In-camera automation of photographic composition rules.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Serene; Evans, Brian L

2007-07-01

At the time of image acquisition, professional photographers apply many rules of thumb to improve the composition of their photographs. This paper develops a joint optical-digital processing framework for automating composition rules during image acquisition for photographs with one main subject. Within the framework, we automate three photographic composition rules: repositioning the main subject, making the main subject more prominent, and making objects that merge with the main subject less prominent. The idea is to provide to the user alternate pictures obtained by applying photographic composition rules in addition to the original picture taken by the user. The proposed algorithms do not depend on prior knowledge of the indoor/outdoor setting or scene content. The proposed algorithms are also designed to be amenable to software implementation on fixed-point programmable digital signal processors available in digital still cameras.

HST Solar Arrays photographed by Electronic Still Camera

Science.gov (United States)

1993-01-01

This close-up view of one of two Solar Arrays (SA) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was photographed with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC), and downlinked to ground controllers soon afterward. Electronic still photography is a technology which provides the means for a handheld camera to electronically capture and digitize an image with resolution approaching film quality.

Photographic zoom fisheye lens design for DSLR cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yufeng; Sasian, Jose

2017-09-01

Photographic fisheye lenses with fixed focal length for cameras with different sensor formats have been well developed for decades. However, photographic fisheye lenses with variable focal length are rare on the market due in part to the greater design difficulty. This paper presents a large aperture zoom fisheye lens for DSLR cameras that produces both circular and diagonal fisheye imaging for 35-mm sensors and diagonal fisheye imaging for APS-C sensors. The history and optical characteristics of fisheye lenses are briefly reviewed. Then, a 9.2- to 16.1-mm F/2.8 to F/3.5 zoom fisheye lens design is presented, including the design approach and aberration control. Image quality and tolerance performance analysis for this lens are also presented.

Using All-Sky Imaging to Improve Telescope Scheduling (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, G. M.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) Automated scheduling makes it possible for a small telescope to observe a large number of targets in a single night. But when used in areas which have less-than-perfect sky conditions such automation can lead to large numbers of observations of clouds and haze. This paper describes the development of a "sky-aware" telescope automation system that integrates the data flow from an SBIG AllSky340c camera with an enhanced dispatch scheduler to make optimum use of the available observing conditions for two highly instrumented backyard telescopes. Using the minute-by-minute time series image stream and a self-maintained reference database, the software maintains a file of sky brightness, transparency, stability, and forecasted visibility at several hundred grid positions. The scheduling software uses this information in real time to exclude targets obscured by clouds and select the best observing task, taking into account the requirements and limits of each instrument.

Noctilucent cloud particle size determination based on multi-wavelength all-sky analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ugolnikov, Oleg S.; Galkin, Alexey A.; Pilgaev, Sergey V.; Roldugin, Alexey V.

2017-10-01

The article deals with the analysis of color distribution in noctilucent clouds (NLC) in the sky based on multi-wavelength (RGB) CCD-photometry provided with the all-sky camera in Lovozero in the north of Russia (68.0°N, 35.1°E) during the bright expanded NLC performance in the night of August 12, 2016. Small changes in the NLC color across the sky are interpreted as the atmospheric absorption and extinction effects combined with the difference in the Mie scattering functions of NLC particles for the three color channels of the camera. The method described in this paper is used to find the effective monodisperse radius of particles about 55 nm. The result of these simple and cost-effective measurements is in good agreement with previous estimations of comparable accuracy. Non-spherical particles, Gaussian and lognormal distribution of the particle size are also considered.

Sky light polarization detection with linear polarizer triplet in light field camera inspired by insect vision.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenjing; Cao, Yu; Zhang, Xuanzhe; Liu, Zejin

2015-10-20

Stable information of a sky light polarization pattern can be used for navigation with various advantages such as better performance of anti-interference, no "error cumulative effect," and so on. But the existing method of sky light polarization measurement is weak in real-time performance or with a complex system. Inspired by the navigational capability of a Cataglyphis with its compound eyes, we introduce a new approach to acquire the all-sky image under different polarization directions with one camera and without a rotating polarizer, so as to detect the polarization pattern across the full sky in a single snapshot. Our system is based on a handheld light field camera with a wide-angle lens and a triplet linear polarizer placed over its aperture stop. Experimental results agree with the theoretical predictions. Not only real-time detection but simple and costless architecture demonstrates the superiority of the approach proposed in this paper.

Estimation of spectral distribution of sky radiance using a commercial digital camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Masanori; Iwabuchi, Hironobu; Murata, Isao

2016-01-10

Methods for estimating spectral distribution of sky radiance from images captured by a digital camera and for accurately estimating spectral responses of the camera are proposed. Spectral distribution of sky radiance is represented as a polynomial of the wavelength, with coefficients obtained from digital RGB counts by linear transformation. The spectral distribution of radiance as measured is consistent with that obtained by spectrometer and radiative transfer simulation for wavelengths of 430-680 nm, with standard deviation below 1%. Preliminary applications suggest this method is useful for detecting clouds and studying the relation between irradiance at the ground and cloud distribution.

Tightly-Coupled GNSS/Vision Using a Sky-Pointing Camera for Vehicle Navigation in Urban Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Gakne, Paul Verlaine; O'Keefe, Kyle

2018-04-17

This paper presents a method of fusing the ego-motion of a robot or a land vehicle estimated from an upward-facing camera with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals for navigation purposes in urban environments. A sky-pointing camera is mounted on the top of a car and synchronized with a GNSS receiver. The advantages of this configuration are two-fold: firstly, for the GNSS signals, the upward-facing camera will be used to classify the acquired images into sky and non-sky (also known as segmentation). A satellite falling into the non-sky areas (e.g., buildings, trees) will be rejected and not considered for the final position solution computation. Secondly, the sky-pointing camera (with a field of view of about 90 degrees) is helpful for urban area ego-motion estimation in the sense that it does not see most of the moving objects (e.g., pedestrians, cars) and thus is able to estimate the ego-motion with fewer outliers than is typical with a forward-facing camera. The GNSS and visual information systems are tightly-coupled in a Kalman filter for the final position solution. Experimental results demonstrate the ability of the system to provide satisfactory navigation solutions and better accuracy than the GNSS-only and the loosely-coupled GNSS/vision, 20 percent and 82 percent (in the worst case) respectively, in a deep urban canyon, even in conditions with fewer than four GNSS satellites.

All-sky photogrammetry techniques to georeference a cloud field

Science.gov (United States)

Crispel, Pierre; Roberts, Gregory

2018-01-01

In this study, we present a novel method of identifying and geolocalizing cloud field elements from a portable all-sky camera stereo network based on the ground and oriented towards zenith. The methodology is mainly based on stereophotogrammetry which is a 3-D reconstruction technique based on triangulation from corresponding stereo pixels in rectified images. In cases where clouds are horizontally separated, identifying individual positions is performed with segmentation techniques based on hue filtering and contour detection algorithms. Macroscopic cloud field characteristics such as cloud layer base heights and velocity fields are also deduced. In addition, the methodology is fitted to the context of measurement campaigns which impose simplicity of implementation, auto-calibration, and portability. Camera internal geometry models are achieved a priori in the laboratory and validated to ensure a certain accuracy in the peripheral parts of the all-sky image. Then, stereophotogrammetry with dense 3-D reconstruction is applied with cameras spaced 150 m apart for two validation cases. The first validation case is carried out with cumulus clouds having a cloud base height at 1500 m a.g.l. The second validation case is carried out with two cloud layers: a cumulus fractus layer with a base height at 1000 m a.g.l. and an altocumulus stratiformis layer with a base height of 2300 m a.g.l. Velocity fields at cloud base are computed by tracking image rectangular patterns through successive shots. The height uncertainty is estimated by comparison with a Vaisala CL31 ceilometer located on the site. The uncertainty on the horizontal coordinates and on the velocity field are theoretically quantified by using the experimental uncertainties of the cloud base height and camera orientation. In the first cumulus case, segmentation of the image is performed to identify individuals clouds in the cloud field and determine the horizontal positions of the cloud centers.

How to photograph the Moon and planets with your digital camera

CERN Document Server

Buick, Tony

2007-01-01

Since the advent of astronomical CCD imaging it has been possible for amateurs to produce images of a quality that was attainable only by universities and professional observatories just a decade ago. However, astronomical CCD cameras are still very expensive, and technology has now progressed so that digital cameras - the kind you use on holiday - are more than capable of photographing the brighter astronomical objects, notably the Moon and major planets. Tony Buick has worked for two years on the techniques involved, and has written this illustrated step-by-step manual for anyone who has a telescope (of any size) and a digital camera. The color images he has produced - there are over 300 of them in the book - are of breathtaking quality. His book is more than a manual of techniques (including details of how to make a low-cost DIY camera mount) and examples; it also provides a concise photographic atlas of the whole of the nearside of the Moon - with every image made using a standard digital camera - and des...

The Impact of Simulated Nature on Patient Outcomes: A Study of Photographic Sky Compositions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pati, Debajyoti; Freier, Patricia; O'Boyle, Michael; Amor, Cherif; Valipoor, Shabboo

2016-01-01

To examine whether incorporation of simulated nature, in the form of ceiling mounted photographic sky compositions, influences patient outcomes. Previous studies have shown that most forms of nature exposure have a positive influence on patients. However, earlier studies have mostly focused on wall-hung nature representations. The emergence of simulated nature products has raised the question regarding the effects of the new product on patient outcomes. A between-subject experimental design was adopted, where outcomes from five inpatient rooms with sky composition ceiling fixture were compared to corresponding outcomes in five identical rooms without the intervention. Data were collected from a total of 181 subjects on 11 outcomes. Independent sample tests were performed to identify differences in mean outcomes. Significant positive outcomes were observed in environmental satisfaction and diastolic blood pressure (BP). Environmental satisfaction in the experimental group was 12.4% higher than the control group. Direction of association for diastolic BP, nausea/indigestion medication, acute stress, anxiety, pain, and environmental satisfaction were consistent with a priori hypothesis. A post hoc exploratory assessment involving patients who did not self-request additional pain and sleep medication demonstrated confirmatory directions for all outcomes except Systolic BP, and statistically significant outcomes for Acute Stress and Anxiety-Acute Stress and Anxiety levels of the experimental group subjects was 53.4% and 34.79% lower, respectively, than that of the control group subjects. Salutogenic benefits of photographic sky compositions render them better than traditional ceiling tiles and offer an alternative to other nature interventions. © The Author(s) 2015.

Opinion rating of comparison photographs of television pictures from CCD cameras under irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reading, V.M.; Dumbreck, A.A.

1991-01-01

As part of the development of a general method of testing the effects of gamma radiation on CCD television cameras, this is a report of an experimental study on the optimisation of still photographic representation of video pictures recorded before and during camera irradiation. (author)

Data transmission protocol for Pi-of-the-Sky cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Uzycki, J.; Kasprowicz, G.; Mankiewicz, M.; Nawrocki, K.; Sitek, P.; Sokolowski, M.; Sulej, R.; Tlaczala, W.

2006-10-01

The large amount of data collected by the automatic astronomical cameras has to be transferred to the fast computers in a reliable way. The method chosen should ensure data streaming in both directions but in nonsymmetrical way. The Ethernet interface is very good choice because of its popularity and proven performance. However it requires TCP/IP stack implementation in devices like cameras for full compliance with existing network and operating systems. This paper describes NUDP protocol, which was made as supplement to standard UDP protocol and can be used as a simple-network protocol. The NUDP does not need TCP protocol implementation and makes it possible to run the Ethernet network with simple devices based on microcontroller and/or FPGA chips. The data transmission idea was created especially for the "Pi of the Sky" project.

MOXE: An X-ray all-sky monitor for Soviet Spectrum-X-Gamma Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Priedhorsky, W.; Fenimore, E. E.; Moss, C. E.; Kelley, R. L.; Holt, S. S.

1989-01-01

A Monitoring Monitoring X-Ray Equipment (MOXE) is being developed for the Soviet Spectrum-X-Gamma Mission. MOXE is an X-ray all-sky monitor based on array of pinhole cameras, to be provided via a collaboration between Goddard Space Flight Center and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The objectives are to alert other observers on Spectrum-X-Gamma and other platforms of interesting transient activity, and to synoptically monitor the X-ray sky and study long-term changes in X-ray binaries. MOXE will be sensitive to sources as faint as 2 milliCrab (5 sigma) in 1 day, and cover the 2 to 20 KeV band.

Digital all-sky polarization imaging of partly cloudy skies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pust, Nathan J; Shaw, Joseph A

2008-12-01

Clouds reduce the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) of skylight relative to that of a clear sky. Even thin subvisual clouds in the "twilight zone" between clouds and aerosols produce a drop in skylight DOLP long before clouds become visible in the sky. In contrast, the angle of polarization (AOP) of light scattered by a cloud in a partly cloudy sky remains the same as in the clear sky for most cases. In unique instances, though, select clouds display AOP signatures that are oriented 90 degrees from the clear-sky AOP. For these clouds, scattered light oriented parallel to the scattering plane dominates the perpendicularly polarized Rayleigh-scattered light between the instrument and the cloud. For liquid clouds, this effect may assist cloud particle size identification because it occurs only over a relatively limited range of particle radii that will scatter parallel polarized light. Images are shown from a digital all-sky-polarization imager to illustrate these effects. Images are also shown that provide validation of previously published theories for weak (approximately 2%) polarization parallel to the scattering plane for a 22 degrees halo.

Automated Meteor Detection by All-Sky Digital Camera Systems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Suk, Tomáš; Šimberová, Stanislava

2017-01-01

Roč. 120, č. 3 (2017), s. 189-215 ISSN 0167-9295 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-16928S Institutional support: RVO:67985815 ; RVO:67985556 Keywords : meteor detection * autonomous fireball observatories * fish-eye camera * Hough transformation Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science; BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics (ASU-R) OBOR OECD: Computer sciences, information science, bioinformathics (hardware development to be 2.2, social aspect to be 5.8); Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science) (ASU-R) Impact factor: 0.875, year: 2016

Application of simple all-sky imagers for the estimation of aerosol optical depth

Science.gov (United States)

Kazantzidis, Andreas; Tzoumanikas, Panagiotis; Nikitidou, Efterpi; Salamalikis, Vasileios; Wilbert, Stefan; Prahl, Christoph

2017-06-01

Aerosol optical depth is a key atmospheric constituent for direct normal irradiance calculations at concentrating solar power plants. However, aerosol optical depth is typically not measured at the solar plants for financial reasons. With the recent introduction of all-sky imagers for the nowcasting of direct normal irradiance at the plants a new instrument is available which can be used for the determination of aerosol optical depth at different wavelengths. In this study, we are based on Red, Green and Blue intensities/radiances and calculations of the saturated area around the Sun, both derived from all-sky images taken with a low-cost surveillance camera at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria, Spain. The aerosol optical depth at 440, 500 and 675nm is calculated. The results are compared with collocated aerosol optical measurements and the mean/median difference and standard deviation are less than 0.01 and 0.03 respectively at all wavelengths.

