Construction of a consistent semianalytic theory of a planetary or moon orbiter perturbed by a third body

The third body perturbation of an orbiter of a planet or moon is considered. A very convenient form of the Lagrange equations is given allowing an easy derivation of the various terms of the expansion of the perturbed elements. A careful analysis of the order of magnitude of these terms indicates which ones are required for a consistent theory. It follows that in many practical cases the main term of the disturbing function has to be carried to the second order of the perturbation theory.Paper presented at the 1981 Oberwolfach Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics.Dedicated to V. Szebehely on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Differences between solar wind plasmoids and ideal magnetohydrodynamic filaments

Plasma irregularities present in the solar wind are plasmoids, i.e. plasma-magnetic field entities. These actual plasmoids differ from ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) filaments. Indeed, (1) their “skin” is not infinitely thin but has a physical thickness which is determined by the gyromotion of the thermal ions and electrons, (2) they are of finite extent and their magnetic flux is interconnected with the interplanetary magnetic flux, (3) when they penetrate into the magnetosphere their magnetic field lines become rooted in the ionosphere (i.e. in a medium with finite transverse conductivity), (4) the external Lorentz force acting on their boundary surface depends on the orientation of their magnetic moment with respect to the external magnetic field, (5) when their mechanical equilibrium is disturbed, hydromagnetic oscillations can be generated. It is also suggested that the front side of all solar wind plasmoids which have penetrated into the magnetosphere is the inner edge of the magnetospheric boundary layer while the magnetopause is considered to be the surface where the magnetospheric plasma ceases to have a trapped pitch angle distribution.     

Helicopter-Borne Flux Measurements in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer Over Land – a Case Study

This case study introduces measurements of turbulent fluxes in a nocturnal boundary layer in North Germany with the new helicopter-borne turbulence measurement system HELIPOD, a detailed data analysis and examination in regard of systematic errors of the instrument, and some comparison with local similarity theory and experiments of the past, in order to confirm the occurrence of small vertical turbulent fluxes. The examined nocturnal boundary layer offered excellent conditions to analyse the quality of the measurement system. In this connection, a detailed look at a strong ground-based inversion disclosed small turbulent fluxes with a spectral maximum at ten metres wavelength or less, embedded in intermittent turbulence. For verification of these fluxes, the measurements were compared with well established results from past experiments. Local similarity theory was applied to calculate dimensionless variances of the turbulent quantities, which were found in good agreement with other observations. Since shear and stratification varied significantly on the horizontal flight legs due to global intermittency, a method was developed to determine vertical gradients on a horizontal flight pattern, by use of small fluctuations of the measurement height. With these locally determined gradients, gradient transport theory became applicable and the turbulent diffusivities for heat and momentum, the Richardson number, and the flux Richardson number were estimated within isolated strong turbulent outbursts. Within these outbursts the flux Richardson number was found between 0.1 and 0.2. The functional relationship between the gradient Richardson number and the turbulent Prandtl number agreed well with observations in past experiments and large eddy simulation. The impact of the stratification on the vertical turbulent exchange, as already described for the surface layer using Monin–Obukhov similarity, was analogously observed in the very stably stratified bulk flow when local scaling was applied.     

Incorporating Information About Edge Effects When Simulating Lithofacies

Some years ago, earth scientists came to realize that knowing more about the geology of an orebody or an oil reservoir makes it easier to make the appropriate decisions concerning mine planning or reservoir exploitation. Geostatistical techniques for simulating lithofacies—that is, the geometry of the geology—were developed as a result of this. These methods should be able to produce geological images that respect not only the anisotropies of the different lithofacies but also their spatial layout relative to one another. While indicator variograms ensure that anisotropies are respected, another tool needs to be incorporated in the simulation technique to reflect the relative spatial layout of the different lithofacies. We propose to use the concept of edge effects that define the position of one lithofacies relative to another. Simple tests using direct and cross indicator variograms confirm the presence or absence of edge effects. We investigate if and how edge effect information can be incorporated in the different indicator simulation techniques—sequential indicator simulations, simulated annealing, the truncated Gaussian method and plurigaussian simulations. Results show that the choice of simulation method must be guided by the edge effect characteristics of the experimental lithologic data.     

