Balloon-borne polarimetry

For about two weeks in 1995, the balloon-borne Flare Genesis Experiment will continuously observe the Sun well above the turbulent, image-blurring layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The polarization-free 80 cm telescope will supply images to a liquid-crystal based vector magnetograph, which will measure magnetic features at a resolution of 0.2 arcsec. An electrically tunable lithium-niobate Fabry-Perot provides a spectral resolution of about 0.015 nm. In a follow-up series of Antarctic balloon flights, the Flare Genesis Experiment (FGE) will provide unprecedented details about sunspots, flares, magnetic elements, filaments, and the quiet solar atmosphere.     

大气、陆地水储量和海水质量分布变化与地球低阶引力场球谐系数的关系

大气、固体地球及海洋组成了一个复杂、变化的地球动力学系统，这一系统中的任一质量分布变化都将产生地球引力场变化。采用全球7000多个地面气象台站的月平均降水及温度资料、NCEP提供气压月均值、TOPEX／Poseidon卫星测高资料和WOA98海水温度及盐度模型计算了大气、陆地水储量和海水质量分布变化引起地球低阶引力场系数变化。比较综合大气、陆地水储量和海水质量分布变化对带谐项J2，J3，J4影响的计算结果和人卫激光卫星的测定结果，可以看出，大气、陆地水储量和海水质量分布变化是引起地球低阶引力场系数周年变化的重要激发源。     

The moon as the origin of the Earth's continents

Paleontological data and celestial mechanics suggest that the Moon may have stayed in a geosynchronous corotation around the Earth as a geostationary satellite. Excess energy may have slowly been released as heat, transferred as movement around the Sund or lost with matter ejected into space.The radial segregation process which was responsible for the formation of the Earth's iron core also brought water and lithophile elements dissolved in the water towards the surface. These elements were deposited in the area facing the Moon for several reasons, and a single continent was formed. Its level continuously matched the sea level, so the continent was formed under shallow water. When the geosynchronous corotation of the Moon became impossible, the tides become important, the Moon receded and the Earth slowed down and became more and more spherical; the variation of its oblateness from about 8% to 0.3% was incompatible with the shape of the continent, that broke into pieces.Almost all the data were have on the Earth's age, the composition of the continents, sea water and the atmosphere fit this approach as does lunar data.Paper presented at the European Workshop on Planetary Sciences, organised by the Laboratorio di Astrofisica Spaziale di Frascati, and held between April 23–27, 1979, at the Accademia Nazionale del Lincei in Rome, Italy.     

Considerations concerning the non-rigid Earth nutation theory

This paper presents the reflections of the Working Group of which the tasks were to examine the non-rigid Earth nutation theory. To this aim, six different levels have been identified: Level 1 concerns the input model (giving profiles of the Earth's density and theological properties) for the calculation of the Earth's transfer function of Level 2; Level 2 concerns the integration inside the Earth in order to obtain the Earth's transfer function for the nutations at different frequencies; Level 3 concerns the rigid Earth nutations; Level 4 examines the convolution (products in the frequency domain) between the Earth's nutation transfer function obtained in Level 2, and the rigid Earth nutation (obtained in Level 3). This is for an Earth without ocean and atmosphere; Level 5 concerns the effects of the atmosphere and the oceans on the precession, obliquity rate, and nutations; Level 6 concerns the comparison with the VLBI observations, of the theoretical results obtained in Level 4, corrected for the effects obtained in Level 5.Each level is discussed at the state of the art of the developments.     

Earth X-ray albedo for cosmic X-ray background radiation in the 1–1000 keV band

We present calculations of the reflection of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) by the Earth's atmosphere in the 1–1000 keV energy range. The calculations include Compton scattering and X-ray fluorescent emission and are based on a realistic chemical composition of the atmosphere. Such calculations are relevant for CXB studies using the Earth as an obscuring screen (as was recently done by INTEGRAL ). The Earth's reflectivity is further compared with that of the Sun and the Moon – the two other objects in the Solar system subtending a large solid angle on the sky, as needed for CXB studies.     

Hard X-ray emission of the Earth's atmosphere: Monte Carlo simulations

We perform Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic ray-induced hard X-ray radiation from the Earth's atmosphere. We find that the shape of the spectrum emergent from the atmosphere in the energy range 25–300 keV is mainly determined by Compton scatterings and photoabsorption, and is almost insensitive to the incident cosmic ray spectrum. We provide a fitting formula for the hard X-ray surface brightness of the atmosphere as would be measured by a satellite-borne instrument, as a function of energy, solar modulation level, geomagnetic cut-off rigidity and zenith angle. A recent measurement by the INTEGRAL observatory of the atmospheric hard X-ray flux during the occultation of the cosmic X-ray background by the Earth agrees with our prediction within 10 per cent. This suggests that Earth observations could be used for in-orbit calibration of future hard X-ray telescopes. We also demonstrate that the hard X-ray spectra generated by cosmic rays in the crusts of the Moon, Mars and Mercury should be significantly different from that emitted by the Earth's atmosphere.     

