A 20 cm2 CCD mosaic camera for a dark matter search part I : Mechanics,optics and cryogeny

A 20cm ² CCD mosaic camera has been especially built to search for dark galactic halo objects by the gravitational microlensing effect. The sensitive area is made of 16 edge-buttable CCDs developped by Thomson-CTS, with 23×23 µm ² pixels. The 35 kg camera housing and mechanical equipment is presented. The associated electronics and data acquisition system are described in a separate paper. The camera resides at the focal plane of a 40 cm, f/10, Ferson reflector. The instrument has been in operation since December 1991 at the La Silla Observatory (ESO).     

Readout Techniques for Drift and Low Frequency Noise Rejection in Infrared Arrays

Three different methods are presented to subtract thermal drifts and low-frequency noise from the signal of infrared array. The first is dead pixels with open Indium bumps, the second is reference output as implemented on the Hawaii2 multiplexer, and the third is dark pixels to emulate reference cells having a capacity connected to the gate of the unit cell field-effect transistor (FET). The third method is the most effective and yields a reduction in readout noise from15.4–9.4 erms. A novel method will be described to extend this readout technique to the Aladdin 1 K × 1 K InSb array. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A new method for the generation of second-order random waves

In order to prevent the generation of spurious free sub- and superharmonics of random waves in a laboratory channel, the control signal for the wave board has to be derived according to a higher-order wave theory. An expression for this control signal has been derived with the perturbation method of multiple scales. It is much less complex and requires less computation time than the expressions obtained from the full second-order theory. The new method for second-order subharmonics was verified experimentally for waves with bichromatic and continuous first-order spectra. The data were analysed with the complex-harmonic principal-component analysis to reduce the influence of noise.     

底部边界层颗粒态物质迁移特征的放射性核素分析方法

利用颗粒态放射性核素携带的颗粒物历经过程信息,我们提出用泥沙扩散方程和颗粒态放射性核素扩散方程联解底部边界层颗粒态物质迁移参数的方法。分析实例的样品取自荷兰Waden Sea南部Balgzand潮滩(砂坪)和Mok湾潮滩(泥坪)的两个站位(BG1和Mok2)。示踪核素为~(234)Th,~(210)Pb和~(137)Cs,其放射性比度由r能谱测出。     

Insolation estimates for the LITFASS area derived from high resolution satellite data

Summary ?For the LITFASS-98 experiment, from June 1 until June 30, 1998, the spatially resolved insolation at surface could be computed from NOAA-14 AVHRR data applying the modular analysis scheme SESAT (Strahlungs- und Energiebilanzen aus Satellitendaten). The satellite inferred insolation for this period shows for clear-sky regions a good agreement with surface based observations with a rms error of 76 Wm⁻². For cloudy conditions the insolation is overestimated with respect to ground based observations, with a rms error between 83 and 118 Wm⁻², depending on the cloud optical thickness. This overestimation can be explained by the surface heterogeneity, leading to underestimated cloud optical thickness, and also by a fixed relative humidity below clouds (55%, dry atmosphere) and a fixed horizontal visibility (50 km, clear atmosphere). A detailed study of comparable scales in space and time, considering the different observation geometries and sampling intervals, shows that a 30 min ground based observation can be compared with a 8 × 8 km² mean by the satellite data. Received July 12, 2001; revised April 29, 2002; accepted June 7, 2002     

Are Natural Climate Forcings Able to Counteract the Projected Anthropogenic Global Warming?

A two-dimensional global climate model is used to assessthe climatic changes associated with the new IPCC SRES emissions scenarios and to determine which kind of changes in total solar irradiance and volcanic perturbations could mask the projected anthropogenic global warming associated to the SRES scenarios. Our results suggest that only extremely unlikely changes in total solar irradiance and/or volcanic eruptions would be able to overcome the simulated anthropogenic global warming over the century. Nevertheless, in the critical interval of the next two decades the externally-driven natural climate variability might possibly confuse the debate about temperature trends and impede detection of the anthropogenic climate change signal.     

Reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 from ice-core data and the deep-sea record of ontong Java plateau: the Milankovitch chron

We provide a reconstruction of atmospheric CO₂ from deep-sea sediments, for the past 625000 years (Milankovitch chron). Our database consists of a Milankovitch template of sea-level variation in combination with a unique data set for the deep-sea record for Ontong Java plateau in the western equatorial Pacific. We redate the Vostok ice-core data of Barnola et al. (1987). To make the reconstructions we employ multiple regression between deep-sea data, on one hand, and ice-core CO₂ data in Antarctica, on the other. The patterns of correlation suggest that the main factors controlling atmospheric CO₂ can be described as a combination of sea-level state and sea-level change. For best results squared values of state and change are used. The square-of-sea-level rule agrees with the concept that shelf processes are important modulators of atmospheric CO₂ (e.g., budgets of shelf organic carbon and shelf carbonate, nitrate reduction). The square-of-change rule implies that, on short timescales, any major disturbance of the system results in a temporary rise in atmospheric CO₂.     

Assessing rapid environmental change using geoindicators

 Geoindicators are high-resolution measures of short-term (<100 years) surface or near-surface changes in earth processes, and phenomena that are significant for environmental monitoring and assessment. They are based on standard concepts and procedures and can be used to track changes in fluvial, coastal, desert, mountain, permafrost and other terrestrial areas. Geoindicators assess both catastrophic events and those that are more gradual, but evident within a human lifespan. Most deal with changes on the landscape (0.1–10 km) and meso-scales (10–100 km), but some, such as relative sea level and volcanic unrest, have regional and global dimensions. Some are complex and costly to measure, others are relatively simple and easy to apply. Geoindicators can also be used to unravel trends over the past few centuries and longer through paleoenvironmental research, thus providing the important baselines against which human-induced and natural stresses can be better understood. Geoindicators have been designed by the International Union of Geological Sciences as an aid to state-of-the-environment reporting and long-term ecological monitoring. Received: 26 July 1996 / Accepted: 1 November 1996     

Remote sensing detection of atmospheric pollutants by differential absorption LIDAR 510M/SODAR PA2 mobile system

Summary Air pollution problem in the Czech Republic is very complex due to large number of factors as turbulent dispersion and chemical reactions concurring in the status of the PBL. For this 3D distribution of pollutants is a key information that cannot be given by conventional monitoring stations. Combined use of DIAL lidar and sodar can give access to such information. Case studies of air pollutants transport are presented using 3D concentration fields of NO₂ and ozone measured by lidar and meteorological conditions monitored by Doppler Sodar.