association among these variables, all data were homogenized with regard to spatial support and geographic projection, thus addressing the change of support problem and leading to a valid statistical inference. To this end, spatial (2D) and spatio- temporal (3D) kriging techniques were applied to in-situ particulate matter concentrations and the leave-one- station-out cross-validation was performed on a daily level to gauge the quality of the predictions. Satellite- derived covariates displayed clear seasonal patterns; in order to work with data which is stationary in mean, for each covariate, deviations from its estimated annual profiles were computed using nonlinear least squares and nonlinear absolute deviations. High-resolution land- cover and morphology static datasets were additionally incorporated in the analysis in order to catch the effects of nearby emission sources and sequestration sites. For pairwise comparisons of the particulate matter concentration means at distinct land-cover classes, the pairwise comparisons method for unequal sample sizes, known as Tukey's method, was performed. The use of satellite-derived products allowed better assessment of space-time interactions of PM, since these daily spatial measurements were able to capture differences in PM concentrations between grid cells, while the use of high- resolution land-cover and morphology static datasets allowed accounting for local industrial, domestic and traffic related air pollution. The developed methods are expected to fully exploit ESA's new Sentinel-3 observations to estimate spatial distributions of both PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in arbitrary cities.

High-mass-resolution MALDI mass spectrometry imaging reveals detailed spatial distribution of metabolites and lipids in roots of barley seedlings in response to salinity stress.

PubMed

Sarabia, Lenin D; Boughton, Berin A; Rupasinghe, Thusitha; van de Meene, Allison M L; Callahan, Damien L; Hill, Camilla B; Roessner, Ute

2018-01-01

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a technology that enables the visualization of the spatial distribution of hundreds to thousands of metabolites in the same tissue section simultaneously. Roots are below-ground plant organs that anchor plants to the soil, take up water and nutrients, and sense and respond to external stresses. Physiological responses to salinity are multifaceted and have predominantly been studied using whole plant tissues that cannot resolve plant salinity responses spatially. This study aimed to use a comprehensive approach to study the spatial distribution and profiles of metabolites, and to quantify the changes in the elemental content in young developing barley seminal roots before and after salinity stress. Here, we used a combination of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI-MSI) platforms to profile and analyze the spatial distribution of ions, metabolites and lipids across three anatomically different barley root zones before and after a short-term salinity stress (150 mM NaCl). We localized, visualized and discriminated compounds in fine detail along longitudinal root sections and compared ion, metabolite, and lipid composition before and after salt stress. Large changes in the phosphatidylcholine (PC) profiles were observed as a response to salt stress with PC 34:n showing an overall reduction in salt treated roots. ICP-MS analysis quantified changes in the elemental content of roots with increases of Na + and decreases of K + content. Our results established the suitability of combining three mass spectrometry platforms to analyze and map ionic and metabolic responses to salinity stress in plant roots and to elucidate tolerance mechanisms in response to abiotic stress, such as salinity stress.

Neural network evaluation of reflectometry density profiles for control purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, J.; Nunes, F.; Manso, M.; Nunes, I.

1999-01-01

Broadband reflectometry is a diagnostic that is able to measure the density profile with high spatial and temporal resolutions, therefore it can be used to improve the performance of advanced tokamak operation modes and to supplement or correct the magnetics for plasma position control. To perform these tasks real-time processing is needed. Here we present a method that uses a neural network to make a fast evaluation of radial positions for selected density layers. Typical ASDEX Upgrade density profiles were used to generate the simulated network training and test sets. It is shown that the method has the potential to meet the tight timing requirements of control applications with the required accuracy. The network is also able to provide an accurate estimation of the position of density layers below the first density layer which is probed by an O-mode reflectometer, provided that it is trained with a realistic density profile model.

Speed Profiles for Improvement of Maritime Emission Estimation

PubMed Central

Yau, Pui Shan; Lee, Shun-Cheng; Ho, Kin Fai

2012-01-01

Abstract Maritime emissions play an important role in anthropogenic emissions, particularly for cities with busy ports such as Hong Kong. Ship emissions are strongly dependent on vessel speed, and thus accurate vessel speed is essential for maritime emission studies. In this study, we determined minute-by-minute high-resolution speed profiles of container ships on four major routes in Hong Kong waters using Automatic Identification System (AIS). The activity-based ship emissions of NOx, CO, HC, CO2, SO2, and PM10 were estimated using derived vessel speed profiles, and results were compared with those using the speed limits of control zones. Estimation using speed limits resulted in up to twofold overestimation of ship emissions. Compared with emissions estimated using the speed limits of control zones, emissions estimated using vessel speed profiles could provide results with up to 88% higher accuracy. Uncertainty analysis and sensitivity analysis of the model demonstrated the significance of improvement of vessel speed resolution. From spatial analysis, it is revealed that SO2 and PM10 emissions during maneuvering within 1 nautical mile from port were the highest. They contributed 7%–22% of SO2 emissions and 8%–17% of PM10 emissions of the entire voyage in Hong Kong. PMID:23236250

High resolution aquifer characterization using crosshole GPR full-waveform tomography: Comparison with direct-push and tracer test data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gueting, Nils; Vienken, Thomas; Klotzsche, Anja; van der Kruk, Jan; Vanderborght, Jan; Caers, Jef; Vereecken, Harry; Englert, Andreas

2017-01-01

Limited knowledge about the spatial distribution of aquifer properties typically constrains our ability to predict subsurface flow and transport. Here we investigate the value of using high resolution full-waveform inversion of cross-borehole ground penetrating radar (GPR) data for aquifer characterization. By stitching together GPR tomograms from multiple adjacent crosshole planes, we are able to image, with a decimeter scale resolution, the dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity of an alluvial aquifer along cross sections of 50 m length and 10 m depth. A logistic regression model is employed to predict the spatial distribution of lithological facies on the basis of the GPR results. Vertical profiles of porosity and hydraulic conductivity from direct-push, flowmeter and grain size data suggest that the GPR predicted facies classification is meaningful with regard to porosity and hydraulic conductivity, even though the distributions of individual facies show some overlap and the absolute hydraulic conductivities from the different methods (direct-push, flowmeter, grain size) differ up to approximately one order of magnitude. Comparison of the GPR predicted facies architecture with tracer test data suggests that the plume splitting observed in a tracer experiment was caused by a hydraulically low-conductive sand layer with a thickness of only a few decimeters. Because this sand layer is identified by GPR full-waveform inversion but not by conventional GPR ray-based inversion we conclude that the improvement in spatial resolution due to full-waveform inversion is crucial to detect small-scale aquifer structures that are highly relevant for solute transport.

Enabling low-noise null-point scanning thermal microscopy by the optimization of scanning thermal microscope probe through a rigorous theory of quantitative measurement.

PubMed

Hwang, Gwangseok; Chung, Jaehun; Kwon, Ohmyoung

2014-11-01

The application of conventional scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) is severely limited by three major problems: (i) distortion of the measured signal due to heat transfer through the air, (ii) the unknown and variable value of the tip-sample thermal contact resistance, and (iii) perturbation of the sample temperature due to the heat flux through the tip-sample thermal contact. Recently, we proposed null-point scanning thermal microscopy (NP SThM) as a way of overcoming these problems in principle by tracking the thermal equilibrium between the end of the SThM tip and the sample surface. However, in order to obtain high spatial resolution, which is the primary motivation for SThM, NP SThM requires an extremely sensitive SThM probe that can trace the vanishingly small heat flux through the tip-sample nano-thermal contact. Herein, we derive a relation between the spatial resolution and the design parameters of a SThM probe, optimize the thermal and electrical design, and develop a batch-fabrication process. We also quantitatively demonstrate significantly improved sensitivity, lower measurement noise, and higher spatial resolution of the fabricated SThM probes. By utilizing the exceptional performance of these fabricated probes, we show that NP SThM can be used to obtain a quantitative temperature profile with nanoscale resolution independent of the changing tip-sample thermal contact resistance and without perturbation of the sample temperature or distortion due to the heat transfer through the air.

Science Objectives of EOS-Aura's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levelt, P. F.; Veefkind, J. P.; Stammes, P.; Hilsenrath, E.; Bhartia, P. K.; Chance, K. V.; Leppelmeier, G. W.; Maelkki, A.; Bhartia, Pawan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

OMI is a UV/VIS nadir solar backscatter spectrograph, which provides near global coverage in one day with a spatial resolution of 13 x 24 sq km. OMI is a new instrument, with a heritage from the European satellite instruments GOME, GOMOS and SCIAMACHY. OMI's unique capabilities for measuring important trace gases with a small footprint and daily global coverage, in conjunction with the other Aura instruments, will make a major contribution to our understanding of stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry and climate change. OMI will measure solar irradiance and Earth radiances in the wavelength range of 270 to 500 nm with spectral resolution of about 0.5 nm and a spectral sampling of about 2-3 per FWHM. From these observations, total columns of O3, NO2, BrO and SO2 will be derived from the back-scattered solar radiance using differential absorption spectroscopy (DOAS). The TOMS total ozone record will also be continued by employing the well established TOMS algorithm. Because of the high accuracy and spatial resolution of the measurements, a good estimate of tropospheric amounts of ozone and NO2 are expected. Ozone profiles will be derived using the optimal estimation method. The spectral aerosol optical depth will be determined from measurements between 340 and 500 nm. This will provide information on aerosol concentration, aerosol size distribution and aerosol type. This wavelength range makes it possible to retrieve aerosol information over both land and sea. OMI observations will also allow retrievals of cloud coverage and cloud heights. From these products, the UV-B flux at the surface can then be derived with high spatial resolution.

Hypersonic Boundary Layer Measurements with Variable Blowing Rates Using Molecular Tagging Velocimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bathel, Brett F.; Danehy, Paul M.; Johansen, Craig T.; Jones, Stephen B.; Goyne, Christopher P.

2012-01-01

Measurements of mean and instantaneous streamwise velocity profiles in a hypersonic boundary layer with variable rates of mass injection (blowing) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were obtained over a 10-degree half-angle wedge model. The NO2 was seeded into the flow from a slot located 29.4 mm downstream of the sharp leading edge. The top surface of the wedge was oriented at a 20 degree angle in the Mach 10 flow, yielding an edge Mach number of approximately 4.2. The streamwise velocity profiles and streamwise fluctuating velocity component profiles were obtained using a three-laser NO2->NO photolysis molecular tagging velocimetry method. Observed trends in the mean streamwise velocity profiles and profiles of the fluctuating component of streamwise velocity as functions of the blowing rate are described. An effort is made to distinguish between the effect of blowing rate and wall temperature on the measured profiles. An analysis of the mean velocity profiles for a constant blowing rate is presented to determine the uncertainty in the measurement for different probe laser delay settings. Measurements of streamwise velocity were made to within approximately 120 gm of the model surface. The streamwise spatial resolution in this experiment ranged from 0.6 mm to 2.6 mm. An improvement in the spatial precision of the measurement technique has been made, with spatial uncertainties reduced by about a factor of 2 compared to previous measurements. For the quiescent flow calibration measurements presented, uncertainties as low as 2 m/s are obtained at 95% confidence for long delay times (25 gs). For the velocity measurements obtained with the wind tunnel operating, average single-shot uncertainties of less than 44 m/s are obtained at 95% confidence with a probe laser delay setting of 1 gs. The measurements were performed in the 31-inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center.

3000 Mile Laser Altimeter Profile Across Northern Hemisphere of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Topographic profile across the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). The profile was obtained during the Mars Global Surveyor Capture Orbit Calibration Pass on September 15, 1997 and represents 20 minutes of data collection. The profile has a length of approximately 3000 miles (5000 kilometers). The large bulge is the western part of the Elysium rise, the second largest volcanic province on Mars, and shows over 3 miles (5 kilometers) of vertical relief. This area contains deep chasms that reflect tectonic, volcanic and erosional processes. In contrast is the almost 1featureless1 northern plains region of Mars, which shows only hundreds of meters of relief at scales the size of the United States. Plotted for comparison is the elevation of the Viking Lander 2 site, which is located 275 miles (445 kilometers) west of the profile. At the southernmost extent of the trace is the transition from the northern plains to the ancient southern highlands. Characterizing the fine-scale nature of topography in this chaotic region is crucial to testing theories for how the dichotomy between the geologically distinctive northern lowlands and southern uplands formed and subsequently evolved. The spatial resolution of the profile is approximately 1000 feet (330 meters) and the vertical resolution is approximately 3 feet (1 meter). When the Mars Global Surveyor mapping mission commences in March, 1998, the MOLA instrument will collect 72 times as much data every day for a period of two years.

Deriving Surface NO2 Mixing Ratios from DISCOVER-AQ ACAM Observations: A Method to Assess Surface NO2 Spatial Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silverman, M. L.; Szykman, J.; Chen, G.; Crawford, J. H.; Janz, S. J.; Kowalewski, M. G.; Lamsal, L. N.; Long, R.

2015-12-01

Studies have shown that satellite NO2 columns are closely related to ground level NO2 concentrations, particularly over polluted areas. This provides a means to assess surface level NO2 spatial variability over a broader area than what can be monitored from ground stations. The characterization of surface level NO2 variability is important to understand air quality in urban areas, emissions, health impacts, photochemistry, and to evaluate the performance of chemical transport models. Using data from the NASA DISCOVER-AQ campaign in Baltimore/Washington we calculate NO2 mixing ratios from the Airborne Compact Atmospheric Mapper (ACAM), through four different methods to derive surface concentration from column measurements. High spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) mixed layer heights, vertical P3B profiles, and CMAQ vertical profiles are used to scale ACAM vertical column densities. The derived NO2 mixing ratios are compared to EPA ground measurements taken at Padonia and Edgewood. We find similar results from scaling with HSRL mixed layer heights and normalized P3B vertical profiles. The HSRL mixed layer heights are then used to scale ACAM vertical column densities across the DISCOVER-AQ flight pattern to assess spatial variability of NO2 over the area. This work will help define the measurement requirements for future satellite instruments.

Evolution and enabling capabilities of spatially resolved techniques for the characterization of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions

DOE PAGES

Morgan, Kevin; Touitou, Jamal; Choi, Jae -Soon; ...

2016-01-15

The development and optimization of catalysts and catalytic processes requires knowledge of reaction kinetics and mechanisms. In traditional catalyst kinetic characterization, the gas composition is known at the inlet, and the exit flow is measured to determine changes in concentration. As such, the progression of the chemistry within the catalyst is not known. Technological advances in electromagnetic and physical probes have made visualizing the evolution of the chemistry within catalyst samples a reality, as part of a methodology commonly known as spatial resolution. Herein, we discuss and evaluate the development of spatially resolved techniques, including the evolutions and achievements ofmore » this growing area of catalytic research. The impact of such techniques is discussed in terms of the invasiveness of physical probes on catalytic systems, as well as how experimentally obtained spatial profiles can be used in conjunction with kinetic modeling. Moreover, some aims and aspirations for further evolution of spatially resolved techniques are considered.« less

Ultrasound phase contrast thermal imaging with reflex transmission imaging methods in tissue phantoms

PubMed Central

Farny, Caleb H.; Clement, Gregory T.

2009-01-01

Thermal imaging measurements using ultrasound phase contrast have been performed in tissue phantoms heated with a focused ultrasound source. Back projection and reflex transmission imaging principles were employed to detect sound speed-induced changes in the phase caused by an increase in the temperature. The temperature was determined from an empirical relationship for the temperature dependence on sound speed. The phase contrast was determined from changes in the sound field measured with a hydrophone scan conducted before and during applied heating. The lengthy scanning routine used to mimic a large two-dimensional array required a steady-state temperature distribution within the phantom. The temperature distribution in the phantom was validated with magnetic resonance (MR) thermal imaging measurements. The peak temperature was found to agree within 1°C with MR and good agreement was found between the temperature profiles. The spatial resolution was 0.3 × 0.3 × 0.3 mm, comparing favorably with the 0.625 × 0.625 × 1.5 mm MR spatial resolution. PMID:19683380

Revealing sub-μm and μm-scale textures in H2O ice at megabar pressures by time-domain Brillouin scattering

PubMed Central

Nikitin, Sergey M.; Chigarev, Nikolay; Tournat, Vincent; Bulou, Alain; Gasteau, Damien; Castagnede, Bernard; Zerr, Andreas; Gusev, Vitalyi E.

2015-01-01

The time-domain Brillouin scattering technique, also known as picosecond ultrasonic interferometry, allows monitoring of the propagation of coherent acoustic pulses, having lengths ranging from nanometres to fractions of a micrometre, in samples with dimension of less than a micrometre to tens of micrometres. In this study, we applied this technique to depth-profiling of a polycrystalline aggregate of ice compressed in a diamond anvil cell to megabar pressures. The method allowed examination of the characteristic dimensions of ice texturing in the direction normal to the diamond anvil surfaces with sub-micrometre spatial resolution via time-resolved measurements of the propagation velocity of the acoustic pulses travelling in the compressed sample. The achieved imaging of ice in depth and in one of the lateral directions indicates the feasibility of three-dimensional imaging and quantitative characterisation of the acoustical, optical and acousto-optical properties of transparent polycrystalline aggregates in a diamond anvil cell with tens of nanometres in-depth resolution and a lateral spatial resolution controlled by pump laser pulses focusing, which could approach hundreds of nanometres. PMID:25790808

Advances in Low-Temperature Tungsten Spectroscopy Capability to Quantify DIII-D Divertor Erosion

DOE PAGES

Abrams, Tyler; Thomas, Daniel M.; Unterberg, Ezekial A.; ...

2018-01-05

Recent emphasis of tungsten (W) plasma-materialsinteractions (PMI) experiments on DIII-D has made it essential to enhance the W I and W II measurement capabilities of its spectroscopy diagnostic suite to acquire W sourcing measurements with high temporal, spatial, and wavelength resolution. To this end, four new viewing chords for the Multichordal Divertor Spectrometer (MDS) and diverter filterscope systems were installed, leading to a 7x increase in blue light sensitivity. W I and low-Z impurity line identifications were performed in the 3995-4030 Å region, placing wavelengths within 0.1 Å of the NIST values. A novel method was also developed for themore » DIII-D high temporal resolution filterscopes to distinguish between W I light and background contamination, important due to the relatively weak intensity of this line, using two different bandpass filters width different widths but the same center wavelength. Lastly, fast imaging of the W I 4008.75 Å spectral line with a PCO Pixelfly VGA 200/205 camera allowed for discrimination between ELMy and intra-ELM W I emission profiles with very high (~1 mm) spatial resolution.« less

Advances in Low-Temperature Tungsten Spectroscopy Capability to Quantify DIII-D Divertor Erosion

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

Abrams, Tyler; Thomas, Daniel M.; Unterberg, Ezekial A.

Recent emphasis of tungsten (W) plasma-materialsinteractions (PMI) experiments on DIII-D has made it essential to enhance the W I and W II measurement capabilities of its spectroscopy diagnostic suite to acquire W sourcing measurements with high temporal, spatial, and wavelength resolution. To this end, four new viewing chords for the Multichordal Divertor Spectrometer (MDS) and diverter filterscope systems were installed, leading to a 7x increase in blue light sensitivity. W I and low-Z impurity line identifications were performed in the 3995-4030 Å region, placing wavelengths within 0.1 Å of the NIST values. A novel method was also developed for themore » DIII-D high temporal resolution filterscopes to distinguish between W I light and background contamination, important due to the relatively weak intensity of this line, using two different bandpass filters width different widths but the same center wavelength. Lastly, fast imaging of the W I 4008.75 Å spectral line with a PCO Pixelfly VGA 200/205 camera allowed for discrimination between ELMy and intra-ELM W I emission profiles with very high (~1 mm) spatial resolution.« less

Constructing Synoptic Maps of Stratospheric Column Ozone from HALOE, SAGE and Balloonsonde Data Using Potential Vorticity Isentropic Coordinate Transformations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollandsworth, Stacey M.; Schoeberl, Mark R.; Morris, Gary A.; Long, Craig; Zhou, Shuntai; Miller, Alvin J.

1999-01-01

In this study we utilize potential vorticity - isentropic (PVI) coordinate transformations as a means of combining ozone data from different sources to construct daily, synthetic three-dimensional ozone fields. This methodology has been used successfully to reconstruct ozone maps in particular regions from aircraft data over the period of the aircraft campaign. We expand this method to create high-resolution daily global maps of profile ozone data, particularly in the lower stratosphere, where high-resolution ozone data are sparse. Ozone climatologies in PVI-space are constructed from satellite-based SAGE II and UARS/HALOE data, both of which-use solar occultation techniques to make high vertical resolution ozone profile measurements, but with low spatial resolution. A climatology from ground-based balloonsonde data is also created. The climatologies are used to establish the relationship between ozone and dynamical variability, which is defined by the potential vorticity (in the form of equivalent latitude) and potential temperature fields. Once a PVI climatology has been created from data taken by one or more instruments, high-resolution daily profile ozone field estimates are constructed based solely on the PVI fields, which are available on a daily basis from NCEP analysis. These profile ozone maps could be used for a variety of applications, including use in conjunction with total ozone maps to create a daily tropospheric ozone product, as input to forecast models, or as a tool for validating independent ozone measurements when correlative data are not available. This technique is limited to regions where the ozone is a long-term tracer and the flow is adiabatic. We evaluate the internal consistency of the technique by transforming the ozone back to physical space and comparing to the original profiles. Biases in the long-term average of the differences are used to identify regions where the technique is consistently introducing errors. Initial results show the technique is useful in the lower stratosphere at most latitudes throughout the year,and in the winter hemisphere in the middle stratosphere. The results are problematic in the summer hemisphere middle stratosphere due to increased ozone photochemistry and weak PV gradients. Alternate techniques in these regions will be discussed. An additional limitation is the quality and resolution of the meteorological data.

MONET: multidimensional radiative cloud scene model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chervet, Patrick

1999-12-01

All cloud fields exhibit variable structures (bulge) and heterogeneities in water distributions. With the development of multidimensional radiative models by the atmospheric community, it is now possible to describe horizontal heterogeneities of the cloud medium, to study these influences on radiative quantities. We have developed a complete radiative cloud scene generator, called MONET (French acronym for: MOdelisation des Nuages En Tridim.) to compute radiative cloud scene from visible to infrared wavelengths for various viewing and solar conditions, different spatial scales, and various locations on the Earth. MONET is composed of two parts: a cloud medium generator (CSSM -- Cloud Scene Simulation Model) developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, and a multidimensional radiative code (SHDOM -- Spherical Harmonic Discrete Ordinate Method) developed at the University of Colorado by Evans. MONET computes images for several scenario defined by user inputs: date, location, viewing angles, wavelength, spatial resolution, meteorological conditions (atmospheric profiles, cloud types)... For the same cloud scene, we can output different viewing conditions, or/and various wavelengths. Shadowing effects on clouds or grounds are taken into account. This code is useful to study heterogeneity effects on satellite data for various cloud types and spatial resolutions, and to determine specifications of new imaging sensor.

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

Stutman, D.; Tritz, K.; Finkenthal, M.

New diagnostic and sensor designs are needed for future burning plasma (BP) fusion experiments, having good space and time resolution and capable of prolonged operation in the harsh BP environment. We evaluate the potential of multi-energy x-ray imaging with filtered detector arrays for BP diagnostic and control. Experimental studies show that this simple and robust technique enables measuring with good accuracy, speed, and spatial resolution the T{sub e} profile, impurity content, and MHD activity in a tokamak. Applied to the BP this diagnostic could also serve for non-magnetic sensing of the plasma position, centroid, ELM, and RWM instability. BP compatiblemore » x-ray sensors are proposed using 'optical array' or 'bi-cell' detectors.« less

Importance of a Priori Vertical Ozone Profiles for TEMPO Air Quality Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John; Liu, Xiong; Zoogman, Peter; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas; Leblanc, Thierry

2017-01-01

Ozone (O3) is a toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality. Typically, monitoring of surface air quality and O3 mixing ratios is conducted using in situ measurement networks. This is partially due to high-quality information related to air quality being limited from space-borne platforms due to coarse spatial resolution, limited temporal frequency, and minimal sensitivity to lower tropospheric and surface-level O3. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite is designed to address the limitations of current space-based platforms and to improve our ability to monitor North American air quality. TEMPO will provide hourly data of total column and vertical profiles of O3 with high spatial resolution to be used as a near-real-time air quality product. TEMPO O3 retrievals will apply the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory profile algorithm developed based on work from GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment), GOME-2, and OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument). This algorithm is suggested to use a priori O3 profile information from a climatological data-base developed from long-term ozone-sonde measurements (tropopause-based (TB-Clim) O3 climatology). This study evaluates the TB-Clim dataset and model simulated O3 profiles, which could potentially serve as a priori O3 profile information in TEMPO retrievals, from near-real-time data assimilation model products (NASA GMAO's (Global Modeling and Assimilation Office) operational GEOS-5 (Goddard Earth Observing System, Version 5) FP (Forecast Products) model and reanalysis data from MERRA2 (Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2)) and a full chemical transport model (CTM), GEOS-Chem. In this study, vertical profile products are evaluated with surface (0-2 kilometers) and tropospheric (0-10 kilometers) TOLNet (Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network) observations and the theoretical impact of individual a priori profile sources on the accuracy of TEMPO O3 retrievals in the troposphere and at the surface are presented. Results indicate that while the TB-Clim climatological dataset can replicate seasonally-averaged tropospheric O3 profiles, model-simulated profiles from a full CTM resulted in more accurate tropospheric and surface-level O3 retrievals from TEMPO when compared to hourly and daily-averaged TOLNet observations. Furthermore, it is shown that when large surface O3 mixing ratios are observed, TEMPO retrieval values at the surface are most accurate when applying CTM a priori profile information compared to all other data products.

Chemical fingerprinting of Arabidopsis using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic approaches.

PubMed

Gorzsás, András; Sundberg, Björn

2014-01-01

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a fast, sensitive, inexpensive, and nondestructive technique for chemical profiling of plant materials. In this chapter we discuss the instrumental setup, the basic principles of analysis, and the possibilities for and limitations of obtaining qualitative and semiquantitative information by FT-IR spectroscopy. We provide detailed protocols for four fully customizable techniques: (1) Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS): a sensitive and high-throughput technique for powders; (2) attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy: a technique that requires no sample preparation and can be used for solid samples as well as for cell cultures; (3) microspectroscopy using a single element (SE) detector: a technique used for analyzing sections at low spatial resolution; and (4) microspectroscopy using a focal plane array (FPA) detector: a technique for rapid chemical profiling of plant sections at cellular resolution. Sample preparation, measurement, and data analysis steps are listed for each of the techniques to help the user collect the best quality spectra and prepare them for subsequent multivariate analysis.

Imaging bolometer

DOEpatents

Wurden, G.A.

1999-01-19

Radiation-hard, steady-state imaging bolometer is disclosed. A bolometer employing infrared (IR) imaging of a segmented-matrix absorber of plasma radiation in a cooled-pinhole camera geometry is described. The bolometer design parameters are determined by modeling the temperature of the foils from which the absorbing matrix is fabricated by using a two-dimensional time-dependent solution of the heat conduction equation. The resulting design will give a steady-state bolometry capability, with approximately 100 Hz time resolution, while simultaneously providing hundreds of channels of spatial information. No wiring harnesses will be required, as the temperature-rise data will be measured via an IR camera. The resulting spatial data may be used to tomographically investigate the profile of plasmas. 2 figs.

Imaging bolometer

DOEpatents

Wurden, Glen A.

1999-01-01

Radiation-hard, steady-state imaging bolometer. A bolometer employing infrared (IR) imaging of a segmented-matrix absorber of plasma radiation in a cooled-pinhole camera geometry is described. The bolometer design parameters are determined by modeling the temperature of the foils from which the absorbing matrix is fabricated by using a two-dimensional time-dependent solution of the heat conduction equation. The resulting design will give a steady-state bolometry capability, with approximately 100 Hz time resolution, while simultaneously providing hundreds of channels of spatial information. No wiring harnesses will be required, as the temperature-rise data will be measured via an IR camera. The resulting spatial data may be used to tomographically investigate the profile of plasmas.

Design, Construction, and Initial Test of High Spatial Resolution Thermometry Arrays for Detection of Surface Temperature Profiles on SRF Cavities in Super Fluid Helium

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

Ari Palczewski, Rongli Geng, Grigory Eremeev

2011-07-01

We designed and built two high resolution (0.6-0.55mm special resolution [1.1-1.2mm separation]) thermometry arrays prototypes out of the Allen Bradley 90-120 ohm 1/8 watt resistor to measure surface temperature profiles on SRF cavities. One array was designed to be physically flexible and conform to any location on a SRF cavity; the other was modeled after the common G-10/stycast 2850 thermometer and designed to fit on the equator of an ILC (Tesla 1.3GHz) SRF cavity. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each array and their construction. In addition we will present a case study of the arrays performance onmore » a real SRF cavity TB9NR001. TB9NR001 presented a unique opportunity to test the performance of each array as it contained a dual (4mm separation) cat eye defect which conventional methods such as OST (Oscillating Superleak second-sound Transducers) and full coverage thermometry mapping were unable to distinguish between. We will discuss the new arrays ability to distinguish between the two defects and their preheating performance.« less

The dark matter of galaxy voids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutter, P. M.; Lavaux, Guilhem; Wandelt, Benjamin D.; Weinberg, David H.; Warren, Michael S.

2014-03-01

How do observed voids relate to the underlying dark matter distribution? To examine the spatial distribution of dark matter contained within voids identified in galaxy surveys, we apply Halo Occupation Distribution models representing sparsely and densely sampled galaxy surveys to a high-resolution N-body simulation. We compare these galaxy voids to voids found in the halo distribution, low-resolution dark matter and high-resolution dark matter. We find that voids at all scales in densely sampled surveys - and medium- to large-scale voids in sparse surveys - trace the same underdensities as dark matter, but they are larger in radius by ˜20 per cent, they have somewhat shallower density profiles and they have centres offset by ˜ 0.4Rv rms. However, in void-to-void comparison we find that shape estimators are less robust to sampling, and the largest voids in sparsely sampled surveys suffer fragmentation at their edges. We find that voids in galaxy surveys always correspond to underdensities in the dark matter, though the centres may be offset. When this offset is taken into account, we recover almost identical radial density profiles between galaxies and dark matter. All mock catalogues used in this work are available at http://www.cosmicvoids.net.

Measurement of heat load density profile on acceleration grid in MeV-class negative ion accelerator.

PubMed

Hiratsuka, Junichi; Hanada, Masaya; Kojima, Atsushi; Umeda, Naotaka; Kashiwagi, Mieko; Miyamoto, Kenji; Yoshida, Masafumi; Nishikiori, Ryo; Ichikawa, Masahiro; Watanabe, Kazuhiro; Tobari, Hiroyuki

2016-02-01

To understand the physics of the negative ion extraction/acceleration, the heat load density profile on the acceleration grid has been firstly measured in the ITER prototype accelerator where the negative ions are accelerated to 1 MeV with five acceleration stages. In order to clarify the profile, the peripheries around the apertures on the acceleration grid were separated into thermally insulated 34 blocks with thermocouples. The spatial resolution is as low as 3 mm and small enough to measure the tail of the beam profile with a beam diameter of ∼16 mm. It was found that there were two peaks of heat load density around the aperture. These two peaks were also clarified to be caused by the intercepted negative ions and secondary electrons from detailed investigation by changing the beam optics and gas density profile. This is the first experimental result, which is useful to understand the trajectories of these particles.

Profilometry In The Angstrom Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Politch, Jacob

1989-01-01

An interferometric system, based on heterodyne principle is described and which enables profile measurements of a surface with a high accuracy. It is possible to measure height variations of 4 Angstroms with a spatial resolution of 1 micrometer. Fran the surface height measurements, there were calculated its statistical properties, such as the R of the heights, the slopes and also its spectral density. The last one identifies the spatial frequencies of the surface, caused for example by the diamond turning mad-line and also by the measuring maChine. For an electro-magnetic wave with a Gaussian profile, which is incident the surface under test, the reflected complex field amplitude (CFA) near the focal region was calculated. jibe have defined the "Macroscopic wavelength" A, which was found to be constant for variations ▵z of the focal distance from the plane under test, for variations of the bean diameter wo in the focal region, while the complex index of refraction (CIF) of the surface under test was kept constant.

Fully Automated Detection of Cloud and Aerosol Layers in the CALIPSO Lidar Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaughan, Mark A.; Powell, Kathleen A.; Kuehn, Ralph E.; Young, Stuart A.; Winker, David M.; Hostetler, Chris A.; Hunt, William H.; Liu, Zhaoyan; McGill, Matthew J.; Getzewich, Brian J.

2009-01-01

Accurate knowledge of the vertical and horizontal extent of clouds and aerosols in the earth s atmosphere is critical in assessing the planet s radiation budget and for advancing human understanding of climate change issues. To retrieve this fundamental information from the elastic backscatter lidar data acquired during the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission, a selective, iterated boundary location (SIBYL) algorithm has been developed and deployed. SIBYL accomplishes its goals by integrating an adaptive context-sensitive profile scanner into an iterated multiresolution spatial averaging scheme. This paper provides an in-depth overview of the architecture and performance of the SIBYL algorithm. It begins with a brief review of the theory of target detection in noise-contaminated signals, and an enumeration of the practical constraints levied on the retrieval scheme by the design of the lidar hardware, the geometry of a space-based remote sensing platform, and the spatial variability of the measurement targets. Detailed descriptions are then provided for both the adaptive threshold algorithm used to detect features of interest within individual lidar profiles and the fully automated multiresolution averaging engine within which this profile scanner functions. The resulting fusion of profile scanner and averaging engine is specifically designed to optimize the trade-offs between the widely varying signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements and the disparate spatial resolutions of the detection targets. Throughout the paper, specific algorithm performance details are illustrated using examples drawn from the existing CALIPSO dataset. Overall performance is established by comparisons to existing layer height distributions obtained by other airborne and space-based lidars.

Highlights: US Commercial Remote Sensing Industry Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rabin, Ron

2002-01-01

This viewgraph presentation profiles the US remote sensing industry based on responses to a survey by 1450 industry professionals. The presentation divides the industry into three sectors: academic, commercial, and government; the survey results from each are covered in a section of the presentation. The presentation also divides survey results on user needs into the following sectors: spatial resolution, geolocation accuracy; elevation accuracy, area coverage, imagery types, and timeliness. Data, information, and software characteristics are also covered in the presentation.

NorWood: a gene expression resource for evo-devo studies of conifer wood development.

