On the properties of O and O2 ions in a hybrid model and in Mars Express IMA/ASPERA-3 data: A case study

We have performed a numerical simulation to analyze the energy spectra of escaping planetary O⁺ and O₂⁺ ions at Mars. The simulated time-energy spectrograms were generated along orbit no. 555 (June 27, 2004) of Mars Express when its Ion Mass Analyzer (IMA)/ASPERA-3 ion instrument detected escaping planetary ions. The simulated time-energy spectrograms are in general agreement with the hypothesis that planetary O⁺ and O₂⁺ ions far from Mars are accelerated by the convective electric field. The HYB-Mars hybrid model simulation also shows that O⁺ ions originating from the ionized hot oxygen corona result in a high-energy (E>1 keV) O⁺ ion population that exists very close to Mars. In addition, the simulation also results in a low-energy (E<0.1 keV) planetary ion population near the pericenter. In the analyzed orbit, IMA did not observe a clear high-energy planetary ion or a clear low-energy planetary ion population near Mars. One possible source for this discrepancy may be the Martian magnetic crustal anomalies because MEX passed over a strong crustal field region near the pericenter, but the hybrid model does not include the magnetic crustal anomalies.     

Advanced method to derive the IMF direction near Mars from cycloidal proton distributions

In a previous paper, we showed a method for deriving the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation from the velocity distribution of ring-like distributed ions as measured by the Ion Mass Analyser (IMA) on board Mars Express (MEX). This method has been improved so that one can derive the IMF orientation from a very limited portion of the ring distributions, i.e., only the highest energy portion of the ring distribution. This method uses the maximum variance direction L instead of the minimum variance direction N, which are derived from manually selected ring data. Because IMA's count rate for a semi-persistent ring distribution is nearly proportional to energy squire, L is most likely aligned to the tangential direction of the ring distribution at its highest energy, and this tangential direction is parallel or anti-parallel to the electric field. A vector product of L and the solar wind direction (X) gives the IMF orientation projected to the Y-Z plane. The tilt angle of IMF toward the X direction from the Y-Z plane is the same as the angle between the X direction and the ring plane, and is obtained from two methods when the initial speed of the ring ions is estimated to be much smaller than the solar wind speed: (1) angle between the velocity of ring's maximum energy portion and the solar wind vector, and (2) energy ratio between the solar wind and the maximum energy of the ring. The present method is applied to the IMA data from 3 June 2005 (0605-0640 UT) when the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) magnetometer data are available. Using these data, we also tried to determine the sign of the IMF direction by estimating the evolution direction of the ring ions.     

Mars Express and Venus Express multi-point observations of geoeffective solar flare events in December 2006

In December 2006, a single active region produced a series of proton solar flares, with X-ray class up to the X9.0 level, starting on 5 December 2006 at 10:35 UT. A feature of this X9.0 flare is that associated MeV particles were observed at Venus and Mars by Venus Express (VEX) and Mars Express (MEX), which were ∼80° and ∼125° east of the flare site, respectively, in addition to the Earth, which was ∼79° west of the flare site. On December 5, 2006, the plasma instruments ASPERA-3 and ASPERA-4 on board MEX and VEX detected a large enhancement in their respective background count levels. This is a typical signature of solar energetic particle (SEP) events, i.e., intensive MeV particle fluxes. The timings of these enhancements were consistent with the estimated field-aligned travel time of particles associated with the X9.0 flare that followed the Parker spiral to reach Venus and Mars. Coronal mass ejection (CME) signatures that might be related to the proton flare were twice identified at Venus within <43 and <67 h after the flare. Although these CMEs did not necessarily originate from the X9.0 flare on December 5, 2006, they most likely originated from the same active region because these characteristics are very similar to flare-associated CMEs observed on the Earth. These observations indicate that CME and flare activities on the invisible side of the Sun may affect terrestrial space weather as a result of traveling more than 90° in both azimuthal directions in the heliosphere. We would also like to emphasize that during the SEP activity, MEX data indicate an approximately one-order of magnitude enhancement in the heavy ion outflow flux from the Martian atmosphere. This is the first observation of the increase of escaping ion flux from Martian atmosphere during an intensive SEP event. This suggests that the solar EUV flux levels significantly affect the atmospheric loss from unmagnetized planets.     

