Investigation of cutting methods for small samples of Hayabusa and future sample return missions

We report the investigation of cutting methods for Hayabusa samples. The purpose of our study is to explore the possibility of applying multiple analyses to a single particle effectively. We investigated the cutting performance of a blade dicing saw, laser, focused ion beam (FIB), and physical breaking by microindenter. Cutting performance was examined by estimating the aspect ratio of the cut slit, i.e., depth over width of the slit. We also investigated the possible contamination and sample damage by cutting. The result of the investigation shows that we can cut the samples from <50 μm to 500 μm using those methods with aspect ratios from 10 to 20, although they would introduce some contamination or damage to the samples. Our investigations also provide an important basis for the analysis of samples obtained by future sample return missions.     

Statistical properties of microwave backscattering from laboratory wind-wave surfaces

The microwave backscattering from wind-wave surfaces is observed in a windwave tunnel under various conditions of the wind and wind waves, and its statistical features are investigated. The dependence of the backscattered power on the wind speed and the incident angle shows similar features to those predicted by models proposed previously. However, the dependence of the backscattered power on the incident angles also corresponds to the asymmetrical feature of the wind-wave surfaces with respect to the wind direction. The spectral analyses of time series of the backscattered intensity show that the propagating speed of fine structures of the wind-wave surface contributing to the backscattering at large incident angles does not coincide with the phase speed of the freely propagating Braggwaves. Atupwind incidence, the surface structures of wind waves contributing to the backscattering propagates with the dominant waves at their phase speed. This result is inconsistent with the two-scale model in which the Bragg waves are simply superimposed on longer waves, but is consistent with the results of optical observation by Ebuchiet al. (1987). At downwind incidence, the propagating speed is slower than the phase speed of the dominant waves.     

The steepness and shape of wind waves

Variations are found in the shape and the steepness of wind-generated surface gravity waves between very young waves, such as seen in a laboratory tank, and larger waves of various wave ages encountered at sea as the result of wind stress over larger fetches. These differences in the characteristic shape of wind waves are presented as a function of the wave age. The wave steepness is also expressed as a function of wave age, the measurement of which is consistent with the 3/2-power law connecting wave height and characteristic period, normalized by the air friction velocity.     

Monsoon circulation interaction with Western Ghats orography under changing climate

In this study, the authors have investigated the likely future changes in the summer monsoon over the Western Ghats (WG) orographic region of India in response to global warming, using time-slice simulations of an ultra high-resolution global climate model and climate datasets of recent past. The model with approximately 20-km mesh horizontal resolution resolves orographic features on finer spatial scales leading to a quasi-realistic simulation of the spatial distribution of the present-day summer monsoon rainfall over India and trends in monsoon rainfall over the west coast of India. As a result, a higher degree of confidence appears to emerge in many aspects of the 20-km model simulation, and therefore, we can have better confidence in the validity of the model prediction of future changes in the climate over WG mountains. Our analysis suggests that the summer mean rainfall and the vertical velocities over the orographic regions of Western Ghats have significantly weakened during the recent past and the model simulates these features realistically in the present-day climate simulation. Under future climate scenario, by the end of the twenty-first century, the model projects reduced orographic precipitation over the narrow Western Ghats south of 16°N that is found to be associated with drastic reduction in the southwesterly winds and moisture transport into the region, weakening of the summer mean meridional circulation and diminished vertical velocities. We show that this is due to larger upper tropospheric warming relative to the surface and lower levels, which decreases the lapse rate causing an increase in vertical moist static stability (which in turn inhibits vertical ascent) in response to global warming. Increased stability that weakens vertical velocities leads to reduction in large-scale precipitation which is found to be the major contributor to summer mean rainfall over WG orographic region. This is further corroborated by a significant decrease in the frequency of moderate-to-heavy rainfall days over WG which is a typical manifestation of the decrease in large-scale precipitation over this region. Thus, the drastic reduction of vertical ascent and weakening of circulation due to ??upper tropospheric warming effect?? predominates over the ??moisture build-up effect?? in reducing the rainfall over this narrow orographic region. This analysis illustrates that monsoon rainfall over mountainous regions is strongly controlled by processes and parameterized physics which need to be resolved with adequately high resolution for accurate assessment of local and regional-scale climate change.     

