Observations Of Scattered Light From Cometary Dust And Their Interpretation

This review begins with a discussion of the techniques needed for observations of scattered light from cometary dust. After an introduction into the basic concepts of the scattering process, observations of the phase curves of brightness, colour and polarization are covered. Images of colour and polarization are presented and the observed relation of colour and polarization in jets and shells is discussed. The interpretation of the measurements is based on the power law size distributions of dust grains observed from space. The power index must lie between 2 and 4 to provide the mass budget and visibility of the dust coma in accordance with the basic facts of cometary physics. Application of mechanical (radiation pressure) theory to cometary images allows us to derive related power law distributions for comets not explored by spacecraft. Grain scattering models are presented and compared with observations. A prediction is made of the spatial distribution of Stokes parameters U and V in the presence of aligned particles. Up to now such patterns have not been observed. Future work should include the exploration of comets at small and possibly very small phase angles and a detailed comparison of polarization and colour images of comets with thermal images and with models based on mechanical theory. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Grain alignment in dense interstellar environments: spectropolarimetry of the 4.67-μm CO-ice feature in the field star Elias 16 (Taurus dark cloud)

We present spectropolarimetry of the solid CO feature at 4.67 μm along the line of sight to Elias 16, a field star background to the Taurus dark cloud. A clear increase in polarization is observed across the feature with the peak of polarization shifted in wavelength relative to the peak of absorption. This shows that dust grains in dense, cold environments (temperatures ∼20 K or less) can align and produce polarization by dichroic absorption. For a grain model, consisting of a core with a single mantle, the polarization feature is best modelled by a thick CO mantle, possibly including 10 per cent water-ice, with the volume ratio of mantle to bare grain of ∼5. Radiative torques could be responsible for the grain alignment provided the grain radius is at least 0.5 μm. This would require the grain cores to have a radius of at least 0.3 μm, much larger than grain sizes in the diffuse interstellar medium. Sizes of this order seem reasonable on the basis of independent evidence for grain growth by coagulation, as well as mantle formation, inside dense clouds.     

A reanalysis of the Apollo light scattering observations, and implications for lunar exospheric dust

Conspicuous excess brightness, exceeding that expected from coronal and zodiacal light (CZL), was observed above the lunar horizon in the Apollo 15 coronal photographic sequence acquired immediately after orbital sunset (surface sunrise). This excess brightness systematically faded as the Command Module moved farther into shadow, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the CZL background. These observations have previously been attributed to scattering by ultrafine dust grains (radius ∼0.1 microns) in the lunar exosphere, and used to obtain coarse estimates of dust concentration at several altitudes and an order-of-magnitude estimate of ∼10⁻⁹ g cm⁻² for the column mass of dust near the terminator, collectively referred to as model “0”.We have reanalyzed the Apollo 15 orbital sunset sequence by incorporating the known sightline geometries in a Mie-scattering simulation code, and then inverting the measured intensities to retrieve exospheric dust concentration as a function of altitude and distance from the terminator. Results are presented in terms of monodisperse (single grain size) dust distributions. For a grain radius of 0.10 microns, our retrieved dust concentration near the terminator (∼0.010 cm⁻³) is in agreement with model “0” at z=10 km, as is the dust column mass (∼3–6×10⁻¹⁰ g cm⁻²), but the present results indicate generally larger dust scale heights, and much lower concentrations near 1 km (<0.08 cm⁻³ vs. a few times 0.1 cm⁻³ for model “0"). The concentration of dust at high altitudes (z>50 km) is virtually unconstrained by the measurements. The dust exosphere extends into shadow a distance somewhere between 100 and 200 km from the terminator, depending on the uncertain contribution of CZL to the total brightness. These refined estimates of the distribution and concentration of exospheric dust above the lunar sunrise terminator should place new and more rigorous constraints on exospheric dust transport models, as well as provide valuable support for upcoming missions such as the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE).     

中国西北部“4.5”沙尘暴过程中尺度低压的数值模拟

利用改进型ＰＳＵ／ＮＣＡＲ中尺度数值模式（ＭＭ４标准版），取模式水平格距４０ｋｍ，４６×６１网格，垂直方向ａ取１５层，即从地面到模式顶（１００ｈＰａ），σ＝０．０、０．１、０．２、０．３、０．４、０．５、０．６、０．７、０．７８、０．８４、０．８９、０．９３、０．９６、０．９８、０．９９、１．００，采用ＮＣＡＲ的３０＇×３０＇地形资料，以常规观测资料作为初始场，较好地模拟了此次沙尘暴过程的海平面气压的演变和分布，特别是张掖、柴达本盆地以及敦煌附近的三个中低压。同时，模拟了张掖中低压与蒙古冷高压之间的甘肃河西沙尘暴东大风。敏感性试验表明，沙尘暴中低压的形成发展主要是受于物理过程制约；沙尘暴中尺度系统的研究与暴雨中尺度系统的研究是有区别的，积云对流参数化并不是特别重要，在设计研究沙尘暴的数值模式中，应当合理地处理其他的热力、动力过程及大气外强迫源的作用。模式水平格距、地形真实程度对模拟中低压的位置、中心强度有重要贡献；下垫面变化中低压强度有一定影响。张掖热低压的形成发展主要是在有利的环境形势下，特殊地势起了重要作用，表现为直接动力强迫和间接热力强迫。     

