Non-thermal shielding effects on the Compton scattering power in astrophysical plasmas

The non-thermal shielding effects on the inverse Compton scattering are investigated in astrophysical non-thermal Lorentzian plasmas. The inverse Compton power is obtained by the modified Compton scattering cross section in Lorentzian plasmas with the blackbody photon distribution. The total Compton power is also obtained by the Lorentzan distribution of plasmas. It is found that the influence of non-thermal character of the plasma suppresses the inverse Compton power in astrophysical Lorentzian plasmas. It is also found that the non-thermal effect on the inverse Compton power decreases with an increase of the temperature. In addition, the non-thermal effect on the total Compton power with Lorentzan plasmas increases in low-temperature photons and, however, decreases in intermediate-temperature photons with increasing Debye length. The variation of the total Compton power is also discussed.     

高压输电线散射斑雷达像空间位置形成条件分析

TerraSAR雷达卫星条带模式影像中高压输电线产生亮度极高的散射斑点,利用湖北段1 000kV特高压输电线路的雷达影像和铁塔GPS坐标,研究了该区域150组输电线散射斑的形成条件和雷达像空间相对位置变化规律。研究表明,输电线的夹角、跨度和垂曲率是影响散射斑形成以及雷达像空间位置的主要因素。输电线散射斑产生于导线与卫星飞行方向的夹角±15°以内。当夹角由负到正变化时,其导线散射斑在雷达像空间的位置由北向南移动,但是其移动量与夹角变化不成正比。在夹角近似相同的情况下,导线跨度越大即其垂曲率越大,散射斑的位置越靠近导线垂直平分线。     

利用AMSR-E数据反演华北平原冬小麦单散射反照率

首先,基于冬小麦不同生育期的地面实测参数,构建了组成冬小麦冠层的、包括不同尺寸和含水量的介电散射体模拟数据库,并在此基础上建立冬小麦单散射反照率和光学厚度分别在C(6.925 GHz)和X(10.65 GHz)波段之间的依赖关系。然后,根据一阶参数化模型推导得到的微波植被指数MVIs(Microwave Vegetation Indices)的物理表达式,结合AMSR-E被动微波亮温数据,反演了华北平原地区冬小麦不同生育期的单散射反照率。与MODIS日归一化差异植被指数NDVI的对比结果显示:冬小麦单散射反照率与NDVI随时间的变化趋势大致相同,但在冬小麦的抽穗期到乳熟期,NDVI呈现饱和趋势,而单散射反照率对小麦的生长变化仍旧比较敏感,在指示冬小麦生长方面具有一定优势。     

Effects of scattering and dust grain size on the temperature structure of protoplanetary discs: a three-layer approach

The temperature in the optically thick interior of protoplanetary discs is essential for the interpretation of millimetre observations of the discs, for the vertical structure of the discs, for models of the disc evolution and the planet formation, and for the chemistry in the discs. Since large icy grains have a large albedo even in the infrared, the effect of scattering of the diffuse radiation in the discs on the interior temperature should be examined. We have performed a series of numerical radiation transfer simulations, including isotropic scattering by grains with various typical sizes for the diffuse radiation as well as for the incident stellar radiation. We also have developed an analytic model including isotropic scattering to understand the physics concealed in the numerical results. With the analytic model, we have shown that the standard two-layer approach is valid only for grey opacity (i.e. grain size ≳10 μm) even without scattering. A three-layer interpretation is required for grain size ≲10 μm. When the grain size is 0.1–10 μm, the numerical simulations show that the isotropic scattering reduces the temperature of the disc interior. This reduction is nicely explained by the analytic three-layer model as a result of the energy loss by scatterings of the incident stellar radiation and of the warm diffuse radiation in the disc atmosphere. For grain size ≳10 μm (i.e. grey scattering), the numerical simulations show that the isotropic scattering does not affect the interior temperature. This is nicely explained by the analytic two-layer model; the energy loss by scattering in the disc atmosphere is exactly offset by the 'green-house effect' due to the scattering of the cold diffuse radiation in the interior.     