The interactive sky: a browsable allsky image

Science.gov (United States)

Tancredi, Gonzalo; Da Rosa, Fernando; Roland, Santiago; Almenares, Luciano; Gomez, Fernando

2015-08-01

We are conducting a project to make available panoramas of the night sky of the southern hemisphere, based on a mosaic of hundred of photographs. Each allsky panorama is a giant image composed by hundreds of high-resolution photos taken in the course of one night. The panoramas are accessible with a web-browser and the public is able to zoom on them and to see the sky with better quality than the naked eye. We are preparing 4 sets of panoramas corresponding to the four seasons.The individual images are taken with a 16 Mpixels DLSR camera with a 50 mm lens mounted on a Gigapan EPIC robotic camera mounts. These devices and a autoguiding telescope are mounted in a equatorial telescope mount, which allows us to have exposure of several tens seconds. The images are then processed and stitched to create the gigantic panorama, with typical weight of several GBytes.The limiting magnitude is V~8. The panoramas include more than 50 times more stars those detected with the naked eye.In addition to the allsky panoramas, we embedded higher resolution images of specific regions of interest such as: emission nebulae and dark, open and globular clusters and galaxies; which can be zoomed.The photographs have been acquiring since December 2014 in a dark place with low light pollution in the countryside of Uruguay; which allows us to achieve deep sky objects.These panoramas will be available on a website and can be accessed with any browser.This tool will be available for teaching purposes, astronomy popularization or introductory research. Teacher guides will be developed for educational activities at different educational levels.While there are similar projects like Google Sky, the methodology used to generate the giant panoramas allows a much more realistic view, with a background of continuous sky without sharp edges. Furthermore, while the planetarium software is based on drawings of the stars, our panoramas are based on real images.This is the first project with these

A prototype for the PASS Permanent All Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Deeg, H. J.; Alonso, R.; Belmonte, J. A.; Horne, K.; Alsubai, K.; Collier Cameron, A.; Doyle, L. R.

2004-10-01

A prototype system for the Permanent All Sky Survey (PASS) project is presented. PASS is a continuous photometric survey of the entire celestial sphere with a high temporal resolution. Its major objectives are the detection of all giant-planet transits (with periods up to some weeks) across stars up to mag 10.5, and to deliver continuously photometry that is useful for the study of any variable stars. The prototype is based on CCD cameras with short focal length optics on a fixed mount. A small dome to house it at Teide Observatory, Tenerife, is currently being constructed. A placement at the antarctic Dome C is also being considered. The prototype will be used for a feasibility study of PASS, to define the best observing strategies, and to perform a detailed characterization of the capabilities and scope of the survey. Afterwards, a first partial sky surveying will be started with it. That first survey may be able to detect transiting planets during its first few hundred hours of operation. It will also deliver a data set around which software modules dealing with the various scientific objectives of PASS will be developed. The PASS project is still in its early phase and teams interested in specific scientific objectives, in providing technical expertise, or in participating with own observations are invited to collaborate.

2014 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2013-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly astronomy maps, viewing tips and highlights, and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to estimate local rise and set times for the Sun, Moon and planets. The 2014 Australasian Sky Guide also provides information on the solar system, updated with the latest findings from space probes. Published annually since 1991, the Sky Guide continues to be a favourite with photographers,

Observations of temporal change of nighttime cloud cover from Himawari 8 and ground-based sky camera over Chiba, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Lagrosas, N.; Gacal, G. F. B.; Kuze, H.

2017-12-01

Detection of nighttime cloud from Himawari 8 is implemented using the difference of digital numbers from bands 13 (10.4µm) and 7 (3.9µm). The digital number difference of -1.39x104 can be used as a threshold to separate clouds from clear sky conditions. To look at observations from the ground over Chiba, a digital camera (Canon Powershot A2300) is used to take images of the sky every 5 minutes at an exposure time of 5s at the Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University. From these images, cloud cover values are obtained using threshold algorithm (Gacal, et al, 2016). Ten minute nighttime cloud cover values from these two datasets are compared and analyzed from 29 May to 05 June 2017 (20:00-03:00 JST). When compared with lidar data, the camera can detect thick high level clouds up to 10km. The results show that during clear sky conditions (02-03 June), both camera and satellite cloud cover values show 0% cloud cover. During cloudy conditions (05-06 June), the camera shows almost 100% cloud cover while satellite cloud cover values range from 60 to 100%. These low values can be attributed to the presence of low-level thin clouds ( 2km above the ground) as observed from National Institute for Environmental Studies lidar located inside Chiba University. This difference of cloud cover values shows that the camera can produce accurate cloud cover values of low level clouds that are sometimes not detected by satellites. The opposite occurs when high level clouds are present (01-02 June). Derived satellite cloud cover shows almost 100% during the whole night while ground-based camera shows cloud cover values that range from 10 to 100% during the same time interval. The fluctuating values can be attributed to the presence of thin clouds located at around 6km from the ground and the presence of low level clouds ( 1km). Since the camera relies on the reflected city lights, it is possible that the high level thin clouds are not observed by the camera but is

The History of the CONCAM Project: All Sky Monitors in the Digital Age

Science.gov (United States)

Nemiroff, Robert; Shamir, Lior; Pereira, Wellesley

2018-01-01

The CONtinuous CAMera (CONCAM) project, which ran from 2000 to (about) 2008, consisted of real-time, Internet-connected, fisheye cameras located at major astronomical observatories. At its peak, eleven CONCAMs around the globe monitored most of the night sky, most of the time. Initially designed to search for transients and stellar variability, CONCAMs gained initial notoriety as cloud monitors. As such, CONCAMs made -- and its successors continue to make -- ground-based astronomy more efficient. The original, compact, fisheye-observatory-in-a-suitcase design underwent several iterations, starting with CONCAM0 and with the last version dubbed CONCAM3. Although the CONCAM project itself concluded after centralized funding diminished, today more locally-operated, commercially-designed, CONCAM-like devices operate than ever before. It has even been shown that modern smartphones can operate in a CONCAM-like mode. It is speculated that the re-instatement of better global coordination of current wide-angle sky monitors could lead to better variability monitoring of the brightest stars and transients.

ESASky: All the sky you need

Science.gov (United States)

De Marchi, Guido; ESASky Team

2018-06-01

ESASky is a discovery portal giving to all astronomers, professional and amateur alike, an easy way to access high-quality scientific data from their computer, tablet, or mobile device. It includes over half a million images, 300,000 spectra, and more than a billion catalogue sources. From gamma rays to radio wavelengths, it allows users to explore the cosmos with data from a dozen space missions from the astronomical archives of ESA, NASA, and JAXA and does not require prior knowledge of any particular mission. ESASky features an all-sky exploration interface, letting users easily zoom in for stars as single targets or as part of a whole galaxy, visualise them and retrieve the relevant data taken in an area of the sky with just a few clicks. Users can easily compare observations of the same source obtained by different space missions at different times and wavelengths. They can also use ESASky to plan future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, comparing the relevant portion of the sky as observed by Hubble and other missions. We will illustrate the many options to visualise and access astronomical data: interactive footprints for each instrument, tree-maps, filters, and solar-system object trajectories can all be combined and displayed. The most recent version of ESASky, released in February, also includes access to scientific publications, allowing users to visualise on the sky all astronomical objects with associated scientific publications and to link directly back to the papers in the NASA Astrophysics Data System.

An All-Sky Portable (ASP) Optical Catalogue

Science.gov (United States)

Flesch, Eric Wim

2017-06-01

This optical catalogue combines the all-sky USNO-B1.0/A1.0 and most-sky APM catalogues, plus overlays of SDSS optical data, into a single all-sky map presented in a sparse binary format that is easily downloaded at 9 Gb zipped. Total count is 1 163 237 190 sources and each has J2000 astrometry, red and blue magnitudes with PSFs and variability indicator, and flags for proper motion, epoch, and source survey and catalogue for each of the photometry and astrometry. The catalogue is available on http://quasars.org/asp.html, and additional data for this paper is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4225/50/5807fbc12595f.

Robust sky light polarization detection with an S-wave plate in a light field camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenjing; Zhang, Xuanzhe; Cao, Yu; Liu, Haibo; Liu, Zejin

2016-05-01

The sky light polarization navigator has many advantages, such as low cost, no decrease in accuracy with continuous operation, etc. However, current celestial polarization measurement methods often suffer from low performance when the sky is covered by clouds, which reduce the accuracy of navigation. In this paper we introduce a new method and structure based on a handheld light field camera and a radial polarizer, composed of an S-wave plate and a linear polarizer, to detect the sky light polarization pattern across a wide field of view in a single snapshot. Each micro-subimage has a special intensity distribution. After extracting the texture feature of these subimages, stable distribution information of the angle of polarization under a cloudy sky can be obtained. Our experimental results match well with the predicted properties of the theory. Because the polarization pattern is obtained through image processing, rather than traditional methods based on mathematical computation, this method is less sensitive to errors of pixel gray value and thus has better anti-interference performance.

Method for validating cloud mask obtained from satellite measurements using ground-based sky camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Letu, Husi; Nagao, Takashi M; Nakajima, Takashi Y; Matsumae, Yoshiaki

2014-11-01

Error propagation in Earth's atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface parameters of the satellite products caused by misclassification of the cloud mask is a critical issue for improving the accuracy of satellite products. Thus, characterizing the accuracy of the cloud mask is important for investigating the influence of the cloud mask on satellite products. In this study, we proposed a method for validating multiwavelength satellite data derived cloud masks using ground-based sky camera (GSC) data. First, a cloud cover algorithm for GSC data has been developed using sky index and bright index. Then, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data derived cloud masks by two cloud-screening algorithms (i.e., MOD35 and CLAUDIA) were validated using the GSC cloud mask. The results indicate that MOD35 is likely to classify ambiguous pixels as "cloudy," whereas CLAUDIA is likely to classify them as "clear." Furthermore, the influence of error propagations caused by misclassification of the MOD35 and CLAUDIA cloud masks on MODIS derived reflectance, brightness temperature, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in clear and cloudy pixels was investigated using sky camera data. It shows that the influence of the error propagation by the MOD35 cloud mask on the MODIS derived monthly mean reflectance, brightness temperature, and NDVI for clear pixels is significantly smaller than for the CLAUDIA cloud mask; the influence of the error propagation by the CLAUDIA cloud mask on MODIS derived monthly mean cloud products for cloudy pixels is significantly smaller than that by the MOD35 cloud mask.

Gaia , an all sky astrometric and photometric survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrasco, J.M.

2017-01-01

Gaia space mission includes a low resolution spectroscopic instrument to classify and parametrize the observed sources. Gaia is a full-sky unbiased survey down to about 20th magnitude. The scanning law yields a rather uniform coverage of the sky over the full mission. The data reduction is a global one over the full mission. Both sky coverage and data reduction strategy ensure an unprecedented all-sky homogeneous spectrophotometric survey. Certainly, that survey is of interest for future on-ground and space projects (LSST, PLATO, EUCLID, ...). This work addresses the exploitation of the Gaia spectrophotometry as standard photometry reference through the discussion of the sky coverage, the spectrophotometric precision and the expected uncertainties of the synthetic photometry derived from the low resolution Gaia spectra and photometry.

First observations from a CCD all-sky spectrograph at Barentsburg (Spitsbergen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Chernouss

2008-05-01

Full Text Available A digital CCD all-sky spectrograph was made by the Polar Geophysical Institute (PGI to support IPY activity in auroral research. The device was tested at the Barentsburg observatory of PGI during the winter season of 2005–2006. The spectrograph is based on a cooled CCD and a transmission grating. The main features of this spectrograph are: a wide field of view (~180°, a wide spectral range (380–740 nm, a spectral resolution of 0.6 nm, a background level of about 100 R at 1-min exposure time. Several thousand spectra of nightglow and aurora were recorded during the observation season. It was possible to register both the strong auroral emissions, as well as weak ones. Spectra of aurora, including nitrogen and oxygen molecular and atomic emissions, as well as OH emissions of the nightglow are shown. A comparison has been conducted of auroral spectra obtained by the film all-sky spectral camera C-180-S at Spitsbergen during IGY, with spectra obtained at Barentsburg during the last winter season. The relationship between the red (630.0 nm and green (557.7 nm auroral emissions shows that the green emission is dominant near the minimum of the solar cycle activity (2005–2006. The opposite situation is observed during 1958–1959, with a maximum solar cycle activity.

TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT CATALOG: A COMPREHENSIVE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CENSUS OF THE WHOLE SKY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilicki, Maciej; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Cluver, Michelle E.; Steward, Louise; Peacock, John A.

2014-01-01

Key cosmological applications require the three-dimensional (3D) galaxy distribution on the entire celestial sphere. These include measuring the gravitational pull on the Local Group, estimating the large-scale bulk flow, and testing the Copernican principle. However, the largest all-sky redshift surveys—the 2MASS Redshift Survey and IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey—have median redshifts of only z = 0.03 and sample the very local universe. All-sky galaxy catalogs exist that reach much deeper—SuperCOSMOS in the optical, the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in the near-IR, and WISE in the mid-IR—but these lack complete redshift information. At present, the only rapid way toward larger 3D catalogs covering the whole sky is through photometric redshift techniques. In this paper we present the 2MASS Photometric Redshift catalog (2MPZ) containing one million galaxies, constructed by cross-matching Two Micron All Sky Survey Extended Source Catalog (2MASS XSC), WISE, and SuperCOSMOS all-sky samples and employing the artificial neural network approach (the ANNz algorithm), trained on such redshift surveys as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 6dFGS, and 2dFGRS. The derived photometric redshifts have errors nearly independent of distance, with an all-sky accuracy of σ z = 0.015 and a very small percentage of outliers. In this way, we obtain redshift estimates with a typical precision of 12% for all the 2MASS XSC galaxies that lack spectroscopy. In addition, we have made an early effort toward probing the entire 3D sky beyond 2MASS, by pairing up WISE with SuperCOSMOS and training the ANNz on GAMA redshift data currently reaching to z med ∼ 0.2. This has yielded photo-z accuracies comparable to those in the 2MPZ. These all-sky photo-z catalogs, with a median z ∼ 0.1 for the 2MPZ, and significantly deeper for future WISE-based samples, will be the largest and most complete of their kind for the foreseeable future

Heavenly bodies the photographer's guide to astrophotography

CERN Document Server

Krages, Esq, Bert P

2003-01-01

Detailing the photographic equipment and astronomical instruments needed to capture celestial images, this guide shows how astrophotography can be accessible to all photographers. Included is a detailed introduction to basic astronomy with information on mapping the sky, locating celestial bodies, and planning an expedition to photograph astronomical phenomena. Photographers learn how to determine the color sensitivity of various films and achieve the best possible exposure, how to ensure a captivating composition, and how commercially processed prints can support their artistic vision. Whethe

Light-pollution measurement with the Wide-field all-sky image analyzing monitoring system

Science.gov (United States)

Vítek, S.

2017-07-01

The purpose of this experiment was to measure light pollution in the capital of Czech Republic, Prague. As a measuring instrument is used calibrated consumer level digital single reflex camera with IR cut filter, therefore, the paper reports results of measuring and monitoring of the light pollution in the wavelength range of 390 - 700 nm, which most affects visual range astronomy. Combining frames of different exposure times made with a digital camera coupled with fish-eye lens allow to create high dynamic range images, contain meaningful values, so such a system can provide absolute values of the sky brightness.