黄土高原中东部沙尘与非沙尘天气花粉组成及来源范围

通过黄土高原两个不同地区(浑源、洛川)沙尘与非沙尘天气花粉组合的对比来探讨主要花粉类型最大传播距离。结果表明：沙尘天气花粉汇集量明显高于非沙尘天气,特别是蒿属和藜科花粉,沙尘天气平均是非沙尘天气的3倍以上。随风速增大,花粉可能的最大源区范围明显增大。风速低于3.3 m/s时,蒿属和藜科花粉多来自100 km范围内,其他类型花粉来源范围不超过20 km;风速大于5.9 m/s时,蒿属和藜科花粉源区范围增至300 km以上;其他类型花粉不超过100 km。风速达到12.5 m/s时,蒿属及藜科最大花粉源区范围可达1000 km,其他类型花粉不超过300 km。浑源地区不论平均风速还是最大风速均明显高于洛川地区,因此,主要花粉类型可能的最大源区范围达200 km,大于洛川地区(低于100 km)。     

Chemical Characteristics of Carbonaceous Aerosols During Dust Storms over Xi＇an in China

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols including CC (carbonate carbon), OC (organic carbon), and EC (elemental carbon) were investigated at Xi'an, China, near Asian dust source regions in spring 2002. OC varied between 8.2 and 63.7 μg m-3, while EC ranged between 2.4 and 17.2 μ m-3 during the observation period. OC variations followed a similar pattern to EC and the correlation coeflcient between OC and EC is 0.89 (n=31). The average percentage of total carbon (TC, sum of CC, OC, and EC) in PM2.5 during dust storm (DS) events was 13.6%, which is lower than that during non-dust storm (NDS) periods (22.7%). CC, OC, and EC accounted for 12.9%, 70.7%, and 16.4% of TC during DS events, respectively. The average ratio of OC/EC was 5.0 in DS events and 3.3 in NDS periods. The OC-EC correlation (R2=0.76, n=6) was good in DS events, while it was stronger (R2=0.90, n=25) in NDS periods. The percentage of water-soluble OC (WSOC) in TC accounted for 15.7%, and varied between 13.3% and 22.3% during DS events. The distribution of eight carbon fractions indicated that local emissions such as motor vehicle exhaust were the dominant contributors to carbonaceous particles. During DS events, soil dust dominated the chemical composition, contributing 69% to the PM2.5 mass, followed by organic matter (12.8%), sulfate (4%), EC (2.2%), and chloride (1.6%). Consequently, CC was mainly entrained by Asian dust. However, even in the atmosphere near Asian dust source regions, OC and EC in atmospheric dust were controlled by local emission rather than the transport of Asian dust.     

大气CO2浓度升高对土壤中不同粒级碳的影响

不同粒级土壤中的碳有着不同的周转规律，在高CO2浓度条件下，它们含量的变化将在一定程度上反映土壤碳是累积还是减少，对明确土壤碳的变化趋势有重要意义．采用田间培养试验初步模拟研究在高CO2浓度条件下土壤不同粒级碳的分布．结果表明，加入秸秆培养1年，由于CO2浓度升高的原因导致在低氮（LN）、常规氮（NN）和高氮（HN）水平下土壤中碳分别增加0．01、1．10、1．22g／kg，表现为粒级〈53μm土壤颗粒中碳分别增加1．53、2．19、2．70g／kg．粒级〈53μmm土壤颗粒碳量的增加，主要是由于其重量分配百分数显著增加36．2％，碳浓度增加5．4％；粒级〉250μm和250～53μm土壤颗粒部分虽然其碳浓度分别增加20．8％和17．3％（P〈0．05），怛由于重量分配百分数分别显著降低22．8％和36．1％，结果碳量降低．试验表明高CO2浓度导致不同粒级土壤的分配及碳浓度的变化；高氮施肥水平下有增加土壤碳量特别是小粒级土壤碳量的趋势．     

粒子群神经网络混合模型在农用地分等中的应用

针对常规农用地分等模型因子权重计算存在人为干扰和神经网络模型自身优化过程中易陷入局部最优的情况,该文综合了BP神经网络非线性权重数据挖掘特性和粒子群的全局优化能力,建立了农用地分等计算的粒子群神经网络混合模型(PSO-BP网络模型),并应用于广东省揭西县农用地分等计算中,发现PSO-BP网络模型能避免定级因子权重确定的人为干扰,同时具有较高的优化效率,应用效果较好。     

Influence of air masses on particle number concentration and size distribution at Mt. Waliguan, Qinghai Province, China

Particle size distribution of 12–500 nm was measured at Mt. Waliguan, China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory, from Aug. in 2005 to May in 2007. 72-hr back-trajectories at 100-m arrival height above ground level for the same period were calculated at 6:00, 12:00, and 21:00 (Beijing Time) for each day using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT-4) model developed by NOAA/ARL. It was found that air mass sources significantly impact particle number concentration and size distribution at Mt. Waliguan. Cluster analysis of back-trajectories show that higher Aitken mode particle number concentration was observed when air masses came from or passed by the northeastern section of Mt. Waliguan, with short trajectory length. High number concentration of nucleation mode was associated with air masses from clean regions, with long trajectory length     

Monitoring Mongolia Gobi dust transport using OMI data

The characteristics of long-distance dust transport from Asia to the United States over the Pacific Ocean are statistically analyzed using OMI AI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument Aerosol Index) data during 2005–2007. The results show that there is a high correlation of AI (the correlation coefficients are as high as 0.83 in March, 0.62 in April and 0.54 in May) between the Mongolia Gobi Desert and the west coast region of the United States (40°–50°N, 120°–130°W), indicating a strong source-receptor area relationship. Through calculating the lag correlation coefficient of the dust propagation time, we determined that the dust propagation time from the Mongolia Gobi Desert to the west coast of the United States is about 6–7 days at the 99% confidence level.