Thermal emission spectroscopy (5.2-38 μm) of three Trojan asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope: Detection of fine-grained silicates

We present thermal emission spectra (5.2-38 μm) of the Trojan asteroids 624 Hektor, 911 Agamemnon, and 1172 Aneas. The observations used the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. Emissivity spectra are created by dividing the measured Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) by a model of the thermal continuum. We employ the Standard Thermal Model (STM), allowing physical parameters (e.g., radius and albedo) to vary in order to find the best thermal continuum fit to the SED. The best-fit effective radius (R) and visible geometric albedo (pv) for Hektor (R=110.0±7.3, ) and Aneas (R=69.1±5.1, ) agree very well with previous estimates, and for Agamemnon (R=71.5±5.2, ) we find slightly a smaller size and higher albedo than previously derived. Other thermal models (e.g., thermophysical) result in estimates of R and pv that vary a few percent from the STM, but the resulting emissivity spectra are identical. The emissivity spectra of all three asteroids display an emissivity plateau near 10-μm and another broader rise from ∼18 to 28 μm. We interpret these as indications of fine-grained silicates on the surfaces of these asteroids. The emissivity spectra more closely resemble emission spectra from cometary comae than those from solid surfaces and measured in the laboratory for powdered meteorites and regolith analogs. We hypothesize that the coma-like emission from the solid surfaces of trojans may be due to small silicate grains being imbedded in a relatively transparent matrix, or to a very under-dense (fairy-castle) surface structure. These hypotheses need to be tested by further laboratory and theoretical scattering work as well as continued thermal emission observations of asteroids.     

不同下垫面空气动力学参数的研究

文中利用中国科学院沙漠研究所与日本国家农业环境技术研究所合作于1990—1994年在中国内蒙古自治区奈曼市半干旱地区沙丘和植被区下垫面观测的微气象数据,根据Monin-Obukhov相似性理论,计算了重度干扰草原、中度干扰草原、轻度干扰草原、无干扰草原、沙丘、沙丘内地、草地、稻田、小麦田、大豆田和玉米田11种下垫面的空气动力学参数粗糙度长度z0,零平面位移d,摩擦速度u*,并分析了它们与水平风速u和Richardson数的关系,比较了不同人为干扰草原生态系统条件下的空气动力学特征。结果表明:地表生物量和覆盖率随着人为干扰强度的增加而减少。不同人为干扰下垫面的粗糙长度与生物量和植被高度以及地表起伏程度有着密切关系;Richardson数也是其影响因子。风速、粗糙度都与摩擦速度成正相关,但对于不同下垫面有所不同,从中可以看到草地对沙漠化有一定的防治作用。同一种下垫面不同时期的空气动力学参数也存在差异。这些结果对建立陆面过程和区域气候模式具有重要的意义。     

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF HEATING ANOMALY EFFECTS OF TIBETAN PLATEAU ON CIRCULATION IN SUMMER

A 5-layer numerical model with p-σ incorporated coordinate system and primitive equations is used to simulatethe effects of heating anomaly at and over the Tibetan(Qinghai-Xizang)Plateau on the circulations in East Asia in sum-mer,The model is described briefly in the text and the results are analysed in somewhat detail.Results show that the sur-face albedo,the drag coefficient,the evaporation rate and the ground temperature all have large influences on the circula-tion near the Plateau and in East Asia.When the heating at the surface increases,the Tibetan high in the uppertroposphere intensifies,too.Its area enlarges and its axis tilts to northwest.The upper tropical easterly increase andshifts to north.The southwesterly in the lower troposphere,in consistence,also increases.The cross-equatorial low-lev-el currents along Somali and South India are influenced to increase their speeds while those over North Australia de-crease.The land low over the Asian Continent deepens.Meanwhile the upward motions over the land of east China andover the Indo-China Peninsula intensify and therefore the precipitation over those areas increases.However,along thecoastal area of China the upward motions and therefore the precipitation decrease.Atmospheric heat source anomaly has large influence on the circulation,too.Simulated results indicate that heatsource anomaly in the lower atmosphere over the Plateau influences the intensity and the position of the monsoon circu-lation while that in the upper atmosphere only affects the intensity.The heating status over the Plateau has slight influ-ence on the westerly jet,north of the Plateau,while it has strong effect on the subtropical jet at the mid and low latitudes.     

The F-type asteroids with small inversion angles of polarization

UBVRI polarimetric observations carried out in 1997-2004 for the F-type Asteroids 302 Clarissa, 419 Aurelia, 704 Interamnia, and 762 Pulcova (V band only) are presented. Asteroid 419 Aurelia is characterized by a negative polarization branch which is unusual for low-albedo asteroids. Its depth is about 1%, while the inversion angle, close to 14°, reaches the smallest value ever observed for asteroids. This is the first definite example of a minor body exhibiting a considerable decrease of both the depth and width of the negative polarization branch in comparison with polarization properties of other low-albedo bodies, mimicking a behavior previously found in laboratory measurements of extremely dark surfaces. The F-type Asteroids 302 Clarissa and 704 Interamnia are also characterized by unusually small inversion angles compared to other asteroid types, while Asteroid 762 Pulcova seems to have an ordinary negative polarization branch. Laboratory measurements of low-albedo samples and computer simulations of light scattering by particles of irregular shapes were made to interpret observational data. We find that an optical homogeneity of regolith microstructure at scales of the order of visible light wavelengths may be responsible for relatively small values of the depth of the negative polarization branch and of the inversion angle. Peculiar features of the F-type asteroids compared to other taxonomic classes are discussed.     