Uncertainties of parameterized surface downward clear-sky shortwave and all-sky longwave radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gubler, S.; Gruber, S.; Purves, R. S.

2012-06-01

As many environmental models rely on simulating the energy balance at the Earth's surface based on parameterized radiative fluxes, knowledge of the inherent model uncertainties is important. In this study we evaluate one parameterization of clear-sky direct, diffuse and global shortwave downward radiation (SDR) and diverse parameterizations of clear-sky and all-sky longwave downward radiation (LDR). In a first step, SDR is estimated based on measured input variables and estimated atmospheric parameters for hourly time steps during the years 1996 to 2008. Model behaviour is validated using the high quality measurements of six Alpine Surface Radiation Budget (ASRB) stations in Switzerland covering different elevations, and measurements of the Swiss Alpine Climate Radiation Monitoring network (SACRaM) in Payerne. In a next step, twelve clear-sky LDR parameterizations are calibrated using the ASRB measurements. One of the best performing parameterizations is elected to estimate all-sky LDR, where cloud transmissivity is estimated using measured and modeled global SDR during daytime. In a last step, the performance of several interpolation methods is evaluated to determine the cloud transmissivity in the night. We show that clear-sky direct, diffuse and global SDR is adequately represented by the model when using measurements of the atmospheric parameters precipitable water and aerosol content at Payerne. If the atmospheric parameters are estimated and used as a fix value, the relative mean bias deviance (MBD) and the relative root mean squared deviance (RMSD) of the clear-sky global SDR scatter between between -2 and 5%, and 7 and 13% within the six locations. The small errors in clear-sky global SDR can be attributed to compensating effects of modeled direct and diffuse SDR since an overestimation of aerosol content in the atmosphere results in underestimating the direct, but overestimating the diffuse SDR. Calibration of LDR parameterizations to local conditions

Uncertainties of parameterized surface downward clear-sky shortwave and all-sky longwave radiation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Gubler

2012-06-01

Full Text Available As many environmental models rely on simulating the energy balance at the Earth's surface based on parameterized radiative fluxes, knowledge of the inherent model uncertainties is important. In this study we evaluate one parameterization of clear-sky direct, diffuse and global shortwave downward radiation (SDR and diverse parameterizations of clear-sky and all-sky longwave downward radiation (LDR. In a first step, SDR is estimated based on measured input variables and estimated atmospheric parameters for hourly time steps during the years 1996 to 2008. Model behaviour is validated using the high quality measurements of six Alpine Surface Radiation Budget (ASRB stations in Switzerland covering different elevations, and measurements of the Swiss Alpine Climate Radiation Monitoring network (SACRaM in Payerne. In a next step, twelve clear-sky LDR parameterizations are calibrated using the ASRB measurements. One of the best performing parameterizations is elected to estimate all-sky LDR, where cloud transmissivity is estimated using measured and modeled global SDR during daytime. In a last step, the performance of several interpolation methods is evaluated to determine the cloud transmissivity in the night.

We show that clear-sky direct, diffuse and global SDR is adequately represented by the model when using measurements of the atmospheric parameters precipitable water and aerosol content at Payerne. If the atmospheric parameters are estimated and used as a fix value, the relative mean bias deviance (MBD and the relative root mean squared deviance (RMSD of the clear-sky global SDR scatter between between −2 and 5%, and 7 and 13% within the six locations. The small errors in clear-sky global SDR can be attributed to compensating effects of modeled direct and diffuse SDR since an overestimation of aerosol content in the atmosphere results in underestimating the direct, but overestimating the diffuse SDR. Calibration of LDR parameterizations

Dusty WDs in the WISE all sky survey ∩ SDSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barber, Sara D.; Kilic, Mukremin; Gianninas, A. [Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 W. Brooks St., Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Brown, Warren R., E-mail: barber@nhn.ou.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2014-05-10

A recent cross-correlation between the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 White Dwarf Catalog with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky photometry at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm performed by Debes et al. resulted in the discovery of 52 candidate dusty white dwarfs (WDs). However, the 6'' WISE beam allows for the possibility that many of the excesses exhibited by these WDs may be due to contamination from a nearby source. We present MMT+SAO Wide-Field InfraRed Camera J- and H-band imaging observations (0.''5-1.''5 point spread function) of 16 of these candidate dusty WDs and confirm that four have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) consistent with a dusty disk and are not accompanied by a nearby source contaminant. The remaining 12 WDs have contaminated WISE photometry and SEDs inconsistent with a dusty disk when the contaminating sources are not included in the photometry measurements. We find the frequency of disks around single WDs in the WISE ∩ SDSS sample to be 2.6%-4.1%. One of the four new dusty WDs has a mass of 1.04 M {sub ☉} (progenitor mass 5.4 M {sub ☉}) and its discovery offers the first confirmation that massive WDs (and their massive progenitor stars) host planetary systems.

Imaging and mapping the impact of clouds on skyglow with all-sky photometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Jechow, Andreas; Kolláth, Zoltán; Ribas, Salvador J; Spoelstra, Henk; Hölker, Franz; Kyba, Christopher C M

2017-07-27

Artificial skyglow is constantly growing on a global scale, with potential ecological consequences ranging up to affecting biodiversity. To understand these consequences, worldwide mapping of skyglow for all weather conditions is urgently required. In particular, the amplification of skyglow by clouds needs to be studied, as clouds can extend the reach of skyglow into remote areas not affected by light pollution on clear nights. Here we use commercial digital single lens reflex cameras with fisheye lenses for all-sky photometry. We track the reach of skyglow from a peri-urban into a remote area on a clear and a partly cloudy night by performing transects from the Spanish town of Balaguer towards Montsec Astronomical Park. From one single all-sky image, we extract zenith luminance, horizontal and scalar illuminance. While zenith luminance reaches near-natural levels at 5 km distance from the town on the clear night, similar levels are only reached at 27 km on the partly cloudy night. Our results show the dramatic increase of the reach of skyglow even for moderate cloud coverage at this site. The powerful and easy-to-use method promises to be widely applicable for studies of ecological light pollution on a global scale also by non-specialists in photometry.

The central corneal light reflex ratio from photographs derived from a digital camera in young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Duangsang, Suampa; Tengtrisorn, Supaporn

2012-05-01

To determine the normal range of Central Corneal Light Reflex Ratio (CCLRR) from photographs of young adults. A digital camera equipped with a telephoto lens with a flash attachment placed directly above the lens was used to obtain corneal light reflex photographs of 104 subjects, first with the subject fixating on the lens of the camera at a distance of 43 centimeters, and then while looking past the camera to a wall at a distance of 5.4 meters. Digital images were displayed using Adobe Photoshop at a magnification of l200%. The CCLRR was the ratio of the sum of distances between the inner margin of cornea and the central corneal light reflex of each eye to the sum of horizontal corneal diameter of each eye. Measurements were made by three technicians on all subjects, and repeated on a 16% (n=17) subsample. Mean ratios (standard deviation-SD) from near/distance measurements were 0.468 (0.012)/0.452 (0.019). Limits of the normal range, with 95% certainty, were 0.448 and 0.488 for near measurements and 0.419 and 0.484 for distance measurements. Lower and upper indeterminate zones were 0.440-0.447 and 0.489-0.497 for near measurements and 0.406-0.418 and 0.485-0.497 for distance measurements. More extreme values can be considered as abnormal. The reproducibility and repeatability of the test was good. This method is easy to perform and has potential for use in strabismus screening by paramedical personnel.

Treasures of the Southern Sky

CERN Document Server

Gendler, Robert; Malin, David

2011-01-01

In these pages, the reader can follow the engaging saga of astronomical exploration in the southern hemisphere, in a modern merger of aesthetics, science, and a story of human endeavor. This book is truly a celebration of southern skies.  Jerry Bonnell, Editor - Astronomy Picture of the Day The southern sky became accessible to scientific scrutiny only a few centuries ago, after the first European explorers ventured south of the equator. Modern observing and imaging techniques have since revealed what seems like a new Universe, previously hidden below the horizon, a fresh astronomical bounty of beauty and knowledge uniquely different from the northern sky. The authors have crafted a book that brings this hidden Universe to all, regardless of location or latitude. Treasures of the Southern Sky celebrates the remarkable beauty and richness of the southern sky in words and with world-class imagery. In part, a photographic anthology of deep sky wonders south of the celestial equator, this book also celebrates th...

The SPHEREx All-Sky Spectral Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, James; SPHEREx Science Team

2018-01-01

SPHEREx, a mission in NASA's Medium Explorer (MIDEX) program that was selected for Phase A in August 2017, is an all-sky survey satellite designed to address all three science goals in NASA's astrophysics division, with a single instrument, a wide-field spectral imager. SPHEREx will probe the physics of inflation by measuring non-Gaussianity by studying large-scale structure, surveying a large cosmological volume at low redshifts, complementing high-z surveys optimized to constrain dark energy. The origin of water and biogenic molecules will be investigated in all phases of planetary system formation - from molecular clouds to young stellar systems with protoplanetary disks - by measuring ice absorption spectra. We will chart the origin and history of galaxy formation through a deep survey mapping large-scale spatial power in two deep fields located near the ecliptic poles. Following in the tradition of all-sky missions such as IRAS, COBE and WISE, SPHEREx will be the first all-sky near-infrared spectral survey. SPHEREx will create spectra (0.75 – 4.2 um at R = 41; and 4.2 – 5 um at R = 135) with high sensitivity making background-limited observations using a passively-cooled telescope with a wide field-of-view for large mapping speed. During its two-year mission, SPHEREx will produce four complete all-sky maps that will serve as a rich archive for the astronomy community. With over a billion detected galaxies, hundreds of millions of high-quality stellar and galactic spectra, and over a million ice absorption spectra, the archive will enable diverse scientific investigations including studies of young stellar systems, brown dwarfs, high-redshift quasars, galaxy clusters, the interstellar medium, asteroids and comets. All aspects of the instrument and spacecraft have high heritage. SPHEREx requires no new technologies and carries large technical and resource margins on every aspect of the design. SPHEREx is a partnership between Caltech and JPL, following the

EDUCATING THE PEOPLE AS A DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND CAMERA OPERATOR VIA OPEN EDUCATION SYSTEM STUDIES FROM TURKEY: Anadolu University Open Education Faculty Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huseyin ERYILMAZ

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Today, Photography and visual arts are very important in our modern life. Especially for the mass communication, the visual images and visual arts have very big importance. In modern societies, people must have knowledge about the visual things, such as photographs, cartoons, drawings, typography, etc. Briefly, the people need education on visual literacy.In today’s world, most of the people in the world have a digital camera for photography or video image. But it is not possible to give people, visual literacy education in classic school system. But the camera users need a teaching medium for using their cameras effectively. So they are trying to use internet opportunities, some internet websites and pages as an information source. But as the well known problem, not all the websites give the correct learning or know-how on internet. There are a lot of mistakes and false information. Because of the reasons given above, Anadolu University Open Education Faculty is starting a new education system to educate people as a digital photographer and camera person in 2009. This program has very importance as a case study. The language of photography and digital technology is in English. Of course, not all the camera users understand English language. So, owing to this program, most of the camera users and especially people who is working as an operator in studios will learn a lot of things on photography, digital technology and camera systems. On the other hand, these people will learn about composition, visual image's history etc. Because of these reasons, this program is very important especially for developing countries. This paper will try to discuss this subject.

STARS4ALL Night Sky Brightness Photometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Zamorano

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We present the main features of TESS-W, the first version of a series of inexpensive but reliable photometers that will be used to measure night sky brightness. The bandpass is extended to the red with respect of that of the Sky Quality Meter (SQM. TESS-W connects to a router via WIFI and it sends automatically the brightness values to a data repository using Internet of Things protocols. The device includes an infrared sensor to estimate the cloud coverage. It is designed for fixed stations to monitor the evolution of the sky brightness. The photometer could also be used in local mode connected to a computer or tablet to gather data from a moving vehicle. The photometer is being developed within STARS4ALL project, a collective awareness platform for promoting dark skies in Europe, funded by the EU. We intend to extend the existing professional networks to a citizen-based network of photometers. 

The fly's eye camera system

Science.gov (United States)

Mészáros, L.; Pál, A.; Csépány, G.; Jaskó, A.; Vida, K.; Oláh, K.; Mezö, G.

2014-12-01

We introduce the Fly's Eye Camera System, an all-sky monitoring device intended to perform time domain astronomy. This camera system design will provide complementary data sets for other synoptic sky surveys such as LSST or Pan-STARRS. The effective field of view is obtained by 19 cameras arranged in a spherical mosaic form. These individual cameras of the device stand on a hexapod mount that is fully capable of achieving sidereal tracking for the subsequent exposures. This platform has many advantages. First of all it requires only one type of moving component and does not include unique parts. Hence this design not only eliminates problems implied by unique elements, but the redundancy of the hexapod allows smooth operations even if one or two of the legs are stuck. In addition, it can calibrate itself by observed stars independently from both the geographical location (including northen and southern hemisphere) and the polar alignment of the full mount. All mechanical elements and electronics are designed within the confines of our institute Konkoly Observatory. Currently, our instrument is in testing phase with an operating hexapod and reduced number of cameras.

Measuring the color and brightness of artificial sky glow from cities using an all-sky imaging system calibrated with astronomical methods in the Johnson-Cousins B and V photometric systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pipkin, Ashley; Duriscoe, Dan M.; Lughinbuhl, Christian

2017-01-01

Artificial light at night, when observed at some distance from a city, results in a dome of sky glow, brightest at the horizon. The spectral power distribution of electric light utilized will determine its color of the light dome and the amount of light will determine its brightness. Recent outdoor lighting technologies have included blue-rich light emitting diode (LED) sources that may increase the relative amount of blue to green light in sky glow compared to typical high pressure sodium (HPS) sources with warmer spectra. Measuring and monitoring this effect is important to the preservation of night sky visual quality as seen from undeveloped areas outside the city, such as parks or other protected areas, since the dark-adapted human eye is more sensitive to blue and green. We present a method using a wide field CCD camera which images the entire sky in both Johnson V and B photometric bands. Standard stars within the images are used for calibration. The resulting all-sky brightness maps, and a derived B-V color index map, provide a means to assess and track the impact of specific outdoor lighting practices. We also present example data from several cities, including Las Vegas, Nevada, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Imaging Polarimeter for a Sub-MeV Gamma-Ray All-sky Survey Using an Electron-tracking Compton Camera

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komura, S.; Takada, A.; Mizumura, Y.; Miyamoto, S.; Takemura, T.; Kishimoto, T.; Kubo, H.; Matsuoka, Y.; Mizumoto, T.; Nakamasu, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Oda, M.; Parker, J. D.; Sonoda, S.; Tanimori, T.; Tomono, D.; Yoshikawa, K. [Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Kurosawa, S. [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579 (Japan); Miuchi, K. [Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, 658-8501 (Japan); Sawano, T., E-mail: komura@cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp [College of Science and Engineering, School of Mathematics and Physics, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192 (Japan)

2017-04-10

X-ray and gamma-ray polarimetry is a promising tool to study the geometry and the magnetic configuration of various celestial objects, such as binary black holes or gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, statistically significant polarizations have been detected in few of the brightest objects. Even though future polarimeters using X-ray telescopes are expected to observe weak persistent sources, there are no effective approaches to survey transient and serendipitous sources with a wide field of view (FoV). Here we present an electron-tracking Compton camera (ETCC) as a highly sensitive gamma-ray imaging polarimeter. The ETCC provides powerful background rejection and a high modulation factor over an FoV of up to 2 π sr thanks to its excellent imaging based on a well-defined point-spread function. Importantly, we demonstrated for the first time the stability of the modulation factor under realistic conditions of off-axis incidence and huge backgrounds using the SPring-8 polarized X-ray beam. The measured modulation factor of the ETCC was 0.65 ± 0.01 at 150 keV for an off-axis incidence with an oblique angle of 30° and was not degraded compared to the 0.58 ± 0.02 at 130 keV for on-axis incidence. These measured results are consistent with the simulation results. Consequently, we found that the satellite-ETCC proposed in Tanimori et al. would provide all-sky surveys of weak persistent sources of 13 mCrab with 10% polarization for a 10{sup 7} s exposure and over 20 GRBs down to a 6 × 10{sup −6} erg cm{sup −2} fluence and 10% polarization during a one-year observation.

