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Feldspathic Meteorites MIL 090034 and 090070: Late Additions to the Lunar Crust

Our studies of the Miller Range lunar meteorites MIL 090034, 090036, and 090070 show them to be a diverse suite of rocks from the lunar highlands hereafter referred to as MIL 34, MIL 36, and MIL 70, resp. MIL34 and MIL70, the focus of this work, are crystalline melt breccias. Plagioclase compositions in both peak sharply around An96-97. Mg numbers of olivine vary from 58-65 with a few higher values. MIL36 is a regolith breccia. MIL 34 and MIL 70 have some of the highest Al2O3 abundances of lunar highland meteorites, indicating that they have among the largest modal abundances of plagioclase for lunar meteorites. They have lower Sc and Cr abundances than nearly all lunar highland meteorites except Dho 081, Dho 489 and Dho 733. MIL34 and MIL70 also have similar cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of approximately 1-2 Ma indicating they are launch paired. (MIL36 has a larger CRE age approximately greater than 70 Ma). Park et al. found a variation in Ar-Ar ages among subsamples of MIL 34 and MIL70, but preferred ages of 3500+/-110 Ma for the "Dark" phase of MIL 34 anorthite and 3520+/-30 Ma for the "Light" phase of MIL70. Bouvier et al. reported a Pb-Pb age of 3894+/-39 Ma for a feldspathic clast of MIL 34 and a similar age for a melt lithology. Here we reexamine the Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotopic data, which show complexities qualitatively consistent with those of the Ar-Ar and Pb-Pb data. The Sm-Nd data in particular suggest that the feldspathic compositions of MIL 34 and MIL 70 formed during initial lunar geochemical differentiation, and REE modeling suggests a relatively late-stage formation.

Nyquist, L. E.↗

SAM-Like Evolved Gas Analyses of Phyllosilicate Minerals and Applications to SAM Analyses of the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars

While in Yellowknife Bay, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover collected two drilled samples, John Klein (hereafter "JK") and Cumberland ("CB"), from the Sheepbed mudstone, as well as a scooped sample from the Rocknest aeolian bedform ("RN"). These samples were sieved by Curiosity's sample processing system and then several subsamples of these materials were delivered to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite and the CheMin X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence instrument. CheMin provided the first in situ X-ray diffraction-based evidence of clay minerals on Mars, which are likely trioctahedral smectites (e.g., Fe-saponite) and comprise ~20 wt% of the mudstone samples [1]. SAM's evolved gas analysis (EGA) mass spectrometry analyses of JK and CB subsamples, as well as RN subsamples, detected H2O, CO2, O2, H2, SO2, H2S, HCl, NO, OCS, CS2 and other trace gases evolved during pyrolysis. The identity of evolved gases and temperature( s) of evolution can augment mineral detection by CheMin and place constraints on trace volatile-bearing phases present below the CheMin detection limit or those phases difficult to characterize with XRD (e.g., X-ray amorphous phases). Here we will focus on the SAM H2O data, in the context of CheMin analyses, and comparisons to laboratory SAM-like analyses of several phyllosilicate minerals including smectites.

McAdam, A. C.↗

Preserving, Enhancing, and Continuing the Scientific Legacy of the Apollo Sample Suite

