Lunar photometric properties at wavelengths 0.5-1.6 μm acquired by SELENE Spectral Profiler and their dependency on local albedo and latitudinal zones

The lunar photometric function, which describes the dependency of the observed radiance on the observation geometry, is used for photometric correction of lunar visible/near-infrared data. A precise photometric correction parameter set is crucial for many applications including mineral identification and reflectance map mosaics. We present, for the first time, spectrally continuous photometric correction parameters for both sides of the Moon for wavelengths in the range 0.5-1.6 μm and solar phase angles between 5° and 85°, derived from Kaguya (SELENE) Spectral Profiler (SP) data. Since the measured radiance also depends on the surface albedo, we developed a statistical method for selecting areas with relatively uniform albedos from a nearly 7000-orbit SP data set. Using the selected data set, we obtained empirical photometric correction parameter sets for three albedo groups (high, medium, and low). We did this because the photometric function depends on the albedo, especially at phase angles below about 20° for which the shadow hiding opposition effect is appreciable. We determined the parameters in 160 bands and discovered a small variation in the opposition effect due to the albedo variation of mafic mineral absorption. The consistency of the photometric correction was checked by comparing observations made at different times of the same area on the lunar surface. Variations in the spectra obtained were lower than 2%, except for the large phase angle data in mare. Lastly, we developed a correction method for low solar elevation data, which is required for high latitude regions. By investigating low solar elevation data, we introduced an additional correction method. We used the new photometric correction to generate a 1° mesh global lunar reflectance map cube in a wavelength range of 0.5-1.6 μm. Surprisingly, these maps reveal that high latitude (?75°) regions in both the north and south have much lower spectral continuum slopes (color ratio r_1547.7nm/r_752.8nm ? 1.8) than the low and medium latitude regions, which implies lower degrees of space weathering.     

Validation and Application of Plants as Biomonitors of Trace Element Atmospheric Pollution – A Co-Ordinated Effort in 14 Countries

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organized a co-ordinated research project (CRP) on Validation and application of plants as biomonitors of trace element atmospheric pollution analysed by nuclear and related techniques involving 14 participating countries. The CRPs objective was to identify appropriate bioindicators for local and/or regional application and validate them for general air pollution monitoring. Activities included quantification studies, research into spatial and time resolution for particular organisms, and physiological studies. A number of suitable bioindicators were identified in different parts of the globe and tested during the CRP. Sampling strategies were reviewed and the recommended approach adopted by the group. Appropriate sample preparation procedures were assessed and harmonised to the degree allowed by different geographic and climatic conditions in the participating countries. Two interlaboratory comparison exercises were carried out on lichen and moss materials. Results confirmed definite improvement in analytical performance of the participating laboratories, but also revealed possible inconsistencies due to different sample processing procedures. Several monitoring surveys were carried out and consequently pollution maps drawn for extended areas or countries. Overall results confirmed applicability of lower plants for assessing the degree of atmospheric pollution and provided several countries with effective monitoring tools not used before.     

Strontium concentrations and strontium-chlorinity ratios in sea water of the North Pacific and the adjacent seas of Japan

Strontium contents of 232 sea water samples collected at various stations in the North Pacific and adjacent seas of Japan were measured by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry and strontium-chlorinity ratios were determined. Mean Sr concentration is 8.08 mg/kg and mean Sr/Cl ratio is 0.425 mg/kg/Contrary to some recent reports, regional and vertical variations of Sr/Cl ratios were statistically insignificant, and presence of particulate strontium was not confirmed.     

Lattice dynamics of α-quartz including the effect of the width of the atomic electron distribution

On the basis of the polarizable-ion model (PIM) the effect of the width of the atomic electron distribution on the lattice dynamics of α-quartz was taken into account using the Birman method. The frequencies of optical mode, elastic constants and piezoelectric constants were reproduced using the parameters of this model (an effective charge z, a width parameter w, an electronic polarizability α, and force constants). The width parameter of oxygen atom was found to be about 0.59 Å, and the effective charge of the silicon atom 1.42 electron charges.     