Optimising camera traps for monitoring small mammals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alistair S Glen

Full Text Available Practical techniques are required to monitor invasive animals, which are often cryptic and occur at low density. Camera traps have potential for this purpose, but may have problems detecting and identifying small species. A further challenge is how to standardise the size of each camera's field of view so capture rates are comparable between different places and times. We investigated the optimal specifications for a low-cost camera trap for small mammals. The factors tested were 1 trigger speed, 2 passive infrared vs. microwave sensor, 3 white vs. infrared flash, and 4 still photographs vs. video. We also tested a new approach to standardise each camera's field of view. We compared the success rates of four camera trap designs in detecting and taking recognisable photographs of captive stoats (Mustelaerminea, feral cats (Felis catus and hedgehogs (Erinaceuseuropaeus. Trigger speeds of 0.2-2.1 s captured photographs of all three target species unless the animal was running at high speed. The camera with a microwave sensor was prone to false triggers, and often failed to trigger when an animal moved in front of it. A white flash produced photographs that were more readily identified to species than those obtained under infrared light. However, a white flash may be more likely to frighten target animals, potentially affecting detection probabilities. Video footage achieved similar success rates to still cameras but required more processing time and computer memory. Placing two camera traps side by side achieved a higher success rate than using a single camera. Camera traps show considerable promise for monitoring invasive mammal control operations. Further research should address how best to standardise the size of each camera's field of view, maximise the probability that an animal encountering a camera trap will be detected, and eliminate visible or audible cues emitted by camera traps.

All-sky brightness monitoring of light pollution with astronomical methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabaza, O; Galadí-Enríquez, D; Estrella, A Espín; Dols, F Aznar

2010-06-01

This paper describes a mobile prototype and a protocol to measure light pollution based on astronomical methods. The prototype takes three all-sky images using BVR filters of the Johnson-Cousins astronomical photometric system. The stars are then identified in the images of the Hipparcos and General Catalogue of Photometric Data II astronomical catalogues, and are used as calibration sources. This method permits the measurement of night-sky brightness and facilitates an estimate of which fraction is due to the light up-scattered in the atmosphere by a wide variety of man-made sources. This is achieved by our software, which compares the sky background flux to that of many stars of known brightness. The reduced weight and dimensions of the prototype allow the user to make measurements from virtually any location. This prototype is capable of measuring the sky distribution of light pollution, and also provides an accurate estimate of the background flux at each photometric band. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep-Sky Video Astronomy

CERN Document Server

Massey, Steve

2009-01-01

A guide to using modern integrating video cameras for deep-sky viewing and imaging with the kinds of modest telescopes available commercially to amateur astronomers. It includes an introduction and a brief history of the technology and camera types. It examines the pros and cons of this unrefrigerated yet highly efficient technology

Meteor Shower Forecast Improvements from a Survey of All-Sky Network Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Moorhead, Althea V.; Sugar, Glenn; Brown, Peter G.; Cooke, William J.

2015-01-01

Meteoroid impacts are capable of damaging spacecraft and potentially ending missions. In order to help spacecraft programs mitigate these risks, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) monitors and predicts meteoroid activity. Temporal variations in near-Earth space are described by the MEO's annual meteor shower forecast, which is based on both past shower activity and model predictions. The MEO and the University of Western Ontario operate sister networks of all-sky meteor cameras. These networks have been in operation for more than 7 years and have computed more than 20,000 meteor orbits. Using these data, we conduct a survey of meteor shower activity in the "fireball" size regime using DBSCAN. For each shower detected in our survey, we compute the date of peak activity and characterize the growth and decay of the shower's activity before and after the peak. These parameters are then incorporated into the annual forecast for an improved treatment of annual activity.

Gaia, an all-sky survey for standard photometry

Science.gov (United States)

Carrasco, J. M.; Weiler, M.; Jordi, C.; Fabricius, C.

2017-03-01

Gaia ESA's space mission (launched in 2013) includes two low resolution spectroscopic instruments (one in the blue, BP, and another in the red, RP, wavelength domains) to classify and derive the astrophysical parameters of the observed sources. As it is well known, Gaia is a full-sky unbiased survey down to about 20th magnitude. The scanning law yields a rather uniform coverage of the sky over the full extent (a minimum of 5 years) of the mission. Gaia data reduction is a global one over the full mission. Both sky coverage and data reduction strategy ensure an unprecedented all-sky homogeneous spectrophotometric survey. Certainly, that survey is of interest for current and future on-ground and space projects, like LSST, PLATO, EUCLID and J-PAS/J-PLUS among others. These projects will benefit from the large amount (more than one billion) and wide variety of objects observed by Gaia with good quality spectrophotometry. Synthetic photometry derived from Gaia spectrophotometry for any passband can be used to expand the set of standard sources for these new instruments to come. In the current Gaia data release scenario, BP/RP spectrophotometric data will be available in the third release (in 2018, TBC). Current preliminary results allow us to estimate the precision of synthetic photometry derived from the Gaia data. This already allows the preparation of the on-going and future surveys and space missions. We discuss here the exploitation of the Gaia spectrophotometry as standard reference due to its full-sky coverage and its expected photometric uncertainties derived from the low resolution Gaia spectra.

Planck 2013 results. XI. All-sky model of thermal dust emission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abergel, A.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an all-sky model of dust emission from the Planck 353, 545, and 857 GHz, and IRAS 100 mu m data. Using a modified blackbody fit to the data we present all-sky maps of the dust optical depth, temperature, and spectral index over the 353-3000 GHz range. This model is a good repr...

Night sky a falcon field guide

CERN Document Server

Nigro, Nicholas

2012-01-01

Night Sky: A Falcon Field Guide covers both summer and winter constellations, planets, and stars found in the northern hemisphere. Conveniently sized to fit in a pocket and featuring detailed photographs, this informative guide makes it easy to identify objects in the night sky even from one's own backyard. From information on optimal weather conditions, preferred viewing locations, and how to use key tools of the trade, this handbook will help you adeptly navigate to and fro the vast and dynamic nighttime skies, and you'll fast recognize that the night sky's the limit.

The SPHEREx All-Sky Spectroscopic Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Unwin, Stephen C.; SPHEREx Science Team, SPHEREx Project Team

2016-06-01

SPHEREx is a mission to conduct an optical-near-IR survey of the entire sky with a spectrum at every pixel location. It was selected by NASA for a Phase A study in its Small Explorer Program; if selected, development would begin in 2016, and the observatory would start a 2-year prime mission in 2020. An all-sky spectroscopic survey can be used to tackle a wide range of science questions. The SPHEREx science team is focusing on three: (1) Probing the physics of inflation through measuring non-Gaussianity from the study of large-scale structure; (2) Studying the origin of water and biogenic molecules in a wide range of physical and chemical environments via ice absorption spectra; (3) Charting the history of star formation in the universe through intensity mapping of the large-scale spatial power. The instrument is a small wide-field telescope operating in the range of 0.75 - 4.8 µm at a spectral resolution of 41.5 in the optical and 150 at the long-wavelength end. It observes in a sun-sync low-earth orbit, covering the sky like WISE and COBE. SPHEREx is a simple instrument that requires no new technology. The Phase A design has substantial technical and resource margins and can be built with low risk. It is a partnership between Caltech and JPL, with Ball Aerospace and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute as major partners. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

2MASS - The 2 Micron All Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinmann, S. G.

1992-01-01

This paper describes a new sky survey to be carried out in three wavebands, J(1.25 m), H(1.65 m), and K(2.2 m). The limiting sensitivity of the survey, 10 sigma detection of point sources with K not greater than 14 mag, coupled with its all-sky coverage, were selected primarily to support studies of the large-scale structure of the Milky Way and the Local Universe. The survey requires construction of a pair of observing facilities, one each for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Operations are scheduled to begin in 1995. The data will begin becoming publicly available soon thereafter.

Improvements in televisual and photographic inspections of AGRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayter, R.; Wadsworth, A.

1988-01-01

The visual inspection techniques and equipment used at AGR Power Stations have been improved and updated in the light of need and technological advance, new equipment being developed and introduced where necessary. Specifically this report covers the development and use of: a short TRIUMPH compatible photographic camera 600 mm long x 75 mm dia taking 50 shots on a 35 mm film; a 240 mm dia photographic pod taking high quality 70 mm format photographs of large in-reactor volumes; a photographic camera of cross section 37 x 17 mm for the inspection of helically wound AGR boilers and the subsequent development of this latter device into a state of the art TV inspection camera. (author)

Planck 2013 results. XI. All-sky model of thermal dust emission

CERN Document Server

Abergel, A; Aghanim, N; Alina, D; Alves, M I R; Armitage-Caplan, C; Arnaud, M; Ashdown, M; Atrio-Barandela, F; Aumont, J; Baccigalupi, C; Banday, A J; Barreiro, R B; Bartlett, J G; Battaner, E; Benabed, K; Benoît, A; Benoit-Lévy, A; Bernard, J -P; Bersanelli, M; Bielewicz, P; Bobin, J; Bock, J J; Bonaldi, A; Bond, J R; Borrill, J; Bouchet, F R; Boulanger, F; Bridges, M; Bucher, M; Burigana, C; Butler, R C; Cardoso, J -F; Catalano, A; Chamballu, A; Chary, R -R; Chiang, H C; Chiang, L -Y; Christensen, P R; Church, S; Clemens, M; Clements, D L; Colombi, S; Colombo, L P L; Combet, C; Couchot, F; Coulais, A; Crill, B P; Curto, A; Cuttaia, F; Danese, L; Davies, R D; Davis, R J; de Bernardis, P; de Rosa, A; de Zotti, G; Delabrouille, J; Delouis, J -M; Désert, F -X; Dickinson, C; Diego, J M; Dole, H; Donzelli, S; Doré, O; Douspis, M; Dupac, X; Efstathiou, G; Enßlin, T A; Eriksen, H K; Falgarone, E; Finelli, F; Forni, O; Frailis, M; Fraisse, A A; Franceschi, E; Galeotta, S; Ganga, K; Ghosh, T; Giard, M; Giardino, G; Giraud-Héraud, Y; González-Nuevo, J; Górski, K M; Gratton, S; Gregorio, A; Grenier, I A; Gruppuso, A; Guillet, V; Hansen, F K; Hanson, D; Harrison, D; Helou, G; Henrot-Versillé, S; Hernández-Monteagudo, C; Herranz, D; Hildebrandt, S R; Hivon, E; Hobson, M; Holmes, W A; Hornstrup, A; Hovest, W; Huffenberger, K M; Jaffe, A H; Jaffe, T R; Jewell, J; Joncas, G; Jones, W C; Juvela, M; Keihänen, E; Keskitalo, R; Kisner, T S; Knoche, J; Knox, L; Kunz, M; Kurki-Suonio, H; Lagache, G; Lähteenmäki, A; Lamarre, J -M; Lasenby, A; Laureijs, R J; Lawrence, C R; Leonardi, R; León-Tavares, J; Lesgourgues, J; Levrier, F; Liguori, M; Lilje, P B; Linden-Vørnle, M; López-Caniego, M; Lubin, P M; Macías-Pérez, J F; Maffei, B; Maino, D; Mandolesi, N; Maris, M; Marshall, D J; Martin, P G; Martínez-González, E; Masi, S; Massardi, M; Matarrese, S; Matthai, F; Mazzotta, P; McGehee, P; Melchiorri, A; Mendes, L; Mennella, A; Migliaccio, M; Mitra, S; Miville-Deschênes, M -A; Moneti, A; Montier, L; Morgante, G; Mortlock, D; Munshi, D; Murphy, J A; Naselsky, P; Nati, F; Natoli, P; Netterfield, C B; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H U; Noviello, F; Novikov, D; Novikov, I; Osborne, S; Oxborrow, C A; Paci, F; Pagano, L; Pajot, F; Paladini, R; Paoletti, D; Pasian, F; Patanchon, G; Perdereau, O; Perotto, L; Perrotta, F; Piacentini, F; Piat, M; Pierpaoli, E; Pietrobon, D; Plaszczynski, S; Pointecouteau, E; Polenta, G; Ponthieu, N; Popa, L; Poutanen, T; Pratt, G W; Prézeau, G; Prunet, S; Puget, J -L; Rachen, J P; Reach, W T; Rebolo, R; Reinecke, M; Remazeilles, M; Renault, C; Ricciardi, S; Riller, T; Ristorcelli, I; Rocha, G; Rosset, C; Roudier, G; Rowan-Robinson, M; Rubiño-Martín, J A; Rusholme, B; Sandri, M; Santos, D; Savini, G; Scott, D; Seiffert, M D; Shellard, E P S; Spencer, L D; Starck, J -L; Stolyarov, V; Stompor, R; Sudiwala, R; Sunyaev, R; Sureau, F; Sutton, D; Suur-Uski, A -S; Sygnet, J -F; Tauber, J A; Tavagnacco, D; Terenzi, L; Toffolatti, L; Tomasi, M; Tristram, M; Tucci, M; Tuovinen, J; Türler, M; Umana, G; Valenziano, L; Valiviita, J; Van Tent, B; Vielva, P; Villa, F; Vittorio, N; Wade, L A; Wandelt, B D; Welikala, N; Yvon, D; Zacchei, A; Zonca, A

2014-01-01

This paper presents an all-sky model of dust emission from the Planck 857, 545 and 353 GHz, and IRAS 100 micron data. Using a modified black-body fit to the data we present all-sky maps of the dust optical depth, temperature, and spectral index over the 353-3000 GHz range. This model is a tight representation of the data at 5 arcmin. It shows variations of the order of 30 % compared with the widely-used model of Finkbeiner, Davis, and Schlegel. The Planck data allow us to estimate the dust temperature uniformly over the whole sky, providing an improved estimate of the dust optical depth compared to previous all-sky dust model, especially in high-contrast molecular regions. An increase of the dust opacity at 353 GHz, tau_353/N_H, from the diffuse to the denser interstellar medium (ISM) is reported. It is associated with a decrease in the observed dust temperature, T_obs, that could be due at least in part to the increased dust opacity. We also report an excess of dust emission at HI column densities lower than...

LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and Student Training

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-02

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The Low-Frequency All- Sky Monitor (LoFASM) is an innovative new radio astronomy observatory. Designed and built by...Feb-2015 Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Final Report: LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and Student...reviewed journals: Number of Papers published in non peer-reviewed journals: Final Report: LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and

All-sky radiance simulation of Megha-Tropiques SAPHIR microwave ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

used as input to the RTTOV model to simulate cloud-affected SAPHIR radiances. ... All-sky radiance simulation; Megha tropiques; microwave SAPHIR sensor; radiative transfer; data ... versions of these non-linear processes (Ohring and.

Photographs of the southern heavens

CERN Document Server

West, R M

1975-01-01

The 1 m Schmidt telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has been used for a number of sky surveys. In particular a main task has been an examination of the southern night sky between declinations of -20 degrees and -90 degrees . This exercise is known as the ESO(B) Survey (or Quick Blue Survey); some of the more interesting results are shown and are briefly discussed. The photographic plates used were Kodak II a-o. There are photographs of the two Magellanic Clouds and of the galaxy NGC 1313 and the globular cluster NGC 6752. A spectrogram of our Galaxy for wavelengths in the band 3900 A to 4900 A, taken with the telescope's large objective prism is also shown. (0 refs).

Experiencing Photographs Qua Photographs: What's So Special about Them?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiri Benovsky

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Merely rhetorically and answering in the negative, Kendall Walton has asked: "Isn't photography just another method people have of making pictures, one that merely uses different tools and materials; cameras, photosensitive paper, and darkroom equipment, rather than canvas, paint, and brushes? And don't the results differ only contingently and in degree, not fundamentally, from pictures of other kinds?" Contrary to Walton and others, I answer with a resounding "Yes" to Walton’s questions in this article. It is a widely shared view that photographs are somehow special and that they fundamentally differ from hand-made pictures such as paintings, both from a phenomenological point of view (in the way we experience them and an epistemic point of view (since they are supposed to have a different that is, greater, epistemic value from paintings that gives us a privileged access to the world. I almost reject the totality of these claims and, as a consequence, there remains little difference between photographs and paintings. As we shall see, “photographs are always partly paintings,” a claim that is true not only of retouched digital photographs but of all photographs, including traditional ones made using photosensitive film and development techniques.

All-Sky Interferometry with Spherical Harmonic Transit Telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, J.Richard [Canadian Inst. Theor. Astrophys.; Sigurdson, Kris [British Columbia U.; Pen, Ue-Li [Canadian Inst. Theor. Astrophys.; Stebbins, Albert [Fermilab; Sitwell, Michael [British Columbia U.

2013-02-01

In this paper we describe the spherical harmonic transit telescope, a novel formalism for the analysis of transit radio telescopes. This all-sky approach bypasses the curved sky complications of traditional interferometry and so is particularly well suited to the analysis of wide-field radio interferometers. It enables compact and computationally efficient representations of the data and its statistics that allow new ways of approaching important problems like map-making and foreground removal. In particular, we show how it enables the use of the Karhunen-Loeve transform as a highly effective foreground filter, suppressing realistic foreground residuals for our fiducial example by at least a factor twenty below the 21cm signal even in highly contaminated regions of the sky. This is despite the presence of the angle-frequency mode mixing inherent in real-world instruments with frequency-dependent beams. We show, using Fisher forecasting, that foreground cleaning has little effect on power spectrum constraints compared to hypothetical foreground-free measurements. Beyond providing a natural real-world data analysis framework for 21cm telescopes now under construction and future experiments, this formalism allows accurate power spectrum forecasts to be made that include the interplay of design constraints and realistic experimental systematics with twenty-first century 21cm science.

A wide field X-ray camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sims, M.; Turner, M.J.L.; Willingale, R.

1980-01-01

A wide field of view X-ray camera based on the Dicke or Coded Mask principle is described. It is shown that this type of instrument is more sensitive than a pin-hole camera, or than a scanning survey of a given region of sky for all wide field conditions. The design of a practical camera is discussed and the sensitivity and performance of the chosen design are evaluated by means of computer simulations. The Wiener Filter and Maximum Entropy methods of deconvolution are described and these methods are compared with each other and cross-correlation using data from the computer simulations. It is shown that the analytic expressions for sensitivity used by other workers are confirmed by the simulations, and that ghost images caused by incomplete coding can be substantially eliminated by the use of the Wiener Filter and the Maximum Entropy Method, with some penalty in computer time for the latter. The cyclic mask configuration is compared with the simple mask camera. It is shown that when the diffuse X-ray background dominates, the simple system is more sensitive and has the better angular resolution. When sources dominate the simple system is less sensitive. It is concluded that the simple coded mask camera is the best instrument for wide field imaging of the X-ray sky. (orig.)

Vertical Photographs

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set includes of photographs of marine mammals and sea turtles taken with high resolution cameras mounted in airplanes, unmanned platforms or the bow of...

ROTSE All-Sky Surveys for Variable Stars. I. Test Fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akerlof, C.; Amrose, S.; Balsano, R.; Bloch, J.; Casperson, D.; Fletcher, S.; Gisler, G.; Hills, J.; Kehoe, R.; Lee, B.

2000-01-01

The Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment I (ROTSE-I) experiment has generated CCD photometry for the entire northern sky in two epochs nightly since 1998 March. These sky patrol data are a powerful resource for studies of astrophysical transients. As a demonstration project, we present first results of a search for periodic variable stars derived from ROTSE-I observations. Variable identification, period determination, and type classification are conducted via automatic algorithms. In a set of nine ROTSE-I sky patrol fields covering roughly 2000 deg2, we identify 1781 periodic variable stars with mean magnitudes between m v = 10.0 and m v = 15.5. About 90% of these objects are newly identified as variable. Examples of many familiar types are presented. All classifications for this study have been manually confirmed. The selection criteria for this analysis have been conservatively defined and are known to be biased against some variable classes. This preliminary study includes only 5.6% of the total ROTSE-I sky coverage, suggesting that the full ROTSE-I variable catalog will include more than 32,000 periodic variable stars. (c) (c) 2000. The American Astronomical Society

Region of Nova Cygni 1975 on the Palomar Sky Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beardsley, W.R.; King, M.W.; Russell, J.L.; Stein, J.W.

1975-01-01

Careful superposition of a blue Palomar Sky Survey print onto a sectored photograph of Nova Cygni 1975 obtained with the Thaw 30-inch (76-cm) refractor at the Allegheny Observatory decisively confirms the fact that no star brighter than magnitude 21 appears on the Sky Survey print at that position

The All Sky Automated Survey. The Catalog of Bright Variable Stars in the I-band, South of Declination +28o

Science.gov (United States)

Sitek, M.; Pojmański, G.

2014-06-01

This paper presents the results of our extensive search for the bright variable stars in approximately 30 000 square degrees of the south sky in the I-band data collected by 9o×9o camera of the All Sky Automated Survey between 2002 and 2009. Lists of over 27 000 variable stars brighter than 9 mag at maximum light, with amplitudes ranging from 0.02 mag to 7 mag and variability time-scales from hours to years, as well as corresponding light curves are provided. Automated classification algorithm based on stellar properties (period, Fourier coefficients, 2MASS J, H, K, colors, ASAS V-band data) was used to roughly classify objects. Despite low spatial resolution of the ASAS data (≍15'') we cross-identified all objects with other available data sources. Coordinates of the most probable 2MASS counterparts are provided. 27 705 stars brighter than I=9 mag were found to be variable, of which 7842 objects were detected to be variable for the first time. Brief statistics and discussion of the presented data is provided. All the photometric data is available over the Internet at http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/ gp/asas/AsasBrightI.html

Applications of a shadow camera system for energy meteorology

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Pascal; Wilbert, Stefan; Prahl, Christoph; Garsche, Dominik; Schüler, David; Haase, Thomas; Ramirez, Lourdes; Zarzalejo, Luis; Meyer, Angela; Blanc, Philippe; Pitz-Paal, Robert

2018-02-01

Downward-facing shadow cameras might play a major role in future energy meteorology. Shadow cameras directly image shadows on the ground from an elevated position. They are used to validate other systems (e.g. all-sky imager based nowcasting systems, cloud speed sensors or satellite forecasts) and can potentially provide short term forecasts for solar power plants. Such forecasts are needed for electricity grids with high penetrations of renewable energy and can help to optimize plant operations. In this publication, two key applications of shadow cameras are briefly presented.

Monitoring engineering structures by the comparison of similar photographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, A.

1976-12-01

A commonly used method of monitoring engineering structures is to compare similar photographs taken at different times. The initial part of this note deals with commercially available equipment, known as a comparascope, which enables differences between photographs to be rapidly (and reliably) detected. A series of practical tests is described in which it is established that a change in dimensions of 0.05mm can be detected between photographs. For typical camera systems, this will usually correspond to detectable displacements of the order of several mm in object space. Perhaps the most serious disadvantages of the technique is that alterations in camera attitude between photographs can cause changes in the recorded image which mask genuine movements in the structure. The changes caused by a given shift in camera attitude are, therefore, investigated theoretically. Since it is desirable that the changes are small enough to go undetected in the comparison, the established detection limit of the comparascope is included in the investigation to specify how accurately the camera attitude must be controlled for a given set of experimental circumstances. As a result, it appears that a special purpose camera mounting will nearly always be required if structural differences as small as several mm are to be reliably detected. Hand-held cameras should only be used for relatively coarse monitoring tasks. (author)

21 CFR 886.1120 - Opthalmic camera.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 886.1120 Opthalmic camera. (a) Identification. An ophthalmic camera is an AC-powered device intended to take photographs of the eye and the surrounding area...

All-sky analysis of the general relativistic galaxy power spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jaiyul; Desjacques, Vincent

2013-07-01

We perform an all-sky analysis of the general relativistic galaxy power spectrum using the well-developed spherical Fourier decomposition. Spherical Fourier analysis expresses the observed galaxy fluctuation in terms of the spherical harmonics and spherical Bessel functions that are angular and radial eigenfunctions of the Helmholtz equation, providing a natural orthogonal basis for all-sky analysis of the large-scale mode measurements. Accounting for all the relativistic effects in galaxy clustering, we compute the spherical power spectrum and its covariance matrix and compare it to the standard three-dimensional power spectrum to establish a connection. The spherical power spectrum recovers the three-dimensional power spectrum at each wave number k with its angular dependence μk encoded in angular multipole l, and the contributions of the line-of-sight projection to galaxy clustering such as the gravitational lensing effect can be readily accommodated in the spherical Fourier analysis. A complete list of formulas for computing the relativistic spherical galaxy power spectrum is also presented.

Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera Instrument Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stuefer, Martin [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States); Bailey, J. [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)

2016-07-01

The Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) takes 9- to 37-micron resolution stereographic photographs of free-falling hydrometers from three angles, while simultaneously measuring their fall speed. Information about hydrometeor size, shape orientation, and aspect ratio is derived from MASC photographs. The instrument consists of three commercial cameras separated by angles of 36º. Each camera field of view is aligned to have a common single focus point about 10 cm distant from the cameras. Two near-infrared emitter pairs are aligned with the camera’s field of view within a 10-angular ring and detect hydrometeor passage, with the lower emitters configured to trigger the MASC cameras. The sensitive IR motion sensors are designed to filter out slow variations in ambient light. Fall speed is derived from successive triggers along the fall path. The camera exposure times are extremely short, in the range of 1/25,000th of a second, enabling the MASC to capture snowflake sizes ranging from 30 micrometers to 3 cm.

The Einstein All-Sky IPC slew survey

Science.gov (United States)

Elvis, Martin; Plummer, David; Fabbiano, G.

1989-01-01

The construction of the Einstein All-Sky Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) slew survey is considered. It contains approximately 1000 sources between 10(exp -12) and 10(exp -10) erg/sq cm/s with a concentration toward the ecliptic poles and away from the galactic plane. Several sizable samples of bright soft X-ray selected objects for follow-up ROSAT and ASTRO-D observations and statistical study are presented. The survey source list is expected to be available by late 1989. Both paper and remote access online data base versions are to be available. An identification program is considered.

ESO unveils an amazing, interactive, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire night sky

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

French writer and astrophotographer Serge Brunier and his fellow Frenchman Frédéric Tapissier. Brunier spent several weeks during the period between August 2008 and February 2009 capturing the sky, mostly from ESO observatories at La Silla and Paranal in Chile. In order to cover the full Milky Way, Brunier also made a week-long trip to La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, to photograph the northern skies [1]. Once the raw photographs were in hand, image processing by Tapissier and ESO experts helped to convey accurately the night sky as our eyes behold it [2]. The resulting image, now available on GigaGalaxy Zoom, is composed of almost 300 fields each individually captured by Brunier four times, adding up to nearly 1200 photos that encompass the entire night sky. "I wanted to show a sky that everyone can relate to - with its constellations, its thousands of stars, with names familiar since childhood, its myths shared by all civilisations since Homo became Sapiens," says Brunier. "The image was therefore made as man sees it, with a regular digital camera under the dark skies in the Atacama Desert and on La Palma." As photographing extended over several months, objects from the Solar System came and went through the star fields, with bright planets such as Venus and Jupiter. A brilliant, emerald-green comet also flew by, although spotting it among a background of tens of millions of stars will be difficult (but rewarding). Overall, the creators of the GigaGalaxy Zoom project hope that these tremendous efforts in bringing the night sky as observed under the best conditions on the planet to stargazers everywhere will inspire awe for the beautiful, immense Universe that we live in. "The vision of the IYA2009 is to help people rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and this is exactly what the GigaGalaxy Zoom project is all about," says project coordinator Henri Boffin. The second dramatic GigaGalaxy Zoom image will be revealed next week

New Stereo Vision Digital Camera System for Simultaneous Measurement of Cloud Base Height and Atmospheric Visibility

Science.gov (United States)

Janeiro, F. M.; Carretas, F.; Palma, N.; Ramos, P. M.; Wagner, F.

2013-12-01

Clouds play an important role in many aspects of everyday life. They affect both the local weather as well as the global climate and are an important parameter on climate change studies. Cloud parameters are also important for weather prediction models which make use of actual measurements. It is thus important to have low-cost instrumentation that can be deployed in the field to measure those parameters. This kind of instruments should also be automated and robust since they may be deployed in remote places and be subject to adverse weather conditions. Although clouds are very important in environmental systems, they are also an essential component of airplane safety when visual flight rules (VFR) are enforced, such as in most small aerodromes where it is not economically viable to install instruments for assisted flying. Under VFR there are strict limits on the height of the cloud base, cloud cover and atmospheric visibility that ensure the safety of the pilots and planes. Although there are instruments, available in the market, to measure those parameters, their relatively high cost makes them unavailable in many local aerodromes. In this work we present a new prototype which has been recently developed and deployed in a local aerodrome as proof of concept. It is composed by two digital cameras that capture photographs of the sky and allow the measurement of the cloud height from the parallax effect. The new developments consist on having a new geometry which allows the simultaneous measurement of cloud base height, wind speed at cloud base height and atmospheric visibility, which was not previously possible with only two cameras. The new orientation of the cameras comes at the cost of a more complex geometry to measure the cloud base height. The atmospheric visibility is calculated from the Lambert-Beer law after the measurement of the contrast between a set of dark objects and the background sky. The prototype includes the latest hardware developments that

Remote Observing: Equipment, Methods and Experiences at the Dark Sky Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Caton, Daniel B.; Hawkins, L.