A web-based real-time and full-resolution data visualization for Himawari-8 satellite sensed images

It has been almost four decades since the first launch of geostationary meteorological satellite by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The specifications of the geostationary meteorological satellites have shown tremendous progresses along with the generations, which are now entering their third generation. The third-generation geostationary meteorological satellites not only yield basic data for weather monitoring, but also globally observe the Earth’s environment. The development of multi-band imagers with improved spatial resolution onboard the third-generation geostationary meteorological satellites brings us meteorological data in larger size than those of the second-generation ones. Thus, new techniques for domestic and world-wide dissemination of the observational big data are needed. In this paper, we develop a web-based data visualization for Himawari-8 satellite sensed images in real time and with full resolution. This data visualization is supported by the ecosystems, which uses a tiled pyramid representation and parallel processing technique for terrain on an academic cloud system. We evaluate the performance of our techniques for domestic and international users on laboratory experiments. The results show that our data visualization is suitable for practical use on a temporal preview of observation image data for the domestic users.     

Fine structure of laboratory wind-wave surfaces studied using an optical method

The fine structure of laboratory wind-wave surfaces was investigated using an optical method. Several characteristic structures, closely associated with wind speed and the stage of development of the waves, are described. A parallel light, incident on the wind-wave surface, was backscattered by specular facets perpendicular to the incident angle. These specular facets, which represented the fine structures, were photographed and quantitatively analyzed by image processing techniques.For wind speeds ranging from 3.6 to 13.6 m s^–1, different types of small-scale undulations appeared: a three-dimensional rhombic structure; a train of capillary waves on the forward face with wavelengths gradually decreasing with distance from the crest, and a streaky structure on the backward face in the direction of the wind; and random and wide-spreading irregularities covering the whole wind-wave surface. The spatial scales and temporal variation of the undulations are described.     

Large strain analysis of some geomechanics problems by the finite element method

This paper presents a rational approach to the finite strain analysis of elastic-plastic materials. An updated incremental finite element technique was applied to problems of shallow foundations of homogeneous as well as multilayer soils. This was based on a variational principle which is suitable for such problems.     

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors for hybrid coordinate equations of motion for flexible spacecraft

Literal characterizations are developed for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a system of linear time-invariant equations which describes the attitude motion of flexible spacecraft in terms of hybrid coordinates. The eigenproblem is shown to reduce to that of a symmetric and positive definite matrix of lower dimension. For the zero damping case, both analytical and minimax characterization methods prove to be useful in localizing the eigenvalues, and eigenvectors for systems of large dimension are obtained explicitly in terms of a 3×1 matrix whose elements are available from a system of three algebraic equations provided.     

Unusual behavior of the Kuroshio Current System from winter 1996 to summer 1997 revealed by ADEOS-OCTS and other data— Suggestion of topographically forced alternating-jet instability

While the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) was operating, the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Extension, or the Kuroshio Current System, exhibited unusual behavior from the winter of 1996 to the summer of 1997. This behavior of the Kuroshio Current System has been closely studied using a time series of satellite observation images of SST and ocean color obtained by ADEOS-OCTS, reinforced by SST images obtained by NOAA-AVHRR. Our findings include (i) a long lasting, very southerly path of the Kuroshio Extension; (ii) a Kuroshio path very distant from Japan with the following alternating-jet-like north-south flow pattern of the Kuroshio Extension, which occurred twice, once in February and once in April 1997, as independent events and which was observed to be affected by the bottom topography of the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge and Trench, and of the Japan Trench; (iii) cutting off of a cold water mass after the February event; and (iv) the formation of a vortex pair after the April event. A new mechanism is suggested for the formation of the alternating-jet flow pattern: a topographically forced alternating-jet instability (AJI). An SST-Chlorophyll Diagram (T-Chl Diagram) generated using simultaneous data from a single satellite is useful for analyzing the water mass structure of this region, including biological processes.