Observational Tracking of the 2D Structure of Coronal Mass Ejections Between the Sun and 1 AU

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) provides high cadence and high resolution images of the structure and morphology of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the inner heliosphere. CME directions and propagation speeds have often been estimated through the use of time-elongation maps obtained from the STEREO Heliospheric Imager (HI) data. Many of these CMEs have been identified by citizen scientists working within the SolarStormWatch project ( www.solarstormwatch.com ) as they work towards providing robust real-time identification of Earth-directed CMEs. The wide field of view of HI allows scientists to directly observe the two-dimensional (2D) structures, while the relative simplicity of time-elongation analysis means that it can be easily applied to many such events, thereby enabling a much deeper understanding of how CMEs evolve between the Sun and the Earth. For events with certain orientations, both the rear and front edges of the CME can be monitored at varying heliocentric distances (R) between the Sun and 1?AU. Here we take four example events with measurable position angle widths and identified by the citizen scientists. These events were chosen for the clarity of their structure within the HI cameras and their long track lengths in the time-elongation maps. We show a linear dependency with R for the growth of the radial width (W) and the 2D aspect ratio (??) of these CMEs, which are measured out to ???0.7?AU. We estimated the radial width from a linear best fit for the average of the four CMEs. We obtained the relationships W=0.14R+0.04 for the width and ??=2.5R+0.86 for the aspect ratio (W and R in units of?AU).     

Large-Scale Structures in Comet Hale–Bopp

The plasma tails of comets clearly show the demarcation of the solar wind into distinct equatorial and polar regions (Brandt and Snow (2000), Icarus 148, 52–64).The boundary is determined by the maximum extent in latitude of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). The observational record contains many well-observed equatorial comets, but observations of comets in the polar region are relatively rare. In addition to its size and brightness, comet Hale–Bopp had an orbital inclination of 89.4° and was well observed for months in the polar region. We document the comet's large-scale appearance throughout the apparition, including the polar region and its transition into the equatorial region. The bright dust tail hampered observations of the plasma tail, particularly near the head, but images taken with a CO⁺ filter show a very large disconnection event (DE) on May 7 and May 8, 1997. The time of disconnection is estimated at approximately May 4.0. This DE is associated with a crossing of the HCS. The model calculations of the HCS indicate that other crossings might have occurred in late April, but given the uncertainty in the calculation, the comet might have missed the HCS. Sparse observational coverage and the bright dust tail prevent further investigation of the potential earlier HCS crossings. The plasma tail shows anomalous orientations at the highest latitudes and possible explanations are discussed.     

Professionalization of the shipping industry via postgraduate education

The paper investigates the roles and nature of postgraduate education on the professionalization of the shipping industry. The recent growth of postgraduate education is marked by the massive expansion of professional programmes on disciplines which traditionally emphasized non-academic, apprentice-style learning approach, including shipping business and management. The reasons behind such growth of demands, however, have remained scarce and empirically under-researched. Understanding this deficiency, in this study, we have undertaken a questionnaire survey completed by students/graduates who are pursuing/have recently pursued masters' programmes in shipping-related business and management offered by six Asian and European universities. Specifically, we analyze student motivations, considerations, and sources of information before enrolling such programmes, the extent that the shipping industry or other forces act as driving forces towards such enrollment, as well as students' evaluation of the postgraduate programmes that they are pursing/have pursued. Integrated in these discussions are comparative analyses of the data provided by different student groups based on their professional experiences and cultural backgrounds. We believe that this study has provided the lacking empirical inputs essential for achieving the sustainable development of postgraduate education in shipping business and management.     

Complex study of characteristics of a Cb cloud developing over the Arabian Peninsula under high dew point deficit in the atmosphere. Part 1. Field observations and numerical modeling

Basing on airmass motion trajectory calculations over the Arabian Peninsula on April 10, 2008, it can be assumed that in the lower and middle troposphere, zones with increased air moisture exist due to air inflow from the Red Sea. As a result, mesoscale volumes of dry and moist air are neighboring, though large-scale field is comparatively homogeneous with low humidity. In the mesoscale zones, intense thunderstorm and hailstorm Cb clouds developed, whose characteristics and evolution are studied in the paper. Continuous radar observations of the clouds are carried out during 5 hours. Numerical simulation of the cloud evolution is performed with nonstationary 1.5-dimensional model. It is noted that under the mentioned atmospheric conditions, in the area under consideration, heavy rain and hail from the Cb clouds are observed. The main factors of their origination are high thermal instability of the atmosphere and moist air inflow from outside.     

A Holistic Approach to Upwelling and Downwelling along the South-West Coast of India

An attempt has been made to develop a holistic understanding of upwelling and downwelling along the south-west coast of India. The main objective was to elucidate the roles of different forcings involved in the vertical motion along this coast. The south-west coast of India was characterized by upwelling during the south-west monsoon (May to September) and by downwelling during the north-east monsoon and winter (November to February). The average vertical velocity calculated along the south-west coast from the vertical shift of the 26?°C isotherm is 0.57?m/day during upwelling and 0.698?m/day during downwelling. It was concluded that upwelling along the south-west coast of India is driven by offshore Ekman transport due to the alongshore wind, Ekman pumping, horizontal divergence of currents and by the propagation of coastally trapped waves. Whereas downwelling along the coast is driven only by convergence of currents and the propagation of coastally trapped Kelvin waves. Along the west coast of India, the downwelling-favorable Kelvin waves come from the equator and upwelling-favorable waves come from the Gulf of Mannar region.     

Propagation of cylindrical shock waves under the action of monochromatic radiation

A model of cylindrical shock waves is investigated under the action of monochromatic radiation into non-uniform stellar interiors with a constant intensity on a unit area. We have assumed that the radiation flux moves through the gas.     

Phenomenological explanation for the shape of the spectrum of cosmic rays with energies <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis> > 10 GeV

Assuming that the energy gain by cosmic-ray (CR) particles is a stochastic process with stationary increments, we derive expressions for the shape of their energy spectrum up to energies E ～ 10¹⁸ eV. In the ultrarelativistic case under study, the energy is proportional to the momentum, whose time derivative is the force. According to the Fermi mechanism, a particle accelerates when it passes through a system of shock waves produced by supernova explosions. Since these random forces act on time scales much shorter than the particle lifetime, we assume them to be delta-correlated in time. In this case, due to the linear energy-momentum relationship, the mean square of the energy (increments) is proportional to the differential scale τ(E) ～ Eτ(≥E), where τ (≥E) is the cumulative time it takes for a particle to gain an energy ≥E. The probability of finding a particle with energy ≥E somewhere in the system is inversely proportional to the time it takes to gain the energy E. To estimate an upper limit for the space number density of CR particles, we use estimates of the CR volume energy density, a quantity known for our Galaxy. It is taken to be constant in the range 10 GeV ≤ E ≤ 3 × 10⁶ GeV, where the index of the energy spectrum was found to be ?8/3 ≈ ?2.67 against its empirical value of ?2.7. In the range 3 × 10⁶ GeV ≤ E < 10⁹ GeV, the upper limit for the volume energy density is estimated by using the results from the previous range to be ?28/9 ≈ ?3.11 against its empirical value of ?3.1. The numerical coefficients in the suggested shapes of the spectrum can be determined by comparison with observational data. Thus, the CR energy spectrumis the result of the random walks of ultrarelativistic particles in energy/momentum space caused by the Fermi mechanism.