2009-01-01

Over the last few years we have experimented with remote observing with the 32-inch telescope at our Dark Sky Observatory. We have used relatively inexpensive X10 control modules and software to control many electrical and electronic circuits and devices. User access is via a combination of Microsoft Remote Desktop and RealVNC. X10's ActiveHome Pro software provides the interface for device control. Data acquisition has been with a Photometrics CH250 CCD camera under control of PMIS. Our new imaging camera is an Apogee U42 controlled by MaximDL. In both cases the control over the Internet is by the RD/VNC interface. All of this goes through an ordinary DSL connection at the observatory and provides surprisingly good performance even with the user having only DSL access at home as well. Field acquisition for cases of telescope misalignment with the sky after an instrument changeover are provided by an ImagingSource DMK 41AU02-USB camera on a Vixen 80mm f/5 auxiliary telescope. In some cases, to prevent crashing PMIS due to buffer overrun/interrupt issues, the field alignment is monitored using a streaming Linksys webcam that looks at the data-acquisition PC's monitor. Autoguiding uses an SBIG ST-402 camera and either CCDOPS or MaximDL. While we have only done imaging via remote use, we are working to develop control of the spectrograph as well. Weather conditions are monitored with a combination of a Davis Vantage Pro weather station, a Boltwood cloud/precipitation detector, daytime webcams and an infrared-sensitive SBIG Meteor camera for night views of the sky. We are grateful for support for this work from National Science Foundation grants AST-0520812 and AST-0722491.

Coherently combining data between detectors for all-sky semi-coherent continuous gravitational wave searches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goetz, E; Riles, K

2016-01-01

We present a method for coherently combining short data segments from gravitational-wave detectors to improve the sensitivity of semi-coherent searches for continuous gravitational waves. All-sky searches for continuous gravitational waves from unknown sources are computationally limited. The semi-coherent approach reduces the computational cost by dividing the entire observation timespan into short segments to be analyzed coherently, then combined together incoherently. Semi-coherent analyses that attempt to improve sensitivity by coherently combining data from multiple detectors face a computational challenge in accounting for uncertainties in signal parameters. In this article, we lay out a technique to meet this challenge using summed Fourier transform coefficients. Applying this technique to one all-sky search algorithm called TwoSpect, we confirm that the sensitivity of all-sky, semi-coherent searches can be improved by coherently combining the short data segments, e.g., by up to 42% over a single detector for an all-sky search. For misaligned detectors, however, this improvement requires careful attention when marginalizing over unknown polarization parameters. In addition, care must be taken in correcting for differential detector velocity due to the Earth’s rotation for high signal frequencies and widely separated detectors. (paper)

A Visual Astronomer's Photographic Guide to the Deep Sky A Pocket Field Guide

CERN Document Server

Rumistrzewicz, Stefan

2010-01-01

How many times have you ‘found’ a deep sky object (DSO), ticked it off the list, and moved on, or used the ‘Tour’ function on your GO-TO ‘scope and said, ‘Oh that’s a just a smudge’ or ‘Can’t see it – I’ll move on to the next one.’ If this has happened to you, then this book is for you. It will challenge you to go back to the ‘smudge’ and really look. Can you see the faint wisp or the detail in the southeastern corner? Can you see the small cluster within the cluster? Try to classify the open cluster for yourself. Compare it to the ‘accepted’ Trumpler classification. Whether you have a GO-TO ‘scope or not, this book gets you to rediscover one of the great things that got you into this hobby in the first place – looking through the eyepiece of a telescope. So pack away the DSLR, CCD camera, the guide ‘scope, and laptop and open your pencil case! You’re in for some fun!

Soft x-ray imaging by a commercial solid-state television camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsushima, I.; Koyama, K.; Tanimoto, M.; Yano, M.

1987-01-01

A commerical, solid-state television camera has been used to record images of soft x radiation (0.8--12 keV). The performance of the camera is theoretically analyzed and experimentally evaluated compared with an x-ray photographic film (Kodak direct exposure film). In the application, the camera has been used to provide image patterns of x rays from laser-produced plasmas. It is demonstrated that the camera has several advantages over x-ray photographic film

The all-sky 408 MHz survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haslam, C.G.T.; Salter, C.J.; Stoffel, H.

1981-01-01

A brief outline of the results of this survey is presented. The 408 MHz All-sky Survey has been made from four radio continuum surveys observed between 1965 and 1978, using the Jodrell Bank MKI telescope (Haslam et al., 1970), the Effelsberg 100 metre telescope (Haslam et al., 1974) and the Parkes 64 metre telescope (Haslam et al., 1975). A detailed description of the survey data reduction and calibration methods, with preliminary astronomical results will soon be published (Haslam et al., 1980a) and a second paper will give an atlas of maps at the full survey resolution of 51' arc between half power points (Haslam et al., 1980b). A map, smoothed to a gaussian beam with resolution between half power poitns of 3 0 , is presented. (Auth.)

Digitization of natural objects with micro CT and photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ijiri, Takashi; Todo, Hideki; Hirabayashi, Akira; Kohiyama, Kenji; Dobashi, Yoshinori

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present a three-dimensional (3D) digitization technique for natural objects, such as insects and plants. The key idea is to combine X-ray computed tomography (CT) and photographs to obtain both complicated 3D shapes and surface textures of target specimens. We measure a specimen by using an X-ray CT device and a digital camera to obtain a CT volumetric image (volume) and multiple photographs. We then reconstruct a 3D model by segmenting the CT volume and generate a texture by projecting the photographs onto the model. To achieve this reconstruction, we introduce a technique for estimating a camera position for each photograph. We also present techniques for merging multiple textures generated from multiple photographs and recovering missing texture areas caused by occlusion. We illustrate the feasibility of our 3D digitization technique by digitizing 3D textured models of insects and flowers. The combination of X-ray CT and a digital camera makes it possible to successfully digitize specimens with complicated 3D structures accurately and allows us to browse both surface colors and internal structures.

32 CFR 228.11 - Restrictions on the taking of photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Restrictions on the taking of photographs. 228... photographs. In order to protect the security of the Agency's facilities, photographs may be taken on... photographs includes the use of television cameras, video taping equipment, and still or motion picture...

INVESTIGATING THE SUITABILITY OF MIRRORLESS CAMERAS IN TERRESTRIAL PHOTOGRAMMETRIC APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. H. Incekara

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR which are commonly referred as mirrored cameras are preferred for terrestrial photogrammetric applications such as documentation of cultural heritage, archaeological excavations and industrial measurements. Recently, digital cameras which are called as mirrorless systems that can be used with different lens combinations have become available for using similar applications. The main difference between these two camera types is the presence of the mirror mechanism which means that the incoming beam towards the lens is different in the way it reaches the sensor. In this study, two different digital cameras, one with a mirror (Nikon D700 and the other without a mirror (Sony a6000, were used to apply close range photogrammetric application on the rock surface at Istanbul Technical University (ITU Ayazaga Campus. Accuracy of the 3D models created by means of photographs taken with both cameras were compared with each other using difference values between field and model coordinates which were obtained after the alignment of the photographs. In addition, cross sections were created on the 3D models for both data source and maximum area difference between them is quite small because they are almost overlapping. The mirrored camera has become more consistent in itself with respect to the change of model coordinates for models created with photographs taken at different times, with almost the same ground sample distance. As a result, it has been determined that mirrorless cameras and point cloud produced using photographs obtained from these cameras can be used for terrestrial photogrammetric studies.

Investigating the Suitability of Mirrorless Cameras in Terrestrial Photogrammetric Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Incekara, A. H.; Seker, D. Z.; Delen, A.; Acar, A.

2017-11-01

Digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR) which are commonly referred as mirrored cameras are preferred for terrestrial photogrammetric applications such as documentation of cultural heritage, archaeological excavations and industrial measurements. Recently, digital cameras which are called as mirrorless systems that can be used with different lens combinations have become available for using similar applications. The main difference between these two camera types is the presence of the mirror mechanism which means that the incoming beam towards the lens is different in the way it reaches the sensor. In this study, two different digital cameras, one with a mirror (Nikon D700) and the other without a mirror (Sony a6000), were used to apply close range photogrammetric application on the rock surface at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Ayazaga Campus. Accuracy of the 3D models created by means of photographs taken with both cameras were compared with each other using difference values between field and model coordinates which were obtained after the alignment of the photographs. In addition, cross sections were created on the 3D models for both data source and maximum area difference between them is quite small because they are almost overlapping. The mirrored camera has become more consistent in itself with respect to the change of model coordinates for models created with photographs taken at different times, with almost the same ground sample distance. As a result, it has been determined that mirrorless cameras and point cloud produced using photographs obtained from these cameras can be used for terrestrial photogrammetric studies.

Photographic Memory: The Effects of Volitional Photo Taking on Memory for Visual and Auditory Aspects of an Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasch, Alixandra; Diehl, Kristin; Silverman, Jackie; Zauberman, Gal

2017-08-01

How does volitional photo taking affect unaided memory for visual and auditory aspects of experiences? Across one field and three lab studies, we found that, even without revisiting any photos, participants who could freely take photographs during an experience recognized more of what they saw and less of what they heard, compared with those who could not take any photographs. Further, merely taking mental photos had similar effects on memory. These results provide support for the idea that photo taking induces a shift in attention toward visual aspects and away from auditory aspects of an experience. Additional findings were in line with this mechanism: Participants with a camera had better recognition of aspects of the scene that they photographed than of aspects they did not photograph. Furthermore, participants who used a camera during their experience recognized even nonphotographed aspects better than participants without a camera did. Meta-analyses including all reported studies support these findings.

Second ROSAT all-sky survey (2RXS) source catalogue

Science.gov (United States)

Boller, Th.; Freyberg, M. J.; Trümper, J.; Haberl, F.; Voges, W.; Nandra, K.

2016-04-01

Aims: We present the second ROSAT all-sky survey source catalogue, hereafter referred to as the 2RXS catalogue. This is the second publicly released ROSAT catalogue of point-like sources obtained from the ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS) observations performed with the position-sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) between June 1990 and August 1991, and is an extended and revised version of the bright and faint source catalogues. Methods: We used the latest version of the RASS processing to produce overlapping X-ray images of 6.4° × 6.4° sky regions. To create a source catalogue, a likelihood-based detection algorithm was applied to these, which accounts for the variable point-spread function (PSF) across the PSPC field of view. Improvements in the background determination compared to 1RXS were also implemented. X-ray control images showing the source and background extraction regions were generated, which were visually inspected. Simulations were performed to assess the spurious source content of the 2RXS catalogue. X-ray spectra and light curves were extracted for the 2RXS sources, with spectral and variability parameters derived from these products. Results: We obtained about 135 000 X-ray detections in the 0.1-2.4 keV energy band down to a likelihood threshold of 6.5, as adopted in the 1RXS faint source catalogue. Our simulations show that the expected spurious content of the catalogue is a strong function of detection likelihood, and the full catalogue is expected to contain about 30% spurious detections. A more conservative likelihood threshold of 9, on the other hand, yields about 71 000 detections with a 5% spurious fraction. We recommend thresholds appropriate to the scientific application. X-ray images and overlaid X-ray contour lines provide an additional user product to evaluate the detections visually, and we performed our own visual inspections to flag uncertain detections. Intra-day variability in the X-ray light curves was quantified based on the

Sky brightness and color measurements during the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruns, Donald G; Bruns, Ronald D

2018-06-01

The sky brightness was measured during the partial phases and during totality of the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse. A tracking CCD camera with color filters and a wide-angle lens allowed measurements across a wide field of view, recording images every 10 s. The partially and totally eclipsed Sun was kept behind an occulting disk attached to the camera, allowing direct brightness measurements from 1.5° to 38° from the Sun. During the partial phases, the sky brightness as a function of time closely followed the integrated intensity of the unobscured fraction of the solar disk. A redder sky was measured close to the Sun just before totality, caused by the redder color of the exposed solar limb. During totality, a bluer sky was measured, dimmer than the normal sky by a factor of 10,000. Suggestions for enhanced measurements at future eclipses are offered.

Solar Resource Assessment with Sky Imagery and a Virtual Testbed for Sky Imager Solar Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtz, Benjamin Bernard

In recent years, ground-based sky imagers have emerged as a promising tool for forecasting solar energy on short time scales (0 to 30 minutes ahead). Following the development of sky imager hardware and algorithms at UC San Diego, we present three new or improved algorithms for sky imager forecasting and forecast evaluation. First, we present an algorithm for measuring irradiance with a sky imager. Sky imager forecasts are often used in conjunction with other instruments for measuring irradiance, so this has the potential to decrease instrumentation costs and logistical complexity. In particular, the forecast algorithm itself often relies on knowledge of the current irradiance which can now be provided directly from the sky images. Irradiance measurements are accurate to within about 10%. Second, we demonstrate a virtual sky imager testbed that can be used for validating and enhancing the forecast algorithm. The testbed uses high-quality (but slow) simulations to produce virtual clouds and sky images. Because virtual cloud locations are known, much more advanced validation procedures are possible with the virtual testbed than with measured data. In this way, we are able to determine that camera geometry and non-uniform evolution of the cloud field are the two largest sources of forecast error. Finally, with the assistance of the virtual sky imager testbed, we develop improvements to the cloud advection model used for forecasting. The new advection schemes are 10-20% better at short time horizons.

Automated exploitation of sky polarization imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadjadi, Firooz A; Chun, Cornell S L

2018-03-10

We propose an automated method for detecting neutral points in the sunlit sky. Until now, detecting these singularities has been done manually. Results are presented that document the application of this method on a limited number of polarimetric images of the sky captured with a camera and rotating polarizer. The results are significant because a method for automatically detecting the neutral points may aid in the determination of the solar position when the sun is obscured and may have applications in meteorology and pollution detection and characterization.

The 105-Month Swift-BAT All-sky Hard X-Ray Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Kyuseok; Koss, Michael; Markwardt, Craig B.; Schawinski, Kevin; Baumgartner, Wayne H.; Barthelmy, Scott D.; Cenko, S. Bradley; Gehrels, Neil; Mushotzky, Richard; Petulante, Abigail; Ricci, Claudio; Lien, Amy; Trakhtenbrot, Benny

2018-03-01

We present a catalog of hard X-ray sources detected in the first 105 months of observations with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) coded-mask imager on board the Swift observatory. The 105-month Swift-BAT survey is a uniform hard X-ray all-sky survey with a sensitivity of 8.40× {10}-12 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 {cm}}-2 over 90% of the sky and 7.24× {10}-12 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 {cm}}-2 over 50% of the sky in the 14–195 keV band. The Swift-BAT 105-month catalog provides 1632 (422 new detections) hard X-ray sources in the 14–195 keV band above the 4.8σ significance level. Adding to the previously known hard X-ray sources, 34% (144/422) of the new detections are identified as Seyfert active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in nearby galaxies (zBAT catalog, we release eight-channel spectra and monthly sampled light curves for each object in the online journal and at the Swift-BAT 105-month website.