From 1969 to 1972, Apollo astronauts collected 382 kg of rocks, soils, and core samples from six geologically diverse locations on the Moon. In the nearly 50 years since the samples were collected, over 3000 different studies have been conducted using the nearly 2200 different Apollo samples. Despite the maturity of the sample collection, many new studies of lunar samples are undertaken each year, with an average of more than 55 requests and more than 600 distinct subsamples allocated annually over the past five years. The Apollo samples are a finite resource, however. Although new studies are encouraged, it is important that new studies do not duplicate previous studies, and where possible, leverage previous results to inform and enhance the current studies. This helps to preserve the samples and scientific funding, both of which are precious resources. We have initiated several new efforts to rescue some of the early analyses from these samples, including unpublished analytical data. We are actively scanning NASA documentation in paper form that is related to the Apollo missions and sample processing, and we are collaborating with IEDA to establish a geochemical data base called MoonDB. To populate this database, we are actively working with about a dozen prominent lunar PIs to organize and transcribe years of both published and unpublished data, making it available to all researchers. This effort will also take advantage of new online analytical tools like PetDB. There have already been tangible results from the MoonDB data rescue effort. A pilot project involving the rescue of geochemical data of John Delano on Apollo pyroclastic glasses has already been referenced in multiple Apollo sample requests, and in fact, the compiled data was used as part of one of the new studies. Similarly, scanned sample handling reports have been utilized to find previously analyzed samples that were appropriate to fulfill new sample requests. We have also begun to image the Apollo samples using (1) micro‐CT scanning to document the interior structure of samples, and (2) comprehensive high resolution photography of samples, enabling high resolution 3D reconstructions of the samples. Both efforts will provide comprehensive access to these samples and allow for more targeted requests, and thus better curation of the samples for decades to come.

Zeigler, Ryan↗

IRAS observations of Shapley-Ames galaxies

A preliminary discussion of the infrared properties of a representative subsample of galaxies in the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog (B less than about 13 mag) is presented. Of the 165 galaxies in the sample, 108 predominantly spiral galaxies, are detected in the infrared by IRAS. None of the elliptical galaxies and only about 25 percent of the lenticular galaxies scanned were detected. The range of infrared-to-blue luminosity ratios, a measure of the infrared excess of galaxies, is large, varying from roughly 0.1 to roughly 5. The data suggest that weakly infrared emitting galaxies are cool (100-60 micron color temperatures of about 25 K), while the more infrared luminous ones tend to be warmer (about 50 K). The rate of star formation in barred spiral galaxies is apparently higher than in normal spirals. About 1 solar mass/year of interstellar matter is converted into massive stars in the typical spiral galaxy.

De Jong, T.↗

Ultraviolet+Infrared Star Formation Rates: Hickson Compact Groups with Swift and SPitzer

We present Swift UVOT ultraviolet (UV; 1600-3000 A) data with complete three-band UV photometry for a sample of 41 galaxies in 11 nearby (<4500 km/s) Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) of galaxies. We use UVOT uvw2-band (2000A) photometry to estimate the dust-unobscured component, SFR(sub uv), of the total star formation rate, SFR(sub TOTAL). We use Spitzer MIPS 24 micron photometry to estimate SFR(sub IR), the component of SFR(sub TOTAL) that suffers dust extinction in the UV and is re-emitted in the IR. By combining the two components, we obtain SFR(sub TOTAL) estimates for all HCG galaxies. We obtain total stellar mass, M(sub *) estimates by means of Two Micron All Sky Survey K(sub s)-band luminosities, and use them to calculate specific star formation rates, SSFR is identical with SFR(sub TOTAL)/ M (sub *). SSFR values show a clear and significant bimodality, with a gap between low (approximately <3.2 x 10(exp -11) / yr) and high-SSFR (approximately > 1.2 x lO)exp -10)/yr) systems. We compare this bimodality to the previously discovered bimodality in alpha-IRAC, the MIR activity index from a power-law fit to the Spitzer IRAC 4.5-8 micron data for these galaxies. We find that all galaxies with alpha-IRAC <= 0 (> 0) are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, as expected if high levels of star-forming activity power MIR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules and a hot dust continuum. Consistent with this finding, all elliptical/SO galaxies are in the low-SSFR locus, while 22 out of 24 spirals / irregulars are in the high-SSFR locus, with two borderline cases. We further divide our sample into three subsamples (I, II, and III) according to decreasing H I richness of the parent galaxy group to which a galaxy belongs. Consistent with the SSFR and alpha-IRAC bimodality, 12 out of 15 type I (11 out of 12 type III) galaxies are in the high- (low-) SSFR locus, while type II galaxies span almost the full range of SSFR values. We use the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) to construct a comparison subsample of galaxies that (1) match HCG galaxies in J-band total galaxy luminosity and (2) are not strongly interacting and largely isolated. This selection eliminates mostly low-luminosity dwarfs and galaxies with some degree of peculiarity, providing a substantially improved, quiescent control sample. Unlike HCG galaxies, galaxies in the comparison SINGS subsample are continuously distributed both in SSFR and alpha-IRAC, although they show ranges in SFR(sub TOTAL) values, morphologies and stellar masses similar to those for HCG systems. We test the SSFR bimodality against a number of uncertainties, and find that these can only lead to its further enhancement. Excluding galaxies belonging to HCGs with three giant galaxies (triplets) leaves both the SSFR and the alpha-IRAC bimodality completely unaffected. We interpret these results as further evidence that an environment characterized by high galaxy number densities and low galaxy velocity dispersions, such as the one found in compact groups, plays a key role in accelerating galaxy evolution by enhancing star formation processes in galaxies and favoring a fast transition to quiescence.