PubMed

Jokipii-Lukkari, Soile; Sundell, David; Nilsson, Ove; Hvidsten, Torgeir R; Street, Nathaniel R; Tuominen, Hannele

2017-10-01

The secondary xylem of conifers is composed mainly of tracheids that differ anatomically and chemically from angiosperm xylem cells. There is currently no high-spatial-resolution data available profiling gene expression during wood formation for any coniferous species, which limits insight into tracheid development. RNA-sequencing data from replicated, high-spatial-resolution section series throughout the cambial and woody tissues of Picea abies were used to generate the NorWood.conGenIE.org web resource, which facilitates exploration of the associated gene expression profiles and co-expression networks. Integration within PlantGenIE.org enabled a comparative regulomics analysis, revealing divergent co-expression networks between P. abies and the two angiosperm species Arabidopsis thaliana and Populus tremula for the secondary cell wall (SCW) master regulator NAC Class IIB transcription factors. The SCW cellulose synthase genes (CesAs) were located in the neighbourhoods of the NAC factors in A. thaliana and P. tremula, but not in P. abies. The NorWood co-expression network enabled identification of potential SCW CesA regulators in P. abies. The NorWood web resource represents a powerful community tool for generating evo-devo insights into the divergence of wood formation between angiosperms and gymnosperms and for advancing understanding of the regulation of wood development in P. abies. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Cerebral cortex three-dimensional profiling in human fetuses by magnetic resonance imaging

PubMed Central

Sbarbati, Andrea; Pizzini, Francesca; Fabene, Paolo F; Nicolato, Elena; Marzola, Pasquina; Calderan, Laura; Simonati, Alessandro; Longo, Laura; Osculati, Antonio; Beltramello, Alberto

2004-01-01

Seven human fetuses of crown/rump length corresponding to gestational ages ranging from the 12th to the 16th week were studied using a paradigm based on three-dimensional reconstruction of the brain obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of the study was to evaluate brain morphology in situ and to describe developmental dynamics during an important period of fetal morphogenesis. Three-dimensional MRI showed the increasing degree of maturation of the brains; fronto-occipital distance, bitemporal distance and occipital angle were examined in all the fetuses. The data were interpreted by correlation with the internal structure as visualized using high-spatial-resolution MRI, acquired using a 4.7-T field intensity magnet with a gradient power of 20 G cm−1. The spatial resolution was sufficient for a detailed detection of five layers, and the contrast was optimized using sequences with different degrees of T1 and T2 weighting. Using the latter, it was possible to visualize the subplate and marginal zones. The cortical thickness was mapped on to the hemispheric surface, describing the thickness gradient from the insular cortex to the periphery of the hemispheres. The study demonstrates the utility of MRI for studying brain development. The method provides a quantitative profiling of the brain, which allows the calculation of important morphological parameters, and it provides informative regarding transient features of the developing brain. PMID:15198688

Observations Of Planetary Nebula NGC 3242 Using STIS From HST19 GO 12600

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Timothy R.; Dufour, Reginald J.; Henry, Richard B. C.; Kwitter, Karen B.; Shaw, Richard A.; Balick, Bruce; Corradi, Romano

2014-06-01

During HST Cycle 19, we obtained long-slit spectra using STIS of the planetary nebula NGC 3242 with higher spatial resolution than previously published. The full wavelength range is around 1100-10200Å, covering many nebular lines for determining numerous ionic abundances and electron densities and temperatures. In this work, we first analyze the low- and moderate-resolution UV emission lines of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. In particular, the resolved lines of C_III] 1907 and C_III] 1909 have yielded a direct measurement of one of the dominant ionic species for carbon and a determination of the density occupied by doubly-ionized carbon and other similar ions. Next, the spatial emission profile of these lines reveals variations in the inferred density along the line of sight from about 2800-11500 cm-3, compared with a value ~3800 cm-3, when averaged over the entire slit. Similarly, the electron temperature is around 12000K for the entire slit and ranges from about 11400-14000K when the slit is divided into smaller sub-regions. Lastly, these sub-regions of the nebula have been modeled in detail with the photoionization code CLOUDY. This modeling will assess the density profile that produces the observed density variation, reproduce the temperature fluctuations, and constrain the central star temperature. We acknowledge the gracious support from HST and the University of Oklahoma.

Metabolic profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana epidermal cells

PubMed Central

Ebert, Berit; Zöller, Daniela; Erban, Alexander; Fehrle, Ines; Hartmann, Jürgen; Niehl, Annette; Kopka, Joachim; Fisahn, Joachim

2010-01-01

Metabolic phenotyping at cellular resolution may be considered one of the challenges in current plant physiology. A method is described which enables the cell type-specific metabolic analysis of epidermal cell types in Arabidopsis thaliana pavement, basal, and trichome cells. To achieve the required high spatial resolution, single cell sampling using microcapillaries was combined with routine gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) based metabolite profiling. The identification and relative quantification of 117 mostly primary metabolites has been demonstrated. The majority, namely 90 compounds, were accessible without analytical background correction. Analyses were performed using cell type-specific pools of 200 microsampled individual cells. Moreover, among these identified metabolites, 38 exhibited differential pool sizes in trichomes, basal or pavement cells. The application of an independent component analysis confirmed the cell type-specific metabolic phenotypes. Significant pool size changes between individual cells were detectable within several classes of metabolites, namely amino acids, fatty acids and alcohols, alkanes, lipids, N-compounds, organic acids and polyhydroxy acids, polyols, sugars, sugar conjugates and phenylpropanoids. It is demonstrated here that the combination of microsampling and GC-MS based metabolite profiling provides a method to investigate the cellular metabolism of fully differentiated plant cell types in vivo. PMID:20150518

Observations of chromospheric lines from OSO-8

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grossmann-Doerth, U.; Kneer, F.; Uexkuell, M.; Artzner, G. E.; Vial, J. C.

1980-01-01

Results of OSO-8 measurements of the line profiles of the solar Lyman alpha, Ca II K and Mg II k lines are presented. Observations were obtained with the Laboratoire de Physique Stellaire et Planetaire spectrometer at spectral resolutions of 0.25 and 0.060 A for Lyman alpha and 0.025 A for the Mg II and Ca II lines. The Lyman alpha profiles are found to be highly variable according to spatial position with the intensities of the three lines well correlated, and confirm previous observations of the quiet solar chromosphere. Data suggest that the quiet chromosphere is a dynamical phenomenon whose description in terms of a static model atmosphere is only qualitatively valid at best.

Restoring the spatial resolution of refocus images on 4D light field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, JaeGuyn; Park, ByungKwan; Kang, JooYoung; Lee, SeongDeok

2010-01-01

This paper presents the method for generating a refocus image with restored spatial resolution on a plenoptic camera, which functions controlling the depth of field after capturing one image unlike a traditional camera. It is generally known that the camera captures 4D light field (angular and spatial information of light) within a limited 2D sensor and results in reducing 2D spatial resolution due to inevitable 2D angular data. That's the reason why a refocus image is composed of a low spatial resolution compared with 2D sensor. However, it has recently been known that angular data contain sub-pixel spatial information such that the spatial resolution of 4D light field can be increased. We exploit the fact for improving the spatial resolution of a refocus image. We have experimentally scrutinized that the spatial information is different according to the depth of objects from a camera. So, from the selection of refocused regions (corresponding depth), we use corresponding pre-estimated sub-pixel spatial information for reconstructing spatial resolution of the regions. Meanwhile other regions maintain out-of-focus. Our experimental results show the effect of this proposed method compared to existing method.

High Spatial Resolution Commercial Satellite Imaging Product Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Robert E.; Pagnutti, Mary; Blonski, Slawomir; Ross, Kenton W.; Stnaley, Thomas

2005-01-01

NASA Stennis Space Center's Remote Sensing group has been characterizing privately owned high spatial resolution multispectral imaging systems, such as IKONOS, QuickBird, and OrbView-3. Natural and man made targets were used for spatial resolution, radiometric, and geopositional characterizations. Higher spatial resolution also presents significant adjacency effects for accurate reliable radiometry.

Automated Verification of Spatial Resolution in Remotely Sensed Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Bruce; Ryan, Robert; Holekamp, Kara; Vaughn, Ronald

2011-01-01

Image spatial resolution characteristics can vary widely among sources. In the case of aerial-based imaging systems, the image spatial resolution characteristics can even vary between acquisitions. In these systems, aircraft altitude, speed, and sensor look angle all affect image spatial resolution. Image spatial resolution needs to be verified with estimators that include the ground sample distance (GSD), the modulation transfer function (MTF), and the relative edge response (RER), all of which are key components of image quality, along with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range. Knowledge of spatial resolution parameters is important to determine if features of interest are distinguishable in imagery or associated products, and to develop image restoration algorithms. An automated Spatial Resolution Verification Tool (SRVT) was developed to rapidly determine the spatial resolution characteristics of remotely sensed aerial and satellite imagery. Most current methods for assessing spatial resolution characteristics of imagery rely on pre-deployed engineered targets and are performed only at selected times within preselected scenes. The SRVT addresses these insufficiencies by finding uniform, high-contrast edges from urban scenes and then using these edges to determine standard estimators of spatial resolution, such as the MTF and the RER. The SRVT was developed using the MATLAB programming language and environment. This automated software algorithm assesses every image in an acquired data set, using edges found within each image, and in many cases eliminating the need for dedicated edge targets. The SRVT automatically identifies high-contrast, uniform edges and calculates the MTF and RER of each image, and when possible, within sections of an image, so that the variation of spatial resolution characteristics across the image can be analyzed. The automated algorithm is capable of quickly verifying the spatial resolution quality of all images within a data set, enabling the appropriate use of those images in a number of applications.

Resolution Enhancement of Hyperion Hyperspectral Data using Ikonos Multispectral Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

spatial - resolution hyperspectral image to produce a sharpened product. The result is a product that has the spectral properties of the ...multispectral sensors. In this work, we examine the benefits of combining data from high- spatial - resolution , low- spectral - resolution spectral imaging...sensors with data obtained from high- spectral - resolution , low- spatial - resolution spectral imaging sensors.

Thematic and spatial resolutions affect model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

PubMed

Liang, Yu; He, Hong S; Fraser, Jacob S; Wu, ZhiWei

2013-01-01

Subjective decisions of thematic and spatial resolutions in characterizing environmental heterogeneity may affect the characterizations of spatial pattern and the simulation of occurrence and rate of ecological processes, and in turn, model-based tree species distribution. Thus, this study quantified the importance of thematic and spatial resolutions, and their interaction in predictions of tree species distribution (quantified by species abundance). We investigated how model-predicted species abundances changed and whether tree species with different ecological traits (e.g., seed dispersal distance, competitive capacity) had different responses to varying thematic and spatial resolutions. We used the LANDIS forest landscape model to predict tree species distribution at the landscape scale and designed a series of scenarios with different thematic (different numbers of land types) and spatial resolutions combinations, and then statistically examined the differences of species abundance among these scenarios. Results showed that both thematic and spatial resolutions affected model-based predictions of species distribution, but thematic resolution had a greater effect. Species ecological traits affected the predictions. For species with moderate dispersal distance and relatively abundant seed sources, predicted abundance increased as thematic resolution increased. However, for species with long seeding distance or high shade tolerance, thematic resolution had an inverse effect on predicted abundance. When seed sources and dispersal distance were not limiting, the predicted species abundance increased with spatial resolution and vice versa. Results from this study may provide insights into the choice of thematic and spatial resolutions for model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

Thematic and Spatial Resolutions Affect Model-Based Predictions of Tree Species Distribution

PubMed Central

Liang, Yu; He, Hong S.; Fraser, Jacob S.; Wu, ZhiWei

2013-01-01

Subjective decisions of thematic and spatial resolutions in characterizing environmental heterogeneity may affect the characterizations of spatial pattern and the simulation of occurrence and rate of ecological processes, and in turn, model-based tree species distribution. Thus, this study quantified the importance of thematic and spatial resolutions, and their interaction in predictions of tree species distribution (quantified by species abundance). We investigated how model-predicted species abundances changed and whether tree species with different ecological traits (e.g., seed dispersal distance, competitive capacity) had different responses to varying thematic and spatial resolutions. We used the LANDIS forest landscape model to predict tree species distribution at the landscape scale and designed a series of scenarios with different thematic (different numbers of land types) and spatial resolutions combinations, and then statistically examined the differences of species abundance among these scenarios. Results showed that both thematic and spatial resolutions affected model-based predictions of species distribution, but thematic resolution had a greater effect. Species ecological traits affected the predictions. For species with moderate dispersal distance and relatively abundant seed sources, predicted abundance increased as thematic resolution increased. However, for species with long seeding distance or high shade tolerance, thematic resolution had an inverse effect on predicted abundance. When seed sources and dispersal distance were not limiting, the predicted species abundance increased with spatial resolution and vice versa. Results from this study may provide insights into the choice of thematic and spatial resolutions for model-based predictions of tree species distribution. PMID:23861828

Biogeochemistry and Spatial Distribution of the Microbial-Mineral Interface Using I2LD-FTMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, J. R.; Kauffman, M. E.; Kauffman, M. E.; Tremblay, P. L.

2001-12-01

Previous studies indicate that biogeochemistry can vary within individual mineral specimens in contact with microorganisms. These same studies have shown that microcosms containing a mixture of minerals simulating a heterogeneous geologic matrix do not yield the same results as the naturally occurring rock. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop analytical tools that can provide spatially correlative biogeochemical data of the microbial-mineral interface within naturally occurring geologic matrices. Imaging internal laser desorption Fourier transform mass spectrometry (I2LD-FTMS) can provide elemental and molecular information of the microbial-mineral interface at a spatial resolution limited only by the optical diffraction limit of the final focusing lens (down to 2 μ m). Additionally, the I2LD-FTMS used in this study has exceptional reproducibility, which can provide successive mapping sequences for depth-profiling studies. Basalt core samples, taken from the Snake River Plain Aquifer in southeastern Idaho, were mapped prior to, and after, exposure to a bacterial culture. The bacteria-basalt interface spectra were collected using the I2LD-FTMS at the INEEL. Mass spectra were recorded over a mass-to-charge range of 30-2500 Da with an average peak resolution of 15,000 using 10 μ m spots. Two-dimensional maps were constructed depicting the spatial distribution of the minerals within the basalt as well as the spatial distribution of the bacteria on the basalt surface. This represents the first reported application of I2LD-FTMS in the field of biogeochemistry.

MagicPlate-512: A 2D silicon detector array for quality assurance of stereotactic motion adaptive radiotherapy.

PubMed

Petasecca, M; Newall, M K; Booth, J T; Duncan, M; Aldosari, A H; Fuduli, I; Espinoza, A A; Porumb, C S; Guatelli, S; Metcalfe, P; Colvill, E; Cammarano, D; Carolan, M; Oborn, B; Lerch, M L F; Perevertaylo, V; Keall, P J; Rosenfeld, A B

2015-06-01

Spatial and temporal resolutions are two of the most important features for quality assurance instrumentation of motion adaptive radiotherapy modalities. The goal of this work is to characterize the performance of the 2D high spatial resolution monolithic silicon diode array named "MagicPlate-512" for quality assurance of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) combined with a dynamic multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking technique for motion compensation. MagicPlate-512 is used in combination with the movable platform HexaMotion and a research version of radiofrequency tracking system Calypso driving MLC tracking software. The authors reconstruct 2D dose distributions of small field square beams in three modalities: in static conditions, mimicking the temporal movement pattern of a lung tumor and tracking the moving target while the MLC compensates almost instantaneously for the tumor displacement. Use of Calypso in combination with MagicPlate-512 requires a proper radiofrequency interference shielding. Impact of the shielding on dosimetry has been simulated by (GEANT)4 and verified experimentally. Temporal and spatial resolutions of the dosimetry system allow also for accurate verification of segments of complex stereotactic radiotherapy plans with identification of the instant and location where a certain dose is delivered. This feature allows for retrospective temporal reconstruction of the delivery process and easy identification of error in the tracking or the multileaf collimator driving systems. A sliding MLC wedge combined with the lung motion pattern has been measured. The ability of the MagicPlate-512 (MP512) in 2D dose mapping in all three modes of operation was benchmarked by EBT3 film. Full width at half maximum and penumbra of the moving and stationary dose profiles measured by EBT3 film and MagicPlate-512 confirm that motion has a significant impact on the dose distribution. Motion, no motion, and motion with MLC tracking profiles agreed within 1 and 0.4 mm, respectively, for all field sizes tested. Use of electromagnetic tracking system generates a fluctuation of the detector baseline up to 10% of the full scale signal requiring a proper shielding strategy. MagicPlate-512 is also able to reconstruct the dose variation pulse-by-pulse in each pixel of the detector. An analysis of the dose transients with motion and motion with tracking shows that the tracking feedback algorithm used for this experiment can compensate effectively only the effect of the slower transient components. The fast changing components of the organ motion can contribute only to discrepancy of the order of 15% in penumbral region while the slower components can change the dose profile up to 75% of the expected dose. MagicPlate-512 is shown to be, potentially, a valid alternative to film or 2D ionizing chambers for quality assurance dosimetry in SRS or SBRT. Its high spatial and temporal resolutions allow for accurate reconstruction of the profile in any conditions with motion and with tracking of the motion. It shows excellent performance to reconstruct the dose deposition in real time or retrospectively as a function of time for detailed analysis of the effect of motion in a specific pixel or area of interest.

Analysis of Co-spatial UV-Optical STIS Spectra of Planetary Nebulae From HST Cycle 19 GO 12600

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Timothy R.; Henry, Richard B. C.; Dufour, Reginald J.; Kwitter, Karen B.; Shaw, Richard A.; Balick, Bruce; Corradi, Romano

2015-01-01

We present an analysis of five spatially resolved planetary nebulae (PNe), NGC 5315, NGC 5882, NGC 7662, IC 2165, and IC 3568, from observations in the Cycle 19 program GO 12600 using HST STIS. Details of the observations and data are presented in the poster by Dufour et al. in this session. These five observations cover the wavelength range 1150-10,270 Å with 0.2 and 0.5 arcsec wide slits, and are co-spatial to 0.1 arcsec along a 25 arcsec length across each nebula. This unprecedented resolution in both wavelength and spatial coverage enabled detailed studies of physical conditions and abundances from UV line ion emissions (compared to optical lines). We first analyzed the low- and moderate-resolution UV emission lines of carbon using the resolved lines of C III] 1906.68 and 1908.73, which yielded a direct measurement of the density within the volume occupied by doubly-ionized carbon and other similar co-spatial ions. Next, each PN spectrum was divided into spatial sub-regions in order to assess inferred density variations among the sub-regions along the entire slit. Variations in electron temperature and chemical abundances were also probed. Lastly, these nebulae were modeled in detail with the photoionization code CLOUDY. This modeling tested different density profiles in order to reproduce the observed density variations and temperature fluctuations, and constrain central star parameters. We gratefully acknowledge generous support from NASA through grants related to the Cycle 19 program GO 12600, as well as from the University of Oklahoma.

An Interdisciplinary Approach at Studying the Earth-Sun System with GPS/GNSS and GPS-like Signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zuffada, Cinzia; Hajj, George; Mannucci, Anthony J.; Chao, Yi; Ao, Chi; Zumberge, James

2005-01-01

The value of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) measurements to atmospheric science, space physics, and ocean science, is now emerging or showing a potential to play a major role in the evolving programs of NASA, NSF and NOAA. The objective of this communication is to identify and articulate the key scientific questions that are optimally, or perhaps uniquely, addressed by GPS or GPS-like observations, and discuss their relevance to existing or planned national Earth-science research programs. The GPS-based ocean reflection experiments performed to date have demonstrated the precision and spatial resolution suitable to altimetric applications that require higher spatial resolution and more frequent repeat than the current radar altimeter satellites. GPS radio occultation is promising as a climate monitoring tool because of its benchmark properties: its raw observable is based on extremely accurate timing measurements. GPS-derived temperature profiles can provide meaningful climate trend information over decadal time scales without the need for overlapping missions or mission-to-mission calibrations. By acquiring data as GPS satellites occult behind the Earth's limb, GPS also provides high vertical resolution information on the vertical structure of electron density with global coverage. New experimental techniques will create more comprehensive TEC maps by using signals reflected from the oceans and received in orbit. This communication will discuss a potential future GNSS Earth Observing System project which would deploy a constellation of satellites using GPS and GPS-like measurements, to obtain a) topography measurements based on GPS reflections with an accuracy and horizontal resolution suitable for eddy monitoring, and h) climate-records quality atmospheric temperature profiles. The constellation would also provide for measurements of ionospheric elec tron density. This is a good example of an interdisciplinary mission concept, with broad science objectives of high societal relevance, al l resting on common cost-effective technology.

Retrieved Products from Simulated Hyperspectral Observations of a Hurricane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis; Iredell, Lena; Blaisdell, John

2015-01-01

Demonstrate via Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) the potential utility of flying high spatial resolution AIRS class IR sounders on future LEO and GEO missions.The study simulates and analyzes radiances for 3 sounders with AIRS spectral and radiometric properties on different orbits with different spatial resolutions: 1) Control run 13 kilometers AIRS spatial resolution at nadir on LEO in Aqua orbit; 2) 2 kilometer spatial resolution LEO sounder at nadir ARIES; 3) 5 kilometers spatial resolution sounder on a GEO orbit, radiances simulated every 72 minutes.

Validation of Satellite-Based Objective Overshooting Cloud-Top Detection Methods Using CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bedka, Kristopher M.; Dworak, Richard; Brunner, Jason; Feltz, Wayne

2012-01-01

Two satellite infrared-based overshooting convective cloud-top (OT) detection methods have recently been described in the literature: 1) the 11-mm infrared window channel texture (IRW texture) method, which uses IRW channel brightness temperature (BT) spatial gradients and thresholds, and 2) the water vapor minus IRW BT difference (WV-IRW BTD). While both methods show good performance in published case study examples, it is important to quantitatively validate these methods relative to overshooting top events across the globe. Unfortunately, no overshooting top database currently exists that could be used in such study. This study examines National Aeronautics and Space Administration CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar data to develop an OT detection validation database that is used to evaluate the IRW-texture and WV-IRW BTD OT detection methods. CloudSat data were manually examined over a 1.5-yr period to identify cases in which the cloud top penetrates above the tropopause height defined by a numerical weather prediction model and the surrounding cirrus anvil cloud top, producing 111 confirmed overshooting top events. When applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) Advanced Baseline Imager proxy data, the IRW-texture (WV-IRW BTD) method offered a 76% (96%) probability of OT detection (POD) and 16% (81%) false-alarm ratio. Case study examples show that WV-IRW BTD.0 K identifies much of the deep convective cloud top, while the IRW-texture method focuses only on regions with a spatial scale near that of commonly observed OTs. The POD decreases by 20% when IRW-texture is applied to current geostationary imager data, highlighting the importance of imager spatial resolution for observing and detecting OT regions.

Estimating NOx emissions and surface concentrations at high spatial resolution using OMI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, D. L.; Lamsal, L. N.; Loughner, C.; Swartz, W. H.; Saide, P. E.; Carmichael, G. R.; Henze, D. K.; Lu, Z.; Streets, D. G.

2017-12-01

In many instances, NOx emissions are not measured at the source. In these cases, remote sensing techniques are extremely useful in quantifying NOx emissions. Using an exponential modified Gaussian (EMG) fitting of oversampled Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) NO2 data, we estimate NOx emissions and lifetimes in regions where these emissions are uncertain. This work also presents a new high-resolution OMI NO2 dataset derived from the NASA retrieval that can be used to estimate surface level concentrations in the eastern United States and South Korea. To better estimate vertical profile shape factors, we use high-resolution model simulations (Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) and WRF-Chem) constrained by in situ aircraft observations to re-calculate tropospheric air mass factors and tropospheric NO2 vertical columns during summertime. The correlation between our satellite product and ground NO2 monitors in urban areas has improved dramatically: r2 = 0.60 in new product, r2 = 0.39 in operational product, signifying that this new product is a better indicator of surface concentrations than the operational product. Our work emphasizes the need to use both high-resolution and high-fidelity models in order to re-calculate vertical column data in areas with large spatial heterogeneities in NOx emissions. The methodologies developed in this work can be applied to other world regions and other satellite data sets to produce high-quality region-specific emissions estimates.

Trace element study in scallop shells by laser ablation ICP-MS: the example of Ba/Ca ratios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorrain, A.; Pécheyran, C.; Paulet, Y.-M.; Chauvaud, L.; Amouroux, D.; Krupp, E.; Donard, O.

2003-04-01

As scallop shells grow incrementally at a rate of one line per day, environmental changes could then be evidenced on a daily basis. As an example for trace element incorporation studies, barium is a geochemical tracer that can be directly related to oceanic primary productivity. Hence, monitoring Ba/Ca variations in a scallop shell should give information about phytoplanktonic events encountered day by day during its life. The very high spatial resolution (typically 40 - 200 µm) and the high elemental sensitivity required can only be achieved by the combination of laser ablation coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This study demonstrates that Laser ablation coupled to ICP-MS determination is a relevant tool for high resolution distribution measurement of trace elements in calcite matrix. The ablation strategy related to single line rastering and calcium normalisation were found to be the best analytical conditions in terms of reproducibility and sensitivity. The knowledge of P. maximus growth rings periodicity (daily), combined with LA-ICP-MS micro analysis allows the acquisition of time dated profiles with high spatial and thus temporal resolution. This resolution makes P. maximus a potential tool for environmental reconstruction and especially for accurate calibration of proxies. However, the relations among Ba/Ca peaks and phytoplanktonic events differed according to the animals and some inter-annual discrepancies complexify the interpretation.

3-D Spatial Resolution of 350 μm Pitch Pixelated CdZnTe Detectors for Imaging Applications.

PubMed

Yin, Yongzhi; Chen, Ximeng; Wu, Heyu; Komarov, Sergey; Garson, Alfred; Li, Qiang; Guo, Qingzhen; Krawczynski, Henric; Meng, Ling-Jian; Tai, Yuan-Chuan

2013-02-01

We are currently investigating the feasibility of using highly pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors for sub-500 μ m resolution PET imaging applications. A 20 mm × 20 mm × 5 mm CdZnTe substrate was fabricated with 350 μ m pitch pixels (250 μ m anode pixels with 100 μ m gap) and coplanar cathode. Charge sharing among the pixels of a 350 μ m pitch detector was studied using collimated 122 keV and 511 keV gamma ray sources. For a 350 μ m pitch CdZnTe detector, scatter plots of the charge signal of two neighboring pixels clearly show more charge sharing when the collimated beam hits the gap between adjacent pixels. Using collimated Co-57 and Ge-68 sources, we measured the count profiles and estimated the intrinsic spatial resolution of 350 μ m pitch detector biased at -1000 V. Depth of interaction was analyzed based on two methods, i.e., cathode/anode ratio and electron drift time, in both 122 keV and 511 keV measurements. For single-pixel photopeak events, a linear correlation between cathode/anode ratio and electron drift time was shown, which would be useful for estimating the DOI information and preserving image resolution in CdZnTe PET imaging applications.

3-D Spatial Resolution of 350 μm Pitch Pixelated CdZnTe Detectors for Imaging Applications

PubMed Central

Yin, Yongzhi; Chen, Ximeng; Wu, Heyu; Komarov, Sergey; Garson, Alfred; Li, Qiang; Guo, Qingzhen; Krawczynski, Henric; Meng, Ling-Jian; Tai, Yuan-Chuan

2016-01-01

We are currently investigating the feasibility of using highly pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors for sub-500 μm resolution PET imaging applications. A 20 mm × 20 mm × 5 mm CdZnTe substrate was fabricated with 350 μm pitch pixels (250 μm anode pixels with 100 μm gap) and coplanar cathode. Charge sharing among the pixels of a 350 μm pitch detector was studied using collimated 122 keV and 511 keV gamma ray sources. For a 350 μm pitch CdZnTe detector, scatter plots of the charge signal of two neighboring pixels clearly show more charge sharing when the collimated beam hits the gap between adjacent pixels. Using collimated Co-57 and Ge-68 sources, we measured the count profiles and estimated the intrinsic spatial resolution of 350 μm pitch detector biased at −1000 V. Depth of interaction was analyzed based on two methods, i.e., cathode/anode ratio and electron drift time, in both 122 keV and 511 keV measurements. For single-pixel photopeak events, a linear correlation between cathode/anode ratio and electron drift time was shown, which would be useful for estimating the DOI information and preserving image resolution in CdZnTe PET imaging applications. PMID:28250476

On-Orbit Lunar Modulation Transfer Function Measurements for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Taeyong; Xiong, Xiaoxiong; Wang, Zhipeng

2013-01-01

Spatial quality of an imaging sensor can be estimated by evaluating its modulation transfer function (MTF) from many different sources such as a sharp edge, a pulse target, or bar patterns with different spatial frequencies. These well-defined targets are frequently used for prelaunch laboratory tests, providing very reliable and accurate MTF measurements. A laboratory-quality edge input source was included in the spatial-mode operation of the Spectroradiometric Calibration Assembly (SRCA), which is one of the onboard calibrators of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Since not all imaging satellites have such an instrument, SRCA MTF estimations can be used as a reference for an on-orbit lunar MTF algorithm and results. In this paper, the prelaunch spatial quality characterization process from the Integrated Alignment Collimator and SRCA is briefly discussed. Based on prelaunch MTF calibration using the SRCA, a lunar MTF algorithm is developed and applied to the lifetime on-orbit Terra and Aqua MODIS lunar collections. In each lunar collection, multiple scan-directionMoon-to-background transition profiles are aligned by the subpixel edge locations from a parametric Fermi function fit. Corresponding accumulated edge profiles are filtered and interpolated to obtain the edge spread function (ESF). The MTF is calculated by applying a Fourier transformation on the line spread function through a simple differentiation of the ESF. The lifetime lunar MTF results are analyzed and filtered by a relationship with the Sun-Earth-MODIS angle. Finally, the filtered lunarMTF values are compared to the SRCA MTF results. This comparison provides the level of accuracy for on-orbit MTF estimations validated through prelaunch SRCA measurements. The lunar MTF values had larger uncertainty than the SRCA MTF results; however, the ratio mean of lunarMTF fit and SRCA MTF values is within 2% in the 250- and 500-m bands. Based on the MTF measurement uncertainty range, the suggested lunar MTF algorithm can be applied to any on-orbit imaging sensor with lunar calibration capability.

Integrating depth functions and hyper-scale terrain analysis for 3D soil organic carbon modeling in agricultural fields at regional scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez-Lopez, L.; van Wesemael, B.; Stevens, A.; Doetterl, S.; Van Oost, K.; Behrens, T.; Schmidt, K.

2012-04-01

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) represents a key component in the global C cycle and has an important influence on the global CO2 fluxes between terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere. In the context of agricultural landscapes, SOC inventories are important since soil management practices have a strong influence on CO2 fluxes and SOC stocks. However, there is lack of accurate and cost-effective methods for producing high spatial resolution of SOC information. In this respect, our work is focused on the development of a three dimensional modeling approach for SOC monitoring in agricultural fields. The study area comprises ~420 km2 and includes 4 of the 5 agro-geological regions of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The soil dataset consist of 172 profiles (1033 samples) which were not sampled specifically for this study. This dataset is a combination of profile samples collected in previous soil surveys and soil profiles sampled for other research purposes. The proposed strategy comprises two main steps. In the first step the SOC distribution within each profile (vertical distribution) is modeled. Depth functions for are fitted in order to summarize the information content in the profile. By using these functions the SOC can be interpolated at any depth within the profiles. The second step involves the use of contextual terrain (ConMap) features (Behrens et al., 2010). These features are based on the differences in elevation between a given point location in the landscape and its circular neighbourhoods at a given set of different radius. One of the main advantages of this approach is that it allows the integration of several spatial scales (eg. local and regional) for soil spatial analysis. In this work the ConMap features are derived from a digital elevation model of the area and are used as predictors for spatial modeling of the parameters of the depth functions fitted in the previous step. In this poster we present some preliminary results in which we analyze: i. The use of different depth functions, ii. The use of different machine learning approaches for modeling the parameters of the fitted depth functions using the ConMap features and iii. The influence of different spatial scales on the SOC profile distribution variability. Keywords: 3D modeling, Digital soil mapping, Depth functions, Terrain analysis. Reference Behrens, T., K. Schmidt, K., Zhu, A.X. Scholten, T. 2010. The ConMap approach for terrain-based digital soil mapping. European Journal of Soil Science, v. 61, p.133-143.

Improved Simulation of Electrodiffusion in the Node of Ranvier by Mesh Adaptation.

PubMed

Dione, Ibrahima; Deteix, Jean; Briffard, Thomas; Chamberland, Eric; Doyon, Nicolas

2016-01-01

In neural structures with complex geometries, numerical resolution of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations is necessary to accurately model electrodiffusion. This formalism allows one to describe ionic concentrations and the electric field (even away from the membrane) with arbitrary spatial and temporal resolution which is impossible to achieve with models relying on cable theory. However, solving the PNP equations on complex geometries involves handling intricate numerical difficulties related either to the spatial discretization, temporal discretization or the resolution of the linearized systems, often requiring large computational resources which have limited the use of this approach. In the present paper, we investigate the best ways to use the finite elements method (FEM) to solve the PNP equations on domains with discontinuous properties (such as occur at the membrane-cytoplasm interface). 1) Using a simple 2D geometry to allow comparison with analytical solution, we show that mesh adaptation is a very (if not the most) efficient way to obtain accurate solutions while limiting the computational efforts, 2) We use mesh adaptation in a 3D model of a node of Ranvier to reveal details of the solution which are nearly impossible to resolve with other modelling techniques. For instance, we exhibit a non linear distribution of the electric potential within the membrane due to the non uniform width of the myelin and investigate its impact on the spatial profile of the electric field in the Debye layer.

Verbal-spatial IQ discrepancies impact brain activation associated with the resolution of cognitive conflict in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Margolis, Amy E; Davis, Katie S; Pao, Lisa S; Lewis, Amy; Yang, Xiao; Tau, Gregory; Zhao, Guihu; Wang, Zhishun; Marsh, Rachel

2018-03-01

Verbal-spatial discrepancies are common in healthy individuals and in those with neurodevelopmental disorders associated with cognitive control deficits including: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Non-Verbal Learning Disability, Fragile X, 22q11 deletion, and Turner Syndrome. Previous data from healthy individuals suggest that the magnitude of the difference between verbal IQ (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ) scores (the VIQ>PIQ discrepancy) is associated with reduced thickness in frontal and parietal cortices (inferior frontal, anterior cingulate, inferior parietal lobule, and supramarginal gyrus) that support cognitive control. Unknown is whether the VIQ>PIQ discrepancy is associated with functional deficits in these areas in healthy or ill children and adolescents. We assessed the effects of the VIQ>PIQ discrepancy on fMRI BOLD response during the resolution of cognitive conflict in 55 healthy children and adolescents during performance of a Simon Spatial Incompatibility task. As the magnitude of the VIQ>PIQ discrepancy increased, activation of fronto-striatal, limbic, and temporal regions decreased during conflict resolution (p < .05, corrected). In exploratory analyses, the VIQ>PIQ discrepancy was associated with reduced functional connectivity from right inferior frontal gyrus to right thalamus and increased functional connectivity to right supramarginal gyrus (ps < .03, uncorrected). The VIQ>PIQ discrepancy may be an important aspect of an individual's cognitive profile and likely contributes to, or is associated with, deficient cognitive control processes characteristic of many childhood disorders. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Resampling algorithm for the Spatial Infrared Imaging Telescope (SPIRIT III) Fourier transform spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Steven D.; Greenman, Mark E.; Hansen, Scott M.

