Hard X-ray emission of the Earth's atmosphere: Monte Carlo simulations

We perform Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic ray-induced hard X-ray radiation from the Earth's atmosphere. We find that the shape of the spectrum emergent from the atmosphere in the energy range 25–300 keV is mainly determined by Compton scatterings and photoabsorption, and is almost insensitive to the incident cosmic ray spectrum. We provide a fitting formula for the hard X-ray surface brightness of the atmosphere as would be measured by a satellite-borne instrument, as a function of energy, solar modulation level, geomagnetic cut-off rigidity and zenith angle. A recent measurement by the INTEGRAL observatory of the atmospheric hard X-ray flux during the occultation of the cosmic X-ray background by the Earth agrees with our prediction within 10 per cent. This suggests that Earth observations could be used for in-orbit calibration of future hard X-ray telescopes. We also demonstrate that the hard X-ray spectra generated by cosmic rays in the crusts of the Moon, Mars and Mercury should be significantly different from that emitted by the Earth's atmosphere.     

Keck NIRC2 photometry of Uranus, uranian satellites, and Triton in August 2004

On August 11, 2004, we made adaptive optics observations of the Uranus and Neptune systems with the Keck II Near Infrared Camera. Uranus and Triton were observed in three broadband filters (J, H, and K-prime) and four narrowband filters [Hcont, FeII, He1_B, and H2(v=1-0)]. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, and Oberon were observed in the four narrowband filters only. To achieve the highest possible photometric accuracy, and thus the tightest possible constraints on atmospheric aerosol models and gas mixing ratios, we used aperture photometry that accounted for the dependence of point-spread functions and growth curves on the adaptive optics reference object, and accounted for recently determined phase curves of each object. The satellite albedos we determined were compared with published relative spectra to verify the relative consistency of our observations, which were subsequently used to convert published relative spectra to absolute spectra. We used these absolute spectra and synthetic photometry methods to compare published values in dissimilar photometric systems to each other and to our observations. We find our satellite albedos in best agreement with photometry from Karkoschka [Karkoschka, E., 2001. Icarus 151, 51-68], which is the best characterized and most contemporaneous data set. Our estimated absolute accuracy of 5% to 8% is consistent with these intercomparisons. We obtained the following ring-subtracted and discrete feature-free albedos of Uranus: J: (1.66±0.07)×¹⁰⁻², H: (1.09±0.05)×¹⁰⁻², K^′: (2.08±0.15)×¹⁰⁻⁴, Hcont: (3.71±0.23)×¹⁰⁻², FeII: (1.14±0.07)×¹⁰⁻³, He1_B: (2.06±0.16)×¹⁰⁻⁴, and H2: (1.27±0.10)×¹⁰⁻⁴.     

Role of Carbonic Anhydrase as an Activator in Carbonate Rock Dissolution and Its Implication for Atmospheric CO_2 Sink

The conversion of CO2 into H+ and is a relatively slow reaction. Hence, its kinetics may be rate determiningin carbonate rock dissolution. Carbonic anhydrase (CA), which is widespread in nature, was used to catalyze the CO2 conversion process in dissolution experiments of limestone and dolomite. It was found that the rate of dissolution increases by a factor of about 10 after the addition of CA at a high CO2 partial pressure (Pco2) for limestone and about 3 at low Pcoj for dolomite. This shows that reappraisal is necessary for the importance of chemical weathering (including carbonate rock dissolution and silicate weathering) in the atmospheric CO2 sink and the mysterious missing sink in carbon cycling. It is doubtless that previous studies of weathering underestimated weathering rates due to the ignorance of CA as an activator in weathering, thus the contribution of weathering to the atmospheric CO2 sink is also underestimated. This finding also shows the need to examine the situ distribution and activ     

亚热带森林岩溶区土壤CO_2迁移动态初步研究

贵州茂兰是研究森林覆盖下岩溶表层系统结构特征、运行规律的重要基地。本文初步研究了该地区碳迁移的若干特征 :(1)土壤剖面中CO2 浓度变化。秋、冬季土下CO2 浓度 ,5 0cm处始终高于 2 0cm处 ,而在春、夏季土壤剖面中CO2 浓度变化幅度大 ,2 0cm处的浓度时常高出5 0cm处。土下 2 0cm、 5 0cm处CO2 浓度在不同季节的变化趋势是夏季 (32 833× 10 - 6、 386 6 6× 10 - 6)春季 (2 4 4 16× 10 - 6,2 880 0× 10 - 6)秋季 (6 4 5 0× 10 - 6) ,142 16× 10 - 6>冬季 (3833× 10 - 6,8833× - 6) ,土下CO2 浓度变化趋势与温度和降雨量有较好的正相关关系。 2 0cm处的CO2 浓度变化与温度的相关系数r =0 89,与降雨量的相关系数r =0 70 ;5 0cm处的CO2 浓度变化与温度的相关系数r =0 6 9,与降雨量的相关系数r =0 6 6。 (2 )土壤呼吸释放CO2 的速率有类似的变化规律 :夏季为 339 6 8mg m- 2 h- 1、为 2 81 74mg m- 2 h- 1、秋季为 2 0 6 5 9mg m- 2 h- 1、冬季为 6 5 5 3mg m- 2 h- 1。年均排放量为 1 96kg m- 2 yr- 1。 (3)随水排泄HCO3 - 1是岩溶表层泉碳迁移的重要组分。表层泉水的HCO3 - 1浓度的季节变化与气温、月降雨量、土下 2 0cm处CO2浓度存在着负相关 ,其相关系数r =- 0 5 7、     