Eddy diffusion in the upper atmosphere by global deposition of meteoroids

A theory for the production of eddy diffusion in the upper atmosphere by the global deposition of meteoroids is presented. It is based on the assumption that meteoroids falling on the Earth carry, on the average, a greater amount of orbital angular momentum per unit mass than that corresponding to the Earth's orbit. This excess of orbital angular momentum of the meteoroids is deposited in some or the other form during their interaction with the Earth's atmosphere. The softer material deposits the excess of its orbital angular momentum in a region slightly higher than the harder material and is held responsible for the superrotation observed in the atmosphere. It is shown that the other population of meteoroids which is metallic in nature deposits the excess orbital angular momentum below 100 km altitude and produces eddies. The size and velocity of the eddies so formed give the value of the vertical eddy diffusion coefficient in agreement with the upper limit set by Johnson and Wilkins (1965) from the study of downward heat transport in the atmosphere.     

Influence of solar wind variability on the recurrence of droughts

The observed effects of solar flares and interplanetary sector crossings seem to indicate that particle precipitation in the Earth's upper atmosphere decreases cyclonic activity in the troposphere. As an extrapolation to longer term effects, it is suggested that the recurrence of prolonged periods of enhanced solar wind particle precipitation in the upper atmosphere during alternate solar minima could cause the recurrence of extreme droughts.     

Momentum of meteoroids and its effect on the Earth's atmosphere

Recent studies have attributed certain properties of the Earth's atmosphere to excess orbita angular momentum of impinging meteoroids. A realistic analysis of meteor observations does not support the existence of this excess.     

Spontaneous and induced Čerenkov emission in a turbulent medium

It is shown that the presence of spatially random fluctuations in refractive index, about a mean exceeding unity, influences the power output of erenkov waves emitted by a charged particle in several ways.(1) The frequency spectrum of the spontaneous emission is altered by the fluctuations. (2) There is an induced erenkov emission, due to the interaction of the spontaneous field with the random refractive index variations. This induced field can, in certain frequency bands, be as large as the spontaneous field. And it also contains a backscattered component which propagates in theopposite direction to the particle. (3) The conditions for emission of the erenkov waves, be they spontaneous or induced, depend critically on both the mean refractive index, the particle velocity, the intensity and correlation length of the fluctuations. And the dependence is sensitive to the precise functional form of the two-point correlation function.Instruments detect the optical erenkov emission produced by cosmic ray particles penetrating the Earth's atmosphere (below about 5 km). Also gas erenkov counters are triggered by the passage of highly energetic particles through the gas. Since both the Earth's lower atmosphere and the gas counters contain turbulent fluctuations, the present calculation is of some interest in connection with particle energy loss mechanisms in turbulent media and the basic structure of such media.     

Resistance of motion to a small, hypervelocity sphere, sputtering through a gas

Earlier work on the resistance acting on a small sphere moving through a gas is reviewed. A model for the resistance encountered by a sphere, the surface molecules of which are sputtered off during collisions with the gas molecules, is derived and compared with the case of specular reflection. The sputtering model is applied to the case of small 10-μm radius meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere. A possible link between the results obtained and the recent discovery of unheated, organic grains at an altitude of 40 km in the Earth's atmosphere is considered.     

On the homeostasis and bistability on a Gaian planet

Geochemical disequilibrium of Earth's atmosphere is a sign of life. The fact that Earth's atmosphere is just right for life led Lovelock to propose the Gaia hypothesis: life itself regulates the environment on planetary scale in order to maintain habitability. This hypothesis is supported by the so-called Daisyworld parable, which illustrates a possible mechanism for such a self regulation. Here we revisit Daisyworld and challenge some of its conclusions from a closer examination of the model. We find that even within this simple, conceptual model of a Gaian planet there are regimes where climate is less homeostatic than on a dead planet. Furthermore, in other regimes, bistability between two climate states is found to exist due to the presence of life. This indicates that even if the Gaian stability might describe life in some planetary conditions, it need not be generic to all inhabited planets.     

Optical Image of Stars in the Camera Field

The possibility the turbulent atmosphere to act as a cause for an amplification of the optical star images is considered. This is made on introducing the turbulent atmosphere a an optical collimator set. Some considerations about the modelling and formalization of this effect are made. Finally some consequences relative to the optical record photometrical information extraction are mentioned.     

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Mission for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS)

The NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) is an advanced study of Earth's long-term global changes of solid Earth, its atmosphere, and oceans and includes a coordinated collection of satellites, data systems, and modeling. The EOS program was conceived in the 1980s as part of NASA's Earth System Enterprise (ESE). The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) is one of about 20 missions planned for the EOS program, and the SORCE measurement objectives include the total solar irradiance (TSI) and solar spectral irradiance (SSI) that are two of the 24 key measurement parameters defined for the EOS program. The SORCE satellite was launched in January 2003, and its observations are improving the understanding and generating new inquiry regarding how and why solar variability occurs and how it affects Earth's energy balance, atmosphere, and long-term climate changes.     

GPS无线电掩星数据处理系统

GPS无线电掩星技术能提供高精度、高分辨率、全球覆盖的地球电离层和中性层大气剖面。它具有全天候、低费用、无系统长期漂移等优点。从1995年4月至1997年3月,首次GPS／MET试验的成功显示了GPS掩星技术对监测全球大气能够发挥重要的作用,从而成为当前空间探测技术的研究热点之一。该文主要叙述了无线电掩星技术的数据处理系统的有关情况,并介绍了美国UCAR的掩星数据处理系统CDAAC的概况,可作为我国开展无线电掩星计划有关工作的借鉴。     

Solar flare high-energy electron spectra

The Moon's umbral shadow, tangentially penetrating the Earth's atmosphere, appreciably reduces the brightness of the twilight sky at points located under the shadow axis. This should yield favourable conditions for observation of the zodiacal light for small altitudes of the Sun below the horizon. The location of the projection of the Moon's shadow axis at the Earth's surface under the above conditions is calculated for the case of the total solar eclipse of 30 June, 1992.     

TRACE observations of the 15 November 1999 transit of Mercury and the Black Drop effect: considerations for the 2004 transit of Venus

Historically, the visual manifestation of the “Black Drop effect,” the appearance of a band linking the solar limb to the disk of a transiting planet near the point of internal tangency, had limited the accuracy of the determination of the Astronomical Unit and the scale of the Solar System in the 18th and 19th centuries. This problem was misunderstood in the case of Venus during its rare transits due to the presence of its atmosphere. We report on observations of the 15 November 1999 transit of Mercury obtained, without the degrading effects of the Earth's atmosphere, with the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer spacecraft. In spite of the telescope's location beyond the Earth's atmosphere, and the absence of a significant mercurian atmosphere, a faint Black Drop effect was detected. After calibration and removal of, or compensation for, both internal and external systematic effects, the only radially directed brightness anisotropies found resulted from the convolution of the instrumental point-spread function with the solar limb-darkened, back-lit, illumination function. We discuss these effects in light of earlier ground-based observations of transits of Mercury and of Venus (also including the effects of atmospheric “seeing”) to explain the historical basis for the Black Drop effect. The methodologies we outline here for improving upon transit imagery are applicable to ground-based (adaptive optics augmented) and space-based observations of the 8 June 2004 and 5-6 June 2012 transits of Venus, providing a path to achieving high-precision measurements at and near the instants of internal limb tangencies.     

The extinction of the mammoths

Two kinds of blanket of fine grains in the Earth's upper atmosphere are possible: a blanket of reflective dielectric particles and one of absorbing metallic particles. The first is a trigger for the onset of an ice-age, and the second a trigger for the disappearance of an ice-age. The facts support the view that it was a blanket of absorptive particles which caused the extinction of the mammoths.     

On emission lines of hydrogen,helium and ionized calcium seen on a coronal spectrogram of the March 7, 1970 eclipse

Emission lines of the Balmer series, D₃ and H and K are reported present on a coronal spectrogram obtained at the March 7, 1970 eclipse. Arguments are presented to show that these could not have originated from scattering in the Earth's atmosphere and hence possibly have a coronal origin.     

Origin of the ocean on the Earth: Early evolution of water D/H in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere

The origin of the Earth's ocean has been discussed on the basis of deuterium/hydrogen ratios (D/H) of several sources of water in the Solar System. The average D/H of carbonaceous chondrites (CC's) is known to be close to the current D/H of the Earth's ocean, while those of comets and the solar nebula are larger by about a factor of two and smaller by about a factor of seven, respectively, than that of the Earth's ocean. Thus, the main source of the Earth's ocean has been thought to be CC's or adequate mixing of comets and the solar nebula. However, those conclusions are correct only if D/H of water on the Earth has remained unchanged for the past 4.5 Gyr. In this paper, we investigate evolution of D/H in the ocean in the case that the early Earth had a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, the existence of which is predicted by recent theories of planet formation no matter whether the nebula remains or not. Then we show that D/H in the ocean increases by a factor of 2-9, which is caused by the mass fractionation during atmospheric hydrogen loss, followed by deuterium exchange between hydrogen gas and water vapor during ocean formation. This result suggests that the apparent similarity in D/H of water between CC's and the current Earth's ocean does not necessarily support the CC's origin of water and that the apparent discrepancy in D/H is not a good reason for excluding the nebular origin of water.