Structure and Mössbauer spectroscopy of barbosalite Fe2+Fe3+ 2 (PO4)2(OH)2 between 80 K and 300 K

Natural barbosalite Fe²⁺Fe³⁺ ₂ (PO₄)₂(OH)₂ from Bull Moose Mine, South Dakota, U.S.A., having ideal composition, was investigated with single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques, Mössbauer spectroscopy and SQUID magnetometry to redetermine crystal structure, valence state of iron and evolution of ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer parameter and to propose the magnetic structure at low temperatures. At 298?K the title compound is monoclinic, space group P2₁/n, a _o ?= 7.3294(16)?Å, b _o ?=?7.4921(17)?Å, c _o ?=?7.4148 (18)?Å, β?=?118.43(3)°, Z?=?2. No crystallographic phase transition was observed between 298?K and 110?K. Slight discontinuities in the temperature dependence of lattice parameters and bond angles in the range between 150?K and 180?K are ascribed to the magnetic phase transition of the title compound. At 298?K the Mössbauer spectrum of the barbosalite shows two paramagnetic components, typical for Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in octahedral coordination; the area ratio Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ is exactly two, corresponding to the ideal value. Both the Fe²⁺ and the Fe³⁺ sublattice order magnetically below 173?K and exhibit a fully developed magnetic pattern at 160?K. The electric field gradient at the Fe²⁺ site is distorted from axial symmetry with the direction of the magnetic field nearly perpendicular to V_zz, the main component of the electric field gradient. The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility exhibits strong antiferromagnetic ordering within the corner-sharing Fe³⁺-chains parallel to [101], whereas ferromagnetic coupling is assumed within the face-sharing [1?1?0] and [?1?1?0] Fe³⁺-Fe²⁺-Fe³⁺ trimer, connecting the Fe³⁺-chains to each other.     

Crowded field 3D spectroscopy

The quantitative spectroscopy of stellar objects in complex environments is mainly limited by the ability of separating the object from the background. Standard slit spectroscopy, restricting the field of view to one dimension, is obviously not the proper technique in general. The emerging Integral Field (3D) technique with spatially resolved spectra of a two‐dimensional field of view provides a great potential for applying advanced subtraction methods. In this paper an image reconstruction algorithm to separate point sources and a smooth background is applied to 3D data. Several performance tests demonstrate the photometric quality of the method. The algorithm is applied to real 3D observations of a sample Planetary Nebula in M31, whose spectrum is contaminated by the bright and complex galaxy background. The ability of separating sources is also studied in a crowded field in M33. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Integral field spectroscopy of QSO host galaxies

We describe a project to study the state of the ISM in ∼20 low redshift (z < 0.3) QSO host galaxies observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph. We describe the development of the method to access the stellar and gas components of the spectrum without the strong nuclear emission, in order to access the host galaxy properties in the central region. It shows that integral field spectroscopy promises to be very efficient in studying the gas distribution and its velocity field, and also the spatially resolved stellar population in the host galaxies of luminous AGN. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Fisheries and aquaculture industries involvement to control product health and quality safety to satisfy consumer-driven objectives on retail markets in Europe

Over the past years the export of agricultural and fishery products from developing countries has substantially increased to markets within the OECD. Retailers and importers are expanding their international operations to meet consumer demands for year-round delivery of products. Moreover, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the safety of food, including those derived from aquatic resources [FAO/NACA/WHO Joint Study Group, 1999. Report food safety issues associated with products from aquaculture. WHO Technical Report Series No 883: VII, pp. 1-55]. Governments and leading businesses are responding by imposing new safety regulations and standards to the international food system (e.g. HACCP, EUREP-GAP), product liability and labeling [Reilly, A., Howgate, P., K?ferstein, F., 1997. Safety hazards and the application of HACCP in aquaculture. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fish Inspection and Quality Control: A Global Focus, Arlington, VA, 19-24 May 1996. Technomic Publishing, Lancaster, PA, pp. 353-373]. Initial concerns for imports of aquacultural products from developing to industrialized countries focussed on bacterial contamination [Buras, N. 1993. Microbial safety of produce from wastewater-fed aquaculture. In: Pullin, R.V.C., Rosenthal, H., MacLean, J.L.(Eds.), Proceedings of ICLARM Conferences, vol. 31, pp. 285-295]. Today, if trade opportunities are to be maintained, these countries must adapt to a full array of regulations and standards. This paper describes four scenarios in aquaculture and fishing product trade between developing countries and countries in the European Union.     

Meridional Circulation and Global Solar Oscillations

We investigate the influence of large-scale meridional circulation on solar p modes by quasi-degenerate perturbation theory, as proposed by Lavely and Ritzwoller (Roy. Soc. Lond. Phil. Trans. Ser. A 339, 431, 1992). As an input flow we use various models of stationary meridional circulation obeying the continuity equation. This flow perturbs the eigenmodes of an equilibrium model of the Sun. We derive the signatures of the meridional circulation in the frequency multiplets of solar p modes. In most cases the meridional circulation leads to negative average frequency shifts of the multiplets. Further possibly observable effects are briefly discussed.     

Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan

Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two large longitudinal dunes. Indeed, had the Huygens probe trajectory been just 10 km north of where it actually was, images of large sand dunes would have been returned in place of the fluvially dissected terrain actually seen—illustrating the strong diversity of Titan's landscapes even at local scales.