1998-11-01

The Spatial Infrared Imaging Telescope (SPIRIT III) is the primary sensor aboard the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX), which was launched 24 April 1996. SPIRIT III included a Fourier transform spectrometer that collected terrestrial and celestial background phenomenology data for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). This spectrometer used a helium-neon reference laser to measure the optical path difference (OPD) in the spectrometer and to command the analog-to-digital conversion of the infrared detector signals, thereby ensuring the data were sampled at precise increments of OPD. Spectrometer data must be sampled at accurate increments of OPD to optimize the spectral resolution and spectral position of the transformed spectra. Unfortunately, a failure in the power supply preregulator at the MSX spacecraft/SPIRIT III interface early in the mission forced the spectrometer to be operated without the reference laser until a failure investigation was completed. During this time data were collected in a backup mode that used an electronic clock to sample the data. These data were sampled evenly in time, and because the scan velocity varied, at nonuniform increments of OPD. The scan velocity profile depended on scan direction and scan length, and varied over time, greatly degrading the spectral resolution and spectral and radiometric accuracy of the measurements. The Convert software used to process the SPIRIT III data was modified to resample the clock-sampled data at even increments of OPD, using scan velocity profiles determined from ground and on-orbit data, greatly improving the quality of the clock-sampled data. This paper presents the resampling algorithm, the characterization of the scan velocity profiles, and the results of applying the resampling algorithm to on-orbit data.

Modeling Structure and Dynamics of Protein Complexes with SAXS Profiles

PubMed Central

Schneidman-Duhovny, Dina; Hammel, Michal

2018-01-01

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is an increasingly common and useful technique for structural characterization of molecules in solution. A SAXS experiment determines the scattering intensity of a molecule as a function of spatial frequency, termed SAXS profile. SAXS profiles can be utilized in a variety of molecular modeling applications, such as comparing solution and crystal structures, structural characterization of flexible proteins, assembly of multi-protein complexes, and modeling of missing regions in the high-resolution structure. Here, we describe protocols for modeling atomic structures based on SAXS profiles. The first protocol is for comparing solution and crystal structures including modeling of missing regions and determination of the oligomeric state. The second protocol performs multi-state modeling by finding a set of conformations and their weights that fit the SAXS profile starting from a single-input structure. The third protocol is for protein-protein docking based on the SAXS profile of the complex. We describe the underlying software, followed by demonstrating their application on interleukin 33 (IL33) with its primary receptor ST2 and DNA ligase IV-XRCC4 complex. PMID:29605933

Synchrotron X-ray microbeam dosimetry with a 20 micrometre resolution scintillator fibre-optic dosimeter.

PubMed

Archer, James; Li, Enbang; Petasecca, Marco; Stevenson, Andrew; Livingstone, Jayde; Dipuglia, Andrew; Davis, Jeremy; Rosenfeld, Anatoly; Lerch, Michael

2018-05-01

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. External beam radiation therapy is one of the most important modalities for the treatment of cancers. Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a novel pre-clinical therapy that uses highly spatially fractionated X-ray beams to target tumours, allowing doses much higher than conventional radiotherapies to be delivered. A dosimeter with a high spatial resolution is required to provide the appropriate quality assurance for MRT. This work presents a plastic scintillator fibre optic dosimeter with a one-dimensional spatial resolution of 20 µm, an improvement on the dosimeter with a resolution of 50 µm that was demonstrated in previous work. The ability of this probe to resolve microbeams of width 50 µm has been demonstrated. The major limitations of this method were identified, most notably the low-light signal resulting from the small sensitive volume, which made valley dose measurements very challenging. A titanium-based reflective paint was used as a coating on the probe to improve the light collection, but a possible effect of the high-Z material on the probes water-equivalence has been identified. The effect of the reflective paint was a 28.5 ± 4.6% increase in the total light collected; it did not affect the shape of the depth-dose profile, nor did it explain an over-response observed when used to probe at low depths, when compared with an ionization chamber. With improvements to the data acquisition, this probe design has the potential to provide a water-equivalent, inexpensive dosimetry tool for MRT.

Detector motion method to increase spatial resolution in photon-counting detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Daehee; Park, Kyeongjin; Lim, Kyung Taek; Cho, Gyuseong

2017-03-01

Medical imaging requires high spatial resolution of an image to identify fine lesions. Photon-counting detectors in medical imaging have recently been rapidly replacing energy-integrating detectors due to the former`s high spatial resolution, high efficiency and low noise. Spatial resolution in a photon counting image is determined by the pixel size. Therefore, the smaller the pixel size, the higher the spatial resolution that can be obtained in an image. However, detector redesigning is required to reduce pixel size, and an expensive fine process is required to integrate a signal processing unit with reduced pixel size. Furthermore, as the pixel size decreases, charge sharing severely deteriorates spatial resolution. To increase spatial resolution, we propose a detector motion method using a large pixel detector that is less affected by charge sharing. To verify the proposed method, we utilized a UNO-XRI photon-counting detector (1-mm CdTe, Timepix chip) at the maximum X-ray tube voltage of 80 kVp. A similar spatial resolution of a 55- μm-pixel image was achieved by application of the proposed method to a 110- μm-pixel detector with a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The proposed method could be a way to increase spatial resolution without a pixel redesign when pixels severely suffer from charge sharing as pixel size is reduced.

Imaging doppler lidar for wind turbine wake profiling

DOEpatents

Bossert, David J.

2015-11-19

An imaging Doppler lidar (IDL) enables the measurement of the velocity distribution of a large volume, in parallel, and at high spatial resolution in the wake of a wind turbine. Because the IDL is non-scanning, it can be orders of magnitude faster than conventional coherent lidar approaches. Scattering can be obtained from naturally occurring aerosol particles. Furthermore, the wind velocity can be measured directly from Doppler shifts of the laser light, so the measurement can be accomplished at large standoff and at wide fields-of-view.

Zonal average earth radiation budget measurements from satellites for climate studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellis, J. S.; Haar, T. H. V.

1976-01-01

Data from 29 months of satellite radiation budget measurements, taken intermittently over the period 1964 through 1971, are composited into mean month, season and annual zonally averaged meridional profiles. Individual months, which comprise the 29 month set, were selected as representing the best available total flux data for compositing into large scale statistics for climate studies. A discussion of spatial resolution of the measurements along with an error analysis, including both the uncertainty and standard error of the mean, are presented.

Atmospheric Flux Computations in Complex Terrain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Paul L.; Kopp, Fred J.; Orville, Harold D.

2000-01-01

The greatest challenges in applying atmospheric water budget expressions are in determining the divergence and evapotranspiration terms. The evapotranspiration problem is ubiquitous, and critical issues of spatial and temporal resolution commonly arise in establishing the divergence term. In complex terrain, further difficulties crop up in using typical data on atmospheric profiles of water vapor and wind to estimate the divergence term. Those difficulties are the subject of this paper; considerations related to topographic variations both along and normal to the flow direction are treated.

The Effect of Remote Sensor Spatial Resolution in Monitoring U.S. Army Training Maneuver Sites

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

THE EFFECT OF REMOTE SENSOR SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN MONITORING U.S. ARMY...Multispectral Scanner with 6.5 meter spatial resolution provided the most effective digital data set for enhancing tank trails. However, this Airborne Scanner...primary objective of this research was to determine the capabilities and limitations of remote sensor systems having different spatial resolutions to

Use of radiochromic film as a high-spatial resolution dosimeter by Raman spectroscopy

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

Mirza, Jamal Ahmad; Park, Hyeonsuk

Purpose: Due to increasing demand for high-spatial resolution dosimetry, radiochromic films have been investigated as potential candidates but are often limited by the scanning system, e.g., flatbed optical scanner. In this study, Raman spectroscopy in conjunction with a microscope was selected as an alternative method for high-spatial resolution dosimetry of radiochromic film. Methods: Unlaminated Gafchromic™ EBT3 films were irradiated with doses between 0 and 50 Gy using 6 MV x-rays of a clinical linear accelerator. Depth profiling from the surface of unlaminated film was performed to acquire the maximum Raman intensity peaks of C≡C and C=C stretching bands of diacetylenemore » polymer. The Raman mapping technique for a region of interest (200 × 200, 30 × 30 μm{sup 2}) was developed to reduce a large variation in a Raman spectrum produced with a sampling resolution of a few μm. The preprocessing of Raman spectra was carried out to determine a dosimetric relationship with the amount of diacetylene polymerization. Results: Due to partial diacetylene polymerization upon irradiation, two Raman peaks of C=C and C≡C stretching bands were observed around 1447 and 2060 cm{sup −1}, respectively. The maximum intensities of the two peaks were obtained by positioning a focused laser spot on the surface of unlaminated film. For the dose range of 0–50 Gy, the band heights of both C≡C and C=C peaks increase asymptotically with increasing doses and can be fit with an exponential function of two components. The relative standard deviation in Raman mapping was found to be less than ±5%. By using this technique, dose uniformity was found to be within ±2%. Conclusions: The Raman intensity for C=C and C≡C peaks increases with an increase in the amount of diacetylene polymerization due to an increase in dose. This study shows the potential of Raman spectroscopy as an alternative for absolute dosimetry verifications with a high-spatial resolution of a few μm, but these findings need to be further validated for the purpose of microdosimetry.« less

Advances in Spectral-Spatial Classification of Hyperspectral Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fauvel, Mathieu; Tarabalka, Yuliya; Benediktsson, Jon Atli; Chanussot, Jocelyn; Tilton, James C.

2012-01-01

Recent advances in spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral images are presented in this paper. Several techniques are investigated for combining both spatial and spectral information. Spatial information is extracted at the object (set of pixels) level rather than at the conventional pixel level. Mathematical morphology is first used to derive the morphological profile of the image, which includes characteristics about the size, orientation, and contrast of the spatial structures present in the image. Then, the morphological neighborhood is defined and used to derive additional features for classification. Classification is performed with support vector machines (SVMs) using the available spectral information and the extracted spatial information. Spatial postprocessing is next investigated to build more homogeneous and spatially consistent thematic maps. To that end, three presegmentation techniques are applied to define regions that are used to regularize the preliminary pixel-wise thematic map. Finally, a multiple-classifier (MC) system is defined to produce relevant markers that are exploited to segment the hyperspectral image with the minimum spanning forest algorithm. Experimental results conducted on three real hyperspectral images with different spatial and spectral resolutions and corresponding to various contexts are presented. They highlight the importance of spectral–spatial strategies for the accurate classification of hyperspectral images and validate the proposed methods.

Performance and data analysis aspects of the new DIII-D monostatic profile reflectometer system

DOE PAGES

Zeng, Lei; Peebles, William A.; Doyle, Edward J.; ...

2014-08-07

A new frequency-modulated (FMCW) profile reflectometer system, featuring a monostatic antenna geometry (using one microwave antenna for both launch and receive), has been installed on the DIII-D tokamak, providing a first experimental test of this measurement approach for profile reflectometry. Significant features of the new system are briefly described in this paper, including the new monostatic arrangement, use of overmoded, broadband transmission waveguide, and dual-polarization combination/demultiplexing. Updated data processing and analysis, and in-service performance aspects of the new monostatic profile reflectometer system are also presented. By using a raytracing code (GENRAY) to determine the approximate trajectory of the probe beam,more » the electron density (n e) profile can be successfully reconstructed with L-mode plasmas vertically shifted by more than 10 cm off the vessel midplane. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the new system has a capability to measure n e profiles with plasma vertical offsets of up to ±17 cm. Furthermore, examples are also presented of accurate, high time and spatial resolution density profile measurements made over a wide range of DIII-D conditions, e.g. the measured temporal evolution of the density profile across an L-H transition.« less

TROPOMI on the Copernicus Sentinel 5 Precursor: Launched?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levelt, P.; Veefkind, J. P.; Kleipool, Q.; Ludewig, A.; Aben, I.; De Vries, J.; Loyola, D. G.; Richter, A.; Van Roozendael, M.; Siddans, R.; Tamminen, J.; Wagner, T.; Nett, H.

2016-12-01

The Copernicus Sentinel 5 Precursor (S5P) is the first of the European Sentinels satellites dedicated to monitoring of the atmospheric composition. S5P is planned for launch in the 4thquarter of 2016; hopefully in time for the AGU Fall Meeting! The mission objectives of S5P are to monitor air quality, climate and the ozone layer, in the time period between 2017 and 2023. S5P will fly in a Sun-synchronized polar orbit with a 13:30 hr local equator crossing time. The single payload of the S5P mission is TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), which is developed by The Netherlands in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). TROPOMI is a nadir viewing shortwave spectrometer that measures in the UV-visible wavelength range (270-500 nm), the near infrared (710-770 nm) and the shortwave infrared (2314-2382 nm). TROPOMI will have an unprecedented spatial resolution of 7x7 km2at nadir. The spatial resolution is combined with a wide swath to allow for daily global coverage. The TROPOMI/S5P geophysical (Level 2) operational data products include nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone (total column, tropospheric column & profile), methane, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde and aerosol and cloud parameters. The main heritage for TROPOMI comes from OMI on EOS Aura and SCIAMACHY on Envisat. Many of the lessons learned in these missions have resulted in design improvements for TROPOMI. One of the most striking features is the high spatial resolution of 7x7 km2at nadir. The high spatial resolution serves two goals: (1) emissions sources can be detected with a higher accuracy and (2) the number of cloud-free ground pixels will increase substantially. The higher spatial resolution is also combined with a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio per ground pixel, compared to OMI. This will further enhance the capabilities of TROPOMI to detect small emissions sources. The S5P will fly in a so-called loose formation with the U.S. Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite. The primary objective for this formation flying is to use the cloud clearing capabilities of the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite). The temporal separation between TROPOMI and VIIRS will be less than 5 minutes. Once this formation has been established, it will enable synergistic data products and scientific research potentials.

The effects of transient attention on spatial resolution and the size of the attentional cue.

PubMed

Yeshurun, Yaffa; Carrasco, Marisa

2008-01-01

It has been shown that transient attention enhances spatial resolution, but is the effect of transient attention on spatial resolution modulated by the size of the attentional cue? Would a gradual increase in the size of the cue lead to a gradual decrement in spatial resolution? To test these hypotheses, we used a texture segmentation task in which performance depends on spatial resolution, and systematically manipulated the size of the attentional cue: A bar of different lengths (Experiment 1) or a frame of different sizes (Experiments 2-3) indicated the target region in a texture segmentation display. Observers indicated whether a target patch region (oriented line elements in a background of an orthogonal orientation), appearing at a range of eccentricities, was present in the first or the second interval. We replicated the attentional enhancement of spatial resolution found with small cues; attention improved performance at peripheral locations but impaired performance at central locations. However, there was no evidence of gradual resolution decrement with large cues. Transient attention enhanced spatial resolution at the attended location when it was attracted to that location by a small cue but did not affect resolution when it was attracted by a large cue. These results indicate that transient attention cannot adapt its operation on spatial resolution on the basis of the size of the attentional cue.

Radial resolution enhancement of the NSTX Thomson scattering diagnostic.

PubMed

LeBlanc, B P; Diallo, A; Labik, G; Stevens, D R

2012-10-01

Current magnetic confinement plasma physics research has increased the demand for radial resolution in profile diagnostics, in particular in the edge and pedestal regions. On NSTX, an upgrade of the existing multi-point Thomson scattering diagnostic has been implemented in order to respond to the research program needs. Twelve new radial channels have been added bringing the total number of positions to 42. Four previously un-instrumented fiber bundles were put in service. Eight existing "active" fiber bundles were divided in two sub-bundles each in order to increase spatial resolution. Twelve radial channels now cover the pedestal region with a resolution near one centimeter. Fifteen radial channels cover the core and internal transport barrier regions. Two additional channels were added, one near the inner edge and one in the outer scrape-off layer. The intersection of the focused viewing optics field of view with a finite-width laser beam results in major-radius cross talk between adjacent fiber sub-bundles. A discussion and calculation of the cross talk will be presented.

Selecting a spatial resolution for estimation of per-field green leaf area index

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curran, Paul J.; Williamson, H. Dawn

1988-01-01

For any application of multispectral scanner (MSS) data, a user is faced with a number of choices concerning the characteristics of the data; one of these is their spatial resolution. A pilot study was undertaken to determine the spatial resolution that would be optimal for the per-field estimation of green leaf area index (GLAI) in grassland. By reference to empirically-derived data from three areas of grassland, the suitable spatial resolution was hypothesized to lie in the lower portion of a 2-18 m range. To estimate per-field GLAI, airborne MSS data were collected at spatial resolutions of 2 m, 5 m and 10 m. The highest accuracies of per-field GLAI estimation were achieved using MSS data with spatial resolutions of 2 m and 5 m.

Trace metal fluxes to ferromanganese nodules from the western Baltic Sea as a record for long-term environmental changes

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

Hlawatsch, S.; Garbe-Schonberg, C.D.; Lechtenberg, F.

Trace element profiles in ferromanganese nodules from the western Baltic Sea were analyzed with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) and synchrotron-based micro-X-ray radiation techniques (fluorescence: mSXRF, and diffraction: mXRD) at high spatial resolution in growth direction. Of the trace elements studied (Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, Co, Mo, Ba), Zn showed the most significant enrichment, with values in the outermost surface layers of up to six-fold higher than those found in older core parts. The high-resolution Zn profiles provide the necessary temporal resolution for a dating method analogous to dendrochronology. Profiles in various samples collected during two decadesmore » were matched and the overlapping sections used for estimation of the accretion rates. Assuming a continuous accretion of these relatively fast growing nodules (on average 20 mm a-1) over the last century, the Zn enrichment was thus assessed to have commenced around 1860/70 in nodules from the Kiel Bight and in 1880/90 from Mecklenburg Bight, reflecting the enhanced heavy metal emissions with rising industrialization in Europe. Apart from the obvious success with Zn, only As and Co show significant but only 1.5-fold enrichments in the most recent growth layers of the nodules. Other anthropogenic trace metals like Cu and Cd are not at all enriched, which, together with the distinct early-diagenetic Fe/Mn banding, weakens the potential of the nodules for retrospective monitoring.« less

High-resolution monitoring across the soil-groundwater interface - Revealing small-scale hydrochemical patterns with a novel multi-level well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gassen, Niklas; Griebler, Christian; Stumpp, Christine

2016-04-01

Biogeochemical turnover processes in the subsurface are highly variable both in time and space. In order to capture this variability, high resolution monitoring systems are required. Particular in riparian zones the understanding of small-scale biogeochemical processes is of interest, as they are regarded as important buffer zones for nutrients and contaminants with high turnover rates. To date, riparian research has focused on influences of groundwater-surface water interactions on element cycling, but little is known about processes occurring at the interface between the saturated and the unsaturated zone during dynamic flow conditions. Therefore, we developed a new type of high resolution multi-level well (HR-MLW) that has been installed in the riparian zone of the Selke river. This HR-MLW for the first time enables to derive water samples both from the unsaturated and the saturated zone across one vertical profile with a spatial vertical resolution of 0.05 to 0.5 m to a depth of 4 m b.l.s. Water samples from the unsaturated zone are extracted via suction cup sampling. Samples from the saturated zone are withdrawn through glass filters and steel capillaries. Both, ceramic cups and glass filters, are installed along a 1" HDPE piezometer tube. First high resolution hydrochemical profiles revealed a distinct depth-zonation in the riparian alluvial aquifer. A shallow zone beneath the water table carried a signature isotopically and hydrochemically similar to the nearby river, while layers below 1.5 m were influenced by regional groundwater. This zonation showed temporal dynamics related to groundwater table fluctuations and microbial turnover processes. The HR-MLW delivered new insight into mixing and turnover processes between riverwater and groundwater in riparian zones, both in a temporal and spatial dimension. With these new insights, we are able to improve our understanding of dynamic turnover processes at the soil - groundwater interface and of surface -groundwater interactions in riparian zones. In the future, a better prediction and targeted management of buffer mechanisms in riparian zones will be possible.

Forest Classification Accuracy as Influenced by Multispectral Scanner Spatial Resolution. [Sam Houston National Forest, Texas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nalepka, R. F. (Principal Investigator); Sadowski, F. E.; Sarno, J. E.

1976-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A supervised classification within two separate ground areas of the Sam Houston National Forest was carried out for two sq meters spatial resolution MSS data. Data were progressively coarsened to simulate five additional cases of spatial resolution ranging up to 64 sq meters. Similar processing and analysis of all spatial resolutions enabled evaluations of the effect of spatial resolution on classification accuracy for various levels of detail and the effects on area proportion estimation for very general forest features. For very coarse resolutions, a subset of spectral channels which simulated the proposed thematic mapper channels was used to study classification accuracy.

[S IV] in the NGC 5253 Supernebula: Ionized Gas Kinematics at High Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Sara C.; Lacy, John H.; Turner, Jean L.; Kruger, Andrew; Richter, Matt; Crosthwaite, Lucian P.

2012-08-01

The nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a deeply embedded radio-infrared supernebula excited by thousands of O stars. We have observed this source in the 10.5 μm line of S +3 at 3.8 km s-1 spectral and 1farcs4 spatial resolution, using the high-resolution spectrometer TEXES on the IRTF. The line profile cannot be fit well by a single Gaussian. The best simple fit describes the gas with two Gaussians, one near the galactic velocity with FWHM 33.6 km s-1 and another of similar strength and FWHM 94 km s-1 centered ~20 km s-1 to the blue. This suggests a model for the supernebula in which gas flows toward us out of the molecular cloud, as in a "blister" or "champagne flow" or in the H II regions modelled by Zhu.

NASA/GEWEX shortwave surface radiation budget: Integrated data product with reprocessed radiance, cloud, and meteorology inputs, and new surface albedo treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Stephen J.; Stackhouse, Paul W.; Gupta, Shashi K.; Mikovitz, J. Colleen; Zhang, Taiping

2017-02-01

The NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project produces shortwave and longwave surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes for the 1983-near present time period. Spatial resolution is 1 degree. The current Release 3.0 (available at gewex-srb.larc.nasa.gov) uses the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) DX product for pixel level radiance and cloud information. This product is subsampled to 30 km. ISCCP is currently recalibrating and recomputing their entire data series, to be released as the H product, at 10km resolution. The ninefold increase in pixel number will allow SRB a higher resolution gridded product (e.g. 0.5 degree), as well as the production of pixel-level fluxes. Other key input improvements include a detailed aerosol history using the Max Planck Institute Aerosol Climatology (MAC), and temperature and moisture profiles from nnHIRS.

Quantitative comparison of high-resolution MRI and myelin-stained histology of the human cerebral cortex.

PubMed

Osechinskiy, Sergey; Kruggel, Frithjof

2009-01-01

The architectonic analysis of the human cerebral cortex is presently based on the examination of stained tissue sections. Recent progress in high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) promotes the feasibility of an in vivo architectonic analysis. Since the exact relationship between the laminar fine-structure of a cortical MRI signal and histological cyto-and myeloarchitectonic staining patterns is not known, a quantitative study comparing high-resolution MRI to histological ground truth images is necessary for validating a future MRI based architectonic analysis. This communication describes an ongoing study comparing post mortem MR images to a myelin-stained histology of the brain cortex. After establishing a close spatial correspondence between histological sections and MRI using a slice-to-volume nonrigid registration algorithm, transcortical intensity profiles, extracted from both imaging modalities along curved trajectories of a Laplacian vector field, are compared via a cross-correlational analysis.

Performance improvements of wavelength-shifting-fiber neutron detectors using high-resolution positioning algorithms

DOE PAGES

Wang, C. L.

2016-05-17

On the basis of FluoroBancroft linear-algebraic method [S.B. Andersson, Opt. Exp. 16, 18714 (2008)] three highly-resolved positioning methods were proposed for wavelength-shifting fiber (WLSF) neutron detectors. Using a Gaussian or exponential-decay light-response function (LRF), the non-linear relation of photon-number profiles vs. x-pixels was linearized and neutron positions were determined. The proposed algorithms give an average 0.03-0.08 pixel position error, much smaller than that (0.29 pixel) from a traditional maximum photon algorithm (MPA). The new algorithms result in better detector uniformity, less position misassignment (ghosting), better spatial resolution, and an equivalent or better instrument resolution in powder diffraction than the MPA.more » Moreover, these characters will facilitate broader applications of WLSF detectors at time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction beamlines, including single-crystal diffraction and texture analysis.« less

CERES Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) data in HDF. (CER_CRS_Terra-FM2-MODIS_Edition2B)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wielicki, Bruce A. (Principal Investigator)

The Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) product contains one hour of instantaneous Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data for a single scanner instrument. The CRS contains all of the CERES SSF product data. For each CERES footprint on the SSF the CRS also contains vertical flux profiles evaluated at four levels in the atmosphere: the surface, 500-, 70-, and 1-hPa. The CRS fluxes and cloud parameters are adjusted for consistency with a radiative transfer model and adjusted fluxes are evaluated at the four atmospheric levels for both clear-sky and total-sky. [Location=GLOBAL] [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=1998-01-01; Stop_Date=2001-10-31] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180] [Data_Resolution: Temporal_Resolution=1 hour; Temporal_Resolution_Range=Hourly - < Daily].

CERES Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) data in HDF (CER_CRS_TRMM-PFM-VIRS_Edition2C)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wielicki, Bruce A. (Principal Investigator)

The Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) product contains one hour of instantaneous Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data for a single scanner instrument. The CRS contains all of the CERES SSF product data. For each CERES footprint on the SSF the CRS also contains vertical flux profiles evaluated at four levels in the atmosphere: the surface, 500-, 70-, and 1-hPa. The CRS fluxes and cloud parameters are adjusted for consistency with a radiative transfer model and adjusted fluxes are evaluated at the four atmospheric levels for both clear-sky and total-sky. [Location=GLOBAL] [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=1998-01-01; Stop_Date=2000-03-31] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180] [Data_Resolution: Temporal_Resolution=1 hour; Temporal_Resolution_Range=Hourly - < Daily].

CERES Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) data in HDF. (CER_CRS_Terra-FM2-MODIS_Edition2A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wielicki, Bruce A. (Principal Investigator)

The Clouds and Radiative Swath (CRS) product contains one hour of instantaneous Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data for a single scanner instrument. The CRS contains all of the CERES SSF product data. For each CERES footprint on the SSF the CRS also contains vertical flux profiles evaluated at four levels in the atmosphere: the surface, 500-, 70-, and 1-hPa. The CRS fluxes and cloud parameters are adjusted for consistency with a radiative transfer model and adjusted fluxes are evaluated at the four atmospheric levels for both clear-sky and total-sky. [Location=GLOBAL] [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=1998-01-01; Stop_Date=2001-10-31] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180] [Data_Resolution: Temporal_Resolution=1 hour; Temporal_Resolution_Range=Hourly - < Daily].

PHOENIX IR Spectra of CO in the Sun and the Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayres, T. R.; Valenti, J. A.; Hinkle, K. H.; Johns-Krull, C. M.; Wiedemann, G. R.

1998-05-01

We report high-resolution (R ~ 5*E(4) ) spectra of the 2143 cm(-1) (4.7 mu m) interval---containing lines from the fundamental (Delta v =1) bands of carbon monoxide---in the Sun and other late-type stars, obtained with the PHOENIX cryogenic infrared spectrometer. The solar work was conducted at the McMath-Pierce telescope during the period 21--26 April 1997, while the stellar observations were obtained on the night of 6 December 1997 at the Kitt Peak 2.1-m. Comparisons of spatially-averaged spectra from the long-slit observations of the Sun with very high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer scans permitted an evalution of the PHOENIX instrumental profile (affected by flexing of the grating owing to unequal thermal coefficients of the epoxy replica and the silicon substrate). The profile information subsequently was applied in comparisons of the stellar data sets with CO spectra synthesized using a variety of prototype thermal structure models. On the stellar side, we concentrated on bright K-type giants whose broad CO profiles are fully resolved at PHOENIX resolution. Our intent was to test the degree of thermal heterogeneity in the outer layers of the red giant atmospheres; analogous to the ``thermal bifurcation'' effects deduced in the solar context (namely, the dichotomy between classical hot chromosphere and the controversial cool ``COmosphere''). Our spectral analyses provide a preview of the power of PHOENIX for high-resolution infrared spectroscopy of stars; to be realized in the coming months when the original grating is replaced with an improved version. [-2mm] The observations were obtained at the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. This work was supported by NSF grant AST-9618505.

In Situ Visualization of the Growth and Fluctuations of Nanoparticle Superlattice in Liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Zihao; Shen, Bonan; Chen, Qian

We use liquid phase transmission electron microscopy to image and understand the crystal growth front and interfacial fluctuation of a nanoparticle superlattice. With single particle resolution and hundreds of nanoscale building blocks in view, we are able to identify the interface between ordered lattice and disordered structure and visualize the kinetics of single building block attachment at the lattice growth front. The spatial interfacial fluctuation profiles support the capillary wave theory, from which we derive a surface stiffness value consistent with scaling analysis. Our experiments demonstrate the potential of extending model study on collective systems to nanoscale with single particle resolution and testing fundamental theories of condensed matter at a length scale linking atoms and micron-sized colloids.

Multi-energy x-ray imaging and sensing for diagnostic and control of the burning plasma.

PubMed

Stutman, D; Tritz, K; Finkenthal, M

2012-10-01

New diagnostic and sensor designs are needed for future burning plasma (BP) fusion experiments, having good space and time resolution and capable of prolonged operation in the harsh BP environment. We evaluate the potential of multi-energy x-ray imaging with filtered detector arrays for BP diagnostic and control. Experimental studies show that this simple and robust technique enables measuring with good accuracy, speed, and spatial resolution the T(e) profile, impurity content, and MHD activity in a tokamak. Applied to the BP this diagnostic could also serve for non-magnetic sensing of the plasma position, centroid, ELM, and RWM instability. BP compatible x-ray sensors are proposed using "optical array" or "bi-cell" detectors.

High Resolution Mesoscale Weather Data Improvement to Spatial Effects for Dose-Rate Contour Plot Predictions

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

time. This is a very powerful tool in determining fine spatial resolution , as boundary conditions are not only updated at every timestep, but the ...HIGH RESOLUTION MESOSCALE WEATHER DATA IMPROVEMENT TO SPATIAL EFFECTS FOR DOSE-RATE CONTOUR PLOT PREDICTIONS THESIS Christopher P...11 1 HIGH RESOLUTION MESOSCALE WEATHER DATA IMPROVEMENT TO SPATIAL EFFECTS FOR DOSE-RATE CONTOUR PLOT

Thermal conductivity profile determination in proton-irradiated ZrC by spatial and frequency scanning thermal wave methods

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

Jensen, C.; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322; Chirtoc, M.

2013-10-07

Using complementary thermal wave methods, the irradiation damaged region of zirconium carbide (ZrC) is characterized by quantifiably profiling the thermophysical property degradation. The ZrC sample was irradiated by a 2.6 MeV proton beam at 600 °C to a dose of 1.75 displacements per atom. Spatial scanning techniques including scanning thermal microscopy (SThM), lock-in infrared thermography (lock-in IRT), and photothermal radiometry (PTR) were used to directly map the in-depth profile of thermal conductivity on a cross section of the ZrC sample. The advantages and limitations of each system are discussed and compared, finding consistent results from all techniques. SThM provides themore » best resolution finding a very uniform thermal conductivity envelope in the damaged region measuring ∼52 ± 2 μm deep. Frequency-based scanning PTR provides quantification of the thermal parameters of the sample using the SThM measured profile to provide validation of a heating model. Measured irradiated and virgin thermal conductivities are found to be 11.9 ± 0.5 W m{sup −1} K{sup −1} and 26.7 ±1 W m{sup −1} K{sup −1}, respectively. A thermal resistance evidenced in the frequency spectra of the PTR results was calculated to be (1.58 ± 0.1) × 10{sup −6} m{sup 2} K W{sup −1}. The measured thermal conductivity values compare well with the thermal conductivity extracted from the SThM calibrated signal and the spatially scanned PTR. Combined spatial and frequency scanning techniques are shown to provide a valuable, complementary combination for thermal property characterization of proton-irradiated ZrC. Such methodology could be useful for other studies of ion-irradiated materials.« less

Geomorphic effectiveness of long profile shape and role of inherent geological controls, Ganga River Basin, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sonam, Sonam; Jain, Vikrant

2017-04-01

River long profile is one of the fundamental geomorphic parameters which provides a platform to study interaction of geological and geomorphic processes at different time scales. Long profile shape is governed by geological processes at 10 ^ 5 - 10 ^ 6 years' time scale and it controls the modern day (10 ^ 0 - 10 ^ 1 years' time scale) fluvial processes by controlling the spatial variability of channel slope. Identification of an appropriate model for river long profile may provide a tool to analyse the quantitative relationship between basin geology, profile shape and its geomorphic effectiveness. A systematic analysis of long profiles has been carried for the Himalayan tributaries of the Ganga River basin. Long profile shape and stream power distribution pattern is derived using SRTM DEM data (90 m spatial resolution). Peak discharge data from 34 stations is used for hydrological analysis. Lithological variability and major thrusts are marked along the river long profile. The best fit of long profile is analysed for power, logarithmic and exponential function. Second order exponential function provides the best representation of long profiles. The second order exponential equation is Z = K1*exp(-β1*L) + K2*exp(-β2*L), where Z is elevation of channel long profile, L is the length, K and β are coefficients of the exponential function. K1 and K2 are the proportion of elevation change of the long profile represented by β1 (fast) and β2 (slow) decay coefficients of the river long profile. Different values of coefficients express the variability in long profile shapes and is related with the litho-tectonic variability of the study area. Channel slope of long profile is estimated taking the derivative of exponential function. Stream power distribution pattern along long profile is estimated by superimposing the discharge and long profile slope. Sensitivity analysis of stream power distribution with decay coefficients of the second order exponential equation is evaluated for a range of coefficient values. Our analysis suggests that the amplitude of stream power peak value is dependent on K1, the proportion of elevation change coming under the fast decay exponent and the location of stream power peak is dependent of the long profile decay coefficient (β1). Different long profile shapes owing to litho-tectonic variability across the Himalayas are responsible for spatial variability of stream power distribution pattern. Most of the stream power peaks lie in the Higher Himalaya. In general, eastern rivers have higher stream power in hinterland area and low stream power in the alluvial plains. This is responsible for, 1) higher erosion rate and sediment supply in hinterland of eastern rivers, 2) the incised and stable nature of channels in the western alluvial plains and 3) aggrading channels with dynamic nature in the eastern alluvial plains. Our study shows that the spatial variability of litho-units defines the coefficients of long profile function which in turn controls the position and magnitude of stream power maxima and hence the geomorphic variability in a fluvial system.