Climate deterioration in the Eastern Mediterranean as revealed by ion microprobe analysis of a speleothem that grew from 2.2 to 0.9 ka in Soreq Cave, Israel

Analysis of oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) by ion microprobe resolves a sub-annual climate record for the Eastern Mediterranean from a Soreq Cave stalagmite that grew between 2.2 and 0.9 ka. In contrast to conventional drill-sampling methods that yield a total variation of 1.0‰ in δ¹⁸O_calcite values across our sample, the methods described here reveal up to 2.15‰ variation within single annual growth bands. Values of δ¹⁸O measured by ion microprobe vary in a regular saw-tooth pattern that correlates with annual, fluorescent growth banding where calcite grades from light to dark fluorescence. Modern records of precipitation and of cave dripwater indicate that variable δ¹⁸O_calcite values record regular seasonal differences in δ¹⁸O_rainfall modified by mixing in the vadose zone. Large differences in δ¹⁸O values measured across a single band (i.e., between the dark and light fluorescent calcite, or Δ¹⁸O_dark-light) are interpreted to indicate wetter years, while smaller differences represent drier years. Oxygen isotopes record: 1) month-scale growth increments, 2) changes in Δ¹⁸O_dark-light that represent seasonality, 3) a systematic, long-term decrease in maximum Δ¹⁸O_dark-light values, and 4) an overall increase in average δ¹⁸O_calcite values through time. These results suggest a drying of regional climate that coincides with the decline of the Roman and Byzantine Empires in the Levant region.     

Evaluation of Jordanian faujasite tuff by comparison with other natural and synthetic zeolites

 The evaluation of the Jordanian faujasite tuff in wastewater treatment is investigated by comparison with synthetic faujasite (13X) and clinoptilolite-rich tuff. The material used (JORD-FAUJ) is concentrated by mineral processing techniques. It has a faujasite content of 57% and phillipsite content of 35%. Thorough characterization of the JORD-FAUJ revealed the high suitability of the product for use in column operation. It either compares closely or gives better thermal stability, attrition resistance, acid resistance, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and water absorption capacity, when compared with products already recommended in column operation. The study has also revealed that the JORD-FAUJ competes efficiently in ammonium removal with the synthetic faujasite 13X and clinoptilolite-rich tuff and gives similar performance. JORD-FAUJ gave a very high performance in removing Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni from wastewater, equivalent to 83–100% of that of faujasite 13X and much higher than the clinoptilolite-rich tuff. Received: 13 April 2000 · Accepted: 1 August 2000     

大磁暴中环电流离子成分的变化及其与磁暴演化的关系

利用CRRES/MICS的观测数据，研究了磁暴期间内磁层离子成分的变化.对1991年两个典型磁暴和12个大磁暴的分析表明，组成暴时环电流的离子可以分成两组，一组由O⁺、低能H⁺和He⁺组成，起源于电离层(IOP)；另一组为高能H⁺和He⁺⁺，主要来自太阳风(SOP).宁静时环电流主要成分为SOP，大磁暴主相极大时环电流的主要成分是IOP.大磁暴期间离子可被注入到很低的高度(L=3-4).IOP对环电流的贡献随磁暴强度增大而增加，在大磁暴主相极大时可达80%(数密度).IOP中O⁺的快速增减是导致Dst指数在磁暴主相期间快速下降和恢复相中快速增长的主要原因.小磁暴中(D_st＞-50nT)O⁺对环电流的贡献可以忽略不计.     

Theoretical and experimental study of time domain-induced polarization in water-saturated sands

A theoretical model of spectral-induced polarization (IP) of sand is presented. In the proposed model, contacts of sand grains and intergrain solution-filled space are considered as electrical current passages of varying thickness, which differ in values of ion transport number. Ion-selective narrow passages are considered as active zones, large passages as passive. The proposed model describes spectral IP characteristics for the medium where the length of passive zones is much greater than the length of active ones. The model is called short narrow pores (SNP) model. The SNP model predicts a growth of IP time constant with increase of length of ion-selective zone. Both the time domain and frequency domain parameters are described. The parameters of Cole–Cole model corresponding to the SNP model were also found.The behaviour of model parameters is compared with experimental data obtained on natural and sieved sands using time domain technique. The natural sand spectra correspond neither to the simple SNP model nor simple Cole–Cole model with single time constant because the lengths of ion-selective zones vary, reflecting the grain-size distribution.The spectra of sieved sand compared with the theoretical SNP spectra reveal close correspondence between experimental data and theoretical parameters. For four sieved sands, both the theoretical and experimental data show that the time constant of the IP is proportional to the square of the average grain size.     

移动质量-简支梁系统的参数辨识

给出了移动质量-简支梁系统的动力学方程，并用基于Hamilton原理的结构动响应算法对方程进行数值求解。然后介绍了一种新的从自由响应数据识别时变参数结构系统的伪模态参数的方法，并将该方法引入用于研究移动质量-简支梁系统的参数辩识问题。