Io: Could SO2 condensation/sublimation cause the sometimes reported post-eclipse brightening?
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There is general agreement that certain surface features on Mars are indicative of the presence of liquid water at various times in the geologic past. In particular, the valley networks are difficult to explain by a mechanism other than the flow of liquid water. It has been suggested in several studies that a thick CO2 atmosphere on Mars early in its history could have provided a greenhouse warming that would have allowed the flow of water either on the surface or just below the surface. However, this effect was examined with a detailed radiation model, and it was found that if reduced solar luminosity early in the history of the solar system is taken into account, even three bars of CO2 will not provide sufficient greeenhouse warming. The addition of water vapor and sulflur dioxide (both plausible gases that may have been emitted by Martian volcanoes) to the atmosphere also fail to warm the surface above 273 K for reduced solar luminosity conditions. The increase in temperature may be large enough, however, for the formation of these features by brines.
Absorption bands between 300 nm and 315 nm were observed in spectral scans of the atmospheric albedo made by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) spectrometer following the eruption of El Chichon. It is shown that those bands coincide with peaks in the absorption coefficient spectrum of SO sub 2. The magnitude of the absorption is used to the column content of present SO sub 2. These observations confirm that the differential absorption between 312.5 nm and 317.5 nm in Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data can be used to measure SO sub 2 with high spatial resolution. A maximum concentration of SO sub 2 of 15 matm-cm was observed by SBUV on April 15, 1982. The measurement based on direct measurement of band intensity can be used to calibrate the TOMS algorithm for deriving SO sub 2 amounts.
The Brewer Ozone Spectrometer is being used in the World Ozone Network to monitor ozone and SO sub 2. SO sub 2 from natural as well as anthropogenic sources are measured. It has been demonstrated that SO sub 2 interferes with total ozone values as measured by the Dobson Spectrophotometer and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). A small amount of manmade SO sub 2 is difficult to detect and quantify by TOMS because it is located near the surface. However, larger amounts of SO sub 2 injected into the stratosphere from volcanic emissions are detected by TOMS.
The Jovian plasma-ion heating of any atmospheric gas over Io is shown to be important for determining the temperature structure and the location of the exobase and for limiting diffusive separation in Io's atmosphere. This is used, along with the plasma supply rate, to estimate an average column of gas over the trailing hemisphere of about 3 x 10 to the 16th SO2/sq cm with exobase at about 1.4 Io radii.
Results of recent International Ultraviolet Explorer observations of Venus made on January 20, 1987 and April 2 and 3, 1988 are presented along with a reanalysis of the 1979 observations (Conway et al., 1979). The observations indicate that the amount of sulfur dioxide at the cloud tops of Venus declined by a factor of 8 + or - 4 from 380 + or - 70 ppb in 1979 to 50 + or - 20 ppb in 1987 and 1988. These values are consistent with the Pioneer Venus results. Absorption features of sulfur monoxide are identified for the first time, and the SO mixing ratio above the cloud level is estimated to be 20 + or - 10 ppb for 1979. This is consistent with photochemical models by Winick and Stewart (1980) and Yung and DeMore (1982) and with the upper limit from Wilson et al. (1981).
The techniques of low temperature spectroscopy are applied to identify the constituents of the ices covering the surface of Io, a satellite of Jupiter. Infrared spectra of Io in the 4000-2000 cm exp -1 region, including new observational data, are analyzed using laboratory studies of plausible surface ices.
This project involved the measurement of atmospheric dimethylsulfide (DMS) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as part of the GTE/CITE-3 instrument intercomparison program. The two instruments were adapted for use on the NASA Electra aircraft and participated in all phases of the mission. This included ground-based measurements of NIST-provided standard gases and a series of airborne missions over the Western Atlantic Ocean. Analytical techniques used are described and the results are summarized.
We have calculated synthetic spectra of SO and compared them with spectra of Comets I-A-A and P/Halley, in which Wallis and Krishna-Swamy claimed a tentative identification of SO. We found no evidence for the presence of So in these spectra. The derived upper limits on the production rates of SO and S02 in Comet I-A-A were found to be at least 50 times less than the S2 production rate. We also found that the SO and S02 upper limits in Comets P/Halley, P/Encke, and Bradfield (1979X) were less than the S2 abundance, reported in Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock. Our result, contradict recent irradiation experiments, which produced abundant SO compared with S2 under most circumstances. This may suggest totally different models of the S2 producing mechanism in comets.
Observations taken with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) detected a 0.28 micron absorption feature on Callisto's leading and Jupiter-facing hemispheres. This feature is similar to Europa's 0.28 micron feature, however it shows no correlation with magnetospheric ion bombardment. The strongest 0.28 micron signature is seen in the region containing the Valhalla impact. This absorption feature also shows some spatial correlation to possible neutral wind interactions, suggestive of S implantation (rather than S(sub x)) into Callisto's water ice surface, Indications of possible temporal variations (on the 10% level) are seen at other wavelengths between the 1984-1986 and the 1996 observations.
Strict standards for ambient sulfur dioxide requirements in the San Francisco Bay Area result in strict criteria for monitor operations by private industry. Of nine different monitors tested, three are acceptable. One, the Phillips PW 9700, senses sulfur dioxide by coulometric reaction with bromine in a potassium bromide solution. The monitor has a high degree of sensitivity, rapid response, and stable attendance or maintenance is aided by quality construction, internal reagent supply, and elimination of reagent pump. Options include automatic zeroing and calibration, probe filter and heater, and telemetering output.
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Using the latest published, empirically refined potential energy surface (PES) Ames-1 and purely ab initio CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ dipole moment surface (DMS), we have computed Infrared line lists for five symmetric isotopologues of sulfur dioxide: 32S16O2 (626), 33S16O2 (636), 34S16O2 (646), 36S16O2 (666), and 32S18O2 (828). The line lists are based on J=0-80 rovibrational variational calculations with E’ ≤ 8000 cm-1. The 34S16O2 and 33S16O2 line lists are compared to the experiment-based models in the HIgh-resolution TRANsmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN2012, http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/hitran/) and the Cologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy, CDMS (http://www.astro.uni-koeln.de/cdms/). The accuracy for computed 646 band origins is similar to what has been reported for the main isotopologue, i.e. 0.01 – 0.03 cm-1 for bands up to 5500 cm-1. For rovibrational transitions, the 646 line position and intensity deviation patterns are much simpler and more self-consistent than those of the main isotopologue 626. The discrepancies are mainly found for higher Ka/J transitions. 626 and 646 exhibit comparable line position and intensity agreement for lower Ka/J transitions. The line position deviations for the 636 purely rotational band are parallel to those of 626 and 646, while its line intensity deviations do not show branching patterns as we found in the 626 and 646 cases. Predictions for the other minor isotopologues are expected to exhibit similar accuracy. These line lists are accurate enough to provide alternatives for missing bands of 626 and the minor isotopologues. It may significantly facilitate the laboratory spectroscopic measurement and analysis, as well as to identify these isotopologues in various astrophysical environments.
LMOL, the NASA Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar, is locatednear NASA’s LaRC steam plant when not deployed in campaigns. Theplant produces steam through the incineration of local trash, and itsexhaust plume occasionally contains SO2.SO2is a known, regulated, pollutant that affects O3observations in theUV, as is the case with LMOL. In this work, we show how we modifiedLMOL to detect the plant SO2plumes and compute its density when theO3background is stable; we observed densities compatible with what isexpected from the typical plume exhaust. The selection of laser lines sothat an O3variation would not get confused with a SO2detection isexplained in details, and a model capable of simulating the Lidar signalwith (notably) O3and SO2absorption for the validation of the retrievalresolution and uncertainty is presented. Finally, the comparison betweenthe modeled and observed performances of the system is shown: themaximum altitude, resolution, and error in the modeled signal and theobserved signals are the same within reasonable margins.This work demonstrates that LMOL is fully capable of working withSO2. The next step being the addition of an additional laser channel,which is simplified by the tunable aspect of the LMOL laser, to addressO3and SO2simultaneously, allowing the assessment of SO2when O3has variations.
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