Diffuse bifurcations engraving diverse shear bands in granular materials

Shear bands with characteristic spatial patterns observed in an experiment for a cubic or parallelepiped specimen of dry dense sand were simulated by numerical bifurcation analysis using the Cam‐clay plasticity model. By incorporating the subloading surface concept into the plasticity model, the model became capable of reproducing hardening/softening and contractive/dilative behavior observed in the experiment. The model was reformulated to be compatible with the multiplicative hyperelasto‐plasticity for finite strains. This enhanced constitutive model was implemented into a finite‐element code reinforced by a stress updating algorithm based on the return‐mapping scheme, and by an efficient numerical procedure to compute critical eigenvectors of elastoplastic tangent stiffness matrix at bifurcation points. The emergence of diamond‐ and column‐like diffuse bifurcation modes breaking uniformity of the materials, followed by the evolution of shear bands through strain localization, was observed in the analysis. In the bifurcation analysis of plane strain compression test, unexpected bifurcation modes, which broke out‐of‐plane uniformity and led to 3‐dimensional diamond‐like patterns, were detected. Diffuse bifurcations, which were difficult to observe by experiments, have thus been found as a catalyst creating diverse shear band patterns.     

Large-Eddy Simulation Of The Stably Stratified Planetary Boundary Layer

In this work, we study the characteristics of a stably stratifiedatmospheric boundary layer using large-eddy simulation (LES).In order to simulate the stable planetary boundary layer, wedeveloped a modified version of the two-part subgrid-scalemodel of Sullivan et al. This improved version of themodel is used to simulate a highly cooled yet fairly windy stableboundary layer with a surface heat flux of(W)_o = -0.05 m K s^-1and a geostrophic wind speed of U_g = 15 m s^-1.Flow visualization and evaluation of the turbulencestatistics from this case reveal the development ofa continuously turbulent boundary layer with small-scalestructures. The stability of the boundary layercoupled with the presence of a strong capping inversionresults in the development of a dominant gravity wave atthe top of the stable boundary layer that appears to be relatedto the most unstable wave predicted by the Taylor–Goldsteinequation. As a result of the decay of turbulence aloft,a strong-low level jet forms above the boundary layer.The time dependent behaviour of the jet is compared with Blackadar'sinertial oscillation analysis.     

Native Trees as Biomonitors of Chemical Elements in the Biodiversity Conservation of the Atlantic Forest

The Atlantic Forest, a hotspot in the world with a great diversity of plants and animals, is located in the most industrialized area of Brazil, a potential source of chemical elements for the atmosphere. From its original area about 10% has been preserved mainly through the implementation of conservation units, among which the Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (PECB) is one of the most representative. Here, leaves of the predominant species in the PECB were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for the establishment of natural backgrounds of As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cs, Fe, Hg, K, Na, Rb, Sc, Se, Sr and Zn. Biomonitoring of the Atlantic Forest was realized through the tree community study taking in account the interspecies and the intraspecies variability of chemical concentrations. Results pointed out the low status of pollution based on the concentrations of chemical elements of environmental concerning. However, Br concentrations were higher in the understory species, which could be related to the possible effects of atmospheric pollution or sea influence. In addition, some Hyeronima alchorneoides trees showed to be hyperaccumulators of Co.     

An experimental study on impact-induced alterations of planetary organic simulants

The present study systematically investigates shock-induced alteration of organic simulants of planetary bodies (OSPBs) as a function of peak shock pressure and temperature by impact experiments. Our results show that the composition and structure of OSPBs are unchanged upon impacts at peak pressures ≤~5 GPa and temperatures ≤~350 °C. On the other hand, these are dramatically changed upon impacts at >7–8 GPa and > ~400 °C, through loss of hydrogen-related bonds and concurrent carbonization, regardless of the initial compositions of OSPBs. Compared with previous results on static heating of organic matter, we suggest that shock-induced alteration cannot be distinguished from static heating only by Raman and infrared spectroscopy. Our experimental results would provide a proxy indicator for assessing degree of shock-induced alteration of organic matter contained in carbonaceous chondrites. We suggest that a remote-sensing signature of the 3.3–3.6 μm absorption due to hydrogen-related bonds on the surface of small bodies would be a promising indicator for the presence of less-thermally-altered (i.e., <350 °C) organic matter there, which will be a target for landing to collect primordial samples in sample-return spacecraft missions, such as Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx.