GAUGE: the GrAnd Unification and Gravity Explorer

The GAUGE (GrAnd Unification and Gravity Explorer) mission proposes to use a drag-free spacecraft platform onto which a number of experiments are attached. They are designed to address a number of key issues at the interface between gravity and unification with the other forces of nature. The equivalence principle is to be probed with both a high-precision test using classical macroscopic test bodies, and, to lower precision, using microscopic test bodies via cold-atom interferometry. These two equivalence principle tests will explore string-dilaton theories and the effect of space–time fluctuations respectively. The macroscopic test bodies will also be used for intermediate-range inverse-square law and an axion-like spin-coupling search. The microscopic test bodies offer the prospect of extending the range of tests to also include short-range inverse-square law and spin-coupling measurements as well as looking for evidence of quantum decoherence due to space–time fluctuations at the Planck scale.     

Static compression of α-Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>: linear incompressibility of lattice parameters and high-pressure transformations

The high-pressure behavior of -Fe₂O₃ has been studied under static compression up to 60 GPa, using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell. Synchrotron-based angular-dispersive X-ray diffraction shows that the sample remains in the corundum structure up to 50 GPa, but with the appearance of coexisting diffraction lines from a high-pressure phase at pressures above 45 GPa. A least-squares fit of low-pressure phase data to an Eulerian finite-strain equation of state yields linear incompressibilities of K _{a 0}=749.5 (± 18.4) GPa and K _{c 0}= 455.7 (± 21.4) GPa, differing by a factor of 1.6 along the two directions. The enhanced compressibility of the c axis may lead to breaking of vertex- or edge-sharing bonds between octahedra, inducing the high-pressure phase transformation at 50 GPa. Analysis of linear compressibilities suggests that the high-pressure phase above 50 GPa is of the Rh₂O₃ (II) structure. Continuous laser heating reveals a new structural phase transformation of -Fe₂O₃ at 22 GPa, to an orthorhombic structure with a=7.305(3) Å, b=7.850(3) Å, and c=12.877(14) Å, different from the Rh₂O₃ (II) structure.     

The atmosphere of Saturn: An infrared perspective

A model of the radiative portion of the equatorial atmosphere of Saturn, constrained by the infrared data various observers, has been constructed using a technique which includes the variation of thermal flux with depth. The model has a high-altitude temperature inversion due to the absorption of ultraviolet sunlight. The inversion causes the observed infrared emission peaks at 8 ωm (methane) and 12 ωm (ethane). Mixing ratios of these gases to hydrogen are computed from these emission features. The bottom of the modeled region occurs at the radiative-convective boundary. At this level, an opaque cloud consisting of solid ammonia condensation particles is postulated. Above the cloud is a thin haze, also composed of ammonia particles. The haze is required to match infrared observations near 9.5 ωm and hydrogen quadrupole equivalent widths near 0.64 ωm. Predictions of the model are given for further observational tests.     

Spatial and seasonal pebble beach profile characteristics

Beach profiles along eight sections of two fringing pebble beaches located in the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales were regularly surveyed for over one year. The data were used to examine spatial and seasonal beach profile variations by utilizing them in several graphical procedures. Results showed seasonal variations in terms of beach profile configuration, beach face slope and the rate of profile change, although these variations were not necessarily concurrent. This highlights the special case of fringing pebble beaches on which accretional profiles are probably compensated for by erosional profiles alongshore at any one time. This makes it difficult to generalize spatially the profile response of an entire beach system. For this reason, the rate of profile change may more realistically reflect periodic variations in wave regime, which in European latitudes can be approximated with the summer and winter seasons.     

Atmospheric extinction of U−B photometry

Bouguer lines have been used to measure the atmospheric extinction of U − B , and two approaches to correcting U − B for the atmosphere are examined. We find that the conventional photometric reductions may be sufficiently accurate when the range of airmass is small enough (in terms of a maximum hazarded error of 0.04 mag per airmass), but we recommend the use of a colour term in the correction for U − B extinction when this condition is not satisfied.     