Changing the scale of hydrogeophysical aquifer heterogeneity characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paradis, Daniel; Tremblay, Laurie; Ruggeri, Paolo; Brunet, Patrick; Fabien-Ouellet, Gabriel; Gloaguen, Erwan; Holliger, Klaus; Irving, James; Molson, John; Lefebvre, Rene

2015-04-01

Contaminant remediation and management require the quantitative predictive capabilities of groundwater flow and mass transport numerical models. Such models have to encompass source zones and receptors, and thus typically cover several square kilometers. To predict the path and fate of contaminant plumes, these models have to represent the heterogeneous distribution of hydraulic conductivity (K). However, hydrogeophysics has generally been used to image relatively restricted areas of the subsurface (small fractions of km2), so there is a need for approaches defining heterogeneity at larger scales and providing data to constrain conceptual and numerical models of aquifer systems. This communication describes a workflow defining aquifer heterogeneity that was applied over a 12 km2 sub-watershed surrounding a decommissioned landfill emitting landfill leachate. The aquifer is a shallow, 10 to 20 m thick, highly heterogeneous and anisotropic assemblage of littoral sand and silt. Field work involved the acquisition of a broad range of data: geological, hydraulic, geophysical, and geochemical. The emphasis was put on high resolution and continuous hydrogeophysical data, the use of direct-push fully-screened wells and the acquisition of targeted high-resolution hydraulic data covering the range of observed aquifer materials. The main methods were: 1) surface geophysics (ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity); 2) direct-push operations with a geotechnical drilling rig (cone penetration tests with soil moisture resistivity CPT/SMR; full-screen well installation); and 3) borehole operations, including high-resolution hydraulic tests and geochemical sampling. New methods were developed to acquire high vertical resolution hydraulic data in direct-push wells, including both vertical and horizontal K (Kv and Kh). Various data integration approaches were used to represent aquifer properties in 1D, 2D and 3D. Using relevant vector machines (RVM), the mechanical and geophysical CPT/SMR measurements were used to recognize hydrofacies (HF) and obtain high-resolution 1D vertical profiles of hydraulic properties. Bayesian sequential simulation of the low-resolution surface-based geoelectrical measurements as well as high-resolution direct-push measurements of the electrical and hydraulic conductivities provided realistic estimates of the spatial distribution of K on a 250-m-long 2D survey line. Following a similar approach, all 1D vertical profiles of K derived from CPT/SMR soundings were integrated with available 2D geoelectrical profiles to obtain the 3D distribution of K over the study area. Numerical models were developed to understand flow and mass transport and assess how indicators could constrain model results and their K distributions. A 2D vertical section model was first developed based on a conceptual representation of heterogeneity which showed a significant effect of layering on flow and transport. The model demonstrated that solute and age tracers provide key model constraints. Additional 2D vertical section models with synthetic representations of low and high K hydrofacies were also developed on the basis of CPT/SMR soundings. These models showed that high-resolution profiles of hydraulic head could help constrain the spatial distribution and continuity of hydrofacies. History matching approaches are still required to simulate geostatistical models of K using hydrogeophysical data, while considering their impact on flow and transport with constraints provided by tracers of solutes and groundwater age.

Impact of the spatial resolution of satellite remote sensing sensors in the quantification of total suspended sediment concentration: A case study in turbid waters of Northern Western Australia.

PubMed

Dorji, Passang; Fearns, Peter

2017-01-01

The impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal waters is a cause of concern because such activities add to the total suspended sediment (TSS) budget of the coastal waters, which have negative impacts on the coastal ecosystem. Satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool in monitoring TSS concentration at high spatiotemporal resolution, but coastal managers should be mindful that the satellite-derived TSS concentrations are dependent on the satellite sensor's radiometric properties, atmospheric correction approaches, the spatial resolution and the limitations of specific TSS algorithms. In this study, we investigated the impact of different spatial resolutions of satellite sensor on the quantification of TSS concentration in coastal waters of northern Western Australia. We quantified the TSS product derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua, Landsat-8 Operational Land Image (OLI), and WorldView-2 (WV2) at native spatial resolutions of 250 m, 30 m and 2 m respectively and coarser spatial resolution (resampled up to 5 km) to quantify the impact of spatial resolution on the derived TSS product in different turbidity conditions. The results from the study show that in the waters of high turbidity and high spatial variability, the high spatial resolution WV2 sensor reported TSS concentration as high as 160 mg L-1 while the low spatial resolution MODIS-Aqua reported a maximum TSS concentration of 23.6 mg L-1. Degrading the spatial resolution of each satellite sensor for highly spatially variable turbid waters led to variability in the TSS concentrations of 114.46%, 304.68% and 38.2% for WV2, Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS-Aqua respectively. The implications of this work are particularly relevant in the situation of compliance monitoring where operations may be required to restrict TSS concentrations to a pre-defined limit.

Impact of the spatial resolution of satellite remote sensing sensors in the quantification of total suspended sediment concentration: A case study in turbid waters of Northern Western Australia

PubMed Central

Fearns, Peter

2017-01-01

The impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal waters is a cause of concern because such activities add to the total suspended sediment (TSS) budget of the coastal waters, which have negative impacts on the coastal ecosystem. Satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool in monitoring TSS concentration at high spatiotemporal resolution, but coastal managers should be mindful that the satellite-derived TSS concentrations are dependent on the satellite sensor’s radiometric properties, atmospheric correction approaches, the spatial resolution and the limitations of specific TSS algorithms. In this study, we investigated the impact of different spatial resolutions of satellite sensor on the quantification of TSS concentration in coastal waters of northern Western Australia. We quantified the TSS product derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua, Landsat-8 Operational Land Image (OLI), and WorldView-2 (WV2) at native spatial resolutions of 250 m, 30 m and 2 m respectively and coarser spatial resolution (resampled up to 5 km) to quantify the impact of spatial resolution on the derived TSS product in different turbidity conditions. The results from the study show that in the waters of high turbidity and high spatial variability, the high spatial resolution WV2 sensor reported TSS concentration as high as 160 mg L-1 while the low spatial resolution MODIS-Aqua reported a maximum TSS concentration of 23.6 mg L-1. Degrading the spatial resolution of each satellite sensor for highly spatially variable turbid waters led to variability in the TSS concentrations of 114.46%, 304.68% and 38.2% for WV2, Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS-Aqua respectively. The implications of this work are particularly relevant in the situation of compliance monitoring where operations may be required to restrict TSS concentrations to a pre-defined limit. PMID:28380059

Attention Modifies Spatial Resolution According to Task Demands.

PubMed

Barbot, Antoine; Carrasco, Marisa

2017-03-01

How does visual attention affect spatial resolution? In texture-segmentation tasks, exogenous (involuntary) attention automatically increases resolution at the attended location, which improves performance where resolution is too low (at the periphery) but impairs performance where resolution is already too high (at central locations). Conversely, endogenous (voluntary) attention improves performance at all eccentricities, which suggests a more flexible mechanism. Here, using selective adaptation to spatial frequency, we investigated the mechanism by which endogenous attention benefits performance in resolution tasks. Participants detected a texture target that could appear at several eccentricities. Adapting to high or low spatial frequencies selectively affected performance in a manner consistent with changes in resolution. Moreover, adapting to high, but not low, frequencies mitigated the attentional benefit at central locations where resolution was too high; this shows that attention can improve performance by decreasing resolution. Altogether, our results indicate that endogenous attention benefits performance by modulating the contribution of high-frequency information in order to flexibly adjust spatial resolution according to task demands.

Attention Modifies Spatial Resolution According to Task Demands

PubMed Central

Barbot, Antoine; Carrasco, Marisa

2017-01-01

How does visual attention affect spatial resolution? In texture-segmentation tasks, exogenous (involuntary) attention automatically increases resolution at the attended location, which improves performance where resolution is too low (at the periphery) but impairs performance where resolution is already too high (at central locations). Conversely, endogenous (voluntary) attention improves performance at all eccentricities, which suggests a more flexible mechanism. Here, using selective adaptation to spatial frequency, we investigated the mechanism by which endogenous attention benefits performance in resolution tasks. Participants detected a texture target that could appear at several eccentricities. Adapting to high or low spatial frequencies selectively affected performance in a manner consistent with changes in resolution. Moreover, adapting to high, but not low, frequencies mitigated the attentional benefit at central locations where resolution was too high; this shows that attention can improve performance by decreasing resolution. Altogether, our results indicate that endogenous attention benefits performance by modulating the contribution of high-frequency information in order to flexibly adjust spatial resolution according to task demands. PMID:28118103

Far-infrared image restoration analysis of the protostellar cluster in S140

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lester, D. F.; Harvey, P. M.; Joy, M.; Ellis, H. B., Jr.

1986-01-01

Image restoration techniques are applied to one-dimensional scans at 50 and 100 microns of the protostellar cluster in S140. These measurements resolve the surrounding nebula clearly, and Fourier methods are used to match the effective beam profiles at these wavelengths. This allows the radial distribution of temperature and dust column density to be derived at a diffraction limited spatial resolution of 23 arcsec (0.1 pc). Evidence for heating of the S140 molecular cloud by a nearby ionization front is established, and the dissociation of molecules inside the ionization front is spatially well correlated with the heating of the dust. The far-infrared spectral distribution of the three near-infrared sources within 10 arcsesc of the cluster center is presented.

Spatially selective hydrogen irradiation of dilute nitride semiconductors: a brief review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Felici, Marco; Pettinari, Giorgio; Biccari, Francesco; Capizzi, Mario; Polimeni, Antonio

2018-05-01

We provide a brief survey of the most recent results obtained by performing spatially selective hydrogen irradiation of dilute nitride semiconductors. The striking effects of the formation of stable N–H complexes in these compounds—coupled to the ultrasharp diffusion profile of H therein—can be exploited to tailor the structural (lattice constant) and optoelectronic (energy gap, refractive index, electron effective mass) properties of the material in the growth plane, with a spatial resolution of a few nm. This can be applied to the fabrication of site-controlled quantum dots (QDs) and wires, but also to the realization of the optical elements required for the on-chip manipulation and routing of qubits in fully integrated photonic circuits. The fabricated QDs—which have shown the ability to emit single photons—can also be deterministically coupled with photonic crystal microcavities, proving their inherent suitability to act as integrated light sources in complex nanophotonic devices.

Effects of spatial resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abrams, M.

1982-01-01

Studies of the effects of spatial resolution on extraction of geologic information are woefully lacking but spatial resolution effects can be examined as they influence two general categories: detection of spatial features per se; and the effects of IFOV on the definition of spectral signatures and on general mapping abilities.

Magnetoacoustic microscopic imaging of conductive objects and nanoparticles distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Siyu; Zhang, Ruochong; Luo, Yunqi; Zheng, Yuanjin

2017-09-01

Magnetoacoustic tomography has been demonstrated as a powerful and low-cost multi-wave imaging modality. However, due to limited spatial resolution and detection efficiency of magnetoacoustic signal, full potential of the magnetoacoustic imaging remains to be tapped. Here we report a high-resolution magnetoacoustic microscopy method, where magnetic stimulation is provided by a compact solenoid resonance coil connected with a matching network, and acoustic reception is realized by using a high-frequency focused ultrasound transducer. Scanning the magnetoacoustic microscopy system perpendicularly to the acoustic axis of the focused transducer would generate a two-dimensional microscopic image with acoustically determined lateral resolution. It is analyzed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally that magnetoacoustic generation in this microscopic system depends on the conductivity profile of conductive objects and localized distribution of superparamagnetic iron magnetic nanoparticles, based on two different but related implementations. The lateral resolution is characterized. Directional nature of magnetoacoustic vibration and imaging sensitivity for mapping magnetic nanoparticles are also discussed. The proposed microscopy system offers a high-resolution method that could potentially map intrinsic conductivity distribution in biological tissue and extraneous magnetic nanoparticles.

Hailstorm forecast from stability indexes in Southwestern France

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melcón, Pablo; Merino, Andrés; Sánchez, José Luis; Dessens, Jean; Gascón, Estíbaliz; Berthet, Claude; López, Laura; García-Ortega, Eduardo

2016-04-01

Forecasting hailstorms is a difficult task because of their small spatial and temporal scales. Over recent decades, stability indexes have been commonly used in operational forecasting to provide a simplified representation of different thermodynamic characteristics of the atmosphere, regarding the onset of convective events. However, they are estimated from vertical profiles obtained by radiosondes, which are usually available only twice a day and have limited spatial representativeness. Numerical models predictions can be used to overcome these drawbacks, providing vertical profiles with higher spatiotemporal resolution. The main objective of this study is to create a tool for hail prediction in the southwest of France, one of the European regions where hailstorms have a higher incidence. The Association Nationale d'Etude et de Lutte contre les Fleáux Atmosphériques (ANELFA) maintains there a dense hailpad network in continuous operation, which has created an extensive database of hail events, used in this study as ground truth. The new technique is aimed to classify the spatial distribution of different stability indexes on hail days. These indexes were calculated from vertical profiles at 1200 UTC provided by WRF numerical model, validated with radiosonde data from Bordeaux. Binary logistic regression is used to select those indexes that best represent thermodynamic conditions related to occurrence of hail in the zone. Then, they are combined in a single algorithm that surpassed the predictive power they have when used independently. Regression equation results in hail days are used in cluster analysis to identify different spatial patterns given by the probability algorithm. This new tool can be used in operational forecasting, in combination with synoptic and mesoscale techniques, to properly define hail probability and distribution. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the CEPA González Díez Foundation and the University of Leon for its financial support.

Spatial, Temporal and Spectral Satellite Image Fusion via Sparse Representation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Huihui

Remote sensing provides good measurements for monitoring and further analyzing the climate change, dynamics of ecosystem, and human activities in global or regional scales. Over the past two decades, the number of launched satellite sensors has been increasing with the development of aerospace technologies and the growing requirements on remote sensing data in a vast amount of application fields. However, a key technological challenge confronting these sensors is that they tradeoff between spatial resolution and other properties, including temporal resolution, spectral resolution, swath width, etc., due to the limitations of hardware technology and budget constraints. To increase the spatial resolution of data with other good properties, one possible cost-effective solution is to explore data integration methods that can fuse multi-resolution data from multiple sensors, thereby enhancing the application capabilities of available remote sensing data. In this thesis, we propose to fuse the spatial resolution with temporal resolution and spectral resolution, respectively, based on sparse representation theory. Taking the study case of Landsat ETM+ (with spatial resolution of 30m and temporal resolution of 16 days) and MODIS (with spatial resolution of 250m ~ 1km and daily temporal resolution) reflectance, we propose two spatial-temporal fusion methods to combine the fine spatial information of Landsat image and the daily temporal resolution of MODIS image. Motivated by that the images from these two sensors are comparable on corresponding bands, we propose to link their spatial information on available Landsat- MODIS image pair (captured on prior date) and then predict the Landsat image from the MODIS counterpart on prediction date. To well-learn the spatial details from the prior images, we use a redundant dictionary to extract the basic representation atoms for both Landsat and MODIS images based on sparse representation. Under the scenario of two prior Landsat-MODIS image pairs, we build the corresponding relationship between the difference images of MODIS and ETM+ by training a low- and high-resolution dictionary pair from the given prior image pairs. In the second scenario, i.e., only one Landsat- MODIS image pair being available, we directly correlate MODIS and ETM+ data through an image degradation model. Then, the fusion stage is achieved by super-resolving the MODIS image combining the high-pass modulation in a two-layer fusion framework. Remarkably, the proposed spatial-temporal fusion methods form a unified framework for blending remote sensing images with phenology change or land-cover-type change. Based on the proposed spatial-temporal fusion models, we propose to monitor the land use/land cover changes in Shenzhen, China. As a fast-growing city, Shenzhen faces the problem of detecting the rapid changes for both rational city planning and sustainable development. However, the cloudy and rainy weather in region Shenzhen located makes the capturing circle of high-quality satellite images longer than their normal revisit periods. Spatial-temporal fusion methods are capable to tackle this problem by improving the spatial resolution of images with coarse spatial resolution but frequent temporal coverage, thereby making the detection of rapid changes possible. On two Landsat-MODIS datasets with annual and monthly changes, respectively, we apply the proposed spatial-temporal fusion methods to the task of multiple change detection. Afterward, we propose a novel spatial and spectral fusion method for satellite multispectral and hyperspectral (or high-spectral) images based on dictionary-pair learning and sparse non-negative matrix factorization. By combining the spectral information from hyperspectral image, which is characterized by low spatial resolution but high spectral resolution and abbreviated as LSHS, and the spatial information from multispectral image, which is featured by high spatial resolution but low spectral resolution and abbreviated as HSLS, this method aims to generate the fused data with both high spatial and high spectral resolutions. Motivated by the observation that each hyperspectral pixel can be represented by a linear combination of a few endmembers, this method first extracts the spectral bases of LSHS and HSLS images by making full use of the rich spectral information in LSHS data. The spectral bases of these two categories data then formulate a dictionary-pair due to their correspondence in representing each pixel spectra of LSHS data and HSLS data, respectively. Subsequently, the LSHS image is spatially unmixed by representing the HSLS image with respect to the corresponding learned dictionary to derive its representation coefficients. Combining the spectral bases of LSHS data and the representation coefficients of HSLS data, we finally derive the fused data characterized by the spectral resolution of LSHS data and the spatial resolution of HSLS data.

Modeling emissions for three-dimensional atmospheric chemistry transport models.

PubMed

Matthias, Volker; Arndt, Jan A; Aulinger, Armin; Bieser, Johannes; Denier Van Der Gon, Hugo; Kranenburg, Richard; Kuenen, Jeroen; Neumann, Daniel; Pouliot, George; Quante, Markus

2018-01-24

Poor air quality is still a threat for human health in many parts of the world. In order to assess measures for emission reductions and improved air quality, three-dimensional atmospheric chemistry transport modeling systems are used in numerous research institutions and public authorities. These models need accurate emission data in appropriate spatial and temporal resolution as input. This paper reviews the most widely used emission inventories on global and regional scale and looks into the methods used to make the inventory data model ready. Shortcomings of using standard temporal profiles for each emission sector are discussed and new methods to improve the spatio-temporal distribution of the emissions are presented. These methods are often neither top-down nor bottom-up approaches but can be seen as hybrid methods that use detailed information about the emission process to derive spatially varying temporal emission profiles. These profiles are subsequently used to distribute bulk emissions like national totals on appropriate grids. The wide area of natural emissions is also summarized and the calculation methods are described. Almost all types of natural emissions depend on meteorological information, which is why they are highly variable in time and space and frequently calculated within the chemistry transport models themselves. The paper closes with an outlook for new ways to improve model ready emission data, for example by using external databases about road traffic flow or satellite data to determine actual land use or leaf area. In a world where emission patterns change rapidly, it seems appropriate to use new types of statistical and observational data to create detailed emission data sets and keep emission inventories up-to-date. Emission data is probably the most important input for chemistry transport model (CTM) systems. It needs to be provided in high temporal and spatial resolution and on a grid that is in agreement with the CTM grid. Simple methods to distribute the emissions in time and space need to be replaced by sophisticated emission models in order to improve the CTM results. New methods, e.g. for ammonia emissions, provide grid cell dependent temporal profiles. In the future, large data fields from traffic observations or satellite observations could be used for more detailed emission data.

Three-dimensional modeling of the Ca II H and K lines in the solar atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bjørgen, Johan P.; Sukhorukov, Andrii V.; Leenaarts, Jorrit; Carlsson, Mats; de la Cruz Rodríguez, Jaime; Scharmer, Göran B.; Hansteen, Viggo H.

2018-03-01

Context. CHROMIS, a new imaging spectrometer at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), can observe the chromosphere in the H and K lines of Ca II at high spatial and spectral resolution. Accurate modeling as well as an understanding of the formation of these lines are needed to interpret the SST/CHROMIS observations. Such modeling is computationally challenging because these lines are influenced by strong departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium, three-dimensional radiative transfer, and partially coherent resonance scattering of photons. Aim. We aim to model the Ca II H and K lines in 3D model atmospheres to understand their formation and to investigate their diagnostic potential for probing the chromosphere. Methods: We model the synthetic spectrum of Ca II using the radiative transfer code Multi3D in three different radiation-magnetohydrodynamic model atmospheres computed with the Bifrost code. We classify synthetic intensity profiles according to their shapes and study how their features are related to the physical properties in the model atmospheres. We investigate whether the synthetic data reproduce the observed spatially-averaged line shapes, center-to-limb variation and compare this data with SST/CHROMIS images. Results: The spatially-averaged synthetic line profiles show too low central emission peaks, and too small separation between the peaks. The trends of the observed center-to-limb variation of the profiles properties are reproduced by the models. The Ca II H and K line profiles provide a temperature diagnostic of the temperature minimum and the temperature at the formation height of the emission peaks. The Doppler shift of the central depression is an excellent probe of the velocity in the upper chromosphere.

A neutral-beam profile monitor with a phosphor screen and a high-sensitivity camera for the J-PARC KOTO experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumura, T.; Kamiji, I.; Nakagiri, K.; Nanjo, H.; Nomura, T.; Sasao, N.; Shinkawa, T.; Shiomi, K.

2018-03-01

We have developed a beam-profile monitor (BPM) system to align the collimators for the neutral beam-line at the Hadron Experimental Facility of J-PARC. The system is composed of a phosphor screen and a CCD camera coupled to an image intensifier mounted on a remote control X- Y stage. The design and detailed performance studies of the BPM are presented. The monitor has a spatial resolution of better than 0.6 mm and a deviation from linearity of less than 1%. These results indicate that the BPM system meets the requirements to define collimator-edge positions for the beam-line tuning. Confirmation using the neutral beam for the KOTO experiment is also presented.

Precision analysis for standard deviation measurements of immobile single fluorescent molecule images.

PubMed

DeSantis, Michael C; DeCenzo, Shawn H; Li, Je-Luen; Wang, Y M

2010-03-29

Standard deviation measurements of intensity profiles of stationary single fluorescent molecules are useful for studying axial localization, molecular orientation, and a fluorescence imaging system's spatial resolution. Here we report on the analysis of the precision of standard deviation measurements of intensity profiles of single fluorescent molecules imaged using an EMCCD camera.We have developed an analytical expression for the standard deviation measurement error of a single image which is a function of the total number of detected photons, the background photon noise, and the camera pixel size. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental, simulation, and numerical integration results. Using this expression, we show that single-molecule standard deviation measurements offer nanometer precision for a large range of experimental parameters.

First measurement of time evolution of electron temperature profiles with Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system on Heliotron J.

PubMed

Kenmochi, N; Minami, T; Takahashi, C; Tei, S; Mizuuchi, T; Kobayashi, S; Nagasaki, K; Nakamura, Y; Okada, H; Kado, S; Yamamoto, S; Ohshima, S; Konoshima, S; Shi, N; Zang, L; Ohtani, Y; Kasajima, K; Sano, F

2014-11-01

A Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system has been developed for Heliotron J. The system consists of two 550 mJ 50 Hz lasers, large collection optics, and 25 radial channel (∼1 cm spatial resolution) interference polychromators. This measurement system achieves a S/N ratio of ∼50 for low-density plasma (ne ∼ 0.5 × 10(19) m(-3)). A time evolution of electron temperature profiles was measured with this system for a high-intensity gas-puff (HIGP) fueling neutral-beam-injection plasma. The peripheral temperature of the higher-density phase after HIGP recovers to the low-density pre-HIGP level, suggesting that improving particle transport in the HIGP plasma may be possible.

Results of the spatial resolution simulation for multispectral data (resolution brochures)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

The variable information content of Earth Resource products at different levels of spatial resolution and in different spectral bands is addressed. A low-cost brochure that scientists and laymen could use to visualize the effects of increasing the spatial resolution of multispectral scanner images was produced.

Temperature profiles measurements in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection by optical fibre system at the Barrel of II-menau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drahotský, Jakub; Hanzelka, Pavel; Musilová, Věra; Macek, Michal; du Puits, Ronald; Urban, Pavel

2018-06-01

Modelling of large-scale natural (thermally-generated) turbulent flows (such as the turbulent convection in Earth's atmosphere, oceans, or Sun) is approached in laboratory experiments in the simplified model system called the Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RBC). We present preliminary measurements of vertical temperature profiles in the cell with the height of 4:7 m, 7:15m in diameter, obtained at the Barrel of Ilmenau (BOI), the worldwide largest experimental setup to study highly turbulent RBC, newly equipped with the Luna ODiSI-B optical fibre system. In our configuration, the system permits to measure the temperature with a high spatial resolution of 5mm along a very thin glass optical fibre with the length of 5m and seems to be perfectly suited for measurement of time series of instantaneous vertical temperature profiles. The system was supplemented with the two Pt100 vertically movable probes specially designed by us for reference temperature profiles measurements.

EAST kinetic equilibrium reconstruction combining with Polarimeter-Interferometer internal measurement constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, H.; Liu, H. Q.; Li, K.; Zou, Z. Y.; Qian, J. P.; Wu, M. Q.; Li, G. Q.; Zeng, L.; Zang, Q.; Lv, B.; Jie, Y. X.; EAST Team

2017-12-01

Plasma equilibrium reconstruction plays an important role in the tokamak plasma research. With a high temporal and spatial resolution, the POlarimeter-INTerferometer (POINT) system on EAST has provided effective measurements for 102s H-mode operation. Based on internal Faraday rotation measurements provided by the POINT system, the equilibrium reconstruction with a more accurate core current profile constraint has been demonstrated successfully on EAST. Combining other experimental diagnostics and external magnetic fields measurement, the kinetic equilibrium has also been reconstructed on EAST. Take the pressure and edge current information from kinetic EFIT into the equilibrium reconstruction with Faraday rotation constraint, the new equilibrium reconstruction not only provides a more accurate internal current profile but also contains edge current and pressure information. One time slice result using new kinetic equilibrium reconstruction with POINT data constraints is demonstrated in this paper and the result shows there is a reversed shear of q profile and the pressure profile is also contained. The new improved equilibrium reconstruction is greatly helpful to the future theoretical analysis.

Optimal design of reflectometer density profile measurements using a radar systems approach (invited) (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doyle, E. J.; Kim, K. W.; Peebles, W. A.; Rhodes, T. L.

1997-01-01

Reflectometry is an attractive and versatile diagnostic technique that can address a wide range of measurement needs on fusion devices. However, progress in the area of profile measurement has been hampered by the lack of a well-understood basis for the optimum design and implementation of such systems. Such a design basis is provided by the realization that reflectometer systems utilized for density profile measurements are in fact specialized forms of radar systems. In this article five criteria are introduced by which reflectometer systems can be systematically designed for optimal performance: range resolution, spatial sampling, turbulence immunity, bandwidth optimization, and the need for adaptive data processing. Many of these criteria are familiar from radar systems analysis, and are applicable to reflectometry after allowance is made for differences stemming from the nature of the plasma target. These criteria are utilized to critically evaluate current reflectometer density profile techniques and indicate improvements that can impact current and next step devices, such as ITER.

Vertical Position and Current Profile Measurements by Faraday-effect Polarimetry On EAST tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Weixing; Liu, H. Q.; Jie, Y. X.; Brower, D. L.; Qian, J. P.; Zou, Z. Y.; Lian, H.; Wang, S. X.; Luo, Z. P.; Xiao, B. J.; Ucla Team; Asipp Team

2017-10-01

A primary goal for ITER and prospective fusion power reactors is to achieve controlled long-pulse/steady-state burning plasmas. For elongated divertor plasmas, both the vertical position and current profile have to be precisely controlled to optimize performance and prevent disruptions. An eleven-channel laser-based POlarimeter-INTerferometer (POINT) system has been developed for measuring the internal magnetic field in the EAST tokamak and can be used to obtain the plasma current profile and vertical position. Current profiles are determined from equilibrium reconstruction including internal magnetic field measurements as internal constraints. Horizontally-viewing chords at/near the mid-plane allow us to determine plasma vertical position non-inductively with subcentimeter spatial resolution and time response up to 1 s. The polarimeter-based position measurement, which does not require equilibrium reconstruction, is benchmarked against conventional flux loop measurements and can be exploited for feedback control. Work supported by US DOE through Grants No. DE-FG02-01ER54615 and No. DC-SC0010469.

Classical confinement and outward convection of impurity ions in the MST RFP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, S. T. A.; Den Hartog, D. J.; Mirnov, V. V.; Caspary, K. J.; Magee, R. M.; Brower, D. L.; Chapman, B. E.; Craig, D.; Ding, W. X.; Eilerman, S.; Fiksel, G.; Lin, L.; Nornberg, M.; Parke, E.; Reusch, J. A.; Sarff, J. S.

2012-05-01

Impurity ion dynamics measured with simultaneously high spatial and temporal resolution reveal classical ion transport in the reversed-field pinch. The boron, carbon, oxygen, and aluminum impurity ion density profiles are obtained in the Madison Symmetric Torus [R. N. Dexter et al., Fusion Technol. 19, 131 (1991)] using a fast, active charge-exchange-recombination-spectroscopy diagnostic. Measurements are made during improved-confinement plasmas obtained using inductive control of tearing instability to mitigate stochastic transport. At the onset of the transition to improved confinement, the impurity ion density profile becomes hollow, with a slow decay in the core region concurrent with an increase in the outer region, implying an outward convection of impurities. Impurity transport from Coulomb collisions in the reversed-field pinch is classical for all collisionality regimes, and analysis shows that the observed hollow profile and outward convection can be explained by the classical temperature screening mechanism. The profile agrees well with classical expectations. Experiments performed with impurity pellet injection provide further evidence for classical impurity ion confinement.

The low energy muon beam profile monitor for the muon g-2/EDM experiment at J-PARC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razuvaev, G. P.; Bae, S.; Choi, H.; Choi, S.; Ko, H. S.; Kim, B.; Kitamura, R.; Mibe, T.; Otani, M.

2017-09-01

The muon g-2/EDM experiment at J-PARC aims to measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment and electric dipole moment with high precision by utilising an ultracold muon beam. The current muon g-2 discrepancy between the Standard Model prediction and the experimental value is about 3.5 standard deviations. This experiment requires a development of the muon LINAC to accelerate thermal muons to the 300 MeV/c momentum. Detectors for beam diagnostics play a key role in such an experiment. The beam profile monitoring system has been designed to measure the profile of the low energy muon beam. It was tested during two beam tests in 2016 at the MLF D2 line at J-PARC. The detector was used with positive muons, Mu-(μ+ e- e-), p and H-, e- and UV light. The system overview and preliminary results are given. Special attention is paid to the spatial resolution of the beam profile monitor and online monitor software used during data taking.

Studies of x-ray localization and thickness dependence in atomic-scale elemental mapping by STEM energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy using single-frame scanning method

DOE PAGES

Lu, Ping; Moya, Jaime M.; Yuan, Renliang; ...

2018-03-01

The delocalization of x-ray signals limits the spatial resolution in atomic-scale elemental mapping by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) using energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). In this study, using a SrTiO 3 [001] single crystal, we show that the x-ray localization to atomic columns is strongly dependent on crystal thickness, and a thin crystal is critical for improving the spatial resolution in atomic-scale EDS mapping. A single-frame scanning technique is used in this study instead of the multiple-frame technique to avoid peak broadening due to tracking error. The strong thickness dependence is realized by measuring the full width at half maximamore » (FWHM) as well as the peak-to-valley (P/V) ratio of the EDS profiles for Ti K and Sr K+L, obtained at several crystal thicknesses. A FWHM of about 0.16 nm and a P/V ratio of greater than 7.0 are obtained for Ti K for a crystal thickness of less than 20 nm. In conclusion, with increasing crystal thickness, the FWHM and P/V ratio increases and decreases, respectively, indicating the advantage of using a thin crystal for high-resolution EDS mapping.« less

Studies of x-ray localization and thickness dependence in atomic-scale elemental mapping by STEM energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy using single-frame scanning method

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

Lu, Ping; Moya, Jaime M.; Yuan, Renliang

The delocalization of x-ray signals limits the spatial resolution in atomic-scale elemental mapping by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) using energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). In this study, using a SrTiO 3 [001] single crystal, we show that the x-ray localization to atomic columns is strongly dependent on crystal thickness, and a thin crystal is critical for improving the spatial resolution in atomic-scale EDS mapping. A single-frame scanning technique is used in this study instead of the multiple-frame technique to avoid peak broadening due to tracking error. The strong thickness dependence is realized by measuring the full width at half maximamore » (FWHM) as well as the peak-to-valley (P/V) ratio of the EDS profiles for Ti K and Sr K+L, obtained at several crystal thicknesses. A FWHM of about 0.16 nm and a P/V ratio of greater than 7.0 are obtained for Ti K for a crystal thickness of less than 20 nm. In conclusion, with increasing crystal thickness, the FWHM and P/V ratio increases and decreases, respectively, indicating the advantage of using a thin crystal for high-resolution EDS mapping.« less

Studies of x-ray localization and thickness dependence in atomic-scale elemental mapping by STEM energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy using single-frame scanning method.

PubMed

Lu, Ping; Moya, Jaime M; Yuan, Renliang; Zuo, Jian Min

2018-03-01

The delocalization of x-ray signals limits the spatial resolution in atomic-scale elemental mapping by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) using energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). In this study, using a SrTiO 3 [001] single crystal, we show that the x-ray localization to atomic columns is strongly dependent on crystal thickness, and a thin crystal is critical for improving the spatial resolution in atomic-scale EDS mapping. A single-frame scanning technique is used in this study instead of the multiple-frame technique to avoid peak broadening due to tracking error. The strong thickness dependence is realized by measuring the full width at half maxima (FWHM) as well as the peak-to-valley (P/V) ratio of the EDS profiles for Ti K and Sr K + L, obtained at several crystal thicknesses. A FWHM of about 0.16 nm and a P/V ratio of greater than 7.0 are obtained for Ti K for a crystal thickness of less than 20 nm. With increasing crystal thickness, the FWHM and P/V ratio increases and decreases, respectively, indicating the advantage of using a thin crystal for high-resolution EDS mapping. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Electron temperature and heat load measurements in the COMPASS divertor using the new system of probes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamek, J.; Seidl, J.; Horacek, J.; Komm, M.; Eich, T.; Panek, R.; Cavalier, J.; Devitre, A.; Peterka, M.; Vondracek, P.; Stöckel, J.; Sestak, D.; Grover, O.; Bilkova, P.; Böhm, P.; Varju, J.; Havranek, A.; Weinzettl, V.; Lovell, J.; Dimitrova, M.; Mitosinkova, K.; Dejarnac, R.; Hron, M.; The COMPASS Team; The EUROfusion MST1 Team

2017-11-01

A new system of probes was recently installed in the divertor of tokamak COMPASS in order to investigate the ELM energy density with high spatial and temporal resolution. The new system consists of two arrays of rooftop-shaped Langmuir probes (LPs) used to measure the floating potential or the ion saturation current density and one array of Ball-pen probes (BPPs) used to measure the plasma potential with a spatial resolution of ~3.5 mm. The combination of floating BPPs and LPs yields the electron temperature with microsecond temporal resolution. We report on the design of the new divertor probe arrays and first results of electron temperature profile measurements in ELMy H-mode and L-mode. We also present comparative measurements of the parallel heat flux using the new probe arrays and fast infrared termography (IR) data during L-mode with excellent agreement between both techniques using a heat power transmission coefficient γ  =  7. The ELM energy density {{\\varepsilon }\\parallel } was measured during a set of NBI assisted ELMy H-mode discharges. The peak values of {{\\varepsilon }\\parallel } were compared with those predicted by model and with experimental data from JET, AUG and MAST with a good agreement.

Comparison of spatio-temporal resolution of different flow measurement techniques for marine renewable energy applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyon, Vincent; Wosnik, Martin

2013-11-01

Marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy conversion devices are subject to a wide range of turbulent scales, either due to upstream bathymetry, obstacles and waves, or from wakes of upstream devices in array configurations. The commonly used, robust Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) are well suited for long term flow measurements in the marine environment, but are limited to low sampling rates due to their operational principle. The resulting temporal and spatial resolution is insufficient to measure all turbulence scales of interest to the device, e.g., ``blade-scale turbulence.'' The present study systematically characterizes the spatial and temporal resolution of ADCP, Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV), and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Measurements were conducted in a large cross section tow tank (3.7m × 2.4m) for several benchmark cases, including low and high turbulence intensity uniform flow as well as in the wake of a cylinder, to quantitatively investigate the flow scales which each of the instruments can resolve. The purpose of the study is to supply data for mathematical modeling to improve predictions from ADCP measurements, which can help lead to higher-fidelity energy resource assessment and more accurate device evaluation, including wake measurements. Supported by NSF-CBET grant 1150797.