基于大涡模拟的小区气候态精细化风环境模拟试验

对具有复杂下垫面的小区精细化风环境进行数值模拟是当前城市气象研究的热点,而针对具有复杂地形的山地型城市（如重庆）的研究还比较匮乏。本文采用能显式分辨下垫面陡峭地形和复杂建筑物的计算流体力学（CFD）模式对重庆市渝北区龙湖社区气候态下的精细化风环境进行高分辨率的数值模拟。结果表明,下垫面能显著调节小区内风场的分布,风速大值区主要出现在九龙湖等开阔区域以及与中尺度背景入流方向一致的街道中。在夏季,小区整体风场以东南风为主,而其他3个季节则以偏东风为主。4个季节中,夏季小区内的风速最大,平均风速为0.3 m/s左右,局地能出现大于背景风的风速,可达0.8 m/s;其他3个季节的风速则较弱,区域平均的风速在0.2 m/s左右。不同的建筑物布局对局地风环境的影响也不同:单个孤立高层建筑迎风面的近地面存在明显地绕流,局地风速有所增加,而在背风面则形成尾流区,水平风速较低;在低矮分散的建筑群,建筑物的整体高度不高,区域内流场相对来说比较一致,风速较大,有利于小区的通风;在密集高层建筑群内,由于建筑物群本身的布局比较封闭,加之不同建筑物的环流场存在相互干扰及影响,使得小区近地面风速几乎为零,不利于小区通风和污染物扩散。建筑物的这些影响在城市冠层内尤为明显,高度越高这种影响越弱。     

The surface composition of Trojan asteroids: constraints set by scattering theory

We present the results of spectral modeling of 17 Trojan asteroids. The surface composition of this group of objects (located just beyond the main belt, trapped in Jupiter's stable Lagrange points) remains uncertain due to an absence of diagnostic absorption features in their spectra. We quantitatively analyze spectra of these objects covering the range 0.3-4.0 μm using the formulation for scattering in a particulate medium developed by Hapke. Since the widest spectral range possible is desired to provide the most robust results, recently measured near-IR spectra are combined with previously published visible and near-IR data. These composite spectra are converted to and modeled in terms of geometric albedo to provide the additional constraint of the absolute brightness of the asteroids. It is important that this modeling is performed for a large number of objects, and results are derived based on trends among best-fit models. Under this rigorous examination, we find that it is unlikely that the red spectral slope is a result of organics on the surfaces, due mainly to the lack of absorptions in the L-band. Instead, anhydrous silicates adequately describe the spectral characteristics of this group of objects. A significant fraction of carbonaceous material is also likely present, but is not responsible for the red spectral slope in these models. Also, using these models, we estimate that these surfaces contain at most a few wt% of H₂O ice and no more than 10-30 wt% of hydrated silicates.     

The determination of potential difference by the joint application of measured and synthetical gravity data: a case study in Hungary

In an elementary approach every geometrical height difference between the staff points of a levelling line should have a corresponding average g value for the determination of potential difference in the Earth’s gravity field. In practice this condition requires as many gravity data as the number of staff points if linear variation of g is assumed between them. Because of the expensive fieldwork, the necessary data should be supplied from different sources. This study proposes an alternative solution, which is proved at a test bed located in the Mecsek Mountains, Southwest Hungary, where a detailed gravity survey, as dense as the staff point density (~1 point/34 m), is available along a 4.3-km-long levelling line. In the first part of the paper the effect of point density of gravity data on the accuracy of potential difference is investigated. The average g value is simply derived from two neighbouring g measurements along the levelling line, which are incrementally decimated in the consecutive turns of processing. The results show that the error of the potential difference between the endpoints of the line exceeds 0.1 mm in terms of length unit if the sampling distance is greater than 2 km. Thereafter, a suitable method for the densification of the decimated g measurements is provided. It is based on forward gravity modelling utilising a high-resolution digital terrain model, the normal gravity and the complete Bouguer anomalies. The test shows that the error is only in the order of 10⁻³mm even if the sampling distance of g measurements is 4 km. As a component of the error sources of levelling, the ambiguity of the levelled height difference which is the Euclidean distance between the inclined equipotential surfaces is also investigated. Although its effect accumulated along the test line is almost zero, it reaches 0.15 mm in a 1-km-long intermediate section of the line.     

二次曲面与最小二乘配置的组合模型在GPS高程异常拟合中的应用

在工程实践应用中,为了有效利用GPS高程数据,减少对传统水准测量的依赖,提高GPS高程异常的拟合精度便显得十分重要。为此,本文在介绍二次曲面拟合和最小二乘配置拟合基本原理分析、算法过程推导的基础上,提出了一种新的高程异常拟合方法。首先在二次曲面拟合的基础上,计算得到原始观测数据与拟合数据之间的残差序列,然后采用最小二乘配置模型对包括二次曲面拟合模型误差的综合误差进行优化减弱,最后得到新的高程异常。通过实例,将二次曲面拟合法,最小二乘配置法与文中提出的新方法进行比较分析。结果表明：新的组合方法的拟合预测精度要明显优于最小二乘配置及二次曲面拟合。     

小行星深空探测的科学意义和展望

太阳系深空探测活动方兴未艾,小行星探测已成为主要发展方向。通过回顾近年来几个主要的国际小行星空间探测计划以及取得的研究成果,总结了小行星深空探测从早期的近距离飞越到小行星低空绕轨勘探,到目前的表面软着陆和采集样品返回的发展进程。同时深空探测也给行星科学研究者提出了新的挑战,鉴于目前行星科学的研究热点,详细叙述了小行星深空探测急需解决的重大科学问题及其科学意义,随后简单介绍了未来小行星深空探测计划的科学目标,为小行星深空探测的具体任务提供了科学目标选择方向。最后呼吁我国及时介入小行星深空探测,提升航天能力,开拓深空领域。