Face Liveness Detection Using a Light Field Camera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sooyeon Kim

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A light field camera is a sensor that can record the directions as well as the colors of incident rays. This camera is widely utilized from 3D reconstruction to face and iris recognition. In this paper, we suggest a novel approach for defending spoofing face attacks, like printed 2D facial photos (hereinafter 2D photos and HD tablet images, using the light field camera. By viewing the raw light field photograph from a different standpoint, we extract two special features which cannot be obtained from the conventional camera. To verify the performance, we compose light field photograph databases and conduct experiments. Our proposed method achieves at least 94.78% accuracy or up to 99.36% accuracy under different types of spoofing attacks.

Measuring the influence of aerosols and albedo on sky polarization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreuter, A; Emde, C; Blumthaler, M

2010-11-01

All-sky distributions of the polarized radiance are measured using an automated fish-eye camera system with a rotating polarizer. For a large range of aerosol and surface albedo situations, the influence on the degree of polarization and sky radiance is investigated. The range of aerosol optical depth and albedo is 0.05-0.5 and 0.1-0.75, respectively. For this range of parameters, a reduction of the degree of polarization from about 0.7 to 0.4 was observed. The analysis is done for 90° scattering angle in the principal plane under clear sky conditions for a broadband channel of 450 ± 25 nm and solar zenith angles between 55° and 60°. Radiative transfer calculations considering three different aerosol mixtures are performed and and agree with the measurements within the statistical error.

The great canoes in the sky starlore and astronomy of the South Pacific

CERN Document Server

Chadwick, Stephen Robert

2017-01-01

Presenting spectacular photographs of astronomical objects of the southern sky, all taken by author Stephen Chadwick, this book explores what peoples of the South Pacific see when they look up at the heavens and what they have done with this knowledge. From wives killing brothers to emus rising out of the desert and great canoes in the sky, this book offers the perfect blend of science, tradition and mythology to bring to life the most famous sights in the heavens above the southern hemisphere. The authors place this starlore in the context of contemporary understandings of astronomy. The night sky of southern societies is as rich in culture as it is in stars. Stories, myths and legends based on constellations, heavenly bodies and other night sky phenomena have played a fundamental role in shaping the culture of pre-modern civilizations throughout the world. Such starlore continues to influence societies throughout the Pacific to this day, with cultures throughout the region – from Australia and New Zealand...

ASHI: An All Sky Heliospheric Imager for Viewing Thomson-Scattered Light

Science.gov (United States)

Buffington, A.; Jackson, B. V.; Yu, H. S.; Hick, P. P.; Bisi, M. M.

2017-12-01

We have developed, and are now making a detailed design for an All-Sky Heliospheric Imager (ASHI), to fly on future deep-space missions. ASHI's principal long-term objective is acquisition of a precision photometric map of the inner heliosphere as viewed from deep space. Photometers on the twin Helios spacecraft, the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) upon the Coriolis satellite, and the Heliospheric Imagers (HIs) upon the Solar-TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) twin spacecraft, all indicate an optimum instrument design for visible-light Thomson-scattering observations. This design views a hemisphere of sky starting a few degrees from the Sun. Two imagers can cover almost all of the whole sky. A key photometric specification for ASHI is 0.1% differential photometry: this enables the three dimensional reconstruction of density starting from near the Sun and extending outward. SMEI analyses have demonstrated the success of this technique: when employed by ASHI, this will provide an order of magnitude better resolution in 3-D density over time. We augment this analysis to include velocity, and these imagers deployed in deep space can thus provide high-resolution comparisons both of direct in-situ density and velocity measurements to remote observations of solar wind structures. In practice we find that the 3-D velocity determinations provide the best tomographic timing depiction of heliospheric structures. We discuss the simple concept behind this, and present recent progress in the instrument design, and its expected performance specifications. A preliminary balloon flight of an ASHI prototype is planned to take place next Summer.

X-RAY-EMITTING STARS IDENTIFIED FROM THE ROSAT ALL-SKY SURVEY AND THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agueeros, Marcel A.; Newsom, Emily R.; Anderson, Scott F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Silvestri, Nicole M.; Szkody, Paula; Covey, Kevin R.; Posselt, Bettina; Margon, Bruce; Voges, Wolfgang

2009-01-01

The ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) was the first imaging X-ray survey of the entire sky. Combining the RASS Bright and Faint Source Catalogs yields an average of about three X-ray sources per square degree. However, while X-ray source counterparts are known to range from distant quasars to nearby M dwarfs, the RASS data alone are often insufficient to determine the nature of an X-ray source. As a result, large-scale follow-up programs are required to construct samples of known X-ray emitters. We use optical data produced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to identify 709 stellar X-ray emitters cataloged in the RASS and falling within the SDSS Data Release 1 footprint. Most of these are bright stars with coronal X-ray emission unsuitable for SDSS spectroscopy, which is designed for fainter objects (g > 15 [mag]). Instead, we use SDSS photometry, correlations with the Two Micron All Sky Survey and other catalogs, and spectroscopy from the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope to identify these stellar X-ray counterparts. Our sample of 707 X-ray-emitting F, G, K, and M stars is one of the largest X-ray-selected samples of such stars. We derive distances to these stars using photometric parallax relations appropriate for dwarfs on the main sequence, and use these distances to calculate L X . We also identify a previously unknown cataclysmic variable (CV) as a RASS counterpart. Separately, we use correlations of the RASS and the SDSS spectroscopic catalogs of CVs and white dwarfs (WDs) to study the properties of these rarer X-ray-emitting stars. We examine the relationship between (f X /f g ) and the equivalent width of the Hβ emission line for 46 X-ray-emitting CVs and discuss tentative classifications for a subset based on these quantities. We identify 17 new X-ray-emitting DA (hydrogen) WDs, of which three are newly identified WDs. We report on follow-up observations of three candidate cool X-ray-emitting WDs (one DA and two DB (helium) WDs); we have not

Prism-based single-camera system for stereo display

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yue; Cui, Xiaoyu; Wang, Zhiguo; Chen, Hongsheng; Fan, Heyu; Wu, Teresa

2016-06-01

This paper combines the prism and single camera and puts forward a method of stereo imaging with low cost. First of all, according to the principle of geometrical optics, we can deduce the relationship between the prism single-camera system and dual-camera system, and according to the principle of binocular vision we can deduce the relationship between binoculars and dual camera. Thus we can establish the relationship between the prism single-camera system and binoculars and get the positional relation of prism, camera, and object with the best effect of stereo display. Finally, using the active shutter stereo glasses of NVIDIA Company, we can realize the three-dimensional (3-D) display of the object. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can make use of the prism single-camera system to simulate the various observation manners of eyes. The stereo imaging system, which is designed by the method proposed by this paper, can restore the 3-D shape of the object being photographed factually.

Computer aided photographic engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Hixson, Jeffrey A.; Rieckhoff, Tom

1988-01-01

High speed photography is an excellent source of engineering data but only provides a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional event. Multiple cameras can be used to provide data for the third dimension but camera locations are not always available. A solution to this problem is to overlay three-dimensional CAD/CAM models of the hardware being tested onto a film or photographic image, allowing the engineer to measure surface distances, relative motions between components, and surface variations.

A new method of derived equatorial plasma bubbles motion by tracing OI 630 nm emission all-sky images

Science.gov (United States)

Li, M.; Yu, T.; Chunliang, X.; Zuo, X.; Liu, Z.

2017-12-01

A new method for estimating the equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) motions from airglow emission all-sky images is presented in this paper. This method, which is called 'cloud-derived wind technology' and widely used in satellite observation of wind, could reasonable derive zonal and meridional velocity vectors of EPBs drifts by tracking a series of successive airglow 630.0 nm emission images. Airglow emission images data are available from an all sky airglow camera in Hainan Fuke (19.5°N, 109.2°E) supported by China Meridional Project, which can receive the 630.0nm emission from the ionosphere F region at low-latitudes to observe plasma bubbles. A series of pretreatment technology, e.g. image enhancement, orientation correction, image projection are utilized to preprocess the raw observation. Then the regions of plasma bubble extracted from the images are divided into several small tracing windows and each tracing window can find a target window in the searching area in following image, which is considered as the position tracing window moved to. According to this, velocities in each window are calculated by using the technology of cloud-derived wind. When applying the cloud-derived wind technology, the maximum correlation coefficient (MCC) and the histogram of gradient (HOG) methods to find the target window, which mean to find the maximum correlation and the minimum euclidean distance between two gradient histograms in respectively, are investigated and compared in detail. The maximum correlation method is fianlly adopted in this study to analyze the velocity of plasma bubbles because of its better performance than HOG. All-sky images from Hainan Fuke, between August 2014 and October 2014, are analyzed to investigate the plasma bubble drift velocities using MCC method. The data at different local time at 9 nights are studied and find that zonal drift velocity in different latitude at different local time ranges from 50 m/s to 180 m/s and there is a peak value at

Route Network Construction with Location-Direction-Enabled Photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, Hideyuki; Sagara, Shota; Ohmori, Tadashi; Shintani, Takahiko

2018-05-01

We propose a method for constructing a geometric graph for generating routes that summarize a geographical area and also have visual continuity by using a set of location-direction-enabled photographs. A location- direction-enabled photograph is a photograph that has information about the location (position of the camera at the time of shooting) and the direction (direction of the camera at the time of shooting). Each nodes of the graph corresponds to a location-direction-enabled photograph. The location of each node is the location of the corresponding photograph, and a route on the graph corresponds to a route in the geographic area and a sequence of photographs. The proposed graph is constructed to represent characteristic spots and paths linking the spots, and it is assumed to be a kind of a spatial summarization of the area with the photographs. Therefore, we call the routes on the graph as spatial summary route. Each route on the proposed graph also has a visual continuity, which means that we can understand the spatial relationship among the continuous photographs on the route such as moving forward, backward, turning right, etc. In this study, when the changes in the shooting position and shooting direction satisfied a given threshold, the route was defined to have visual continuity. By presenting the photographs in order along the generated route, information can be presented sequentially, while maintaining visual continuity to a great extent.

RELIABLE IDENTIFICATIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI FROM THE WISE, 2MASS, AND ROSAT ALL-SKY SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edelson, R.; Malkan, M.

2012-01-01

We have developed the ''S IX '' statistic to identify bright, highly likely active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates solely on the basis of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), and ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS) data. This statistic was optimized with data from the preliminary WISE survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and tested with Lick 3 m Kast spectroscopy. We find that sources with S IX 95% likelihood of being an AGN (defined in this paper as a Seyfert 1, quasar, or blazar). This statistic was then applied to the full WISE/2MASS/RASS dataset, including the final WISE data release, to yield the ''W2R'' sample of 4316 sources with S IX 2 , permitting construction of AGN samples in any sufficiently large region of sky.

THE 22 MONTH SWIFT-BAT ALL-SKY HARD X-RAY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tueller, J.; Baumgartner, W. H.; Markwardt, C. B.; Skinner, G. K.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Barthelmy, S.; Cummings, J.; Gehrels, N.; Holland, S.; Ajello, M.; Beardmore, A.; Evans, P.; Godet, O.; Brandt, W. N.; Burrows, D.; Grupe, D.; Chincarini, G.; Campana, S.; Cusumano, G.; Fenimore, E.

2010-01-01

We present the catalog of sources detected in the first 22 months of data from the hard X-ray survey (14-195 keV) conducted with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) coded mask imager on the Swift satellite. The catalog contains 461 sources detected above the 4.8σ level with BAT. High angular resolution X-ray data for every source from Swift-XRT or archival data have allowed associations to be made with known counterparts in other wavelength bands for over 97% of the detections, including the discovery of ∼30 galaxies previously unknown as active galactic nuclei and several new Galactic sources. A total of 266 of the sources are associated with Seyfert galaxies (median redshift z ∼ 0.03) or blazars, with the majority of the remaining sources associated with X-ray binaries in our Galaxy. This ongoing survey is the first uniform all-sky hard X-ray survey since HEAO-1 in 1977. Since the publication of the nine-month BAT survey we have increased the number of energy channels from four to eight and have substantially increased the number of sources with accurate average spectra. The BAT 22 month catalog is the product of the most sensitive all-sky survey in the hard X-ray band, with a detection sensitivity (4.8σ) of 2.2 x 10 -11 erg cm -2 s -1 (1 mCrab) over most of the sky in the 14-195 keV band.

NASA Science Engagement Through "Sky Art"

Science.gov (United States)

Bethea, K. L.; Damadeo, K.

2013-12-01

Sky Art is a NASA-funded online community where the public can share in the beauty of nature and the science behind it. At the center of Sky Art is a gallery of amateur sky photos submitted by users that are related to NASA Earth science mission research areas. Through their submissions, amateur photographers from around the world are engaged in the process of making observations, or taking pictures, of the sky just like many NASA science instruments. By submitting their pictures and engaging in the online community discussions and interactions with NASA scientists, users make the connection between the beauty of nature and atmospheric science. Sky Art is a gateway for interaction and information aimed at drawing excitement and interest in atmospheric phenomena including sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, moonsets, and aerosols, each of which correlates to a NASA science mission. Educating the public on atmospheric science topics in an informal way is a central goal of Sky Art. NASA science is included in the community through interaction from scientists, NASA images, and blog posts on science concepts derived from the images. Additionally, the website connects educators through the formal education pathway where science concepts are taught through activities and lessons that align with national learning standards. Sky Art was conceived as part of the Education and Public Outreach program of the SAGE III on ISS mission. There are currently three other NASA mission involved with Sky Art: CALIPSO, GPM, and CLARREO. This paper will discuss the process of developing the Sky Art online website, the challenges of growing a community of users, as well as the use of social media and mobile applications in science outreach and education.

The WATCH All-Sky Monitor for the Granat Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Søren; Lund, Niels; Rao, A. R.

1990-01-01

The Watch X-ray all-sky monitor, which is designed to localize strong X-ray sources and follow their development, is examined, focusing on the addition of four Watch units to the Granat satellite project. The components of the Watch instrument are described and the capabilities and potential...... scientific returns of the Granat project are discussed. The applications of the Watch monitor are given, including the study of time variations of known sources and the detection and localization of new, transient sources....

Three-dimensional cloud characterization from paired whole-sky imaging cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allmen, M.; Kegelmeyer, W.P. Jr.

1994-01-01

Three-dimensional (3-D) cloud characterization permits the derivation of important cloud geometry properties such as fractional cloudiness, mean cloud and clear length, aspect ratio, and the morphology of cloud cover. These properties are needed as input to the hierarchical diagnosis (HD) and instantaneous radiative transfer (IRF) models, to validate sub-models for cloud occurrence and formation, and to Central Site radiative flux calculations. A full 3-D characterization will eventually require the integration of disparate Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) data sources: whole-sky imagers (WSIs), radar, satellites, ceilometers, volume-imaging lidar, and other sensors. In this paper, we demonstrate how an initial 3-D cloud property, cloud base height, can be determined from fusing paired times series of images from two whole-sky imagers

WATCHDOG: A COMPREHENSIVE ALL-SKY DATABASE OF GALACTIC BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tetarenko, B. E.; Sivakoff, G. R.; Heinke, C. O.; Gladstone, J. C.