Tzanavaris, P.↗

Vector Sum Excited Linear Prediction (VSELP) speech coding at 4.8 kbps

Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) speech coders exhibit good performance at data rates as low as 4800 bps. The major drawback to CELP type coders is their larger computational requirements. The Vector Sum Excited Linear Prediction (VSELP) speech coder utilizes a codebook with a structure which allows for a very efficient search procedure. Other advantages of the VSELP codebook structure is discussed and a detailed description of a 4.8 kbps VSELP coder is given. This coder is an improved version of the VSELP algorithm, which finished first in the NSA's evaluation of the 4.8 kbps speech coders. The coder uses a subsample resolution single tap long term predictor, a single VSELP excitation codebook, a novel gain quantizer which is robust to channel errors, and a new adaptive pre/postfilter arrangement.

Gerson, Ira A.↗

Incidence of Debris Discs Around FGK Stars in the Solar Neighbourhood

Context. Debris discs are a consequence of the planet formation process and constitute the fingerprints of planetesimal systems. Their counterparts in the solar system are the asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. Aims. The aim of this paper is to provide robust numbers for the incidence of debris discs around FGK stars in the solar neighborhood. Methods. The full sample of 177 FGK stars with d approx. less than 20 pc proposed for the DUst around NEarby Stars (DUNES) survey is presented. Herschel/PACS observations at 100 and 160 micrometers were obtained, and were complemented in some cases with data at 70 micrometers and at 250, 350, and 500 micrometer SPIRE photometry. The 123 objects observed by the DUNES collaboration were presented in a previous paper. The remaining 54 stars, shared with the Disc Emission via a Bias-free Reconnaissance in IR and Sub-mm (DEBRIS) consortium and observed by them, and the combined full sample are studied in this paper. The incidence of debris discs per spectral type is analyzed and put into context together with other parameters of the sample, like metallicity, rotation and activity, and age. Results. The subsample of 105 stars with d approx. less than 15 pc containing 23 F, 33 G, and 49 K stars is complete for F stars, almost complete for G stars, and contains a substantial number of K stars from which we draw solid conclusions on objects of this spectral type. The incidence rates of debris discs per spectral type are 0.26(+0.21/-0.14) (6 objects with excesses out of 23 F stars), 0.21(+0.17/-0.11) (7 out of 33 G stars), and 0.20(+0.14/-0.09) (10 out of 49 K stars); the fraction for all three spectral types together is 0.22(+0.08/-0.07) (23 out of 105 stars).The uncertainties correspond to a 95 confidence level. The medians of the upper limits of L(sub dust)/L(sub *) for each spectral type are 7.8 x 10(exp -7) (F), 1.4 x 10(exp -6) (G), and 2.2 x 10(exp -6) (K); the lowest values are around 4.0 x 10(exp -7). The incidence of debris discs is similar for active (young) and inactive (old) stars. The fractional luminosity tends to drop with increasing age, as expected from collisional erosion of the debris belts.

stars: late-type – circumstellar matter – prot↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Selected Galaxy Clusters AT 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