Monte Carlo simulations of the broad-band X-ray continuum of SS433

We develop a Monte Carlo technique based on L.B. Lucy's indivisible photon packets method to calculate X-ray continuum spectra of Comptonized thermal plasma in arbitrary geometry and apply it to describe the broad-band X-ray continuum of the galactic superaccreting microquasar SS433 observed by INTEGRAL . A physical model of the X-ray emitting region is proposed that includes thermal emission from the accretion disc, jets and hot corona where the photons of different origin are Comptonized. From comparison with INTEGRAL observations, we estimate physical parameters of the complex X-ray emitting region in SS433 and present model spectra for different viewing angles of the object.     

Phase-resolved Faraday rotation in pulsars

We have detected significant rotation measure (RM) variations for nine bright pulsars, as a function of pulse longitude. An additional sample of 10 pulsars showed a rather constant RM with phase, yet a small degree of RM fluctuation is visible in at least three of those cases. In all cases, we have found that the rotation of the polarization position angle across our 1.4 GHz observing band is consistent with the  λ²  law of interstellar Faraday rotation. We provide for the first time convincing evidence that RM variations across the pulse are largely due to interstellar scattering, although we cannot exclude that magnetospheric Faraday rotation may still have a minor contribution; alternative explanations of this phenomenon, like erroneous de-dispersion and the presence of non-orthogonal polarization modes, are excluded. If the observed, phase-resolved RM variations are common amongst pulsars, then many of the previously measured pulsar RMs may be in error by as much as a few tens of rad m⁻².     

Optical properties of a vertically inhomogeneous mid-latitude mid-level mixed-phase altocumulus in the infrared region

A vertically inhomogeneous mid-latitude mixed-phase altocumulus cloud was observed around 17:26 UTC on Oct. 14, 2001 during the 9th Cloud Layer Experiment (CLEX9). In this study the microphysical and optical properties of this cloud are investigated on the basis of in-situ observed vertical profiles of particle size and habit distributions. Two cloud models, assuming that the cloud properties were vertically homogeneous and inhomogeneous, are adopted to derive the bulk optical and radiative properties of this cloud. The observed microphysical properties are combined with the theoretical solutions to the scattering and absorption properties of individual cloud particles to determine the bulk optical properties at various heights within the cloud layer. The single-scattering properties of spherical liquid water droplets and nonspherical ice crystals are obtained from the Lorenz–Mie theory and an existing database, respectively. The bulk microphysical and optical properties associated with the inhomogeneous model depend strongly on the height above the cloud-base whereas the dependence is smoothed out in the case of the homogeneous model. Furthermore, the transfer of infrared radiation is simulated in conjunction with the two cloud models. It is shown that the brightness temperatures at the top of the atmosphere in the case of the homogeneous model can be 1.5% (3.8 K) higher than their counterpart associated with the inhomogeneous cloud model. This result demonstrates that the effect of the vertical inhomogeneity of a mixed-phase cloud on its radiative properties is not negligible.     

Optical scattering processes observed at the Moon: Predictions for the LADEE Ultraviolet Spectrometer

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft will orbit the Moon at an altitude of ≈50 km with a payload that includes the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) instrument, which will obtain high spectral resolution measurements at near-ultraviolet and visible wavelengths (≈231-826 nm). When LADEE/UVS observes the lunar limb from within the shadow of the Moon it is anticipated that it will detect a lunar horizon glow (LHG) due to sunlight scattered from submicron exospheric dust, as well as emission lines from exospheric gases (particularly sodium), in the presence of the bright coronal and zodiacal light (CZL) background. A modularized code has been developed at NMSU for simulations of scattered light sources as observed by orbiting instruments in lunar shadow. Predictions for the LADEE UVS and star tracker cameras indicate that LHG, sodium (Na) emission lines, and CZL can be distinguished based on spatial morphology and spectral characteristics, with LHG dominant at blue wavelengths (∼250-450 nm) and small tangent heights. If present, LHG should be readily detected by LADEE/UVS and distinguishable from other sources of optical scattering. Observations from UVS and the other instruments aboard LADEE will significantly advance our understanding of how the Moon interacts with the surrounding space environment; these new insights will be applicable to the many other airless bodies in the solar system.