Image sharpening for mixed spatial and spectral resolution satellite systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hallada, W. A.; Cox, S.

1983-01-01

Two methods of image sharpening (reconstruction) are compared. The first, a spatial filtering technique, extrapolates edge information from a high spatial resolution panchromatic band at 10 meters and adds it to the low spatial resolution narrow spectral bands. The second method, a color normalizing technique, is based on the ability to separate image hue and brightness components in spectral data. Using both techniques, multispectral images are sharpened from 30, 50, 70, and 90 meter resolutions. Error rates are calculated for the two methods and all sharpened resolutions. The results indicate that the color normalizing method is superior to the spatial filtering technique.

Vacuum scanning capillary photoemission microscopy.

PubMed

Aseyev, S A; Cherkun, A P; Mironov, B N; Petrunin, V V; Chekalin, S V

2017-08-01

We demonstrate the use of a conical capillary in a scanning probe microscopy for surface analysis. The probe can measure photoemission from a substrate by transmitting photoelectrons along the capillary as a function of probe position. The technique is demonstrated on a model substrate consisting of a gold reflecting layer on a compact disc which has been illuminated by an unfocused laser beam with a wavelength 400nm, from a femtosecond laser with a beam size of 4mm. A quartz capillary with a 2-µm aperture has been used in the experiments. The period of gold microstructure, shown to be 1.6µ, was measured by the conical probe operating in shear force mode. In shear force regime, the dielectric capillary has been used as a "classical" SPM tip, which provided images reflecting the surface topology. In a photoelectron regime photoelectrons passed through hollow tip and entered a detector. The spatial distribution of the recorded photoelectrons consisted of periodic mountain-valley strips, resembling the surface profile of the sample. Submicron spatial resolution has been achieved. This approach paves the way to study pulsed photodesorption of large organic molecular ions with high spatial and element resolution using the combination of a hollow-tip scanner with time-of-flight technique. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Radial magnetic compression in the expelled jet of a plasma deflagration accelerator

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

Loebner, Keith T. K., E-mail: kloebner@stanford.edu; Underwood, Thomas C.; Mouratidis, Theodore

2016-02-29

A spectroscopic study of a pulsed plasma deflagration accelerator is carried out that confirms the existence of a strong compression in the emerging jet at the exit plane of the device. An imaging spectrometer is used to collect broadened Hα emission from a transaxial slice of the emerging jet at high spatial resolution, and the radial plasma density profile is computed from Voigt fits of the Abel inverted emissivity profiles. The plasma temperature, determined via Doppler broadening of impurity line emission, is compared against the temperature predictions of a radial magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium model applied to the measured density profiles. Empiricalmore » scaling laws developed for the plasma density, combined with the measured and predicted temperatures, indicate that a radially equilibrated Z-pinch is formed within the expelled plasma jet at the exit plane during the deflagration process.« less

Spatial Resolution Requirements for Accurate Identification of Drivers of Atrial Fibrillation

PubMed Central

Roney, Caroline H.; Cantwell, Chris D.; Bayer, Jason D.; Qureshi, Norman A.; Lim, Phang Boon; Tweedy, Jennifer H.; Kanagaratnam, Prapa; Vigmond, Edward J.; Ng, Fu Siong

2017-01-01

Background— Recent studies have demonstrated conflicting mechanisms underlying atrial fibrillation (AF), with the spatial resolution of data often cited as a potential reason for the disagreement. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the variation in spatial resolution of mapping may lead to misinterpretation of the underlying mechanism in persistent AF. Methods and Results— Simulations of rotors and focal sources were performed to estimate the minimum number of recording points required to correctly identify the underlying AF mechanism. The effects of different data types (action potentials and unipolar or bipolar electrograms) and rotor stability on resolution requirements were investigated. We also determined the ability of clinically used endocardial catheters to identify AF mechanisms using clinically recorded and simulated data. The spatial resolution required for correct identification of rotors and focal sources is a linear function of spatial wavelength (the distance between wavefronts) of the arrhythmia. Rotor localization errors are larger for electrogram data than for action potential data. Stationary rotors are more reliably identified compared with meandering trajectories, for any given spatial resolution. All clinical high-resolution multipolar catheters are of sufficient resolution to accurately detect and track rotors when placed over the rotor core although the low-resolution basket catheter is prone to false detections and may incorrectly identify rotors that are not present. Conclusions— The spatial resolution of AF data can significantly affect the interpretation of the underlying AF mechanism. Therefore, the interpretation of human AF data must be taken in the context of the spatial resolution of the recordings. PMID:28500175

Actin growth profile in clathrin-mediated endocytosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tweten, D. J.; Bayly, P. V.; Carlsson, A. E.

2017-05-01

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis in yeast is driven by a protein patch containing close to 100 different types of proteins. Among the proteins are 5000 -10 000 copies of polymerized actin, and successful endocytosis requires growth of the actin network. Since it is not known exactly how actin network growth drives endocytosis, we calculate the spatial distribution of actin growth required to generate the force that drives the process. First, we establish the force distribution that must be supplied by actin growth, by combining membrane-bending profiles obtained via electron microscopy with established theories of membrane mechanics. Next, we determine the profile of actin growth, using a continuum mechanics approach and an iterative procedure starting with an actin growth profile obtained from a linear analysis. The profile has fairly constant growth outside a central hole of radius 45-50 nm, but very little growth in this hole. This growth profile can reproduce the required forces if the actin shear modulus exceeds 80 kPa, and the growing filaments can exert very large polymerization forces. The growth profile prediction could be tested via electron-microscopy or super-resolution experiments in which the turgor pressure is suddenly turned off.

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

Kirtley, John R., E-mail: jkirtley@stanford.edu; Rosenberg, Aaron J.; Palmstrom, Johanna C.

Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) microscopy has excellent magnetic field sensitivity, but suffers from modest spatial resolution when compared with other scanning probes. This spatial resolution is determined by both the size of the field sensitive area and the spacing between this area and the sample surface. In this paper we describe scanning SQUID susceptometers that achieve sub-micron spatial resolution while retaining a white noise floor flux sensitivity of ≈2μΦ{sub 0}/Hz{sup 1/2}. This high spatial resolution is accomplished by deep sub-micron feature sizes, well shielded pickup loops fabricated using a planarized process, and a deep etch step that minimizes themore » spacing between the sample surface and the SQUID pickup loop. We describe the design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of these sensors. Although sub-micron spatial resolution has been achieved previously in scanning SQUID sensors, our sensors not only achieve high spatial resolution but also have integrated modulation coils for flux feedback, integrated field coils for susceptibility measurements, and batch processing. They are therefore a generally applicable tool for imaging sample magnetization, currents, and susceptibilities with higher spatial resolution than previous susceptometers.« less

Chromatic and Achromatic Spatial Resolution of Local Field Potentials in Awake Cortex

PubMed Central

Jansen, Michael; Li, Xiaobing; Lashgari, Reza; Kremkow, Jens; Bereshpolova, Yulia; Swadlow, Harvey A.; Zaidi, Qasim; Alonso, Jose-Manuel

2015-01-01

Local field potentials (LFPs) have become an important measure of neuronal population activity in the brain and could provide robust signals to guide the implant of visual cortical prosthesis in the future. However, it remains unclear whether LFPs can detect weak cortical responses (e.g., cortical responses to equiluminant color) and whether they have enough visual spatial resolution to distinguish different chromatic and achromatic stimulus patterns. By recording from awake behaving macaques in primary visual cortex, here we demonstrate that LFPs respond robustly to pure chromatic stimuli and exhibit ∼2.5 times lower spatial resolution for chromatic than achromatic stimulus patterns, a value that resembles the ratio of achromatic/chromatic resolution measured with psychophysical experiments in humans. We also show that, although the spatial resolution of LFP decays with visual eccentricity as is also the case for single neurons, LFPs have higher spatial resolution and show weaker response suppression to low spatial frequencies than spiking multiunit activity. These results indicate that LFP recordings are an excellent approach to measure spatial resolution from local populations of neurons in visual cortex including those responsive to color. PMID:25416722

Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imager: Imaging Performance On-Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hearn, D. R.

2002-01-01

This report analyzes the on-orbit imaging performance of the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 satellite. The pre-flight calibrations are first summarized. The methods used to reconstruct and geometrically correct the image data from this push-broom sensor are described. The method used here does not refer to the position and attitude telemetry from the spacecraft. Rather, it is assumed that the image of the scene moves across the focal plane with a constant velocity, which can be ascertained from the image data itself. Next, an assortment of the images so reconstructed is presented. Color images sharpened with the 10-m panchromatic band data are shown, and the algorithm for producing them from the 30-m multispectral data is described. The approach taken for assessing spatial resolution is to compare the sharpness of features in the on-orbit image data with profiles predicted on the basis of the pre-flight calibrations. A large assortment of bridge profiles is analyzed, and very good fits to the predicted shapes are obtained. Lunar calibration scans are analyzed to examine the sharpness of the edge-spread function at the limb of the moon. The darkness of the space beyond the limb is better for this purpose than anything that could be simulated on the ground. From these scans, we find clear evidence of scattering in the optical system, as well as some weak ghost images. Scans of planets and stars are also analyzed. Stars are useful point sources of light at all wavelengths, and delineate the point-spread functions of the system. From a quarter-speed scan over the Pleiades, we find that the ALI can detect 6th magnitude stars. The quality of the reconstructed images verifies the capability of the ALI to produce Landsat-type multi spectral data. The signal-to-noise and panchromatic spatial resolution are considerably superior to those of the existing Landsat sensors. The spatial resolution is confirmed to be as good as it was designed to be.

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

Yee, S; Krauss, D; Yan, D

Purpose: Unlike on the daily CBCT used for the image-guided radiation therapy, the visualization of an implantable metallic fiducial marker on the planning MRI images has been a challenge due to the inherent insensitivity of metal in MRI, and very thin (∼ 1 mm or less) diameter. Here, an MRI technique to visualize a marker used for prostate cancer radiotherapy is reported. Methods: During the MRI acquisitions, a multi-shot turbo spin echo (TSE) technique (TR=3500 ms, TE=8.6 ms, ETL=17, recon voxel=0.42x0.42x3.5 mm3) was acquired in Philips 3T Ingenia together with a T2-weighted multi-shot TSE (TR=5381 ms, TE=110 ms, ETL=17, reconmore » voxel=0.47×0.47×3 mm3) and a balanced turbo field echo (bTFE, flip angle 60, TR=2.76 ms, TE=1.3 ms, 0.85×0.85×3 mm3, NSA=4). In acquiring the MRI to visualize the fiducial marker, a particular emphasis was made to improve the spatial resolution and visibility in the generally dark, inhomogeneous prostate area by adjusting the slice profile ordering and TE values of TSE acquisition (in general, the lower value of TE in TSE acquisition generates a brighter signal but at the cost of high spatial resolution since the k-space, responsible for high spatial resolution, is filled with noisier data). Results: While clearly visible in CT, the marker was not visible in either T2-weighted TSE or bTFE, although the image qualities of both images were superior. In the new TSE acquisition (∼ a proton-density weighted image) adjusted by changing the profile ordering and the TE value, the marker was visible as a negative (but clear) contrast in the magnitude MRI, and as a positive contrast in the imaginary image of the phase-sensitive MRI. Conclusion: A metallic fiducial marker used for image guidance before prostate cancer radiotherapy can be made visible in MRI, which may facilitate more use of MRI in planning and guiding such radiation therapy.« less

Effects of ray profile modeling on resolution recovery in clinical CT

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

Hofmann, Christian; Knaup, Michael; Kachelrieß, Marc, E-mail: marc.kachelriess@dkfz-heidelberg.de

2014-02-15

Purpose: Iterative image reconstruction gains more and more interest in clinical routine, as it promises to reduce image noise (and thereby patient dose), to reduce artifacts, or to improve spatial resolution. However, among vendors and researchers, there is no consensus of how to best achieve these goals. The authors are focusing on the aspect of geometric ray profile modeling, which is realized by some algorithms, while others model the ray as a straight line. The authors incorporate ray-modeling (RM) in nonregularized iterative reconstruction. That means, instead of using one simple single needle beam to represent the x-ray, the authors evaluatemore » the double integral of attenuation path length over the finite source distribution and the finite detector element size in the numerical forward projection. Our investigations aim at analyzing the resolution recovery (RR) effects of RM. Resolution recovery means that frequencies can be recovered beyond the resolution limit of the imaging system. In order to evaluate, whether clinical CT images can benefit from modeling the geometrical properties of each x-ray, the authors performed a 2D simulation study of a clinical CT fan-beam geometry that includes the precise modeling of these geometrical properties. Methods: All simulations and reconstructions are performed in native fan-beam geometry. A water phantom with resolution bar patterns and a Forbild thorax phantom with circular resolution patterns representing calcifications in the heart region are simulated. An FBP reconstruction with a Ram–Lak kernel is used as a reference reconstruction. The FBP is compared to iterative reconstruction techniques with and without RM: An ordered subsets convex (OSC) algorithm without any RM (OSC), an OSC where the forward projection is modeled concerning the finite focal spot and detector size (OSC-RM) and an OSC with RM and with a matched forward and backprojection pair (OSC-T-RM, T for transpose). In all cases, noise was matched to be able to focus on comparing spatial resolution. The authors use two different simulation settings. Both are based on the geometry of a typical clinical CT system (0.7 mm detector element size at isocenter, 1024 projections per rotation). Setting one has an exaggerated source width of 5.0 mm. Setting two has a realistically small source width of 0.5 mm. The authors also investigate the transition from setting one to two. To quantify image quality, the authors analyze line profiles through the resolution patterns to define a contrast factor (CF) for contrast-resolution plots, and the authors compare the normalized cross-correlation (NCC) with respect to the ground truth of the circular resolution patterns. To independently analyze whether RM is of advantage, the authors implemented several iterative reconstruction algorithms: The statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm OSC, the ordered subsets simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (OSSART) and another statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm, denoted with ordered subsets maximum likelihood (OSML) algorithm. All algorithms were implemented both without RM (denoted as OSC, OSSART, and OSML) and with RM (denoted as OSC-RM, OSSART-RM, and OSML-RM). Results: For the unrealistic case of a 5.0 mm focal spot the CF can be improved by a factor of two due to RM: the 4.2 LP/cm bar pattern, which is the first bar pattern that cannot be resolved without RM, can be easily resolved with RM. For the realistic case of a 0.5 mm focus, all results show approximately the same CF. The NCC shows no significant dependency on RM when the source width is smaller than 2.0 mm (as in clinical CT). From 2.0 mm to 5.0 mm focal spot size increasing improvements can be observed with RM. Conclusions: Geometric RM in iterative reconstruction helps improving spatial resolution, if the ray cross-section is significantly larger than the ray sampling distance. In clinical CT, however, the ray is not much thicker than the distance between neighboring ray centers, as the focal spot size is small and detector crosstalk is negligible, due to reflective coatings between detector elements. Therefore,RM appears not to be necessary in clinical CT to achieve resolution recovery.« less

High Concentrations of Hydrogen-bearing Volatiles at the Base of Poleward-facing slopes in the Moon's Large Southern Permanently Shadowed Regions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClanahan, T. P.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Boynton, W. V.; Chin, G.; Livengood, T. A.; Litvak, M. L.; Sanin, A. B.; Starr, R. D.

2016-12-01

In this paper we review evidence that indicates that high concentrations of hydrogen-bearing volatiles are biased towards the base of poleward-facing slopes (PFS) in the Moon's large southern permanently shadowed regions (PSR). Results are derived from a correlated study of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter instrument maps of: epithermal neutron leakage flux observed by the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), topography derived from the Lunar Observing Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and surface thermal maps derived from the Diviner radiometer. Maximum concentrations of hydrogen-volatiles, likely as water ice, are observed in the Cabeus crater's PSR, 0.62 wght% water-equivalent-hydrogen. Detailed studies show that the occurrence of hydrogen-volatiles at the base of the (PFS) are correlated with the locations of low PSR temperatures of Cabeus, Haworth, Shoemaker and Faustini. LEND observations show no consistent correlation to smaller impact craters and the lowest temperatures within the PSR's. It is not presently known if the high volatile concentrations are due to downslope migration or thermal stability in the PFS breaks in slope. 15-km Full-width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) is shown to be an upper-bounds condition for the LEND collimated sensor's spatial resolution, derived from a cross-sectional profile, through the permanently shadowed region at Cabeus'. LEND's high-resolution spatial response is further illustrated in a 220-km long profile cut through the co-aligned permanently shadowed regions and partially-illuminated ridges of Haworth, Shoemaker, Faustini and Amundsen craters.

Multiple Velocity Profile Measurements in Hypersonic Flows Using Sequentially-Imaged Fluorescence Tagging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bathel, Brett F.; Danehy, Paul M.; Inman, Jennifer A.; Jones, Stephen B.; Ivey,Christopher b.; Goyne, Christopher P.

2010-01-01

Nitric-oxide planar laser-induced fluorescence (NO PLIF) was used to perform velocity measurements in hypersonic flows by generating multiple tagged lines which fluoresce as they convect downstream. For each laser pulse, a single interline, progressive scan intensified CCD (charge-coupled device) camera was used to obtain two sequential images of the NO molecules that had been tagged by the laser. The CCD configuration allowed for sub-microsecond acquisition of both images, resulting in sub-microsecond temporal resolution as well as sub-mm spatial resolution (0.5-mm horizontal, 0.7-mm vertical). Determination of axial velocity was made by application of a cross-correlation analysis of the horizontal shift of individual tagged lines. A numerical study of measured velocity error due to a uniform and linearly-varying collisional rate distribution was performed. Quantification of systematic errors, the contribution of gating/exposure duration errors, and the influence of collision rate on temporal uncertainty were made. Quantification of the spatial uncertainty depended upon the signal-to-noise ratio of the acquired profiles. This velocity measurement technique has been demonstrated for two hypersonic flow experiments: (1) a reaction control system (RCS) jet on an Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) wind tunnel model and (2) a 10-degree half-angle wedge containing a 2-mm tall, 4-mm wide cylindrical boundary layer trip. The experiments were performed at the NASA Langley Research Center's 31-Inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel.

Millimeter-scale alkalinity measurement in marine sediment using DET probes and colorimetric determination.

PubMed

Metzger, E; Viollier, E; Simonucci, C; Prévot, F; Langlet, D; Jézéquel, D

2013-10-01

Constrained DET (Diffusive Equilibration in Thin films) probes equipped with 75 sampling layers of agarose gel (DGT Research(©)) were used to sample bottom and pore waters in marine sediment with a 2 mm vertical resolution. After retrieval, each piece of hydrogel, corresponding to 25 μL, was introduced into 1 mL of colorimetric reagent (CR) solution consisting of formic acid and bromophenol blue. After the elution/reaction time, absorbance of the latter mixture was read at 590 nm and compared to a calibration curve obtained with the same protocol applied to mini DET probes soaked in sodium hydrogen carbonate standard solutions. This method allows rapid alkalinity determinations for the small volumes of anoxic pore water entrapped into the gel. The method was assessed on organic-rich coastal marine sediments from Thau lagoon (France). Alkalinity values in the overlying waters were in agreement with data obtained by classical sampling techniques. Pore water data showed a progressive increase of alkalinity in the sediment from 2 to 10 mmol kg(-1), corresponding to anaerobic respiration in organic-rich sediments. Moreover, replicates of high-resolution DET profiles showed important lateral heterogeneity at a decimeter scale. This underlines the importance of high-resolution spatial methods for alkalinity profiling in coastal marine systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[An effective method for improving the imaging spatial resolution of terahertz time domain spectroscopy system].

PubMed

Zhang, Zeng-yan; Ji, Te; Zhu, Zhi-yong; Zhao, Hong-wei; Chen, Min; Xiao, Ti-qiao; Guo, Zhi

2015-01-01

Terahertz radiation is an electromagnetic radiation in the range between millimeter waves and far infrared. Due to its low energy and non-ionizing characters, THz pulse imaging emerges as a novel tool in many fields, such as material, chemical, biological medicine, and food safety. Limited spatial resolution is a significant restricting factor of terahertz imaging technology. Near field imaging method was proposed to improve the spatial resolution of terahertz system. Submillimeter scale's spauial resolution can be achieved if the income source size is smaller than the wawelength of the incoming source and the source is very close to the sample. But many changes were needed to the traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system, and it's very complex to analyze sample's physical parameters through the terahertz signal. A method of inserting a pinhole upstream to the sample was first proposed in this article to improve the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system. The measured spatial resolution of terahertz time domain spectroscopy system by knife edge method can achieve spatial resolution curves. The moving stage distance between 10 % and 90 Yo of the maximum signals respectively was defined as the, spatial resolution of the system. Imaging spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system was improved dramatically after inserted a pinhole with diameter 0. 5 mm, 2 mm upstream to the sample. Experimental results show that the spatial resolution has been improved from 1. 276 mm to 0. 774 mm, with the increment about 39 %. Though this simple method, the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system was increased from millimeter scale to submillimeter scale. A pinhole with diameter 1 mm on a polyethylene plate was taken as sample, to terahertz imaging study. The traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system and pinhole inserted terahertz time domain spectroscopy system were applied in the imaging experiment respectively. The relative THz-power loss imaging of samples were use in this article. This method generally delivers the best signal to noise ratio in loss images, dispersion effects are cancelled. Terahertz imaging results show that the sample's boundary was more distinct after inserting the pinhole in front of, sample. The results also conform that inserting pinhole in front of sample can improve the imaging spatial resolution effectively. The theoretical analyses of the method which improve the spatial resolution by inserting a pinhole in front of sample were given in this article. The analyses also indicate that the smaller the pinhole size, the longer spatial coherence length of the system, the better spatial resolution of the system. At the same time the terahertz signal will be reduced accordingly. All the experimental results and theoretical analyses indicate that the method of inserting a pinhole in front of sample can improve the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system effectively, and it will further expand the application of terahertz imaging technology.

A New Sparse Representation Framework for Reconstruction of an Isotropic High Spatial Resolution MR Volume From Orthogonal Anisotropic Resolution Scans.

PubMed

Jia, Yuanyuan; Gholipour, Ali; He, Zhongshi; Warfield, Simon K

2017-05-01

In magnetic resonance (MR), hardware limitations, scan time constraints, and patient movement often result in the acquisition of anisotropic 3-D MR images with limited spatial resolution in the out-of-plane views. Our goal is to construct an isotropic high-resolution (HR) 3-D MR image through upsampling and fusion of orthogonal anisotropic input scans. We propose a multiframe super-resolution (SR) reconstruction technique based on sparse representation of MR images. Our proposed algorithm exploits the correspondence between the HR slices and the low-resolution (LR) sections of the orthogonal input scans as well as the self-similarity of each input scan to train pairs of overcomplete dictionaries that are used in a sparse-land local model to upsample the input scans. The upsampled images are then combined using wavelet fusion and error backprojection to reconstruct an image. Features are learned from the data and no extra training set is needed. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm using simulated and clinical MR scans. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves promising results in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio, structural similarity image index, intensity profiles, and visualization of small structures obscured in the LR imaging process due to partial volume effects. Our novel SR algorithm outperforms the nonlocal means (NLM) method using self-similarity, NLM method using self-similarity and image prior, self-training dictionary learning-based SR method, averaging of upsampled scans, and the wavelet fusion method. Our SR algorithm can reduce through-plane partial volume artifact by combining multiple orthogonal MR scans, and thus can potentially improve medical image analysis, research, and clinical diagnosis.

Measurement uncertainty budget of an interferometric flow velocity sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermuske, Mike; Büttner, Lars; Czarske, Jürgen

2017-06-01

Flow rate measurements are a common topic for process monitoring in chemical engineering and food industry. To achieve the requested low uncertainties of 0:1% for flow rate measurements, a precise measurement of the shear layers of such flows is necessary. The Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) is an established method for measuring local flow velocities. For exact estimation of the flow rate, the flow profile in the shear layer is of importance. For standard LDV the axial resolution and therefore the number of measurement points in the shear layer is defined by the length of the measurement volume. A decrease of this length is accompanied by a larger fringe distance variation along the measurement axis which results in a rise of the measurement uncertainty for the flow velocity (uncertainty relation between spatial resolution and velocity uncertainty). As a unique advantage, the laser Doppler profile sensor (LDV-PS) overcomes this problem by using two fan-like fringe systems to obtain the position of the measured particles along the measurement axis and therefore achieve a high spatial resolution while it still offers a low velocity uncertainty. With this technique, the flow rate can be estimated with one order of magnitude lower uncertainty, down to 0:05% statistical uncertainty.1 And flow profiles especially in film flows can be measured more accurately. The problem for this technique is, in contrast to laboratory setups where the system is quite stable, that for industrial applications the sensor needs a reliable and robust traceability to the SI units, meter and second. Small deviations in the calibration can, because of the highly position depending calibration function, cause large systematic errors in the measurement result. Therefore, a simple, stable and accurate tool is needed, that can easily be used in industrial surroundings to check or recalibrate the sensor. In this work, different calibration methods are presented and their influences to the measurement uncertainty budget of the sensor is discussed. Finally, generated measurement results for the film flow of an impinging jet cleaning experiment are presented.

A beam monitor based on MPGD detectors for hadron therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altieri, P. R.; Di Benedetto, D.; Galetta, G.; Intonti, R. A.; Mercadante, A.; Nuzzo, S.; Verwilligen, P.

2018-02-01

Remarkable scientific and technological progress during the last years has led to the construction of accelerator based facilities dedicated to hadron therapy. This kind of technology requires precise and continuous control of position, intensity and shape of the ions or protons used to irradiate cancers. Patient safety, accelerator operation and dose delivery should be optimized by a real time monitoring of beam intensity and profile during the treatment, by using non-destructive, high spatial resolution detectors. In the framework of AMIDERHA (AMIDERHA - Enhanced Radiotherapy with HAdron) project funded by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Italian Ministry of Education and Research) the authors are studying and developing an innovative beam monitor based on Micro Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPDGs) characterized by a high spatial resolution and rate capability. The Monte Carlo simulation of the beam monitor prototype was carried out to optimize the geometrical set up and to predict the behavior of the detector. A first prototype has been constructed and successfully tested using 55Fe, 90Sr and also an X-ray tube. Preliminary results on both simulations and tests will be presented.

Design and Study of the Observation Optics for the Thomson Scattering Planned at Wendelstein 7-X

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

Cantarini, J.; Knauer, J. P.; Pasch, E.

2008-03-19

The main aim of the Thomson scattering system is the measurement of electron temperature and density profiles with high time and spatial resolution. To cover the whole laser beam line (1.6 m) through the plasma cross section, two ports are provided for the observation optics, which image the scattering volumes (each with 28 mm length and 9 mm diameter) onto fiber bundles. The observation optics are important components of the diagnostic set-up, because their imaging properties determine the spectral and spatial resolution of the whole system. Therefore the design of the optics must be optimized according to the geometrical constrainsmore » of the observation ports in terms of position and dimensions. To optimize this optical engineering, the commercial ZEMAX program is used. The composition of the optical system is elaborated to minimize losses of collected light with wavelength from 700 nm up to 1064 nm. Environmental criteria (e.g. neutrons, ECR plasma heating and temperature) will be considered choosing optical materials. First results of calculations will be presented.« less

Design Considerations of Polishing Lap for Computer-Controlled Cylindrical Polishing Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khan, Gufran S.; Gubarev, Mikhail; Speegle, Chet; Ramsey, Brian

2010-01-01

The future X-ray observatory missions, such as International X-ray Observatory, require grazing incidence replicated optics of extremely large collecting area (3 m2) in combination with angular resolution of less than 5 arcsec half-power diameter. The resolution of a mirror shell depends ultimately on the quality of the cylindrical mandrels from which they are being replicated. Mid-spatial-frequency axial figure error is a dominant contributor in the error budget of the mandrel. This paper presents our efforts to develop a deterministic cylindrical polishing process in order to keep the mid-spatial-frequency axial figure errors to a minimum. Simulation studies have been performed to optimize the operational parameters as well as the polishing lap configuration. Furthermore, depending upon the surface error profile, a model for localized polishing based on dwell time approach is developed. Using the inputs from the mathematical model, a mandrel, having conical approximated Wolter-1 geometry, has been polished on a newly developed computer-controlled cylindrical polishing machine. We report our first experimental results and discuss plans for further improvements in the polishing process.

Pore-scale dynamics of salt transport in drying porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shokri, N.

2013-12-01

Understanding the physics of water evaporation from saline porous media is important in many hydrological processes such as land-atmosphere interactions, water management, vegetation, soil salinity, and mineral-fluid interactions. We applied synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography to investigate the pore-scale dynamics of dissolved salt distribution in a three dimensional drying saline porous media using a cylindrical plastic column (15 mm in height and 8 mm in diameter) packed with sand particles saturated with CaI2 solution (5% concentration by mass) with a spatial and temporal resolution of 12 microns and 30 min, respectively. Every time the drying sand column was set to be imaged, two different images were recorded using distinct synchrotron X-rays energies immediately above (33.2690 keV) and below (33.0690 keV) the K-edge value of Iodine (33.1694 keV). Taking the difference between pixel gray values enabled us to delineate the spatial and temporal distribution of CaI2 concentration at pore scale. The experiment was continued for 12 hours. Results indicate that during early stages of evaporation, air preferentially invades large pores at the surface while finer pores remain saturated and connected to the wet zone at bottom via capillary-induced liquid flow. Consequently, the salt concentration increases preferentially in finer pores where evaporation occurs. The Peclet number (describing the competition between convection and diffusion) was greater than one in our experiment resulting in higher salt concentrations closer to the evaporation surface indicating a convection-driven process. The obtained salt profiles were used to evaluate the numerical solution of the convection-diffusion equation (CDE). Results show that the macro-scale CDE could capture the overall trend of the measured salt profiles but fail to produce the exact slope of the profiles. Our results shed new insight on the physics of salt transport and its complex dynamics in drying porous media and establish synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography as an effective tool to investigate the dynamics of dissolved salt transport in porous media with high spatial and temporal resolutions.

High-resolution moisture profiles from full-waveform probabilistic inversion of TDR signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laloy, Eric; Huisman, Johan Alexander; Jacques, Diederik

2014-11-01

This study presents an novel Bayesian inversion scheme for high-dimensional undetermined TDR waveform inversion. The methodology quantifies uncertainty in the moisture content distribution, using a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) prior as regularization operator. A spatial resolution of 1 cm along a 70-cm long TDR probe is considered for the inferred moisture content. Numerical testing shows that the proposed inversion approach works very well in case of a perfect model and Gaussian measurement errors. Real-world application results are generally satisfying. For a series of TDR measurements made during imbibition and evaporation from a laboratory soil column, the average root-mean-square error (RMSE) between maximum a posteriori (MAP) moisture distribution and reference TDR measurements is 0.04 cm3 cm-3. This RMSE value reduces to less than 0.02 cm3 cm-3 for a field application in a podzol soil. The observed model-data discrepancies are primarily due to model inadequacy, such as our simplified modeling of the bulk soil electrical conductivity profile. Among the important issues that should be addressed in future work are the explicit inference of the soil electrical conductivity profile along with the other sampled variables, the modeling of the temperature-dependence of the coaxial cable properties and the definition of an appropriate statistical model of the residual errors.

Additional studies of forest classification accuracy as influenced by multispectral scanner spatial resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sadowski, F. E.; Sarno, J. E.

1976-01-01

First, an analysis of forest feature signatures was used to help explain the large variation in classification accuracy that can occur among individual forest features for any one case of spatial resolution and the inconsistent changes in classification accuracy that were demonstrated among features as spatial resolution was degraded. Second, the classification rejection threshold was varied in an effort to reduce the large proportion of unclassified resolution elements that previously appeared in the processing of coarse resolution data when a constant rejection threshold was used for all cases of spatial resolution. For the signature analysis, two-channel ellipse plots showing the feature signature distributions for several cases of spatial resolution indicated that the capability of signatures to correctly identify their respective features is dependent on the amount of statistical overlap among signatures. Reductions in signature variance that occur in data of degraded spatial resolution may not necessarily decrease the amount of statistical overlap among signatures having large variance and small mean separations. Features classified by such signatures may thus continue to have similar amounts of misclassified elements in coarser resolution data, and thus, not necessarily improve in classification accuracy.

Handling Different Spatial Resolutions in Image Fusion by Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares for Incomplete Image Multisets.

PubMed

Piqueras, Sara; Bedia, Carmen; Beleites, Claudia; Krafft, Christoph; Popp, Jürgen; Maeder, Marcel; Tauler, Romà; de Juan, Anna

2018-06-05

Data fusion of different imaging techniques allows a comprehensive description of chemical and biological systems. Yet, joining images acquired with different spectroscopic platforms is complex because of the different sample orientation and image spatial resolution. Whereas matching sample orientation is often solved by performing suitable affine transformations of rotation, translation, and scaling among images, the main difficulty in image fusion is preserving the spatial detail of the highest spatial resolution image during multitechnique image analysis. In this work, a special variant of the unmixing algorithm Multivariate Curve Resolution Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) for incomplete multisets is proposed to provide a solution for this kind of problem. This algorithm allows analyzing simultaneously images collected with different spectroscopic platforms without losing spatial resolution and ensuring spatial coherence among the images treated. The incomplete multiset structure concatenates images of the two platforms at the lowest spatial resolution with the image acquired with the highest spatial resolution. As a result, the constituents of the sample analyzed are defined by a single set of distribution maps, common to all platforms used and with the highest spatial resolution, and their related extended spectral signatures, covering the signals provided by each of the fused techniques. We demonstrate the potential of the new variant of MCR-ALS for multitechnique analysis on three case studies: (i) a model example of MIR and Raman images of pharmaceutical mixture, (ii) FT-IR and Raman images of palatine tonsil tissue, and (iii) mass spectrometry and Raman images of bean tissue.

Improved Ozone Profile Retrievals Using Multispectral Measurements from NASA 'A Train' Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, D.; Worden, J.; Livesey, N. J.; Irion, F. W.; Schwartz, M. J.; Bowman, K. W.; Pawson, S.; Wargan, K.

2013-12-01

Ozone, a radiatively and chemically important trace gas, plays various roles in different altitude ranges in the atmosphere. In the stratosphere, it absorbs the solar UV radiation from the Sun and protects us from sunburn and skin cancers. In the upper troposphere, ozone acts as greenhouse gas. Ozone in the middle troposphere reacts with many anthropogenic pollutants and cleans up the atmosphere. Near surface ozone is harmful to human health and plant life. Accurate monitoring of ozone vertical distributions is crucial for a better understanding of air quality and climate change. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) are both in orbit on the Earth Observing System Aura satellite and are providing ozone concentration profile measurements. MLS observes limb signals from 118 GHz to 2.5 THz, and measures upper tropospheric and stratospheric ozone concentration (among many other species) with a vertical resolution of about 3 km. OMI is a nadir-viewing pushbroom ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) imaging spectrograph that measures backscattered radiances covering the 270-500 nm wavelength range. AIRS is a grating spectrometer, on EOS Aqua satellite, that measures the thermal infrared (TIR) radiances emitted by Earth's surface and by gases and particles in the spectral range 650 - 2665 cm-1. We present an approach to combine simultaneously measured UV and TIR radiances together with the retrieved MLS ozone fields, to improve the ozone sounding. This approach has the potential to provide a decadal record of ozone profiles with an improved spatial coverage and vertical resolution from space missions. For evaluating the quality of retrieved profiles, we selected a set of AIRS and OMI measurements, whose ground pixels were collocated with ozonesonde launch sites. The results from combination of these measurements are presented and discussed. The improvements on vertical resolution of tropospheric ozone profiles from the MLS/AIRS/OMI joint retrievals, as compared with either spectral region alone, are estimated using the ozonesonde measurements.