We report on 23 clusters detected blindly as Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) decrements in a 148 GHz, 455 deg (exp 2) map of the southern sky made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. All SZ detections announced in this work have confirmed optical counterparts. Ten of the clusters are new discoveries. One newly discovered cluster, ACT-CL 10102-4915, with a redshift of 0.75 (photometric), has an SZ decrement comparable to the most massive systems at lower redshifts. Simulations of the cluster recovery method reproduce the sample purity measured by optical follow-up. In particular, for clusters detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than six, simulations are consistent with optical follow-up that demonstrated this subsample is 100% pure, The simulations further imply that the total sample is 80% complete for clusters with mass in excess of 6 x 10(exp 14) solar masses referenced to the cluster volume characterized by 500 times the critical density. The Compton gamma-X-ray luminosity mass comparison for the 11 best-detected clusters visually agrees with both self-similar and non-adiabatic, simulation-derived scaling laws,

Marriage, Tobias A.↗

Gamma-ray Burst Afterglows as Probes of Environment and Blastwave Physics: Absorption by Host Galaxy Gas and Dust, Circumburst Media and the Distribution of P

We use a new approach to obtain limits on the absorbing columns towards a sample of 10 Gamma-ray Bursts observed by BeppoSAX from simultaneous fits to X-ray, optical and IR data, in counts space and including the effects of metallicity. For half the afterglows the best-fitting model to the SED includes SMC-like extinction (as opposed to LMC or MW) and in one LMC-like extinction, and in no cases is there a preference for MW-like extinction. Gas-to-dust ratios generally do not match those of the 3 standard and most well-known extinction models of SMC, LMC and MW, but tend to be higher. We compare the results from this method to those of previous works using other methods. We constrain the jet models for a subsample of the bursts by constraining the cooling break position and power law spectral slopes, allowing the injected electron energy index to be measured. We derive secure values of p from our spectral fits and comparison with the temporal optical and X-ray slopes for 4 afterglows. The mean of these single value, suggesting that either external factors such as circumburst medium play a strong role or that the microphysics is not identical for each GRB. For GRB 971214 we find that the circumburst medium has a wind-like density profile and the cooling frequency appears to be moving to higher frequencies.

Starling, R. L. C.↗

Dynamically stratified Monte Carlo forecasting

A new method for performing Monte Carlo forecasts is introduced. The method, called dynamic stratification, selects initial perturbations based on a stratification of the error distribution. A simple implementation is presented in which the error distribution used for the stratification is estimated from a linear model derived from a large ensemble of 12-h forecasts with the full dynamic model. The stratification thus obtained is used to choose a small subsample of initial states with which to perform the dynamical Monte Carlo forecasts. Several test cases are studied using a simple two-level general circulation model with uncertain initial conditions. It is found that the method provides substantial reductions in the sampling error of the forecast mean and variance when compared to the more traditional approach of choosing the initial perturbations at random. The degree of improvement, however, is sensitive to the nature of the initial error distribution and to the base state. In practice the method may be viable only if the computational burden involved in obtaining an adequate estimate of the error distribution is shared with the data-assimilation procedure.

Schubert, Siegfried↗

High-Resolution NO2 Observations from the Airborne Compact Atmospheric Mapper: Retrieval and Validation

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a short-lived atmospheric pollutant that serves as an air quality indicator and is itself a health concern. The Airborne Compact Atmospheric Mapper (ACAM) was flown on board the NASA UC-12 aircraft during the Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality Maryland field campaign in July 2011. The instrument collected hyperspectral remote sensing measurements in the 304-910 nm range, allowing daytime observations of several tropospheric pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 1.5 × 1.1 sq. km. Retrievals of slant column abundance are based on the differential optical absorption spectroscopy method. For the air mass factor computations needed to convert these retrievals to vertical column abundance, we include high-resolution information for the surface reflectivity by using bidirectional reflectance distribution function data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. We use high-resolution simulated vertical distributions of NO2 from the Community Multiscale Air Quality and Global Modeling Initiative models to account for the temporal variation in atmospheric NO2 to retrieve middle and lower tropospheric NO2 columns (NO2 below the aircraft). We compare NO2 derived from ACAM measurements with in situ observations from NASA's P-3B research aircraft, total column observations from the ground-based Pandora spectrometers, and tropospheric column observations from the space-based Ozone Monitoring Instrument. The high-resolution ACAM measurements not only give new insights into our understanding of atmospheric composition and chemistry through observation of subsampling variability in typical satellite and model resolutions, but they also provide opportunities for testing algorithm improvements for forthcoming geostationary air quality missions.