甲烷被黑云母氧化形成二氧化碳的实验研究与意义

CH4和CO2是岩浆热液系统中的重要挥发组分，两者之间的转换机制是一个重要的科学问题，在碳循环和流体作用等诸多方面都具有重要意义。例如在成矿过程中，CH4和CO2的加入会改变成矿流体性质，CO2还能缓冲流体pH，对成矿元素的迁移和沉淀富集有重要影响。前人通过研究瑞士阿尔卑斯山中部石炭纪、二叠纪、三叠纪地层裂隙石英中的流体包裹体发现，在较高温度条件下，黑云母的绿泥石化能将CH4氧化生成CO2，然而缺少相关的实验地球化学证据。因此，本项研究选择黑云母作为氧化剂开展了CH4的氧化实验研究。通过对黑云母- 甲烷- 水体系、黑云母- 碳化铝- 水体系以及甲烷- 水体系的实验研究发现，证实了黑云母能够将CH4氧化为CO2，起始反应温度约150℃，远低于地质研究结果。对于黑云母- 甲烷- 水体系和甲烷- 水体系实验，采用熔融毛细硅管作为反应腔，而对于黑云母- 碳化铝- 水体系实验，则采用粗石英管作为反应腔。对反应后黑云母残片的能谱分析表明，变价元素Fe含量大量降低，表明黑云母中三价Fe作为氧化剂参与了反应。这一结果为地质系统中黑云母等铁锰暗色矿物在中低温条件下氧化CH4形成CO2提供了实验和理论支撑。而CH4向CO2的转变过程，将改变热液流体的性质，有利于富CO2成矿流体的形成，对金属矿床形成具有重要意义。     

Retrieval of tropospheric co profiles using correlation radiometer: I. retrieval experiments for a clear atmosphere

This paper discusses the retrieval scheme associated with the gas correlated radiometer- MOPITT which will be on board of EOS-AM1 to measure the global vertical profiles of car-bon monoxide. The vertical resolution and retrieval errors caused by errors in the temperature profiles and in the surface temperature have been assessed. The main results are: a. Assuming the noise equivalent radiance (NER) of 1.8 × 105 W m-2 sr-1, the surface tem?perature can be deduced from the wide band signals with uncertainly less than 1 K, and the atmospheric term of the modulated signal can be deduced with errors almost equal to the NER which does not significantly increase errors in the retrieved CO profiles. b. With typical uncertainty in temperature profiles, errors in the retrieved profiles at lati-? tudes lower than 70o are generally less than 20% with the first guess of 100 ppbv. (If a better first guess was used, the errors may decrease). c. By incorporating the total column CO amount derived from the reflected solar radiation in 2.3 μm spectral region into the retrieval, the accuracy of the retrieved CO profile below 6 km may be greatly improved. d. In the retrieval experiment with 10 CO profiles representing the typical CO profiles, the r.m.s. relative / absolute errors of the retrieved CO profiles are about 10% / 15-20 ppbv.     

γ射线噪Blazar天体中尘埃的作用

利用具有多波段谱指数及流量观测资料的５９ 个Ｂｌａｚａｒ 天体作为样本,我们研究了各波段流量之间,谱指数之间的可能的相关性。新的可能的限制已从理论上进行了深入地讨论。结果暗示：（１） 同步自康普顿机制是Ｂｌａｚａｒ 天体γ射线辐射的主要机制。（２） 相对论电子与吸收积盘热光子的逆康普顿散射是Ｂｌａｚａｒ 天体γ射线产生的另一个重要机制。（３）ＢＬＬａｃ 天体不是“纯非热辐射”的天体,它们也具有强的热辐射。     

1998年4月15日微波爆发观测

北京天文台１ ．０２ ．０ＧＨｚ 太阳射电频谱仪从１９９４ 年开始观测至１９９８ 年９ 月记录到太阳射电爆发１７１ 个,２ ．６３ ．８ＧＨｚ 太阳射电频谱仪１９９６ 年９ 月投入观测至１９９８ 年９ 月,记录到１４６ 个太阳射电爆发。１９９８ 年４ 月１５ 日太阳射电爆发同时在这两台频谱仪上记录到。这个事件在时间和频率上显示了丰富的幅度和结构的变化。发现了微波Ⅲ型爆发对群,并存在着丰富的快速活动现象。取得了高时间分辨率、高质量的动态谱资料,为研究耀斑各种尺度的时间及空间演化过程提供了丰富的信息。     

E-monitoring the nature of water

ABSTRACT

The critical need for hydrological observations in support of water resources management, particularly during extreme events, has transformed traditional methods of hydrological data management. This transformation has given rise to a framework of e-monitoring the hydrological cycle, the aim of which is to improve understanding of the nature of water. New trends in data science, coupled with increasing technological evolution, make the new generation of data systems more agile and responsive to the needs and expectations for efficient and effective data sharing and service delivery. The WMO Hydrological Observing System was designed around the integration of observations, data exchange, research, data processing, modelling and forecasting, in such a way that societal needs for disaster risk reduction, improved sustainability of environmental resources, climate resilience and economic growth can be effectively met. With its implementation of conceptual functionalities for sustainable data management, the WHOS operational architecture is hydrology’s system for the future.