Soil process-oriented modelling of within-field variability based on high-resolution 3D soil type distribution maps.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bönecke, Eric; Lück, Erika; Gründling, Ralf; Rühlmann, Jörg; Franko, Uwe

2016-04-01

Today, the knowledge of within-field variability is essential for numerous purposes, including practical issues, such as precision and sustainable soil management. Therefore, process-oriented soil models have been applied for a considerable time to answer question of spatial soil nutrient and water dynamics, although, they can only be as consistent as their variation and resolution of soil input data. Traditional approaches, describe distribution of soil types, soil texture or other soil properties for greater soil units through generalised point information, e.g. from classical soil survey maps. Those simplifications are known to be afflicted with large uncertainties. Varying soil, crop or yield conditions are detected even within such homogenised soil units. However, recent advances of non-invasive soil survey and on-the-go monitoring techniques, made it possible to obtain vertical and horizontal dense information (3D) about various soil properties, particularly soil texture distribution which serves as an essential soil key variable affecting various other soil properties. Thus, in this study we based our simulations on detailed 3D soil type distribution (STD) maps (4x4 m) to adjacently built-up sufficient informative soil profiles including various soil physical and chemical properties. Our estimates of spatial STD are based on high-resolution lateral and vertical changes of electrical resistivity (ER), detected by a relatively new multi-sensor on-the-go ER monitoring device. We performed an algorithm including fuzzy-c-mean (FCM) logic and traditional soil classification to estimate STD from those inverted and layer-wise available ER data. STD is then used as key input parameter for our carbon, nitrogen and water transport model. We identified Pedological horizon depths and inferred hydrological soil variables (field capacity, permanent wilting point) from pedotransferfunctions (PTF) for each horizon. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), as essential input variable, was predicted by measured soil samples and associated to STD of the upper 30 cm. The comprehensive and high-resolution (4x4 m) soil profile information (up to 2 m soil depth) were then used to initialise a soil process model (Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics - CANDY) for soil functional modelling (daily steps of matter fluxes, soil temperature and water balances). Our study was conducted on a practical field (~32,000 m²) of an agricultural farm in Central Germany with Chernozem soils under arid conditions (average rainfall < 550 mm). This soil region is known to have differences in soil structure mainly occurring within the subsoil, since topsoil conditions are described as homogenous. The modelled soil functions considered local climate information and practical farming activities. Results show, as expected, distinguished functional variability, both on spatial and temporal resolution for subsoil evident structures, e.g. visible differences for available water capacity within 0-100 cm but homogenous conditions for the topsoil.

Investigation of anodic TiO2 nanotube composition with high spatial resolution AES and ToF SIMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dronov, Alexey; Gavrilin, Ilya; Kirilenko, Elena; Dronova, Daria; Gavrilov, Sergey

2018-03-01

High resolution Scanning Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass-Spectrometry (ToF SIMS) were used to investigate structure and elemental composition variation of both across an array of TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) and single tube of an array. The TiO2 NT array was grown by anodic oxidation of Ti foil in fluorine-containing ethylene glycol electrolyte. It was found that the studied anodic TiO2 nanotubes have a layered structure with rather sharp interfaces. The differences in AES depth profiling results of a single tube with the focused primary electron beam (point analysis) and over an area of 75 μm in diameter of a nanotube array with the defocused primary electron beam are discussed. Depth profiling by ToF SIMS was carried out over approximately the same size of a nanotube array to determine possible ionic fragments in the structure. The analysis results show that the combination of both mentioned methods is useful for a detailed analysis of nanostructures with complex morphology and multi-layered nature.

Exploitation of high resolution beam spectroscopy diagnostics on MAST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michael, Clive; Debock, Maarten; Conway, Neil; Akers, Rob; Appel, Lynton; Field, Anthony; Walsh, Mike; Wisse, Marco

2009-11-01

Recent developments in beam spectroscopy on MAST, including CXRS, MSE and a pilot FIDA system have revealed new information about phenomena such as ITBs, MHD instabilities, transport and fast particle physics. For example, ITBs in the ion temperature and toroidal rotation have been observed with the 64ch CXRS system, while reverse-shear q profiles have been observed with the recently commissioned 35ch MSE system. Thus, the synergy of these diagnostics helps us to understand, among other things, the role of magnetic and rotational shear on ITBs. MSE measurements have also helped to understand MHD phenomena such as locked modes (characterized by changes in toroidal momentum, revealed by CXRS), sawteeth, and internal reconnection events. Finally, the temporal/spatial resolution and SNR of the MSE system have been exploited. Interesting results include the detection of low frequency (˜2kHz) magnetic field fluctuations, characterization of the radial structure of higher frequency (<100kHz) broadband and coherent density (BES) fluctuations, and the identification of short scale length features (˜1.8cm) in the current profile near the edge pedestal.

Distribution and visualisation of chlorhexidine within the skin using ToF-SIMS: a potential platform for the design of more efficacious skin antiseptic formulations.

PubMed

Judd, Amy M; Scurr, David J; Heylings, Jon R; Wan, Ka-Wai; Moss, Gary P

2013-07-01

In order to increase the efficacy of a topically applied antimicrobial compound the permeation profile, localisation and mechanism of action within the skin must first be investigated. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used to visualise the distribution of a conventional antimicrobial compound, chlorhexidine digluconate, within porcine skin without the need for laborious preparation, radio-labels or fluorescent tags. High mass resolution and high spatial resolution mass spectra and chemical images were achieved when analysing chlorhexidine digluconate treated cryo-sectioned porcine skin sections by ToF-SIMS. The distribution of chlorhexidine digluconate was mapped throughout the skin sections and our studies indicate that the compound appears to be localised within the stratum corneum. In parallel, tape strips taken from chlorhexidine digluconate treated porcine skin were analysed by ToF-SIMS to support the distribution profile obtained from the skin sections. ToF-SIMS can act as a powerful complementary technique to map the distribution of topically applied compounds within the skin.

Third version of vendor-specific model-based iterativereconstruction (Veo 3.0): evaluation of CT image quality in the abdomen using new noise reduction presets and varied slice optimization.

PubMed

Telesmanich, Morgan E; Jensen, Corey T; Enriquez, Jose L; Wagner-Bartak, Nicolaus A; Liu, Xinming; Le, Ott; Wei, Wei; Chandler, Adam G; Tamm, Eric P

2017-08-01

To qualitatively and quantitatively compare abdominal CT images reconstructed with a newversion of model-based iterative reconstruction (Veo 3.0; GE Healthcare Waukesha, WI) utilizing varied presetsof resolution preference, noise reduction and slice optimization. This retrospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board and was Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant. The raw datafrom 30 consecutive patients who had undergone CT abdomen scanning were used to reconstructfour clinical presets of 3.75mm axial images using Veo 3.0: 5% resolution preference (RP05n), 5%noise reduction (NR05) and 40% noise reduction (NR40) with new 3.75mm "sliceoptimization," as well as one set using RP05 with conventional 0.625mm "slice optimization" (RP05c). The images were reviewed by two independent readers in a blinded, randomized manner using a 5-point Likert scale as well as a 5-point comparative scale. Multiple two-dimensional circular regions of interest were defined for noise and contrast-to-noise ratio measurements. Line profiles were drawn across the 7 lp cm -1 bar pattern of the Catphan 600 phantom for evaluation of spatial resolution. The NR05 image set was ranked as the best series in overall image quality (mean difference inrank 0.48, 95% CI [0.081-0.88], p = 0.01) and with specific reference to liver evaluation (meandifference 0.46, 95% CI [0.030-0.89], p = 0.03), when compared with the secondbest series ineach category. RP05n was ranked as the best for bone evaluation. NR40 was ranked assignificantly inferior across all assessed categories. Although the NR05 and RP05c image setshad nearly the same contrast-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution, NR05 was generally preferred. Image noise and spatial resolution increased along a spectrum with RP05n the highest and NR40the lowest. Compared to RP05n, the average noise was 21.01% lower for NR05, 26.88%lower for RP05c and 50.86% lower for NR40. Veo 3.0 clinical presets allow for selection of image noise and spatial resolution balance; for contrast-enhanced CT evaluation of the abdomen, the 5% noise reduction preset with 3.75 mm slice optimization (NR05) was generally ranked superior qualitatively and, relative to other series, was in the middle of the spectrum with reference to image noise and spatial resolution. Advances in knowledge: To our knowledge, this is the first study of Veo 3.0 noise reduction presets and varied slice optimization. This study provides insight into the behaviour of slice optimization and documents the degree of noise reduction and spatial resolution changes that users can expect across various Veo 3.0 clinical presets. These results provide important parameters to guide preset selection for both clinical and research purposes.

Assessing the Resolution Adaptability of the Zhang-McFarlane Cumulus Parameterization With Spatial and Temporal Averaging: RESOLUTION ADAPTABILITY OF ZM SCHEME

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

Yun, Yuxing; Fan, Jiwen; Xiao, Heng

Realistic modeling of cumulus convection at fine model resolutions (a few to a few tens of km) is problematic since it requires the cumulus scheme to adapt to higher resolution than they were originally designed for (~100 km). To solve this problem, we implement the spatial averaging method proposed in Xiao et al. (2015) and also propose a temporal averaging method for the large-scale convective available potential energy (CAPE) tendency in the Zhang-McFarlane (ZM) cumulus parameterization. The resolution adaptability of the original ZM scheme, the scheme with spatial averaging, and the scheme with both spatial and temporal averaging at 4-32more » km resolution is assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, by comparing with Cloud Resolving Model (CRM) results. We find that the original ZM scheme has very poor resolution adaptability, with sub-grid convective transport and precipitation increasing significantly as the resolution increases. The spatial averaging method improves the resolution adaptability of the ZM scheme and better conserves the total transport of moist static energy and total precipitation. With the temporal averaging method, the resolution adaptability of the scheme is further improved, with sub-grid convective precipitation becoming smaller than resolved precipitation for resolution higher than 8 km, which is consistent with the results from the CRM simulation. Both the spatial distribution and time series of precipitation are improved with the spatial and temporal averaging methods. The results may be helpful for developing resolution adaptability for other cumulus parameterizations that are based on quasi-equilibrium assumption.« less

Achieving high spatial resolution using a microchannel plate detector with an economic and scalable approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiggins, B. B.; deSouza, Z. O.; Vadas, J.; Alexander, A.; Hudan, S.; deSouza, R. T.

2017-11-01

A second generation position-sensitive microchannel plate detector using the induced signal approach has been realized. This detector is presently capable of measuring the incident position of electrons, photons, or ions. To assess the spatial resolution, the masked detector was illuminated by electrons. The initial, measured spatial resolution of 276 μm FWHM was improved by requiring a minimum signal amplitude on the anode and by employing digital signal processing techniques. The resulting measured spatial resolution of 119 μm FWHM corresponds to an intrinsic resolution of 98 μm FWHM when the effect of the finite slit width is de-convoluted. This measurement is a substantial improvement from the last reported spatial resolution of 466 μm FWHM using the induced signal approach. To understand the factors that limit the measured resolution, the performance of the detector is simulated.

Spatial studies of planetary nebulae with IRAS

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

Hawkins, G.W.; Zuckerman, B.

1991-06-01

The infrared sizes at the four IRAS wavelengths of 57 planetaries, most with 20-60 arcsec optical size, are derived from spatial deconvolution of one-dimensional survey mode scans. Survey observations from multiple detectors and hours confirmed (HCON) observations are combined to increase the sampling to a rate that is sufficient for successful deconvolution. The Richardson-Lucy deconvolution algorithm is used to obtain an increase in resolution of a factor of about 2 or 3 from the normal IRAS detector sizes of 45, 45, 90, and 180 arcsec at wavelengths 12, 25, 60, and 100 microns. Most of the planetaries deconvolve at 12more » and 25 microns to sizes equal to or smaller than the optical size. Some of the planetaries with optical rings 60 arcsec or more in diameter show double-peaked IRAS profiles. Many, such as NGC 6720 and NGC 6543 show all infrared sizes equal to the optical size, while others indicate increasing infrared size with wavelength. Deconvolved IRAS profiles are presented for the 57 planetaries at nearly all wavelengths where IRAS flux densities are 1-2 Jy or higher. 60 refs.« less

Feature extraction based on extended multi-attribute profiles and sparse autoencoder for remote sensing image classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teffahi, Hanane; Yao, Hongxun; Belabid, Nasreddine; Chaib, Souleyman

2018-02-01

The satellite images with very high spatial resolution have been recently widely used in image classification topic as it has become challenging task in remote sensing field. Due to a number of limitations such as the redundancy of features and the high dimensionality of the data, different classification methods have been proposed for remote sensing images classification particularly the methods using feature extraction techniques. This paper propose a simple efficient method exploiting the capability of extended multi-attribute profiles (EMAP) with sparse autoencoder (SAE) for remote sensing image classification. The proposed method is used to classify various remote sensing datasets including hyperspectral and multispectral images by extracting spatial and spectral features based on the combination of EMAP and SAE by linking them to kernel support vector machine (SVM) for classification. Experiments on new hyperspectral image "Huston data" and multispectral image "Washington DC data" shows that this new scheme can achieve better performance of feature learning than the primitive features, traditional classifiers and ordinary autoencoder and has huge potential to achieve higher accuracy for classification in short running time.

Large-eddy simulation of a spatially-evolving turbulent mixing layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capuano, Francesco; Catalano, Pietro; Mastellone, Andrea

2015-11-01

Large-eddy simulations of a spatially-evolving turbulent mixing layer have been performed. The flow conditions correspond to those of a documented experimental campaign (Delville, Appl. Sci. Res. 1994). The flow evolves downstream of a splitter plate separating two fully turbulent boundary layers, with Reθ = 2900 on the high-speed side and Reθ = 1200 on the low-speed side. The computational domain starts at the trailing edge of the splitter plate, where experimental mean velocity profiles are prescribed; white-noise perturbations are superimposed to mimic turbulent fluctuations. The fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved by means of a finite-volume method implemented into the in-house code SPARK-LES. The results are mainly checked in terms of the streamwise evolution of the vorticity thickness and averaged velocity profiles. The combined effects of inflow perturbations, numerical accuracy and subgrid-scale model are discussed. It is found that excessive levels of dissipation may damp inlet fluctuations and delay the virtual origin of the turbulent mixing layer. On the other hand, non-dissipative, high-resolution computations provide results that are in much better agreement with experimental data.

A New Optical Oxygen Sensor Reveals Spatial and Temporal Variations of Dissolved Oxygen at Ecohydrological Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, T.; Schmidt, C.; Fleckenstein, J. H.; Vieweg, M.; Harjung, A.

2015-12-01

The spatial and temporal distribution of dissolved oxygen (DO) at highly reactive aquatic interfaces, e.g. in the hyporheic zone (HZ), is a primary indicator of redox and interlinked biogeochemical zonations. However, continuous measuring of DO over time and depths is challenging due to the dynamic and potentially heterogenic nature of the HZ. We further developed a novel technology for spatially continuous in situ vertical oxygen profiling based on optical sensing (Vieweg et al, 2013). Continuous vertical measurements to a depth of 50 cm are obtained by the motor-controlled insertion of a side-firing Polymer Optical Fiber (POF) into tubular DO probes. Our technology allows minimally invasive DO measurements without DO consumption at high spatial resolution in the mm range. The reduced size of the tubular probe (diameter 5 mm) substantially minimizes disturbance of flow conditions. We tested our technology in situ in the HZ of an intermittent stream during the drying period. Repeated DO measurements were taken over a total duration of six weeks at two locations up- and downstream of a pool-cascade sequence. We were able to precisely map the spatial DO distribution which exhibited sharp gradients and rapid temporal changes as a function of changing hydrologic conditions. Our new vertical oxygen sensing technology will help to provide new insights to the coupling of transport of DO and biogeochemical reactions at aquatic interfaces. Vieweg, M., Trauth, N., Fleckenstein, J. H., Schmidt, C. (2013): Robust Optode-Based Method for Measuring in Situ Oxygen Profiles in Gravelly Streambeds. Environmental Science & Technology. doi:10.1021/es401040w

Geostationary Spectrograph (GeoSpec) for Earth and Atmospheric Science Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janz, Scott J.

2003-01-01

GeoSpec will support several possible future mission concepts in the Atmospheric Sciences and in Land and Ocean Sciences by measurement of both chemically linked atmospheric trace gas concentrations and profiles of important molecules such as OS, N02, CH20 and SO2 and at the same time coastal and ocean pollution events, tidal effects, and the origin and evolution of aerosol plumes. The instrument design concept we will describe is a dual spectrograph covering the WMS wavelength region of 310- 481 nm and the VIS/NIR wavelength region of 500-900 nm. A third channel in the short- wave infrared (SWIR) region between 2.2 p and 2.4 pn for total column measurements of CO, CH4, and N20 will also be described. The goal is to design a system capable of making moderate spatial resolution (750 meters at nadir) hyperspectral measurements (0.2 to 1.2 nm resolution) from a geostationary orbit. This would enable studies of time- varying pollution and coastal change processes with a temporal resolution of 5 minutes on a regional scale to 1 hour on a continental scale. Technological advances in the design and fabrication of convex holographic gratings and large format, high dynamic range PIN/CMOS detectors at the focal plane will be exploited. By simply changing the focal length of the front-end telescope GeoSpec can accommodate different orbital altitudes, including low Earth orbit, the Sun-side Lagrangian point L1, and/or different spatial resolutions.

Continuation of SAGE and MLS High-Resolution Ozone Profiles with the Suomi NPP OMPS Limb Profiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kramarova, N. A.; Bhartia, P. K.; Moy, L.; Chen, Z.; Frith, S. M.

2015-12-01

The Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) onboard the Suomi NPP satellite is design to measure ozone profiles with a high vertical resolution (~2 km) and dense spatial sampling (~1° latitude). The LP sensor represents a new generation of the US ozone profile instruments with the plan for a follow-up limb instrument onboard the Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS-2) in 2021. In this study we will examine the suitability of using LP profiles to continue the EOS climate ozone profile record from the SAGE and MLS datasets. First of all, we evaluate the accuracy in determining the LP tangent height by analyzing measured and calculated radiances. The accurate estimation of the tangent height is critical for limb observations. Several methods were explored to estimate the uncertainties in the LP tangent height registration, and the results will be briefly summarized in this presentation. Version 2 of LP data, released in May 2014, includes a static adjustment of ~1.5 km and a dynamic tangent height adjustment within each orbit. A recent analysis of Version 2 Level 1 radiances revealed a 100 m step in the tangent height that occurred on 26 April 2013, due to a switch to two star trackers in determining spacecraft position. In addition, a ~200 m shift in the tangent height along each orbit was detected. These uncertainties in tangent height registrations can affect the stability of the LP ozone record. Therefore, the second step in our study includes a validation of LP ozone profiles against correlative satellite ozone measurements (Aura MLS, ACE-FTS, OSIRIS, and SBUV) with the focus on time-dependent changes. We estimate relative drifts between OMPS LP and correlative ozone records to evaluate stability of the LP measurements. We also test the tangent height corrections found in the internal analysis of Version 2 measurements to determine their effect on the long-term stability of the LP ozone record.

Intermediate scale plasma density irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from radio occultation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shume, E. B.; Komjathy, A.; Langley, R. B.; Verkhoglyadova, O. P.; Butala, M.; Mannucci, A. J.

2014-12-01

In this research, we report intermediate scale plasma density irregularities in the high-latitude ionosphere inferred from high-resolution radio occultation (RO) measurements in the CASSIOPE (CAScade Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer) - GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites radio link. The high inclination of the CASSIOPE satellite and high rate of signal receptionby the occultation antenna of the GPS Attitude, Positioning and Profiling (GAP) instrument on the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe platform on CASSIOPE enable a high temporal and spatial resolution investigation of the dynamics of the polar ionosphere, magnetosphere-ionospherecoupling, solar wind effects, etc. with unprecedented details compared to that possible in the past. We have carried out high spatial resolution analysis in altitude and geomagnetic latitude of scintillation-producing plasma density irregularities in the polar ionosphere. Intermediate scale, scintillation-producing plasma density irregularities, which corresponds to 2 to 40 km spatial scales were inferred by applying multi-scale spectral analysis on the RO phase delay measurements. Using our multi-scale spectral analysis approach and Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) observations, we infer that the irregularity scales and phase scintillations have distinct features in the auroral oval and polar cap regions. In specific terms, we found that large length scales and and more intense phase scintillations are prevalent in the auroral oval compared to the polar cap region. Hence, the irregularity scales and phase scintillation characteristics are a function of the solar wind and the magnetospheric forcing. Multi-scale analysis may become a powerful diagnostic tool for characterizing how the ionosphere is dynamically driven by these factors.

Spatial and temporal variability of clouds and precipitation over Germany: multiscale simulations across the "gray zone"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthlott, C.; Hoose, C.

2015-11-01

This paper assesses the resolution dependance of clouds and precipitation over Germany by numerical simulations with the COnsortium for Small-scale MOdeling (COSMO) model. Six intensive observation periods of the HOPE (HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment) measurement campaign conducted in spring 2013 and 1 summer day of the same year are simulated. By means of a series of grid-refinement resolution tests (horizontal grid spacing 2.8, 1 km, 500, and 250 m), the applicability of the COSMO model to represent real weather events in the gray zone, i.e., the scale ranging between the mesoscale limit (no turbulence resolved) and the large-eddy simulation limit (energy-containing turbulence resolved), is tested. To the authors' knowledge, this paper presents the first non-idealized COSMO simulations in the peer-reviewed literature at the 250-500 m scale. It is found that the kinetic energy spectra derived from model output show the expected -5/3 slope, as well as a dependency on model resolution, and that the effective resolution lies between 6 and 7 times the nominal resolution. Although the representation of a number of processes is enhanced with resolution (e.g., boundary-layer thermals, low-level convergence zones, gravity waves), their influence on the temporal evolution of precipitation is rather weak. However, rain intensities vary with resolution, leading to differences in the total rain amount of up to +48 %. Furthermore, the location of rain is similar for the springtime cases with moderate and strong synoptic forcing, whereas significant differences are obtained for the summertime case with air mass convection. Domain-averaged liquid water paths and cloud condensate profiles are used to analyze the temporal and spatial variability of the simulated clouds. Finally, probability density functions of convection-related parameters are analyzed to investigate their dependance on model resolution and their impact on cloud formation and subsequent precipitation.

a Spiral-Based Downscaling Method for Generating 30 M Time Series Image Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, B.; Chen, J.; Xing, H.; Wu, H.; Zhang, J.

2017-09-01

The spatial detail and updating frequency of land cover data are important factors influencing land surface dynamic monitoring applications in high spatial resolution scale. However, the fragmentized patches and seasonal variable of some land cover types (e. g. small crop field, wetland) make it labor-intensive and difficult in the generation of land cover data. Utilizing the high spatial resolution multi-temporal image data is a possible solution. Unfortunately, the spatial and temporal resolution of available remote sensing data like Landsat or MODIS datasets can hardly satisfy the minimum mapping unit and frequency of current land cover mapping / updating at the same time. The generation of high resolution time series may be a compromise to cover the shortage in land cover updating process. One of popular way is to downscale multi-temporal MODIS data with other high spatial resolution auxiliary data like Landsat. But the usual manner of downscaling pixel based on a window may lead to the underdetermined problem in heterogeneous area, result in the uncertainty of some high spatial resolution pixels. Therefore, the downscaled multi-temporal data can hardly reach high spatial resolution as Landsat data. A spiral based method was introduced to downscale low spatial and high temporal resolution image data to high spatial and high temporal resolution image data. By the way of searching the similar pixels around the adjacent region based on the spiral, the pixel set was made up in the adjacent region pixel by pixel. The underdetermined problem is prevented to a large extent from solving the linear system when adopting the pixel set constructed. With the help of ordinary least squares, the method inverted the endmember values of linear system. The high spatial resolution image was reconstructed on the basis of high spatial resolution class map and the endmember values band by band. Then, the high spatial resolution time series was formed with these high spatial resolution images image by image. Simulated experiment and remote sensing image downscaling experiment were conducted. In simulated experiment, the 30 meters class map dataset Globeland30 was adopted to investigate the effect on avoid the underdetermined problem in downscaling procedure and a comparison between spiral and window was conducted. Further, the MODIS NDVI and Landsat image data was adopted to generate the 30m time series NDVI in remote sensing image downscaling experiment. Simulated experiment results showed that the proposed method had a robust performance in downscaling pixel in heterogeneous region and indicated that it was superior to the traditional window-based methods. The high resolution time series generated may be a benefit to the mapping and updating of land cover data.

A new spatially scanning 2.7 µm laser hygrometer and new small-scale wind tunnel for direct analysis of the H2O boundary layer structure at single plant leaves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderle, K.; Rascher, U.; Pieruschka, R.; Schurr, U.; Ebert, V.

2015-01-01

A new spatially scanning TDLAS in situ hygrometer based on a 2.7-µm DFB diode laser was constructed and used to analyse the water vapour concentration boundary layer structure at the surface of a single plant leaf. Using an absorption length of only 5.4 cm, the TDLAS hygrometer permits a H2O vapour concentration resolution of 31 ppmv. This corresponds to a normalized precision of 1.7 ppm m. In order to preserve and control the H2O boundary layer on an individual leaf and to study the boundary layer dependence on the wind speed to which the leaf might be exposed in nature, we also constructed a new, application specific, small-scale, wind tunnel for individual plant leaves. The rectangular, closed-loop tunnel has overall dimensions of 1.2 × 0.6 m and a measurement chamber dimension of 40 × 54 mm (H × W). It allows to generate a laminar flow with a precisely controlled wind speed at the plant leaf surface. Combining honeycombs and a miniaturized compression orifice, we could generate and control stable wind speeds from 0.1 to 0.9 m/s, and a highly laminar and homogeneous flow with an excellent relative spatial homogeneity of 0.969 ± 0.03. Combining the spectrometer and the wind tunnel, we analysed (for the first time) non-invasively the wind speed-dependent vertical structure of the H2O vapour distribution within the boundary layer of a single plant leaf. Using our time-lag-free data acquisition procedure for phase locked signal averaging, we achieved a temporal resolution of 0.2 s for an individual spatial point, while a complete vertical spatial scan at a spatial resolution of 0.18 mm took 77 s. The boundary layer thickness was found to decrease from 6.7 to 3.6 mm at increasing wind speeds of 0.1-0.9 m/s. According to our knowledge, this is the first experimental quantification of wind speed-dependent H2O vapour boundary layer concentration profiles of single plant leaves.

Chromatic and Achromatic Spatial Resolution of Local Field Potentials in Awake Cortex.

PubMed

Jansen, Michael; Li, Xiaobing; Lashgari, Reza; Kremkow, Jens; Bereshpolova, Yulia; Swadlow, Harvey A; Zaidi, Qasim; Alonso, Jose-Manuel

2015-10-01

Local field potentials (LFPs) have become an important measure of neuronal population activity in the brain and could provide robust signals to guide the implant of visual cortical prosthesis in the future. However, it remains unclear whether LFPs can detect weak cortical responses (e.g., cortical responses to equiluminant color) and whether they have enough visual spatial resolution to distinguish different chromatic and achromatic stimulus patterns. By recording from awake behaving macaques in primary visual cortex, here we demonstrate that LFPs respond robustly to pure chromatic stimuli and exhibit ∼2.5 times lower spatial resolution for chromatic than achromatic stimulus patterns, a value that resembles the ratio of achromatic/chromatic resolution measured with psychophysical experiments in humans. We also show that, although the spatial resolution of LFP decays with visual eccentricity as is also the case for single neurons, LFPs have higher spatial resolution and show weaker response suppression to low spatial frequencies than spiking multiunit activity. These results indicate that LFP recordings are an excellent approach to measure spatial resolution from local populations of neurons in visual cortex including those responsive to color. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

The spatial resolution of silicon-based electron detectors in beta-autoradiography.

PubMed

Cabello, Jorge; Wells, Kevin

2010-03-21

Thin tissue autoradiography is an imaging modality where ex-vivo tissue sections are placed in direct contact with autoradiographic film. These tissue sections contain a radiolabelled ligand bound to a specific biomolecule under study. This radioligand emits beta - or beta+ particles ionizing silver halide crystals in the film. High spatial resolution autoradiograms are obtained using low energy radioisotopes, such as (3)H where an intrinsic 0.1-1 microm spatial resolution can be achieved. Several digital alternatives have been presented over the past few years to replace conventional film but their spatial resolution has yet to equal film, although silicon-based imaging technologies have demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to conventional film. It will be shown in this work how pixel size is a critical parameter for achieving high spatial resolution for low energy uncollimated beta imaging. In this work we also examine the confounding factors impeding silicon-based technologies with respect to spatial resolution. The study considers charge diffusion in silicon and detector noise, and this is applied to a range of radioisotopes typically used in autoradiography. Finally an optimal detector geometry to obtain the best possible spatial resolution for a specific technology and a specific radioisotope is suggested.

Evaluation and optimization of lidar temperature analysis algorithms using simulated data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leblanc, Thierry; McDermid, I. Stuart; Hauchecorne, Alain; Keckhut, Philippe

1998-01-01

The middle atmosphere (20 to 90 km altitude) ha received increasing interest from the scientific community during the last decades, especially since such problems as polar ozone depletion and climatic change have become so important. Temperature profiles have been obtained in this region using a variety of satellite-, rocket-, and balloon-borne instruments as well as some ground-based systems. One of the more promising of these instruments, especially for long-term high resolution measurements, is the lidar. Measurements of laser radiation Rayleigh backscattered, or Raman scattered, by atmospheric air molecules can be used to determine the relative air density profile and subsequently the temperature profile if it is assumed that the atmosphere is in hydrostatic equilibrium and follows the ideal gas law. The high vertical and spatial resolution make the lidar a well adapted instrument for the study of many middle atmospheric processes and phenomena as well as for the evaluation and validation of temperature measurements from satellites, such as the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). In the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) lidar is the core instrument for measuring middle atmosphere temperature profiles. Using the best lidar analysis algorithm possible is therefore of crucial importance. In this work, the JPL and CNRS/SA lidar analysis software were evaluated. The results of this evaluation allowed the programs to be corrected and optimized and new production software versions were produced. First, a brief description of the lidar technique and the method used to simulate lidar raw-data profiles from a given temperature profile is presented. Evaluation and optimization of the JPL and CNRS/SA algorithms are then discussed.

Dipping-interface mapping using mode-separated Rayleigh waves

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luo, Y.; Xia, J.; Xu, Y.; Zeng, C.; Miller, R.D.; Liu, Q.

2009-01-01

Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method is a non-invasive geophysical technique that uses the dispersive characteristic of Rayleigh waves to estimate a vertical shear (S)-wave velocity profile. A pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section is constructed by aligning 1D S-wave velocity profiles at the midpoint of each receiver spread that are contoured using a spatial interpolation scheme. The horizontal resolution of the section is therefore most influenced by the receiver spread length and the source interval. Based on the assumption that a dipping-layer model can be regarded as stepped flat layers, high-resolution linear Radon transform (LRT) has been proposed to image Rayleigh-wave dispersive energy and separate modes of Rayleigh waves from a multichannel record. With the mode-separation technique, therefore, a dispersion curve that possesses satisfactory accuracy can be calculated using a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. In this study, using synthetic models containing a dipping layer with a slope of 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 degrees and a real-world example, we assess the ability of using high-resolution LRT to image and separate fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves from raw surface-wave data and accuracy of dispersion curves generated by a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. Results of synthetic and real-world examples demonstrate that a dipping interface with a slope smaller than 15 degrees can be successfully mapped by separated fundamental waves using high-resolution LRT. ?? Birkh??user Verlag, Basel 2009.

Spatial and temporal remote sensing data fusion for vegetation monitoring

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The suite of available remote sensing instruments varies widely in terms of sensor characteristics, spatial resolution and acquisition frequency. For example, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides daily global observations at 250m to 1km spatial resolution. While imagery...

Development of a large-area Multigap RPC with adequate spatial resolution for muon tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Wang, Y.; Wang, X.; Zeng, M.; Xie, B.; Han, D.; Lyu, P.; Wang, F.; Li, Y.

2016-11-01

We study the performance of a large-area 2-D Multigap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) designed for muon tomography with high spatial resolution. An efficiency up to 98% and a spatial resolution of around 270 μ m are obtained in cosmic ray and X-ray tests. The performance of the MRPC is also investigated for two working gases: standard gas and pure Freon. The result shows that the MRPC working in pure Freon can provide higher efficiency and better spatial resolution.

MSE commissioning and other major diagnostic updates on KSTAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, Jinseok; Kstar Team

2015-11-01

The motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic based on the photoelastic-modulator (PEM) approach has been commissioned for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). The 25-channel MSE system with the polarization-preserving front optics and precise tilt-tuning narrow bandpass filters provides the spatial resolution less than 1 cm in most of the plasma cross section and about 10 millisecond of time resolution. The polarization response curves with the daily Faraday rotation correction provides reliable pitch angle profiles for the KSTAR discharges with the MSE-optimized energy combination in the three-ion-source neutral beam injection. Some major diagnostic advances such as the poloidal charge exchange spectroscopy, the improved Thomson-scatting system, and the divertor infrared TV are reported as well. Work supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Korea.

Variation in sensitivity, absorption and density of the central rod distribution with eccentricity.

PubMed

Tornow, R P; Stilling, R

1998-01-01

To assess the human rod photopigment distribution and sensitivity with high spatial resolution within the central +/-15 degrees and to compare the results of pigment absorption, sensitivity and rod density distribution (number of rods per square degree). Rod photopigment density distribution was measured with imaging densitometry using a modified Rodenstock scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Dark-adapted sensitivity profiles were measured with green stimuli (17' arc diameter, 1 degrees spacing) using a T ubingen manual perimeter. Sensitivity profiles were plotted on a linear scale and rod photopigment optical density distribution profiles were converted to absorption profiles of the rod photopigment layer. Both the absorption profile of the rod photopigment and the linear sensitivity profile for green stimuli show a minimum at the foveal center and increase steeply with eccentricity. The variation with eccentricity corresponds to the rod density distribution. Rod photopigment absorption profiles, retinal sensitivity profiles, and the rod density distribution are linearly related within the central +/-15 degrees. This is in agreement with theoretical considerations. Both methods, imaging retinal densitometry using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope and dark-adapted perimetry with small green stimuli, are useful for assessing the central rod distribution and sensitivity. However, at present, both methods have limitations. Suggestions for improving the reliability of both methods are given.

Microscopic image processing systems for measuring nonuniform film thickness profiles

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

Liu, A.H.; Plawsky, J.L.; DasGupta, S.

1994-01-01

In very thin liquid films. transport processes are controlled by the temperature and the interfacial intermolecular force field which is a function of the film thickness profile and interfacial properties. The film thickness profile and interfacial properties can be measured most efficiently using a microscopic image processing system. IPS, to record the intensity pattern of the reflected light from the film. There are two types of IPS: an image analyzing interferometer (IAI) and/or an image scanning ellipsometer (ISE). The ISE is a novel technique to measure the two dimensional thickness profile of a nonuniform, thin film, from 1 nm upmore » to several {mu}m, in a steady state as well as in a transient state. It is a full field imaging technique which can study every point on the surface simultaneously with high spatial resolution and thickness sensitivity, i.e., it can measure and map the 2-D film thickness profile. Using the ISE, the transient thickness profile of a draining thin liquid film was measured and modeled. The interfacial conditions were determined in situ by measuring the Hamaker constant. The ISE and IAI systems are compared.« less

Doppler Lidar Observations of an Atmospheric Thermal Providing Lift to Soaring Ospreys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koch, Grady J.

2005-01-01

Vertical wind measurements are presented of an atmospheric thermal in which ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were soaring. These observations were made with a Doppler lidar, allowing high spatial and high temporal resolution wind profiles in clear air. The thermal was generated at the onset of a cloud bank, producing a rolling eddy upon which ospreys were seen to be riding. A determination is made on the size and shape of the thermal, wind speeds involved, and the altitude to which the birds could have ridden the thermal.

Galileo infrared imaging spectroscopy measurements at venus

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carlson, R.W.; Baines, K.H.; Encrenaz, Th.; Taylor, F.W.; Drossart, P.; Kamp, L.W.; Pollack, James B.; Lellouch, E.; Collard, A.D.; Calcutt, S.B.; Grinspoon, D.; Weissman, P.R.; Smythe, W.D.; Ocampo, A.C.; Danielson, G.E.; Fanale, F.P.; Johnson, T.V.; Kieffer, H.H.; Matson, D.L.; McCord, T.B.; Soderblom, L.A.

1991-01-01

During the 1990 Galileo Venus flyby, the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer investigated the night-side atmosphere of Venus in the spectral range 0.7 to 5.2 micrometers. Multispectral images at high spatial resolution indicate substantial cloud opacity variations in the lower cloud levels, centered at 50 kilometers altitude. Zonal and meridional winds were derived for this level and are consistent with motion of the upper branch of a Hadley cell. Northern and southern hemisphere clouds appear to be markedly different. Spectral profiles were used to derive lower atmosphere abundances of water vapor and other species.

OPTICAL FIBRES AND FIBREOPTIC SENSORS: Fibreoptic distributed temperature sensor with spectral filtration by directional fibre couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, A. G.; Babin, Sergei A.; Shelemba, Ivan S.

2009-11-01

We demonstrate a Raman-based all-fibre temperature sensor utilising a pulsed erbium fibre laser. The sensor is made of a standard single-mode telecom fibre, SMF-28, and includes a number of directional couplers as band-pass filters. The temperature profile along a 7-km fibreoptic line is measured with an accuracy of 2oC and a spatial resolution of 10 m. In data processing, we take into account the difference in attenuation between the spectral components of the backscatter signal.

Estimation of Orbital Neutron Detector Spatial Resolution by Systematic Shifting of Differential Topographic Masks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McClanahan, T. P.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Boynton, W. V.; Chin, G.; Livengood, T.; Starr, R. D.; Evans, L. G.; Mazarico, E.; Smith, D. E.

2012-01-01

We present a method and preliminary results related to determining the spatial resolution of orbital neutron detectors using epithermal maps and differential topographic masks. Our technique is similar to coded aperture imaging methods for optimizing photonic signals in telescopes [I]. In that approach photon masks with known spatial patterns in a telescope aperature are used to systematically restrict incoming photons which minimizes interference and enhances photon signal to noise. Three orbital neutron detector systems with different stated spatial resolutions are evaluated. The differing spatial resolutions arise due different orbital altitudes and the use of neutron collimation techniques. 1) The uncollimated Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer (LPNS) system has spatial resolution of 45km FWHM from approx. 30km altitude mission phase [2]. The Lunar Rennaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) with two detectors at 50km altitude evaluated here: 2) the collimated 10km FWHM spatial resolution detector CSETN and 3) LEND's collimated Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons (SETN). Thus providing two orbital altitudes to study factors of: uncollimated vs collimated and two average altitudes for their effect on fields-of-view.

Some effects of finite spatial resolution on skin friction measurements in turbulent boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Westphal, Russell V.

1988-01-01

The effects of finite spatial resolution often cause serious errors in measurements in turbulent boundary layers, with particularly large effects for measurements of fluctuating skin friction and velocities within the sublayer. However, classical analyses of finite spatial resolution effects have generally not accounted for the substantial inhomogeneity and anisotropy of near-wall turbulence. The present study has made use of results from recent computational simulations of wall-bounded turbulent flows to examine spatial resolution effects for measurements made at a wall using both single-sensor probes and those employing two sensing volumes in a V shape. Results are presented to show the effects of finite spatial resolution on a variety of quantitites deduced from the skin friction field.

Sinusoidal Siemens star spatial frequency response measurement errors due to misidentified target centers

DOE PAGES

Birch, Gabriel Carisle; Griffin, John Clark

2015-07-23

Numerous methods are available to measure the spatial frequency response (SFR) of an optical system. A recent change to the ISO 12233 photography resolution standard includes a sinusoidal Siemens star test target. We take the sinusoidal Siemens star proposed by the ISO 12233 standard, measure system SFR, and perform an analysis of errors induced by incorrectly identifying the center of a test target. We show a closed-form solution for the radial profile intensity measurement given an incorrectly determined center and describe how this error reduces the measured SFR of the system. As a result, using the closed-form solution, we proposemore » a two-step process by which test target centers are corrected and the measured SFR is restored to the nominal, correctly centered values.« less

Characterization and modelling of the spatially- and spectrally-varying point-spread function in hyperspectral imaging systems for computational correction of axial optical aberrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Špiclin, Žiga; Bürmen, Miran; Pernuš, Franjo; Likar, Boštjan

2012-03-01

Spatial resolution of hyperspectral imaging systems can vary significantly due to axial optical aberrations that originate from wavelength-induced index-of-refraction variations of the imaging optics. For systems that have a broad spectral range, the spatial resolution will vary significantly both with respect to the acquisition wavelength and with respect to the spatial position within each spectral image. Variations of the spatial resolution can be effectively characterized as part of the calibration procedure by a local image-based estimation of the pointspread function (PSF) of the hyperspectral imaging system. The estimated PSF can then be used in the image deconvolution methods to improve the spatial resolution of the spectral images. We estimated the PSFs from the spectral images of a line grid geometric caliber. From individual line segments of the line grid, the PSF was obtained by a non-parametric estimation procedure that used an orthogonal series representation of the PSF. By using the non-parametric estimation procedure, the PSFs were estimated at different spatial positions and at different wavelengths. The variations of the spatial resolution were characterized by the radius and the fullwidth half-maximum of each PSF and by the modulation transfer function, computed from images of USAF1951 resolution target. The estimation and characterization of the PSFs and the image deconvolution based spatial resolution enhancement were tested on images obtained by a hyperspectral imaging system with an acousto-optic tunable filter in the visible spectral range. The results demonstrate that the spatial resolution of the acquired spectral images can be significantly improved using the estimated PSFs and image deconvolution methods.

Evaluating the Value of High Spatial Resolution in National Capacity Expansion Models using ReEDS

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

Krishnan, Venkat; Cole, Wesley

2016-11-14

Power sector capacity expansion models (CEMs) have a broad range of spatial resolutions. This paper uses the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, a long-term national scale electric sector CEM, to evaluate the value of high spatial resolution for CEMs. ReEDS models the United States with 134 load balancing areas (BAs) and captures the variability in existing generation parameters, future technology costs, performance, and resource availability using very high spatial resolution data, especially for wind and solar modeled at 356 resource regions. In this paper we perform planning studies at three different spatial resolutions--native resolution (134 BAs), state-level, and NERCmore » region level--and evaluate how results change under different levels of spatial aggregation in terms of renewable capacity deployment and location, associated transmission builds, and system costs. The results are used to ascertain the value of high geographically resolved models in terms of their impact on relative competitiveness among renewable energy resources.« less

The Analysis of Burrows Recognition Accuracy in XINJIANG'S Pasture Area Based on Uav Visible Images with Different Spatial Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, D.; Zheng, J. H.; Ma, T.; Chen, J. J.; Li, X.

2018-04-01

The rodent disaster is one of the main biological disasters in grassland in northern Xinjiang. The eating and digging behaviors will cause the destruction of ground vegetation, which seriously affected the development of animal husbandry and grassland ecological security. UAV low altitude remote sensing, as an emerging technique with high spatial resolution, can effectively recognize the burrows. However, how to select the appropriate spatial resolution to monitor the calamity of the rodent disaster is the first problem we need to pay attention to. The purpose of this study is to explore the optimal spatial scale on identification of the burrows by evaluating the impact of different spatial resolution for the burrows identification accuracy. In this study, we shoot burrows from different flight heights to obtain visible images of different spatial resolution. Then an object-oriented method is used to identify the caves, and we also evaluate the accuracy of the classification. We found that the highest classification accuracy of holes, the average has reached more than 80 %. At the altitude of 24 m and the spatial resolution of 1cm, the accuracy of the classification is the highest We have created a unique and effective way to identify burrows by using UAVs visible images. We draw the following conclusion: the best spatial resolution of burrows recognition is 1 cm using DJI PHANTOM-3 UAV, and the improvement of spatial resolution does not necessarily lead to the improvement of classification accuracy. This study lays the foundation for future research and can be extended to similar studies elsewhere.

Measuring time of flight of fusion products in an inertial electrostatic confinement fusion device for spatial profiling of fusion reactions

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

Donovan, D. C.; Boris, D. R.; Kulcinski, G. L.

2013-03-15

A new diagnostic has been developed that uses the time of flight (TOF) of the products from a nuclear fusion reaction to determine the location where the fusion reaction occurred. The TOF diagnostic uses charged particle detectors on opposing sides of the inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device that are coupled to high resolution timing electronics to measure the spatial profile of fusion reactions occurring between the two charged particle detectors. This diagnostic was constructed and tested by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Group in the IEC device, HOMER, which accelerates deuterium ions to fusion relevant energies inmore » a high voltage ({approx}100 kV), spherically symmetric, electrostatic potential well [J. F. Santarius, G. L. Kulcinski, R. P. Ashley, D. R. Boris, B. B. Cipiti, S. K. Murali, G. R. Piefer, R. F. Radel, T. E. Radel, and A. L. Wehmeyer, Fusion Sci. Technol. 47, 1238 (2005)]. The TOF diagnostic detects the products of D(d,p)T reactions and determines where along a chord through the device the fusion event occurred. The diagnostic is also capable of using charged particle spectroscopy to determine the Doppler shift imparted to the fusion products by the center of mass energy of the fusion reactants. The TOF diagnostic is thus able to collect spatial profiles of the fusion reaction density along a chord through the device, coupled with the center of mass energy of the reactions occurring at each location. This provides levels of diagnostic detail never before achieved on an IEC device.« less

High-spatial-resolution passive microwave sounding systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Staelin, D. H.; Rosenkranz, P. W.

1994-01-01

The principal contributions of this combined theoretical and experimental effort were to advance and demonstrate new and more accurate techniques for sounding atmospheric temperature, humidity, and precipitation profiles at millimeter wavelengths, and to improve the scientific basis for such soundings. Some of these techniques are being incorporated in both research and operational systems. Specific results include: (1) development of the MIT Microwave Temperature Sounder (MTS), a 118-GHz eight-channel imaging spectrometer plus a switched-frequency spectrometer near 53 GHz, for use on the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, (2) conduct of ER-2 MTS missions in multiple seasons and locations in combination with other instruments, mapping with unprecedented approximately 2-km lateral resolution atmospheric temperature and precipitation profiles, atmospheric transmittances (at both zenith and nadir), frontal systems, and hurricanes, (3) ground based 118-GHz 3-D spectral images of wavelike structure within clouds passing overhead, (4) development and analysis of approaches to ground- and space-based 5-mm wavelength sounding of the upper stratosphere and mesosphere, which supported the planning of improvements to operational weather satellites, (5) development of improved multidimensional and adaptive retrieval methods for atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, (6) development of combined nonlinear and statistical retrieval techniques for 183-GHz humidity profile retrievals, (7) development of nonlinear statistical retrieval techniques for precipitation cell-top altitudes, and (8) numerical analyses of the impact of remote sensing data on the accuracy of numerical weather predictions; a 68-km gridded model was used to study the spectral properties of error growth.

Identifying, characterizing and predicting spatial patterns of lacustrine groundwater discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tecklenburg, Christina; Blume, Theresa

2017-10-01

Lacustrine groundwater discharge (LGD) can significantly affect lake water balances and lake water quality. However, quantifying LGD and its spatial patterns is challenging because of the large spatial extent of the aquifer-lake interface and pronounced spatial variability. This is the first experimental study to specifically study these larger-scale patterns with sufficient spatial resolution to systematically investigate how landscape and local characteristics affect the spatial variability in LGD. We measured vertical temperature profiles around a 0.49 km2 lake in northeastern Germany with a needle thermistor, which has the advantage of allowing for rapid (manual) measurements and thus, when used in a survey, high spatial coverage and resolution. Groundwater inflow rates were then estimated using the heat transport equation. These near-shore temperature profiles were complemented with sediment temperature measurements with a fibre-optic cable along six transects from shoreline to shoreline and radon measurements of lake water samples to qualitatively identify LGD patterns in the offshore part of the lake. As the hydrogeology of the catchment is sufficiently homogeneous (sandy sediments of a glacial outwash plain; no bedrock control) to avoid patterns being dominated by geological discontinuities, we were able to test the common assumptions that spatial patterns of LGD are mainly controlled by sediment characteristics and the groundwater flow field. We also tested the assumption that topographic gradients can be used as a proxy for gradients of the groundwater flow field. Thanks to the extensive data set, these tests could be carried out in a nested design, considering both small- and large-scale variability in LGD. We found that LGD was concentrated in the near-shore area, but alongshore variability was high, with specific regions of higher rates and higher spatial variability. Median inflow rates were 44 L m-2 d-1 with maximum rates in certain locations going up to 169 L m-2 d-1. Offshore LGD was negligible except for two local hotspots on steep steps in the lake bed topography. Large-scale groundwater inflow patterns were correlated with topography and the groundwater flow field, whereas small-scale patterns correlated with grain size distributions of the lake sediment. These findings confirm results and assumptions of theoretical and modelling studies more systematically than was previously possible with coarser sampling designs. However, we also found that a significant fraction of the variance in LGD could not be explained by these controls alone and that additional processes need to be considered. While regression models using these controls as explanatory variables had limited power to predict LGD rates, the results nevertheless encourage the use of topographic indices and sediment heterogeneity as an aid for targeted campaigns in future studies of groundwater discharge to lakes.

Experimental evaluation and basis function optimization of the spatially variant image-space PSF on the Ingenuity PET/MR scanner

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

Kotasidis, Fotis A., E-mail: Fotis.Kotasidis@unige.ch; Zaidi, Habib; Geneva Neuroscience Centre, Geneva University, CH-1205 Geneva

2014-06-15

Purpose: The Ingenuity time-of-flight (TF) PET/MR is a recently developed hybrid scanner combining the molecular imaging capabilities of PET with the excellent soft tissue contrast of MRI. It is becoming common practice to characterize the system's point spread function (PSF) and understand its variation under spatial transformations to guide clinical studies and potentially use it within resolution recovery image reconstruction algorithms. Furthermore, due to the system's utilization of overlapping and spherical symmetric Kaiser-Bessel basis functions during image reconstruction, its image space PSF and reconstructed spatial resolution could be affected by the selection of the basis function parameters. Hence, a detailedmore » investigation into the multidimensional basis function parameter space is needed to evaluate the impact of these parameters on spatial resolution. Methods: Using an array of 12 × 7 printed point sources, along with a custom made phantom, and with the MR magnet on, the system's spatially variant image-based PSF was characterized in detail. Moreover, basis function parameters were systematically varied during reconstruction (list-mode TF OSEM) to evaluate their impact on the reconstructed resolution and the image space PSF. Following the spatial resolution optimization, phantom, and clinical studies were subsequently reconstructed using representative basis function parameters. Results: Based on the analysis and under standard basis function parameters, the axial and tangential components of the PSF were found to be almost invariant under spatial transformations (∼4 mm) while the radial component varied modestly from 4 to 6.7 mm. Using a systematic investigation into the basis function parameter space, the spatial resolution was found to degrade for basis functions with a large radius and small shape parameter. However, it was found that optimizing the spatial resolution in the reconstructed PET images, while having a good basis function superposition and keeping the image representation error to a minimum, is feasible, with the parameter combination range depending upon the scanner's intrinsic resolution characteristics. Conclusions: Using the printed point source array as a MR compatible methodology for experimentally measuring the scanner's PSF, the system's spatially variant resolution properties were successfully evaluated in image space. Overall the PET subsystem exhibits excellent resolution characteristics mainly due to the fact that the raw data are not under-sampled/rebinned, enabling the spatial resolution to be dictated by the scanner's intrinsic resolution and the image reconstruction parameters. Due to the impact of these parameters on the resolution properties of the reconstructed images, the image space PSF varies both under spatial transformations and due to basis function parameter selection. Nonetheless, for a range of basis function parameters, the image space PSF remains unaffected, with the range depending on the scanner's intrinsic resolution properties.« less

Characterization and Demonstrations of Laser-Induced Incandescence in both Normal and Low-Gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanderWal, Randall L.

1997-01-01

Knowledge of soot volume fraction is important to a wide range of combustion studies in microgravity. Laser-induced incandescence (LII) offers high sensitivity, high temporal and spatial resolution in addition to geometric versatility for real-time determination of soot volume fraction. Implementation of LII into the 2.2 see drop tower at The NASA-Lewis Research Center along with system characterization is described. Absolute soot volume fraction measurements are presented for laminar and turbulent gas-jet flames in microgravity to illustrate the capabilities of LII in microgravity. Comparison between LII radial intensity profiles with soot volume fraction profiles determined through a full-field light extinction technique are also reported validating the accuracy of LII for soot volume fraction measurements in a microgravity environment.

High-resolution geophysical data from the Inner Continental Shelf: South of Martha's Vineyard and north of Nantucket, Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ackerman, Seth D.; Brothers, Laura L.; Foster, David S.; Andrews, Brian D.; Baldwin, Wayne E.; Schwab, William C.

2016-10-28

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management have cooperated to map approximately 185 square kilometers of the inner continental shelf south of Martha’s Vineyard and north of Nantucket, Massachusetts. This report contains geophysical data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey during a survey in 2013. The geophysical data include (1) swath bathymetry collected by using interferometric sonar, (2) acoustic backscatter from the interferometric sonar, and (3) seismic-reflection profiles from a chirp subbottom profiler. These spatial data support research on the Quaternary evolution of coastal Massachusetts, the influence of sea-level change and sediment supply on coastal evolution, and efforts to understand the type, distribution, and quality of subtidal marine habitats in the coastal ocean of Massachusetts.

First measurement of time evolution of electron temperature profiles with Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system on Heliotron J

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

Kenmochi, N., E-mail: kemmchi.naoki.62r@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Tei, S.; Zang, L.

2014-11-15

A Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system has been developed for Heliotron J. The system consists of two 550 mJ 50 Hz lasers, large collection optics, and 25 radial channel (∼1 cm spatial resolution) interference polychromators. This measurement system achieves a S/N ratio of ∼50 for low-density plasma (n{sub e} ∼ 0.5 × 10{sup 19} m{sup −3}). A time evolution of electron temperature profiles was measured with this system for a high-intensity gas-puff (HIGP) fueling neutral-beam-injection plasma. The peripheral temperature of the higher-density phase after HIGP recovers to the low-density pre-HIGP level, suggesting that improving particle transport in the HIGP plasma maymore » be possible.« less

Scanning metallic nanosphere microscopy for vectorial profiling of optical focal spots.

PubMed

Yi, Hui; Long, Jing; Li, Hongquan; He, Xiaolong; Yang, Tian

2015-04-06

Recent years have witnessed fast progress in the development of spatially variant states of polarization under high numerical aperture focusing, and intensive exploration of their applications. We report a vectorial, broadband, high contrast and subwavelength resolution method for focal spot profiling. In this experiment, a 100 nm diameter gold nanosphere on a silica aerogel substrate is raster scanned across the focal spots, and the orthogonal polarization components can be obtained simultaneously by measuring the scattering far field in a confocal manner. The metallic-nanosphere-on-aerogel structure ensures negligible distortion to the focal spots, low crosstalk between orthogonal polarization components (1/39 in experiment), and a low level background noise (1/80 of peak intensity in experiment), while high contrast imaging is not limited by the resonance bandwidth.

An evaluation of spatial resolution of a prototype proton CT scanner.

PubMed

Plautz, Tia E; Bashkirov, V; Giacometti, V; Hurley, R F; Johnson, R P; Piersimoni, P; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Schulte, R W; Zatserklyaniy, A

2016-12-01

To evaluate the spatial resolution of proton CT using both a prototype proton CT scanner and Monte Carlo simulations. A custom cylindrical edge phantom containing twelve tissue-equivalent inserts with four different compositions at varying radial displacements from the axis of rotation was developed for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a prototype proton CT scanner. Two scans of the phantom, centered on the axis of rotation, were obtained with a 200 MeV, low-intensity proton beam: one scan with steps of 4°, and one scan with the phantom continuously rotating. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations of the phantom scan were performed using scanners idealized to various degrees. The data were reconstructed using an iterative projection method with added total variation superiorization based on individual proton histories. Edge spread functions in the radial and azimuthal directions were obtained using the oversampling technique. These were then used to obtain the modulation transfer functions. The spatial resolution was defined by the 10% value of the modulation transfer function (MTF 10% ) in units of line pairs per centimeter (lp/cm). Data from the simulations were used to better understand the contributions of multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom and the scanner hardware, as well as the effect of discretization of proton location. The radial spatial resolution of the prototype proton CT scanner depends on the total path length, W, of the proton in the phantom, whereas the azimuthal spatial resolution depends both on W and the position, u - , at which the most-likely path uncertainty is evaluated along the path. For protons contributing to radial spatial resolution, W varies with the radial position of the edge, whereas for protons contributing to azimuthal spatial resolution, W is approximately constant. For a pixel size of 0.625 mm, the radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from the fully idealized simulation data ranged between 6.31 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 197 mm i.e., close to the center of the phantom, and 13.79 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 97 mm, near the periphery of the phantom. The azimuthal spatial resolution ranged from 6.99 ± 0.23 lp/cm at u - = 75 mm (near the center) to 11.20 ± 0.26 lp/cm at u - = 20 mm (near the periphery). Multiple Coulomb scattering limits the radial spatial resolution for path lengths greater than approximately 130 mm, and the azimuthal spatial resolution for positions of evaluation greater than approximately 40 mm for W = 199 mm. The radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from data from the 4° stepped experimental scan ranged from 5.11 ± 0.61 lp/cm for W = 197 mm to 8.58 ± 0.50 lp/cm for W = 97 mm. In the azimuthal direction, the spatial resolution ranged from 5.37 ± 0.40 lp/cm at u - = 75 mm to 7.27 ± 0.39 lp/cm at u - = 20 mm. The continuous scan achieved the same spatial resolution as that of the stepped scan. Multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom is the limiting physical factor of the achievable spatial resolution of proton CT; additional loss of spatial resolution in the prototype system is associated with scattering in the proton tracking system and inadequacies of the proton path estimate used in the iterative reconstruction algorithm. Improvement in spatial resolution may be achievable by improving the most likely path estimate by incorporating information about high and low density materials, and by minimizing multiple Coulomb scattering in the proton tracking system.

An evaluation of spatial resolution of a prototype proton CT scanner

PubMed Central

Plautz, Tia E.; Bashkirov, V.; Giacometti, V.; Hurley, R. F.; Piersimoni, P.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Schulte, R. W.; Zatserklyaniy, A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the spatial resolution of proton CT using both a prototype proton CT scanner and Monte Carlo simulations. Methods: A custom cylindrical edge phantom containing twelve tissue-equivalent inserts with four different compositions at varying radial displacements from the axis of rotation was developed for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a prototype proton CT scanner. Two scans of the phantom, centered on the axis of rotation, were obtained with a 200 MeV, low-intensity proton beam: one scan with steps of 4°, and one scan with the phantom continuously rotating. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations of the phantom scan were performed using scanners idealized to various degrees. The data were reconstructed using an iterative projection method with added total variation superiorization based on individual proton histories. Edge spread functions in the radial and azimuthal directions were obtained using the oversampling technique. These were then used to obtain the modulation transfer functions. The spatial resolution was defined by the 10% value of the modulation transfer function (MTF10%) in units of line pairs per centimeter (lp/cm). Data from the simulations were used to better understand the contributions of multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom and the scanner hardware, as well as the effect of discretization of proton location. Results: The radial spatial resolution of the prototype proton CT scanner depends on the total path length, W, of the proton in the phantom, whereas the azimuthal spatial resolution depends both on W and the position, u−, at which the most-likely path uncertainty is evaluated along the path. For protons contributing to radial spatial resolution, W varies with the radial position of the edge, whereas for protons contributing to azimuthal spatial resolution, W is approximately constant. For a pixel size of 0.625 mm, the radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from the fully idealized simulation data ranged between 6.31 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 197 mm i.e., close to the center of the phantom, and 13.79 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 97 mm, near the periphery of the phantom. The azimuthal spatial resolution ranged from 6.99 ± 0.23 lp/cm at u− = 75 mm (near the center) to 11.20 ± 0.26 lp/cm at u− = 20 mm (near the periphery). Multiple Coulomb scattering limits the radial spatial resolution for path lengths greater than approximately 130 mm, and the azimuthal spatial resolution for positions of evaluation greater than approximately 40 mm for W = 199 mm. The radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from data from the 4° stepped experimental scan ranged from 5.11 ± 0.61 lp/cm for W = 197 mm to 8.58 ± 0.50 lp/cm for W = 97 mm. In the azimuthal direction, the spatial resolution ranged from 5.37 ± 0.40 lp/cm at u− = 75 mm to 7.27 ± 0.39 lp/cm at u− = 20 mm. The continuous scan achieved the same spatial resolution as that of the stepped scan. Conclusions: Multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom is the limiting physical factor of the achievable spatial resolution of proton CT; additional loss of spatial resolution in the prototype system is associated with scattering in the proton tracking system and inadequacies of the proton path estimate used in the iterative reconstruction algorithm. Improvement in spatial resolution may be achievable by improving the most likely path estimate by incorporating information about high and low density materials, and by minimizing multiple Coulomb scattering in the proton tracking system. PMID:27908179

Effects of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography on spatial scaling of net primary productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J. M.; Chen, X.; Ju, W.

2013-03-01

Due to the heterogeneous nature of the land surface, spatial scaling is an inevitable issue in the development of land models coupled with low-resolution Earth system models (ESMs) for predicting land-atmosphere interactions and carbon-climate feedbacks. In this study, a simple spatial scaling algorithm is developed to correct errors in net primary productivity (NPP) estimates made at a coarse spatial resolution based on sub-pixel information of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography. An eco-hydrological model BEPS-TerrainLab, which considers both vegetation and topographical effects on the vertical and lateral water flows and the carbon cycle, is used to simulate NPP at 30 m and 1 km resolutions for a 5700 km2 watershed with an elevation range from 518 m to 3767 m in the Qinling Mountain, Shaanxi Province, China. Assuming that the NPP simulated at 30 m resolution represents the reality and that at 1 km resolution is subject to errors due to sub-pixel heterogeneity, a spatial scaling index (SSI) is developed to correct the coarse resolution NPP values pixel by pixel. The agreement between the NPP values at these two resolutions is improved considerably from R2 = 0.782 to R2 = 0.884 after the correction. The mean bias error (MBE) in NPP modeled at the 1 km resolution is reduced from 14.8 g C m-2 yr-1 to 4.8 g C m-2 yr-1 in comparison with NPP modeled at 30 m resolution, where the mean NPP is 668 g C m-2 yr-1. The range of spatial variations of NPP at 30 m resolution is larger than that at 1 km resolution. Land cover fraction is the most important vegetation factor to be considered in NPP spatial scaling, and slope is the most important topographical factor for NPP spatial scaling especially in mountainous areas, because of its influence on the lateral water redistribution, affecting water table, soil moisture and plant growth. Other factors including leaf area index (LAI), elevation and aspect have small and additive effects on improving the spatial scaling between these two resolutions.

Effects of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography on spatial scaling of net primary productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J. M.; Chen, X.; Ju, W.

2013-07-01

Due to the heterogeneous nature of the land surface, spatial scaling is an inevitable issue in the development of land models coupled with low-resolution Earth system models (ESMs) for predicting land-atmosphere interactions and carbon-climate feedbacks. In this study, a simple spatial scaling algorithm is developed to correct errors in net primary productivity (NPP) estimates made at a coarse spatial resolution based on sub-pixel information of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography. An eco-hydrological model BEPS-TerrainLab, which considers both vegetation and topographical effects on the vertical and lateral water flows and the carbon cycle, is used to simulate NPP at 30 m and 1 km resolutions for a 5700 km2 watershed with an elevation range from 518 m to 3767 m in the Qinling Mountain, Shanxi Province, China. Assuming that the NPP simulated at 30 m resolution represents the reality and that at 1 km resolution is subject to errors due to sub-pixel heterogeneity, a spatial scaling index (SSI) is developed to correct the coarse resolution NPP values pixel by pixel. The agreement between the NPP values at these two resolutions is improved considerably from R2 = 0.782 to R2 = 0.884 after the correction. The mean bias error (MBE) in NPP modelled at the 1 km resolution is reduced from 14.8 g C m-2 yr-1 to 4.8 g C m-2 yr-1 in comparison with NPP modelled at 30 m resolution, where the mean NPP is 668 g C m-2 yr-1. The range of spatial variations of NPP at 30 m resolution is larger than that at 1 km resolution. Land cover fraction is the most important vegetation factor to be considered in NPP spatial scaling, and slope is the most important topographical factor for NPP spatial scaling especially in mountainous areas, because of its influence on the lateral water redistribution, affecting water table, soil moisture and plant growth. Other factors including leaf area index (LAI) and elevation have small and additive effects on improving the spatial scaling between these two resolutions.

High-resolution scanning precession electron diffraction: Alignment and spatial resolution.

PubMed

Barnard, Jonathan S; Johnstone, Duncan N; Midgley, Paul A

2017-03-01

Methods are presented for aligning the pivot point of a precessing electron probe in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and for assessing the spatial resolution in scanning precession electron diffraction (SPED) experiments. The alignment procedure is performed entirely in diffraction mode, minimising probe wander within the bright-field (BF) convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) disk and is used to obtain high spatial resolution SPED maps. Through analysis of the power spectra of virtual bright-field images extracted from the SPED data, the precession-induced blur was measured as a function of precession angle. At low precession angles, SPED spatial resolution was limited by electronic noise in the scan coils; whereas at high precession angles SPED spatial resolution was limited by tilt-induced two-fold astigmatism caused by the positive spherical aberration of the probe-forming lens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Electric Field Gradient on Sub-nanometer Spatial Resolution of Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Meng, Lingyan; Yang, Zhilin; Chen, Jianing; Sun, Mengtao

2015-01-01

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) with sub-nanometer spatial resolution has been recently demonstrated experimentally. However, the physical mechanism underlying is still under discussion. Here we theoretically investigate the electric field gradient of a coupled tip-substrate system. Our calculations suggest that the ultra-high spatial resolution of TERS can be partially attributed to the electric field gradient effect owning to its tighter spatial confinement and sensitivity to the infrared (IR)-active of molecules. Particularly, in the case of TERS of flat-lying H2TBPP molecules,we find the electric field gradient enhancement is the dominating factor for the high spatial resolution, which qualitatively coincides with previous experimental report. Our theoretical study offers a new paradigm for understanding the mechanisms of the ultra-high spatial resolution demonstrated in tip-enhanced spectroscopy which is of importance but neglected. PMID:25784161

Spatial resolution properties of motion-compensated tomographic image reconstruction methods.

PubMed

Chun, Se Young; Fessler, Jeffrey A

2012-07-01

Many motion-compensated image reconstruction (MCIR) methods have been proposed to correct for subject motion in medical imaging. MCIR methods incorporate motion models to improve image quality by reducing motion artifacts and noise. This paper analyzes the spatial resolution properties of MCIR methods and shows that nonrigid local motion can lead to nonuniform and anisotropic spatial resolution for conventional quadratic regularizers. This undesirable property is akin to the known effects of interactions between heteroscedastic log-likelihoods (e.g., Poisson likelihood) and quadratic regularizers. This effect may lead to quantification errors in small or narrow structures (such as small lesions or rings) of reconstructed images. This paper proposes novel spatial regularization design methods for three different MCIR methods that account for known nonrigid motion. We develop MCIR regularization designs that provide approximately uniform and isotropic spatial resolution and that match a user-specified target spatial resolution. Two-dimensional PET simulations demonstrate the performance and benefits of the proposed spatial regularization design methods.

Development of a spatio-temporal disaggregation method (DisNDVI) for generating a time series of fine resolution NDVI images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bindhu, V. M.; Narasimhan, B.

2015-03-01

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a key parameter in understanding the vegetation dynamics, has high spatial and temporal variability. However, continuous monitoring of NDVI is not feasible at fine spatial resolution (<60 m) owing to the long revisit time needed by the satellites to acquire the fine spatial resolution data. Further, the study attains significance in the case of humid tropical regions of the earth, where the prevailing atmospheric conditions restrict availability of fine resolution cloud free images at a high temporal frequency. As an alternative to the lack of high resolution images, the current study demonstrates a novel disaggregation method (DisNDVI) which integrates the spatial information from a single fine resolution image and temporal information in terms of crop phenology from time series of coarse resolution images to generate estimates of NDVI at fine spatial and temporal resolution. The phenological variation of the pixels captured at the coarser scale provides the basis for relating the temporal variability of the pixel with the NDVI available at fine resolution. The proposed methodology was tested over a 30 km × 25 km spatially heterogeneous study area located in the south of Tamil Nadu, India. The robustness of the algorithm was assessed by an independent comparison of the disaggregated NDVI and observed NDVI obtained from concurrent Landsat ETM+ imagery. The results showed good spatial agreement across the study area dominated with agriculture and forest pixels, with a root mean square error of 0.05. The validation done at the coarser scale showed that disaggregated NDVI spatially averaged to 240 m compared well with concurrent MODIS NDVI at 240 m (R2 > 0.8). The validation results demonstrate the effectiveness of DisNDVI in improving the spatial and temporal resolution of NDVI images for utility in fine scale hydrological applications such as crop growth monitoring and estimation of evapotranspiration.

How Attention Affects Spatial Resolution

PubMed Central

Carrasco, Marisa; Barbot, Antoine

2015-01-01

We summarize and discuss a series of psychophysical studies on the effects of spatial covert attention on spatial resolution, our ability to discriminate fine patterns. Heightened resolution is beneficial in most, but not all, visual tasks. We show how endogenous attention (voluntary, goal driven) and exogenous attention (involuntary, stimulus driven) affect performance on a variety of tasks mediated by spatial resolution, such as visual search, crowding, acuity, and texture segmentation. Exogenous attention is an automatic mechanism that increases resolution regardless of whether it helps or hinders performance. In contrast, endogenous attention flexibly adjusts resolution to optimize performance according to task demands. We illustrate how psychophysical studies can reveal the underlying mechanisms of these effects and allow us to draw linking hypotheses with known neurophysiological effects of attention. PMID:25948640

View-sharing PROPELLER with pixel-based optimal blade selection: application on dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging.