Lamsal, L. N.↗

Use of Thematic Mapper for water quality assessment

The evaluation of simulated TM data obtained on an ER-2 aircraft at twenty-five predesignated sample sites for mapping water quality factors such as conductivity, pH, suspended solids, turbidity, temperature, and depth, is discussed. Using a multiple regression for the seven TM bands, an equation is developed for the suspended solids. TM bands 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are used with logarithm conductivity in a multiple regression. The assessment of regression equations for a high coefficient of determination (R-squared) and statistical significance is considered. Confidence intervals about the mean regression point are calculated in order to assess the robustness of the regressions used for mapping conductivity, turbidity, and suspended solids, and by regressing random subsamples of sites and comparing the resultant range of R-squared, cross validation is conducted.

Horn, E. M.↗

Prediction of space sickness in astronauts from preflight fluid, electrolyte, and cardiovascular variables and Weightless Environmental Training Facility (WETF) training

Nine preflight variables related to fluid, electrolyte, and cardiovascular status from 64 first-time Shuttle crewmembers were differentially weighted by discrimination analysis to predict the incidence and severity of each crewmember's space sickness as rated by NASA flight surgeons. The nine variables are serum uric acid, red cell count, environmental temperature at the launch site, serum phosphate, urine osmolality, serum thyroxine, sitting systolic blood pressure, calculated blood volume, and serum chloride. Using two methods of cross-validation on the original samples (jackknife and a stratefied random subsample), these variables enable the prediction of space sickness incidence (NONE or SICK) with 80 percent sickness and space severity (NONE, MILD, MODERATE, of SEVERE) with 59 percent success by one method of cross-validation and 67 percent by another method. Addition of a tenth variable, hours spent in the Weightlessness Environment Training Facility (WETF) did not improve the prediction of space sickness incidences but did improve the prediction of space sickness severity to 66 percent success by the first method of cross-validation of original samples and to 71 percent by the second method. Results to date suggest the presence of predisposing physiologic factors to space sickness that implicate fluid shift etiology. The data also suggest that prior exposure to fluid shift during WETF training may produce some circulatory pre-adaption to fluid shifts in weightlessness that results in a reduction of space sickness severity.

Simanonok, K.↗

AstroAmpSeq: Microbial Bioinformatics Education with NASA GeneLab’s Amplicon Pipeline

The prevalence and importance of large sequencing datasets in microbiology has led to a movement to share microbial ecology experimental data through open-access databases. This is particularly true of experiments that are difficult to replicate, such as those conducted in the spaceflight environment and shared via NASA GeneLab. It is now possible and indeed valuable for students to access and re-analyze these shared datasets for educational and research purposes. To provide students with experience utilizing microbial bioinformatics tools, GeneLab for Colleges and Universities (GL4U) has designed AstroAmpSeq, a week-long, virtually implemented project-based learning (PBL) minicourse to instruct undergraduate students on 16S amplicon sequencing. AstroAmpSeq was created to be accessible to students without prior bioinformatics or microbial ecology experience. During the minicourse students work in teams to process, analyze, and visualize a subsample of GeneLab dataset GLDS-280 using GeneLab’s standard amplicon processing pipeline, which is based in R. Students develop a hypothesis related to the dataset then generate and analyze figures to evaluate their hypothesis. Formative assessment of student learning is determined via pre- and post-evaluations, peer feedback, and self-reflection. Project and presentation rubrics serve as a summative assessment of student learning. GL4U AstroAmpSeq not only meets American Society for Microbiology Curriculum Guidelines, but also incites student interest in research by an inquiry-based approach and can be made part of a larger semester-long curriculum. GL4U AstroAmpSeq raises awareness of space microbiology and bioinformatics as a field and career path among undergraduates. Further, by using a GeneLab dataset and nesting microbiology techniques into the real-world application of space biology, AstroAmpSeq enforces deeper and longer-lasting student learning.

