GPS/LEO掩星观测的变分同化技术

在简单介绍GPS/LEO掩星探测大气的发展历史和科学意义之后,详细阐述了反演的基本原理;分析了标准反演中存在的问题,并说明一维变分同化(1DVAR)在反演方法中的重要性;给出了一维变分同化中价值函数的求解,以及各种同化因子;简单介绍了对当前气象学中普遍使用的四维变分同化(4DVAR);重点讨论了各种同化方法,以及使用各种同化因子的优缺点。最后,通过CHAMP卫星的观测实例分析,验证了GPS数据在数值天气预报(NWP)中的作用,以及相对于标准反演法一维变分对气象要素的改进。     

Observational evidence for solar coronal decimetric radio pulsations with very short periods

Using the decimetric (700–1500 MHz) radio spectrometer and the synchronous observational system with high temporal resolution at four frequencies (1420, 2130, 2840 and 4260 MHz) of Yunnan Observatory, two rare events were observed on 2001 June 24 and 1990 July 30. The former was a small radio burst exhibiting pulsations with short periods (about 29, 40 and 100 ms) in the impulsive phase. The latter was a large radio burst, which at 2840 MHz produced radio pulsations with period of about 30 ms. This paper focuses on pulsations with very short periods in the range of 29–40 ms. The mechanism of generation of such pulsations may be modulation of radio radiation by the periodic trains of whistler packets originating in unstable regions of the corona. Alternatively, these pulsations can be attributed to wave-wave non-linear interactions of electrostatic upper hybrid waves driven by beams of precipitating electrons in flaring loops.     

A synthesis map of the sky at 34.5 MHz

This paper describes a wide-field survey made at 34.5 MHz using GEETEE,1 the low frequency telescope at Gauribidanur (latitude 13°36′12′′N). This telescope was used in the transit mode and by per forming 1-D synthesis along the north-south direction the entire observable sky was mapped in a single day. This minimized the problems that hinder wide-field low-frequency mapping. This survey covers the declination range of-50° to + 70° (- 33° to +61° without aliasing) and the complete 24 hours of right ascension. The synthesized beam has a resolution of 26′ x 42′ sec (δ- 14°. 1). The sensitivity of the survey is 5 Jy/beam (1σ). Special care has been taken to ensure that the antenna responds to all angular scale structures and is suitable for studies of both point sources and extended objects This telescope is jointly operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore and the Roman Research Institute, Bangalore.     

多条太阳光球FeI线在磁场中形成及形成深度的综合分析(Ⅰ)

针对多通道滤光器太阳磁场望远镜的磁场观测定标及掌握(所采用的)谱线特征之需要,取VAL宁静太阳大气模型计算了7条Fel光球线的Stokes轮廓、形成深度、贡献函数分布,从而较为系统地对多条反常及正常Zeeman线的特征及性质作出了分析与总结,解释了在磁光效应影响下Stokes Q,U参量的形成深度曲线在近线心区域处出现陡峭峰值的原因。     

Towards a free–free template for CMB foregrounds

A full-sky template map of the Galactic free–free foreground emission component is increasingly important for high-sensitivity cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. We use the recently published Hα data of both the northern and southern skies as the basis for such a template.
The first step is to correct the Hα maps for dust absorption using the 100-μm dust maps of Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis. We show that for a range of longitudes, the Galactic latitude distribution of absorption suggests that it is 33 per cent of the full extragalactic absorption. A reliable absorption-corrected Hα map can be produced for ∼95 per cent of the sky; the area for which a template cannot be recovered is the Galactic plane area  | b | < 5°, l = 260°–0°–160°  and some isolated dense dust clouds at intermediate latitudes.
The second step is to convert the dust-corrected Hα data into a predicted radio surface brightness. The free–free emission formula is revised to give an accurate expression (1 per cent) for the radio emission covering the frequency range 100 MHz–100 GHz and the electron temperature range 3000–20 000 K. The main uncertainty when applying this expression is the variation of electron temperature across the sky. The emission formula is verified in several extended H  ii regions using data in the range 408–2326 MHz.
A full-sky free–free template map is presented at 30 GHz; the scaling to other frequencies is given. The Haslam et al. all-sky 408-MHz map of the sky can be corrected for this free–free component, which amounts to a  ≈6  per cent correction at intermediate and high latitudes, to provide a pure synchrotron all-sky template. The implications for CMB experiments are discussed.     

Testing the circumstellar disc hypothesis: a search for H2 outflow signatures from massive young stellar objects with linearly distributed methanol masers

The results of a survey searching for outflows using near-infrared imaging are presented. Targets were chosen from a compiled list of massive young stellar objects associated with methanol masers in linear distributions. Presently, it is a widely held belief that these methanol masers are found in (and delineate) circumstellar accretion discs around massive stars. If this scenario is correct, one way to test the disc hypothesis is to search for outflows perpendicular to the methanol maser distributions. The main objective of the survey was to obtain wide-field near-infrared images of the sites of linearly distributed methanol masers using a narrow-band 2.12-μm filter. This filter is centred on the  H₂ v = 1–0 S(1)  line; a shock diagnostic that has been shown to successfully trace CO outflows from young stellar objects. 28 sources in total were imaged of which 18 sources display H₂ emission. Of these, only two sources showed emission found to be dominantly perpendicular to the methanol maser distribution. Surprisingly, the H₂ emission in these fields is not distributed randomly, but instead the majority of sources are found to have H₂ emission dominantly parallel to their distribution of methanol masers. These results seriously question the hypothesis that methanol masers exist in circumstellar discs. The possibility that linearly distributed methanol masers are instead directly associated with outflows is discussed.     

An efficient technique for pre-selecting low-redshift damped Lyα systems

The number of z ∼ 1 damped Lyα systems (DLAs, log  N (H  i ) ≥ 20.3) per unit redshift is approximately 0.1, making them relatively rare objects. Large, blind QSO surveys for low-redshift DLAs are therefore an expensive prospect for space-borne ultraviolet telescopes. Increasing the efficiency of these surveys by pre-selecting DLA candidates based on the equivalent widths (EWs) of metal absorption lines has previously been a successful strategy. However, the success rate of DLA identification is still only ∼35 per cent when simple EW cut-offs are applied, the majority of systems having 19.0 < log  N (H  i ) < 20.3. Here, we propose a new way to pre-select DLA candidates. Our technique requires high-to-moderate-resolution spectroscopy of the Mg  ii λ2796 transition, which is easily accessible from the ground for 0.2 ≲ z ≲ 2.4. We define the D -index, the ratio of the line equivalent width to velocity spread, and measure this quantity for 19 DLAs and eight sub-DLAs in archival spectra obtained with echelle spectrographs. For the majority of absorbers, there is a clear distinction between the D -index of DLAs compared with sub-DLAs (Kolmogorov–Smirnov probability = 0.8 per cent). Based on this pilot data sample, we find that the D -index can select DLAs with a success rate of up to 90 per cent, an increase in selection efficiency by a factor of 2.5 compared with a simple EW cut. We test the applicability of the D -index at lower resolution and find that it remains a good discriminant of DLAs for full width at half-maximum (FWHM) ≲ 1.5 Å. However, the recommended D -index cut-off between DLAs and sub-DLAs decreases with poorer resolution and we tabulate the appropriate D -index values that should be used with spectra of different resolutions.