On the use of mean monthly runoff to predict the flow–duration curve in ungauged catchments

ABSTRACT

We examine the applicability of predicting the daily flow–duration curve (FDC) using mean monthly runoff represented in its stochastic form (MM_FDC) to aid in predictions in ungauged basins, using long-term hydroclimatic data at 73 catchments of humid climate, in the eastern USA. The analysis uses soil hydrological properties, soil moisture storage capacity and the predominant runoff generation mechanism. The results show that MM_FDC did not distinguish the shapes of the upper and lower thirds of the FDC. The upper third is where the precipitation pattern and the antecedent moisture conditions are dominant, while the lower third is where drought-induced low flows and the evapotranspiration effect are prevalent. It is possible to use the MM_FDC to predict the middle third of the FDC (exceedence probabilities between 33% and 66%). The method is constrained by the catchment flow variability (slope of FDC), which changes in accordance with landscape properties and the predominant runoff generation mechanism.     

The abundance of CH3D in the atmosphere of Titan,derived from 8- to 14-μm thermal emission

The 8.6-μm emission feature of Titan's infrared spectrum was analyzed using the Voyager temperature-pressure profile. Although both C₃H₈ and CH₃D have bands at that wavelength, we show that CH₃D dominates the observed emission on Titan. We derived a CH₃D/CH₄ mixing ratio using this band and the strong CH₄ band at 7.7 μm. The corresponding D/H ratio is 4.2_?1.5⁺² × 10^?4, neglecting deuterium fractionation with other molecules. The main uncertainty in this value comes from the continuum emission characteristics. The D/H ratio is apparently significantly enhanced on Titan with respect to published values for Saturn.     

The instantaneous apparent resistivity tensor: a visualization scheme for LOTEM electric field measurements

Long-offset transient electromagnetic (LOTEM) data have traditionally been represented as early- and late-time apparent resistivities. Time-varying electric field data recorded in a LOTEM survey made with multiple sources can be represented by an 'instantaneous apparent resistivity tensor'. Three independent, coordinate-invariant, time-varying apparent resistivities can be derived from this tensor. For dipolar sources, the invariants are also independent of source orientation. In a uniform-resistivity half-space, the invariant given by the square root of the tensor determinant remains almost constant with time, deviating from the half-space resistivity by a maximum of 6 per cent. For a layered half-space, a distance–time pseudo-section of the determinant apparent resistivity produces an image of the layering beneath the measurement profile. As time increases, the instantaneous apparent resistivity tensor approaches the direct current apparent resistivity tensor. An approximate time-to-depth conversion can be achieved by integrating the diffusion depth formula with time, using the determinant apparent resistivity at each instant to represent the resistivity of the conductive medium. Localized near-surface inhomogeneities produce shifts in the time-domain apparent resistivity sounding curves that preserve the gradient, analogous to static shifts seen in magnetotelluric soundings. Instantaneous apparent resistivity tensors calculated for 3-D resistivity models suggest that profiles of LOTEM measurements across a simple 3-D structure can be used to create an image that reproduces the main features of the subsurface resistivity. Where measurements are distributed over an area, maps of the tensor invariants can be made into a sequence of images, which provides a way of 'time slicing' down through the target structure.     

The vibrational overtone spectrum of liquid methane in the visible and near infrared: Applications to planetary studies

The strengths of 10 bands in the absorption spectrum of liquid methane betwen 19 400 and 6190 Å have been measured. After a small correction for the polarizability of the liquid is applied, for the purpose of comparison with similar gas phase measurements, it is found that there is no temperature dependence of the band strengths between 95 and 295°K. Changes of band shape with temperature cause the 95°K laboratory spectra to resemble Saturn more than room temperature observations do. Gas phase absorption clearly dominates the liquid in planetary spectra, so liquid methane cannot be detected in the outer Solar System by Earth-based observations.