microbiology↗

Solar Activity Relations in Energetic Electron Events Measured By the MESSENGER Mission

Aims. We perform a statistical study of the relations between the properties of solar energetic electron (SEE) events measured by the MESSENGER mission from 2010 to 2015 and the parameters of the respective parent solar activity phenomena in order to identify the potential correlations between them. During the time of analysis, the MESSENGER heliocentric distance varied between 0.31 and 0.47 au. Methods. We used a published list of 61 SEE events measured by MESSENGER, which includes information on the near-relativistic electron peak intensities, the peak-intensity energy spectral indices, and the measured X-ray peak intensity of the flares related to the SEE events. Taking advantage of multi-viewpoint remote-sensing observations, we reconstructed, whenever possible, the associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and shock waves; and we determined the three-dimensional (3D) properties (location, speed, and width) of the CMEs and the maximum speed of the 3D CME-driven shocks in the corona. We used different methods (Spearman, Pearson, and a Bayesian approach, namely the Kelly method to linear regression) to estimate the correlation coefficients between the flare intensity, maximum speed at the apex of the CME-driven shock, CME speed at the apex, and CME width with the electron peak intensities and with the energy spectral indices. In this statistical study, we considered and addressed the limitations of the particle instrument on board MESSENGER (elevated background intensity level, anti-Sun pointing). Results. There is an asymmetry to the east in the range of connection angles (CAs) for which the SEE events present the highest peak intensities, where the CA is the longitudinal separation between the footpoint of the magnetic field connecting to the spacecraft and the flare location. Based on this asymmetry, we define a subsample of well-connected events as when −65° ≤ CA ≤ +33°. For the well-connected sample, we find moderate to strong correlations between the near-relativistic electron peak intensity and the 3D CME-driven shock maximum speed at the apex (Spearman: cc = 0.53 ± 0.05; Pearson: cc = 0.65 ± 0.04; Kelly: cc = 0.87 ± 0.20), the flare peak intensity (Spearman: cc = 0.63 ± 0.03; Pearson: cc = 0.59 ± 0.03; Kelly: cc = 0.74 ± 0.30), and the 3D CME speed at the apex (Spearman: cc = 0.50 ± 0.04; Pearson: cc = 0.46 ± 0.03; Kelly: cc = 0.60 ± 0.39). When including poorly connected events (full sample), the relations between the peak intensities and the solar-activity phenomena are blurred, showing lower correlation coefficients. Conclusions. Based on the comparison of the correlation coefficients presented in this study using near 0.4 au data, (1) both flare and shock-related processes may contribute to the acceleration of near relativistic electrons in large SEE events, in agreement with previous studies based on near 1 au data; and (2) the maximum speed of the CME-driven shock is a better parameter to investigate particle-acceleration-related mechanisms than the average CME speed, as suggested by the stronger correlation with the SEE peak intensities.

Sun↗

High Resolution Image Reconstruction from Projection of Low Resolution Images DIffering in Subpixel Shifts

In this paper, we demonstrate a simple algorithm that projects low resolution (LR) images differing in subpixel shifts on a high resolution (HR) also called super resolution (SR) grid. The algorithm is very effective in accuracy as well as time efficiency. A number of spatial interpolation techniques using nearest neighbor, inverse-distance weighted averages, Radial Basis Functions (RBF) etc. used in projection yield comparable results. For best accuracy of reconstructing SR image by a factor of two requires four LR images differing in four independent subpixel shifts. The algorithm has two steps: i) registration of low resolution images and (ii) shifting the low resolution images to align with reference image and projecting them on high resolution grid based on the shifts of each low resolution image using different interpolation techniques. Experiments are conducted by simulating low resolution images by subpixel shifts and subsampling of original high resolution image and the reconstructing the high resolution images from the simulated low resolution images. The results of accuracy of reconstruction are compared by using mean squared error measure between original high resolution image and reconstructed image. The algorithm was tested on remote sensing images and found to outperform previously proposed techniques such as Iterative Back Projection algorithm (IBP), Maximum Likelihood (ML), and Maximum a posterior (MAP) algorithms. The algorithm is robust and is not overly sensitive to the registration inaccuracies.