PubMed

Chuang, Tzu-Chao; Huang, Hsuan-Hung; Chang, Hing-Chiu; Wu, Ming-Ting

2014-06-01

To achieve better spatial and temporal resolution of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging, the concept of k-space data sharing, or view sharing, can be implemented for PROPELLER acquisition. As found in other view-sharing methods, the loss of high-resolution dynamics is possible for view-sharing PROPELLER (VS-Prop) due to the temporal smoothing effect. The degradation can be more severe when a narrow blade with less phase encoding steps is chosen in the acquisition for higher frame rate. In this study, an iterative algorithm termed pixel-based optimal blade selection (POBS) is proposed to allow spatially dependent selection of the rotating blades, to generate high-resolution dynamic images with minimal reconstruction artifacts. In the reconstruction of VS-Prop, the central k-space which dominates the image contrast is only provided by the target blade with the peripheral k-space contributed by a minimal number of consecutive rotating blades. To reduce the reconstruction artifacts, the set of neighboring blades exhibiting the closest image contrast with the target blade is picked by POBS algorithm. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments were conducted in this study to investigate the dynamic response and spatial profiles of images generated using our proposed method. In addition, dynamic contrast-enhanced cardiovascular imaging of healthy subjects was performed to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages. The simulation results show that POBS VS-Prop can provide timely dynamic response to rapid signal change, especially for a small region of interest or with the use of narrow blades. The POBS algorithm also demonstrates its capability to capture nonsimultaneous signal changes over the entire FOV. In addition, both phantom and in vivo experiments show that the temporal smoothing effect can be avoided by means of POBS, leading to higher wash-in slope of contrast enhancement after the bolus injection. With the satisfactory reconstruction quality provided by the POBS algorithm, VS-Prop acquisition technique may find useful clinical applications in DCE MR imaging studies where both spatial and temporal resolutions play important roles.

Super-resolution optical microscopy for studying membrane structure and dynamics.

PubMed

Sezgin, Erdinc

2017-07-12

Investigation of cell membrane structure and dynamics requires high spatial and temporal resolution. The spatial resolution of conventional light microscopy is limited due to the diffraction of light. However, recent developments in microscopy enabled us to access the nano-scale regime spatially, thus to elucidate the nanoscopic structures in the cellular membranes. In this review, we will explain the resolution limit, address the working principles of the most commonly used super-resolution microscopy techniques and summarise their recent applications in the biomembrane field.

TH-CD-201-09: High Spatial Resolution Absorbed Dose to Water Measurements Using Optical Calorimetry in Megavoltage External Beam Therapy

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

Flores-Martinez, E; DeWerd, L; Radtke, J

2016-06-15

Purpose: To develop and implement a high spatial resolution calorimeter methodology to measure absorbed dose to water (ADW) using phase shifts (PSs) of light passing through a water phantom and to compare measurements with theoretical calculations. Methods: Radiation-induced temperature changes were measured using the PSs of a He-Ne laser beam passing through a (10×10×10) cm{sup 3} water phantom. PSs were measured using a Michelson interferometer and recording the time-dependent fringe patterns on a CCD camera. The phantom was positioned at the center of the radiation field. A Varian 21EX was used to deliver 500 MU from a 9 MeV beammore » using a (6×6) cm{sup 2} cone. A 127cm SSD was used and the PSs were measured at depths ranging from of 1.90cm to 2.10cm in steps of 0.05cm by taking profiles at the corresponding rows across the image. PSs were computed by taking the difference between pre- and post-irradiation image frames and then measuring the amplitude of the resulting image profiles. An amplitude-to-PS calibration curve was generated using a piezoelectric transducer to mechanically induce PSs between 0.05 and 1.50 radians in steps of 0.05 radians. The temperature dependence of the refractive index of water at 632.8nm was used to convert PSs to ADW. Measured results were compared with ADW values calculated using the linac output calibration and commissioning data. Results: Milli-radian resolution in PS measurement was achieved using the described methodology. Measured radiation-induced PSs ranged from 0.10 ± 0.01 to 0.12 ± 0.01 radians at the investigated depths. After converting PSs to ADW, measured and calculated ADW values agreed within the measurement uncertainty. Conclusion: This work shows that interferometer-based calorimetry measurements are capable of achieving sub-millimeter resolution measuring 2D temperature/dose distributions, which are particularly useful for characterizing beams from modalities such as SRS, proton therapy, or microbeams.« less

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.

Super-resolved Mirau digital holography by structured illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganjkhani, Yasaman; Charsooghi, Mohammad A.; Akhlaghi, Ehsan A.; Moradi, Ali-Reza

2017-12-01

In this paper, we apply structured illumination toward super-resolved 3D imaging in a common-path digital holography arrangement. Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) provides non-invasive 3D images of transparent samples as well as 3D profiles of reflective surfaces. A compact and vibration-immune arrangement for DHM may be obtained through the use of a Mirau microscope objective. However, high-magnification Mirau objectives have a low working distance and are expensive. Low-magnification ones, on the other hand, suffer from low lateral resolution. Structured illumination has been widely used for resolution improvement of intensity images, but the technique can also be readily applied to DHM. We apply structured illumination to Mirau DHM by implementing successive sinusoidal gratings with different orientations onto a spatial light modulator (SLM) and forming its image on the specimen. Moreover, we show that, instead of different orientations of 1D gratings, alternative single 2D gratings, e.g. checkerboard or hexagonal patterns, can provide resolution enhancement in multiple directions. Our results show a 35% improvement in the resolution power of the DHM. The presented arrangement has the potential to serve as a table-top device for high resolution holographic microscopy.

Comparison of alternative spatial resolutions in the application of a spatially distributed biogeochemical model over complex terrain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Turner, D.P.; Dodson, R.; Marks, D.

1996-01-01

Spatially distributed biogeochemical models may be applied over grids at a range of spatial resolutions, however, evaluation of potential errors and loss of information at relatively coarse resolutions is rare. In this study, a georeferenced database at the 1-km spatial resolution was developed to initialize and drive a process-based model (Forest-BGC) of water and carbon balance over a gridded 54976 km2 area covering two river basins in mountainous western Oregon. Corresponding data sets were also prepared at 10-km and 50-km spatial resolutions using commonly employed aggregation schemes. Estimates were made at each grid cell for climate variables including daily solar radiation, air temperature, humidity, and precipitation. The topographic structure, water holding capacity, vegetation type and leaf area index were likewise estimated for initial conditions. The daily time series for the climatic drivers was developed from interpolations of meteorological station data for the water year 1990 (1 October 1989-30 September 1990). Model outputs at the 1-km resolution showed good agreement with observed patterns in runoff and productivity. The ranges for model inputs at the 10-km and 50-km resolutions tended to contract because of the smoothed topography. Estimates for mean evapotranspiration and runoff were relatively insensitive to changing the spatial resolution of the grid whereas estimates of mean annual net primary production varied by 11%. The designation of a vegetation type and leaf area at the 50-km resolution often subsumed significant heterogeneity in vegetation, and this factor accounted for much of the difference in the mean values for the carbon flux variables. Although area wide means for model outputs were generally similar across resolutions, difference maps often revealed large areas of disagreement. Relatively high spatial resolution analyses of biogeochemical cycling are desirable from several perspectives and may be particularly important in the study of the potential impacts of climate change.

Overview of Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Satellite Instrument Calibration and Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, F.

2015-12-01

The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite carries five instruments on board including ATMS, CrIS, VIIRS, OMPS and CERES. During the SNPP intensive calval, ATMS was pitched over to observe the cold space radiation. This unique data set was used for diagnostics of the ATMS scan-angle dependent bias and a scan-to-scan variation. A new algorithm is proposed to correct the ATMS scan angle dependent bias related to the reflector emission. ATMS radiometric calibration is also revised in IDPS with the full radiance processing (FRP). CrIS is the first Fourier transform Michelson interferometer and measures three infrared spectral bands from 650 to 1095, 1210 to 1750 and 2155 to 2550 cm-1 with spectral resolutions of 0.625 cm-1, respectively. Its spectral calibration is with an accuracy of better than 2 ppm and its noise is also well characterized with the Allan variance. Since CrIS was switched to the transmission of full spectral resolution (FSR) of RDR data to the ground in January 2015. The CrIS FSR SDR data are also produced offline at NOAA STAR. VIIRS has 22 spectral bands covering the spectrum between 0.412 μm and 12.01 μm, including 16 moderate resolution bands (M-bands) with a spatial resolution of 750 m at nadir, five imaging resolution bands (I-bands) with a spatial resolution of 375 m at nadir, and one day-night band (DNB) with a nearly-constant 750 m spatial resolution throughout the scan. The calibration of VIIRS reflective solar bands (RSB) requires a solar diffuser (SD) and a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM). Using the SNPP yaw maneuver data, SDSM screen transmission function can be updated to better capture the fine structures of the vignetting function. For OMPS nadir mapper (NM) and nadir profiler (NP), the detector signal-to-noise ratio, and sensor signal-to-noise ratio meet the system requirement. Detector gain and bias performance trends are generally stable. System linearity performance is stable and highly consistent with the prelaunch values. The recent updates on OMPS wavelength, solar flux and radiance coefficients have resulted in viewing angle dependent bias in the earth view observations. OMPS dark currents are updated weekly and monitored for further improving the radiometric calibration.

First results from SAM-FP: Fabry-Perot observations with ground-layer adaptive optics - the structure and kinematics of the core of 30 Doradus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendes de Oliveira, C.; Amram, P.; Quint, Bruno C.; Torres-Flores, S.; Barbá, R.; Andrade, D.

2017-08-01

The aim of this paper is to present the first data set obtained with SOAR Adaptive Module-Fabry-Parot (SAM-FP), a Fabry-Perot instrument mounted inside the SOAR telescope Adaptive-Optics Module. This is the only existing imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer using laser-assisted ground-layer adaptive optics. SAM-FP was used to observe the ionized gas, traced by Hα, in the centre of the 30 Doradus starburst (the Tarantula Nebula) in the Large Magellanic Cloud, with high spatial (˜0.6 arcsec, or 0.15 pc) and spectral (R ≃ 11 200) resolution. Radial velocity, velocity dispersion and monochromatic maps were derived. The region displays a mix of narrow, σ ˜ 20 km s-1 profiles and multiple broader profiles with σ ˜ 70-80 km s-1, indicating the complex nature of the nebula kinematics. A comparison with previously obtained VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy demonstrates that the data agree well in the regions of overlap, but the Fabry-Perot data are superior in spatial coverage. A preliminary analysis of the observations finds a new expanding bubble south of R136, with a projected radius of r = 5.6 pc and an expansion velocity of 29 ± 4 km s-1. In addition, the first-time detailed kinematic maps derived here for several complexes and filaments of 30 Doradus allow identification of kinematically independent structures. These data exemplify the power of the combination of a high-order Fabry-Perot with a wide-field imager (3 × 3 arcmin2 GLAO-corrected field of view) for high-resolution spatial and spectral studies. In particular, SAM-FP data cubes are highly advantageous over multifibre or long-slit data sets for nebula structure studies and to search for small-scale bubbles, given their greatly improved spatial coverage. For reference, this paper also presents two appendices with detailed descriptions of the usage of Fabry-Perot devices, including formulae and explanations for understanding Fabry-Perot observations.

The fusion of satellite and UAV data: simulation of high spatial resolution band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenerowicz, Agnieszka; Siok, Katarzyna; Woroszkiewicz, Malgorzata; Orych, Agata

2017-10-01

Remote sensing techniques used in the precision agriculture and farming that apply imagery data obtained with sensors mounted on UAV platforms became more popular in the last few years due to the availability of low- cost UAV platforms and low- cost sensors. Data obtained from low altitudes with low- cost sensors can be characterised by high spatial and radiometric resolution but quite low spectral resolution, therefore the application of imagery data obtained with such technology is quite limited and can be used only for the basic land cover classification. To enrich the spectral resolution of imagery data acquired with low- cost sensors from low altitudes, the authors proposed the fusion of RGB data obtained with UAV platform with multispectral satellite imagery. The fusion is based on the pansharpening process, that aims to integrate the spatial details of the high-resolution panchromatic image with the spectral information of lower resolution multispectral or hyperspectral imagery to obtain multispectral or hyperspectral images with high spatial resolution. The key of pansharpening is to properly estimate the missing spatial details of multispectral images while preserving their spectral properties. In the research, the authors presented the fusion of RGB images (with high spatial resolution) obtained with sensors mounted on low- cost UAV platforms and multispectral satellite imagery with satellite sensors, i.e. Landsat 8 OLI. To perform the fusion of UAV data with satellite imagery, the simulation of the panchromatic bands from RGB data based on the spectral channels linear combination, was conducted. Next, for simulated bands and multispectral satellite images, the Gram-Schmidt pansharpening method was applied. As a result of the fusion, the authors obtained several multispectral images with very high spatial resolution and then analysed the spatial and spectral accuracies of processed images.

Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting based on different-resolution distributed hydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.

2017-12-01

Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting is very important for a distributed hydrological model in the application. There are some challenges including the model's spatial resolution effect, model performance and accuracy and so on. To cope with the challenge of the model's spatial resolution effect, different model resolution including 1000m*1000m, 600m*600m, 500m*500m, 400m*400m, 200m*200m were used to build the distributed hydrological model—Liuxihe model respectively. The purpose is to find which one is the best resolution for Liuxihe model in Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting. This study sets up a physically based distributed hydrological model for flood forecasting of the Liujiang River basin in south China. Terrain data digital elevation model (DEM), soil type and land use type are downloaded from the website freely. The model parameters are optimized by using an improved Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO) algorithm; And parameter optimization could reduce the parameter uncertainty that exists for physically deriving model parameters. The different model resolution (200m*200m—1000m*1000m ) are proposed for modeling the Liujiang River basin flood with the Liuxihe model in this study. The best model's spatial resolution effect for flood simulation and forecasting is 200m*200m.And with the model's spatial resolution reduction, the model performance and accuracy also become worse and worse. When the model resolution is 1000m*1000m, the flood simulation and forecasting result is the worst, also the river channel divided based on this resolution is differs from the actual one. To keep the model with an acceptable performance, minimum model spatial resolution is needed. The suggested threshold model spatial resolution for modeling the Liujiang River basin flood is a 500m*500m grid cell, but the model spatial resolution with a 200m*200m grid cell is recommended in this study to keep the model at a best performance.

Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications using high-resolution aerial imagery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enwright, Nicholas M.; Jones, William R.; Garber, Adrienne L.; Keller, Matthew J.

2014-01-01

Long-term monitoring efforts often use remote sensing to track trends in habitat or landscape conditions over time. To most appropriately compare observations over time, long-term monitoring efforts strive for consistency in methods. Thus, advances and changes in technology over time can present a challenge. For instance, modern camera technology has led to an increasing availability of very high-resolution imagery (i.e. submetre and metre) and a shift from analogue to digital photography. While numerous studies have shown that image resolution can impact the accuracy of classifications, most of these studies have focused on the impacts of comparing spatial resolution changes greater than 2 m. Thus, a knowledge gap exists on the impacts of minor changes in spatial resolution (i.e. submetre to about 1.5 m) in very high-resolution aerial imagery (i.e. 2 m resolution or less). This study compared the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications of an area dominated by coastal marsh vegetation in Louisiana, USA, using 1:12,000 scale colour-infrared analogue aerial photography (AAP) scanned at four different dot-per-inch resolutions simulating ground sample distances (GSDs) of 0.33, 0.54, 1, and 2 m. Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications was conducted by exploring various spatial aspects of the classifications including density of waterbodies and frequency distributions in waterbody sizes. This study found that a small-magnitude change (1–1.5 m) in spatial resolution had little to no impact on the amount of water classified (i.e. percentage mapped was less than 1.5%), but had a significant impact on the mapping of very small waterbodies (i.e. waterbodies ≤ 250 m2). These findings should interest those using temporal image classifications derived from very high-resolution aerial photography as a component of long-term monitoring programs.

Polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for mass spectrometry imaging using nano-thermal analysis with atomic force microscopy

DOE PAGES

Tai, Tamin; Kertesz, Vilmos; Lin, Ming -Wei; ...

2017-05-11

As the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry imaging technologies has begun to reach into the nanometer regime, finding readily available or easily made resolution reference materials has become particularly challenging for molecular imaging purposes. This study describes the fabrication, characterization and use of vertical line array polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for nano-thermal analysis/atomic force microscopy/mass spectrometry chemical imaging.

Polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for mass spectrometry imaging using nano-thermal analysis with atomic force microscopy

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

Tai, Tamin; Kertesz, Vilmos; Lin, Ming -Wei

As the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry imaging technologies has begun to reach into the nanometer regime, finding readily available or easily made resolution reference materials has become particularly challenging for molecular imaging purposes. This study describes the fabrication, characterization and use of vertical line array polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for nano-thermal analysis/atomic force microscopy/mass spectrometry chemical imaging.

Selective spectroscopic imaging of hyperpolarized pyruvate and its metabolites using a single-echo variable phase advance method in balanced SSFP

PubMed Central

Varma, Gopal; Wang, Xiaoen; Vinogradov, Elena; Bhatt, Rupal S.; Sukhatme, Vikas; Seth, Pankaj; Lenkinski, Robert E.; Alsop, David C.; Grant, Aaron K.

2015-01-01

Purpose In balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP), the signal intensity has a well-known dependence on the off-resonance frequency, or, equivalently, the phase advance between successive radiofrequency (RF) pulses. The signal profile can be used to resolve the contributions from the spectrally separated metabolites. This work describes a method based on use of a variable RF phase advance to acquire spatial and spectral data in a time-efficient manner for hyperpolarized 13C MRI. Theory and Methods The technique relies on the frequency response from a bSSFP acquisition to acquire relatively rapid, high-resolution images that may be reconstructed to separate contributions from different metabolites. The ability to produce images from spectrally separated metabolites was demonstrated in-vitro, as well as in-vivo following administration of hyperpolarized 1-13C pyruvate in mice with xenograft tumors. Results In-vivo images of pyruvate, alanine, pyruvate hydrate and lactate were reconstructed from 4 images acquired in 2 seconds with an in-plane resolution of 1.25 × 1.25mm2 and 5mm slice thickness. Conclusions The phase advance method allowed acquisition of spectroscopically selective images with high spatial and temporal resolution. This method provides an alternative approach to hyperpolarized 13C spectroscopic MRI that can be combined with other techniques such as multi-echo or fluctuating equilibrium bSSFP. PMID:26507361

High resolution land surface response of inland moving Indian monsoon depressions over Bay of Bengal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajesh, P. V.; Pattnaik, S.

2016-05-01

During Indian summer monsoon (ISM) season, nearly about half of the monsoonal rainfall is brought inland by the low pressure systems called as Monsoon Depressions (MDs). These systems bear large amount of rainfall and frequently give copious amount of rainfall over land regions, therefore accurate forecast of these synoptic scale systems at short time scale can help in disaster management, flood relief, food safety. The goal of this study is to investigate, whether an accurate moisture-rainfall feedback from land surface can improve the prediction of inland moving MDs. High Resolution Land Data Assimilation System (HRLDAS) is used to generate improved land state .i.e. soil moisture and soil temperature profiles by means of NOAH-MP land-surface model. Validation of the model simulated basic atmospheric parameters at surface layer and troposphere reveals that the incursion of high resolution land state yields least Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) with a higher correlation coefficient and facilitates accurate depiction of MDs. Rainfall verification shows that HRLDAS simulations are spatially and quantitatively in more agreement with the observations and the improved surface characteristics could result in the realistic reproduction of the storm spatial structure, movement as well as intensity. These results signify the necessity of investigating more into the land surface-rainfall feedbacks through modifications in moisture flux convergence within the storm.

The RINGS Survey. III. Medium-resolution Hα Fabry–Pérot Kinematic Data Set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Carl J.; Sellwood, J. A.; Williams, T. B.; Spekkens, Kristine; Kuzio de Naray, Rachel; Bixel, Alex

2018-03-01

The distributions of stars, gas, and dark matter in disk galaxies provide important constraints on galaxy formation models, particularly on small spatial scales (<1 kpc). We have designed the RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey (RINGS) to target a sample of 19 nearby spiral galaxies. For each of these galaxies, we obtain and model Hα and H I 21 cm spectroscopic data as well as multi-band photometric data. We intend to use these models to explore the underlying structure and evolution of these galaxies in a cosmological context, as well as whether the predictions of ΛCDM are consistent with the mass distributions of these galaxies. In this paper, we present spectroscopic imaging data for 14 of the RINGS galaxies observed with the medium spectral resolution Fabry–Pérot etalon on the Southern African Large Telescope. From these observations, we derive high spatial resolution line-of-sight velocity fields of the Hα line of excited hydrogen, as well as maps and azimuthally averaged profiles of the integrated Hα and [N II] emission and oxygen abundances. We then model these kinematic maps with axisymmetric models, from which we extract rotation curves and projection geometries for these galaxies. We show that our derived rotation curves agree well with other determinations, and the similarity of the projection angles with those derived from our photometric images argues against these galaxies having intrinsically oval disks.

Simultaneous imaging electron- and ion-feature Thomson scattering measurements of radiatively heated Xe.

PubMed

Pollock, B B; Meinecke, J; Kuschel, S; Ross, J S; Shaw, J L; Stoafer, C; Divol, L; Tynan, G R; Glenzer, S H

2012-10-01

Uniform density and temperature Xe plasmas have been produced over >4 mm scale-lengths using x-rays generated in a cylindrical Pb cavity. The cavity is 750 μm in depth and diameter, and is heated by a 300 J, 2 ns square, 1054 nm laser pulse focused to a spot size of 200 μm at the cavity entrance. The plasma is characterized by simultaneous imaging Thomson scattering measurements from both the electron and ion scattering features. The electron feature measurement determines the spatial electron density and temperature profile, and using these parameters as constraints in the ion feature analysis allows an accurate determination of the charge state of the Xe ions. The Thomson scattering probe beam is 40 J, 200 ps, and 527 nm, and is focused to a 100 μm spot size at the entrance of the Pb cavity. Each system has a spatial resolution of 25 μm, a temporal resolution of 200 ps (as determined by the probe duration), and a spectral resolution of 2 nm for the electron feature system and 0.025 nm for the ion feature system. The experiment is performed in a Xe filled target chamber at a neutral pressure of 3-10 Torr, and the x-rays produced in the Pb ionize and heat the Xe to a charge state of 20±4 at up to 200 eV electron temperatures.

High density event-related potential data acquisition in cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Slotnick, Scott D

2010-04-16

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is currently the standard method of evaluating brain function in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience, in part because fMRI data acquisition and analysis techniques are readily available. Because fMRI has excellent spatial resolution but poor temporal resolution, this method can only be used to identify the spatial location of brain activity associated with a given cognitive process (and reveals virtually nothing about the time course of brain activity). By contrast, event-related potential (ERP) recording, a method that is used much less frequently than fMRI, has excellent temporal resolution and thus can track rapid temporal modulations in neural activity. Unfortunately, ERPs are under utilized in Cognitive Neuroscience because data acquisition techniques are not readily available and low density ERP recording has poor spatial resolution. In an effort to foster the increased use of ERPs in Cognitive Neuroscience, the present article details key techniques involved in high density ERP data acquisition. Critically, high density ERPs offer the promise of excellent temporal resolution and good spatial resolution (or excellent spatial resolution if coupled with fMRI), which is necessary to capture the spatial-temporal dynamics of human brain function.

Hyperspectral imagery super-resolution by compressive sensing inspired dictionary learning and spatial-spectral regularization.

PubMed

Huang, Wei; Xiao, Liang; Liu, Hongyi; Wei, Zhihui

2015-01-19

Due to the instrumental and imaging optics limitations, it is difficult to acquire high spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery (HSI). Super-resolution (SR) imagery aims at inferring high quality images of a given scene from degraded versions of the same scene. This paper proposes a novel hyperspectral imagery super-resolution (HSI-SR) method via dictionary learning and spatial-spectral regularization. The main contributions of this paper are twofold. First, inspired by the compressive sensing (CS) framework, for learning the high resolution dictionary, we encourage stronger sparsity on image patches and promote smaller coherence between the learned dictionary and sensing matrix. Thus, a sparsity and incoherence restricted dictionary learning method is proposed to achieve higher efficiency sparse representation. Second, a variational regularization model combing a spatial sparsity regularization term and a new local spectral similarity preserving term is proposed to integrate the spectral and spatial-contextual information of the HSI. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively recover spatial information and better preserve spectral information. The high spatial resolution HSI reconstructed by the proposed method outperforms reconstructed results by other well-known methods in terms of both objective measurements and visual evaluation.

Super resolution terahertz imaging by subpixel estimation: application to hyperspectral beam profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logofătu, Petre C.; Damian, Victor

2018-05-01

A super-resolution terahertz imaging technique based on subpixel estimation was applied to hyperspectral beam profiling. The topic of hyperspectral beam profiling was chosen because the beam profile and its dependence on wavelength are not well known and are important for imaging applications. Super-resolution is required here to avoid diffraction effects and to provide a stronger signal. Super-resolution usually adds supplementary information to the measurement, but in this case, it is a prerequisite for it. We report that the beam profile is almost Gaussian for many frequencies; the waist of the Gaussian profile increases with frequency while the center wobbles slightly. Knowledge of the beam profile may subsequently be used as reference for imaging.

Phase calibration target for quantitative phase imaging with ptychography.

PubMed

Godden, T M; Muñiz-Piniella, A; Claverley, J D; Yacoot, A; Humphry, M J

2016-04-04

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) utilizes refractive index and thickness variations that lead to optical phase shifts. This gives contrast to images of transparent objects. In quantitative biology, phase images are used to accurately segment cells and calculate properties such as dry mass, volume and proliferation rate. The fidelity of the measured phase shifts is of critical importance in this field. However to date, there has been no standardized method for characterizing the performance of phase imaging systems. Consequently, there is an increasing need for protocols to test the performance of phase imaging systems using well-defined phase calibration and resolution targets. In this work, we present a candidate for a standardized phase resolution target, and measurement protocol for the determination of the transfer of spatial frequencies, and sensitivity of a phase imaging system. The target has been carefully designed to contain well-defined depth variations over a broadband range of spatial frequencies. In order to demonstrate the utility of the target, we measure quantitative phase images on a ptychographic microscope, and compare the measured optical phase shifts with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) topography maps and surface profile measurements from coherence scanning interferometry. The results show that ptychography has fully quantitative nanometer sensitivity in optical path differences over a broadband range of spatial frequencies for feature sizes ranging from micrometers to hundreds of micrometers.

Enhancing resolution and contrast in second-harmonic generation microscopy using an advanced maximum likelihood estimation restoration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivaguru, Mayandi; Kabir, Mohammad M.; Gartia, Manas Ranjan; Biggs, David S. C.; Sivaguru, Barghav S.; Sivaguru, Vignesh A.; Berent, Zachary T.; Wagoner Johnson, Amy J.; Fried, Glenn A.; Liu, Gang Logan; Sadayappan, Sakthivel; Toussaint, Kimani C.

2017-02-01

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy is a label-free imaging technique to study collagenous materials in extracellular matrix environment with high resolution and contrast. However, like many other microscopy techniques, the actual spatial resolution achievable by SHG microscopy is reduced by out-of-focus blur and optical aberrations that degrade particularly the amplitude of the detectable higher spatial frequencies. Being a two-photon scattering process, it is challenging to define a point spread function (PSF) for the SHG imaging modality. As a result, in comparison with other two-photon imaging systems like two-photon fluorescence, it is difficult to apply any PSF-engineering techniques to enhance the experimental spatial resolution closer to the diffraction limit. Here, we present a method to improve the spatial resolution in SHG microscopy using an advanced maximum likelihood estimation (AdvMLE) algorithm to recover the otherwise degraded higher spatial frequencies in an SHG image. Through adaptation and iteration, the AdvMLE algorithm calculates an improved PSF for an SHG image and enhances the spatial resolution by decreasing the full-width-at-halfmaximum (FWHM) by 20%. Similar results are consistently observed for biological tissues with varying SHG sources, such as gold nanoparticles and collagen in porcine feet tendons. By obtaining an experimental transverse spatial resolution of 400 nm, we show that the AdvMLE algorithm brings the practical spatial resolution closer to the theoretical diffraction limit. Our approach is suitable for adaptation in micro-nano CT and MRI imaging, which has the potential to impact diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.

Two dimensional molecular electronics spectroscopy for molecular fingerprinting, DNA sequencing, and cancerous DNA recognition.

PubMed

Rajan, Arunkumar Chitteth; Rezapour, Mohammad Reza; Yun, Jeonghun; Cho, Yeonchoo; Cho, Woo Jong; Min, Seung Kyu; Lee, Geunsik; Kim, Kwang S

2014-02-25

Laser-driven molecular spectroscopy of low spatial resolution is widely used, while electronic current-driven molecular spectroscopy of atomic scale resolution has been limited because currents provide only minimal information. However, electron transmission of a graphene nanoribbon on which a molecule is adsorbed shows molecular fingerprints of Fano resonances, i.e., characteristic features of frontier orbitals and conformations of physisorbed molecules. Utilizing these resonance profiles, here we demonstrate two-dimensional molecular electronics spectroscopy (2D MES). The differential conductance with respect to bias and gate voltages not only distinguishes different types of nucleobases for DNA sequencing but also recognizes methylated nucleobases which could be related to cancerous cell growth. This 2D MES could open an exciting field to recognize single molecule signatures at atomic resolution. The advantages of the 2D MES over the one-dimensional (1D) current analysis can be comparable to those of 2D NMR over 1D NMR analysis.

MRI of articular cartilage at microscopic resolution

PubMed Central

Xia, Y.

2013-01-01

This review briefly summarises some of the definitive studies of articular cartilage by microscopic MRI (µMRI) that were conducted with the highest spatial resolutions. The article has four major sections. The first section introduces the cartilage tissue, MRI and µMRI, and the concept of image contrast in MRI. The second section describes the characteristic profiles of three relaxation times (T1, T2 and T1ρ) and self-diffusion in healthy articular cartilage. The third section discusses several factors that can influence the visualisation of articular cartilage and the detection of cartilage lesion by MRI and µMRI. These factors include image resolution, image analysis strategies, visualisation of the total tissue, topographical variations of the tissue properties, surface fibril ambiguity, deformation of the articular cartilage, and cartilage lesion. The final section justifies the values of multidisciplinary imaging that correlates MRI with other technical modalities, such as optical imaging. Rather than an exhaustive review to capture all activities in the literature, the studies cited in this review are merely illustrative. PMID:23610697

Stereographic observations from geosynchronous satellites - An important new tool for the atmospheric sciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, A. F.

1981-01-01

Observations of cloud geometry using scan-synchronized stereo geostationary satellites having images with horizontal spatial resolution of approximately 0.5 km, and temporal resolution of up to 3 min are presented. The stereo does not require a cloud with known emissivity to be in equilibrium with an atmosphere with a known vertical temperature profile. It is shown that absolute accuracies of about 0.5 km are possible. Qualitative and quantitative representations of atmospheric dynamics were shown by remapping, display, and stereo image analysis on an interactive computer/imaging system. Applications of stereo observations include: (1) cloud top height contours of severe thunderstorms and hurricanes, (2) cloud top and base height estimates for cloud-wind height assignment, (3) cloud growth measurements for severe thunderstorm over-shooting towers, (4) atmospheric temperature from stereo heights and infrared cloud top temperatures, and (5) cloud emissivity estimation. Recommendations are given for future improvements in stereo observations, including a third GOES satellite, operational scan synchronization of all GOES satellites and better resolution sensors.

Instantaneous variance scaling of AIRS thermodynamic profiles using a circular area Monte Carlo approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorrestijn, Jesse; Kahn, Brian H.; Teixeira, João; Irion, Fredrick W.

2018-05-01

Satellite observations are used to obtain vertical profiles of variance scaling of temperature (T) and specific humidity (q) in the atmosphere. A higher spatial resolution nadir retrieval at 13.5 km complements previous Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) investigations with 45 km resolution retrievals and enables the derivation of power law scaling exponents to length scales as small as 55 km. We introduce a variable-sized circular-area Monte Carlo methodology to compute exponents instantaneously within the swath of AIRS that yields additional insight into scaling behavior. While this method is approximate and some biases are likely to exist within non-Gaussian portions of the satellite observational swaths of T and q, this method enables the estimation of scale-dependent behavior within instantaneous swaths for individual tropical and extratropical systems of interest. Scaling exponents are shown to fluctuate between β = -1 and -3 at scales ≥ 500 km, while at scales ≤ 500 km they are typically near β ≈ -2, with q slightly lower than T at the smallest scales observed. In the extratropics, the large-scale β is near -3. Within the tropics, however, the large-scale β for T is closer to -1 as small-scale moist convective processes dominate. In the tropics, q exhibits large-scale β between -2 and -3. The values of β are generally consistent with previous works of either time-averaged spatial variance estimates, or aircraft observations that require averaging over numerous flight observational segments. The instantaneous variance scaling methodology is relevant for cloud parameterization development and the assessment of time variability of scaling exponents.

Effects of assimilating precipitation zones derived from satellite and lightning data on numerical simulations of tropical-like Mediterranean storms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fita, L.; Romero, R.; Luque, A.; Ramis, C.

2009-08-01

The scarcity of meteorological observations in maritime areas is a well-known problem that can be an important limitation in the study of different phenomena. Tropical-like storms or medicanes developed over the Mediterranean sea are intense storms with some similarities to the tropical ones. Although they do not reach the hurricane intensity, their potential for damage is very high, due to the densely populated Mediterranean coastal regions. In this study, the two notable cases of medicane development which occurred in the western Mediterranean basin in September 1996 and October 2003, are considered. The capability of mesoscale numerical models to simulate general aspects of such a phenomena has been previously shown. With the aim of improving the numerical results, an adjustment of the humidity vertical profiles in MM5 simulations is performed by means of satellite derived precipitation. Convective and stratiform precipitation types obtained from satellite images are used to individually adjust the profiles. Lightning hits are employed to identify convective grid points. The adjustment of the vertical humidity profiles is carried out in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses used as initial conditions for the simulations. Analyses nudging to ECMWF analyses and to the satellite-based humidity-corrected version of these analyses has also been applied using Four Dimensional Data Assimilation (FDDA). An additional adjustment is applied as observation nudging of satellite/lightning information at different time and spatial resolutions. Statistical parameters are proposed and tested as an objective way to intercompare satellite-derived and simulated trajectories. Simulations of medicanes exhibit a strong sensitivity to vertical humidity profiles. Trajectories of the storms are improved or worsened by using FDDA. A case dependence is obtained on the characteristics of the humidity-corrected medicanes. FDDA sensitivity on temporal and spatial resolution of the assimilated data also presents a case dependence. It also shows a significant sensitivity of the results of the observation nudging to the specific choice of the values of coefficient weight and vertical ratio of the ingested observations.