A Ground-Based Network for Improved Validation of Satellite Carbon Dioxide and Methane Observations Over the Eastern United States

Satellite observations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), notably carbon dioxide and methane, over the Eastern United States, are currently only validated indirectly and/or sporadically. There are only four existing routine, ground-based remote sensing locations in the United States suitable for validation of satellite GHG observations: Edwards and Pasadena, CA, Lamont, OK, and Park Falls, WI as part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). Among other efforts, e.g. the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) and EM27/SUN deployments led by the University of Toronto, the only sites west of the Mississippi River are Park Falls, WI and Toronto, ON. The only remaining validation tools, vicarious calibration and airborne campaigns, are sporadic in space and/or time and thus coincide with only a small subsample of available soundings and conditions. As a result, satellite GHG observations over the east coast of the United States, home to more than half of its population, lack a consistent, widespread means of validation. We describe an ongoing effort to position 8 EM27/SUN spectrometers along the Eastern Seaboard over the next two years. The goals of this effort are to improve both satellite validation and our understanding of human and natural influences on the carbon cycle of the Eastern US, the former enabling the latter. This work is intended to augment past, ongoing, and future inter-agency programs, e.g., the NIST Urban Testbed, routine aircraft and aircore sampling by NOAA, and NASA’s Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT)-America sub-orbital campaign, in particular by offering information on broader time and spatial scales than what is already available while maintaining the high-accuracy constraints of in situ data. We will present early analysis including siting considerations to capture local and/or background conditions and comparison to NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) modeling and assimilation systems. This includes a 40-day, 3-km horizontal resolution global simulation of early 2020 and a 50-km retrospective analysis of Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) observations over 2015-present. Both are valuable tools for analyzing expected and observed signals and are useful boundary conditions for yet higher-resolution studies.

Brad Weir↗

Coastal zone color scanner 'system calibration': A retrospective examination

During its lifetime the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) produced approximately 66,000 images. These have been placed in an archive of 'raw' radiance (sensor counts) in a subsampled format that is easily accessible. They have also been processed to form global fields, at reduced resolution, of normalized water-leaving radiance, phytoplankton pigments, and diffuse attenuation coefficient. Using this archive, we have tried to characterize some aspects of the 'system calibration' for the 8-year lifetime of CZCS. Specifically, we have assumed that the sensitivity of the red band decayed in a simple manner similar to the well-known long-term degradation of the shorter-wavelength bands, and we examined the sensitivity of the green and yellow bands by computing the globally averaged water-leaving radiance, over 10-day periods, for all of the imagery. The results provided evidence that in addition to the long-term degradation, short-term (2 weeks to 1 month) variations in the radiometric sensitivity of these bands started in early fall 1981 and continued for the rest of the mission. In contrast, the data suggested the absence of such variations prior to August 1981. It is reasonable to believe that the sensitivity of the blue (and probably the red) band underwent such variations as well; however our methodology cannot be used to study the other bands. Thus, after these fluctuations began, the actual values of CZCS - estimated pigment concentrations at a given location should be viewed with skepticism; however, the global patterns of derived pigment concentrations should be valid. Had an extensive set of surface measurements of water-leaving radiance, e.r., from moored buoyes or drifters, had been available during the CZCS mission, these fluctuations could have been removed from the data set, and this would have greatly increased its value. The lessons learned from CZCS that is, the requirement of good radiometric calibration and stability and the necessity of 'sea truth' stations to monitor the performance of the system (sensor plus algorithms), are being applied to the sea-viewing wide-field-of-view senso (Sea WiFS) scheduled for launch in August 1993.

Evans, Robert H.↗