2016-01-01

With the advent of more sensitive all-sky instruments, the transient universe is being probed in greater depth than ever before. Taking advantage of available resources, we have established a comprehensive database of black hole (and black hole candidate) X-ray binary (BHXB) activity between 1996 and 2015 as revealed by all-sky instruments, scanning surveys, and select narrow-field X-ray instruments on board the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, Monitor of All-Sky X-ray Image, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, and Swift telescopes; the Whole-sky Alberta Time-resolved Comprehensive black-Hole Database Of the Galaxy or WATCHDOG. Over the past two decades, we have detected 132 transient outbursts, tracked and classified behavior occurring in 47 transient and 10 persistently accreting BHs, and performed a statistical study on a number of outburst properties across the Galactic population. We find that outbursts undergone by BHXBs that do not reach the thermally dominant accretion state make up a substantial fraction (∼40%) of the Galactic transient BHXB outburst sample over the past ∼20 years. Our findings suggest that this “hard-only” behavior, observed in transient and persistently accreting BHXBs, is neither a rare nor recent phenomenon and may be indicative of an underlying physical process, relatively common among binary BHs, involving the mass-transfer rate onto the BH remaining at a low level rather than increasing as the outburst evolves. We discuss how the larger number of these “hard-only” outbursts and detected outbursts in general have significant implications for both the luminosity function and mass-transfer history of the Galactic BHXB population

The effect of human engagement depicted in contextual photographs on the visual attention patterns of adults with traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Thiessen, Amber; Brown, Jessica; Beukelman, David; Hux, Karen

2017-09-01

Photographs are a frequently employed tool for the rehabilitation of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with these individuals must select photos that are easily identifiable and meaningful to their clients. In this investigation, we examined the visual attention response to camera- (i.e., depicted human figure looking toward camera) and task-engaged (i.e., depicted human figure looking at and touching an object) contextual photographs for a group of adults with TBI and a group of adults without neurological conditions. Eye-tracking technology served to accurately and objectively measure visual fixations. Although differences were hypothesized given the cognitive deficits associated with TBI, study results revealed little difference in the visual fixation patterns of adults with and without TBI. Specifically, both groups of participants tended to fixate rapidly on the depicted human figure and fixate more on objects in which a human figure was task-engaged than when a human figure was camera-engaged. These results indicate that strategic placement of human figures in a contextual photograph may modify the way in which individuals with TBI visually attend to and interpret photographs. In addition, task-engagement appears to have a guiding effect on visual attention that may be of benefit to SLPs hoping to select more effective contextual photographs for their clients with TBI. Finally, the limited differences in visual attention patterns between individuals with TBI and their age and gender matched peers without neurological impairments indicates that these two groups find similar photograph regions to be worthy of visual fixation. Readers will gain knowledge regarding the photograph selection process for individuals with TBI. In addition, readers will be able to identify camera- and task-engaged photographs and to explain why task-engagement may be a beneficial component of contextual photographs. Copyright © 2017

RXTE All-Sky Monitor Localization of SGR 1627-41

OpenAIRE

Smith, Donald A.; Bradt, Hale V.; Levine, Alan M.

1999-01-01

The fourth unambiguously identified Soft Gamma Repeater (SGR), SGR1627-41, was discovered with the BATSE instrument on 1998 June 15 (Kouveliotou et al. 1998). Interplanetary Network (IPN) measurements and BATSE data constrained the location of this new SGR to a 6 deg segment of a narrow (19") annulus (Hurley et al. 1999; Woods et al. 1998). We present two bursts from this source observed by the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on RXTE. We use the ASM data to further constrain the source location to a 5'...

The Alfred Nobel rocket camera. An early aerial photography attempt

Science.gov (United States)

Ingemar Skoog, A.

2010-02-01

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), mainly known for his invention of dynamite and the creation of the Nobel Prices, was an engineer and inventor active in many fields of science and engineering, e.g. chemistry, medicine, mechanics, metallurgy, optics, armoury and rocketry. Amongst his inventions in rocketry was the smokeless solid propellant ballistite (i.e. cordite) patented for the first time in 1887. As a very wealthy person he actively supported many Swedish inventors in their work. One of them was W.T. Unge, who was devoted to the development of rockets and their applications. Nobel and Unge had several rocket patents together and also jointly worked on various rocket applications. In mid-1896 Nobel applied for patents in England and France for "An Improved Mode of Obtaining Photographic Maps and Earth or Ground Measurements" using a photographic camera carried by a "…balloon, rocket or missile…". During the remaining of 1896 the mechanical design of the camera mechanism was pursued and cameras manufactured. In April 1897 (after the death of Alfred Nobel) the first aerial photos were taken by these cameras. These photos might be the first documented aerial photos taken by a rocket borne camera. Cameras and photos from 1897 have been preserved. Nobel did not only develop the rocket borne camera but also proposed methods on how to use the photographs taken for ground measurements and preparing maps.

THE 70 MONTH SWIFT-BAT ALL-SKY HARD X-RAY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baumgartner, W. H.; Tueller, J.; Markwardt, C. B.; Skinner, G. K.; Barthelmy, S.; Gehrels, N. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrophysics Science Division, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Mushotzky, R. F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States); Evans, P. A., E-mail: whbaumga@alum.mit.edu [X-Ray and Observational Astronomy Group/Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)

2013-08-15

We present the catalog of sources detected in 70 months of observations with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray detector on the Swift gamma-ray burst observatory. The Swift-BAT 70 month survey has detected 1171 hard X-ray sources (more than twice as many sources as the previous 22 month survey) in the 14-195 keV band down to a significance level of 4.8{sigma}, associated with 1210 counterparts. The 70 month Swift-BAT survey is the most sensitive and uniform hard X-ray all-sky survey and reaches a flux level of 1.03 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -11} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} over 50% of the sky and 1.34 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -11} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} over 90% of the sky. The majority of new sources in the 70 month survey continue to be active galactic nuclei, with over 700 in the catalog. As part of this new edition of the Swift-BAT catalog, we also make available eight-channel spectra and monthly sampled light curves for each object detected in the survey in the online journal and at the Swift-BAT 70 month Web site.

The 105-Month Swift-BAT All-Sky Hard X-Ray Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Kyuseok; Koss, Michael; Markwardt, Craig B.; Schawinski, Kevin; Baumgartner, Wayne H.; Barthelmy, Scott D.; Cenko, S. Bradley; Gehrels, Neil; Mushotzky, Richard; Petulante, Abigail;

THE 70 MONTH SWIFT-BAT ALL-SKY HARD X-RAY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumgartner, W. H.; Tueller, J.; Markwardt, C. B.; Skinner, G. K.; Barthelmy, S.; Gehrels, N.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Evans, P. A.

2013-01-01

We present the catalog of sources detected in 70 months of observations with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray detector on the Swift gamma-ray burst observatory. The Swift-BAT 70 month survey has detected 1171 hard X-ray sources (more than twice as many sources as the previous 22 month survey) in the 14-195 keV band down to a significance level of 4.8σ, associated with 1210 counterparts. The 70 month Swift-BAT survey is the most sensitive and uniform hard X-ray all-sky survey and reaches a flux level of 1.03 × 10 –11 erg s –1 cm –2 over 50% of the sky and 1.34 × 10 –11 erg s –1 cm –2 over 90% of the sky. The majority of new sources in the 70 month survey continue to be active galactic nuclei, with over 700 in the catalog. As part of this new edition of the Swift-BAT catalog, we also make available eight-channel spectra and monthly sampled light curves for each object detected in the survey in the online journal and at the Swift-BAT 70 month Web site

New low noise CCD cameras for Pi-of-the-Sky project

Science.gov (United States)

Kasprowicz, G.; Czyrkowski, H.; Dabrowski, R.; Dominik, W.; Mankiewicz, L.; Pozniak, K.; Romaniuk, R.; Sitek, P.; Sokolowski, M.; Sulej, R.; Uzycki, J.; Wrochna, G.

2006-10-01

Modern research trends require observation of fainter and fainter astronomical objects on large areas of the sky. This implies usage of systems with high temporal and optical resolution with computer based data acquisition and processing. Therefore Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) became so popular. They offer quick picture conversion with much better quality than film based technologies. This work is theoretical and practical study of the CCD based picture acquisition system. The system was optimized for "Pi of The Sky" project. But it can be adapted to another professional astronomical researches. The work includes issue of picture conversion, signal acquisition, data transfer and mechanical construction of the device.

A Design and Development of Multi-Purpose CCD Camera System with Thermoelectric Cooling: Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. H. Oh

2007-12-01

Full Text Available We present a software which we developed for the multi-purpose CCD camera. This software can be used on the all 3 types of CCD - KAF-0401E (768×512, KAF-1602E (15367times;1024, KAF-3200E (2184×1472 made in KODAK Co.. For the efficient CCD camera control, the software is operated with two independent processes of the CCD control program and the temperature/shutter operation program. This software is designed to fully automatic operation as well as manually operation under LINUX system, and is controled by LINUX user signal procedure. We plan to use this software for all sky survey system and also night sky monitoring and sky observation. As our results, the read-out time of each CCD are about 15sec, 64sec, 134sec for KAF-0401E, KAF-1602E, KAF-3200E., because these time are limited by the data transmission speed of parallel port. For larger format CCD, the data transmission is required more high speed. we are considering this control software to one using USB port for high speed data transmission.

ATLAS: A High-cadence All-sky Survey System

Science.gov (United States)

Tonry, J. L.; Denneau, L.; Heinze, A. N.; Stalder, B.; Smith, K. W.; Smartt, S. J.; Stubbs, C. W.; Weiland, H. J.; Rest, A.

2018-06-01

Technology has advanced to the point that it is possible to image the entire sky every night and process the data in real time. The sky is hardly static: many interesting phenomena occur, including variable stationary objects such as stars or QSOs, transient stationary objects such as supernovae or M dwarf flares, and moving objects such as asteroids and the stars themselves. Funded by NASA, we have designed and built a sky survey system for the purpose of finding dangerous near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). This system, the “Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System” (ATLAS), has been optimized to produce the best survey capability per unit cost, and therefore is an efficient and competitive system for finding potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) but also for tracking variables and finding transients. While carrying out its NASA mission, ATLAS now discovers more bright (m day cadence. ATLAS discovered the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst independent of the high energy trigger and has released a variable star catalog of 5 × 106 sources. This is the first of a series of articles describing ATLAS, devoted to the design and performance of the ATLAS system. Subsequent articles will describe in more detail the software, the survey strategy, ATLAS-derived NEA population statistics, transient detections, and the first data release of variable stars and transient light curves.

How long is enough to detect terrestrial animals? Estimating the minimum trapping effort on camera traps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingfeng Si

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Camera traps is an important wildlife inventory tool for estimating species diversity at a site. Knowing what minimum trapping effort is needed to detect target species is also important to designing efficient studies, considering both the number of camera locations, and survey length. Here, we take advantage of a two-year camera trapping dataset from a small (24-ha study plot in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve, eastern China to estimate the minimum trapping effort actually needed to sample the wildlife community. We also evaluated the relative value of adding new camera sites or running cameras for a longer period at one site. The full dataset includes 1727 independent photographs captured during 13,824 camera days, documenting 10 resident terrestrial species of birds and mammals. Our rarefaction analysis shows that a minimum of 931 camera days would be needed to detect the resident species sufficiently in the plot, and c. 8700 camera days to detect all 10 resident species. In terms of detecting a diversity of species, the optimal sampling period for one camera site was c. 40, or long enough to record about 20 independent photographs. Our analysis of evaluating the increasing number of additional camera sites shows that rotating cameras to new sites would be more efficient for measuring species richness than leaving cameras at fewer sites for a longer period.

A New Bolide Station at the High Tatra Mountains

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Svoreň, J.; Spurný, Pavel; Porubčan, V.; Kanuchová, Z.

2008-01-01

Roč. 102, 1-4 (2008), s. 253-256 ISSN 0167-9295 Grant - others:EU(XE) MRTN-CT-2006-035519; VEGA(SK) 7009; VEGA(SK) 3067 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : photographic observations of meteors * all-sky bolide camera Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 1.033, year: 2008

Eyes on the Skies 400 Years of Telescopic Discovery

CERN Document Server

Schilling, Govert

2011-01-01

Adopted as the official book of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009, this stunningly illustrated history of telescopic discovery spans the range from the first telescopes via the Hubble Space Telescope to next generation platforms, and how they have changed and continue to change our view of the universe, our place in it and where it all came from. Eyes on the Skies features numerous full-page photographs and is printed in high-quality color throughout. Also includes the official IYA DVD with 59 minutes of narrated text, expert comments and interviews, animations, computer simulatio

Planck early results. VIII. The all-sky early Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poutanen, T.; Natoli, P.; Polenta, G.

2011-01-01

We present the first all-sky sample of galaxy clusters detected blindly by the Planck satellite through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect from its six highest frequencies. This early SZ (ESZ) sample is comprised of 189 candidates, which have a high signal-to-noise ratio ranging from 6 to 29. Its ...

Examining Dense Data Usage near the Regions with Severe Storms in All-Sky Microwave Radiance Data Assimilation and Impacts on GEOS Hurricane Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Min-Jeong; Jin, Jianjun; McCarty, Will; El Akkraoui, Amal; Todling, Ricardo; Gelaro, Ron

2018-01-01

Many numerical weather prediction (NWP) centers assimilate radiances affected by clouds and precipitation from microwave sensors, with the expectation that these data can provide critical constraints on meteorological parameters in dynamically sensitive regions to make significant impacts on forecast accuracy for precipitation. The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center assimilates all-sky microwave radiance data from various microwave sensors such as all-sky GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) radiance in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) atmospheric data assimilation system (ADAS), which includes the GEOS atmospheric model, the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) atmospheric analysis system, and the Goddard Aerosol Assimilation System (GAAS). So far, most of NWP centers apply same large data thinning distances, that are used in clear-sky radiance data to avoid correlated observation errors, to all-sky microwave radiance data. For example, NASA GMAO is applying 145 km thinning distances for most of satellite radiance data including microwave radiance data in which all-sky approach is implemented. Even with these coarse observation data usage in all-sky assimilation approach, noticeable positive impacts from all-sky microwave data on hurricane track forecasts were identified in GEOS-5 system. The motivation of this study is based on the dynamic thinning distance method developed in our all-sky framework to use of denser data in cloudy and precipitating regions due to relatively small spatial correlations of observation errors. To investigate the benefits of all-sky microwave radiance on hurricane forecasts, several hurricane cases selected between 2016-2017 are examined. The dynamic thinning distance method is utilized in our all-sky approach to understand the sources and mechanisms to explain the benefits of all-sky microwave radiance data from various microwave radiance sensors like Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit

Cloud Computing with Context Cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Pickles, A. J.; Rosing, W. E.

2016-05-01

We summarize methods and plans to monitor and calibrate photometric observations with our autonomous, robotic network of 2m, 1m and 40cm telescopes. These are sited globally to optimize our ability to observe time-variable sources. Wide field "context" cameras are aligned with our network telescopes and cycle every ˜2 minutes through BVr'i'z' filters, spanning our optical range. We measure instantaneous zero-point offsets and transparency (throughput) against calibrators in the 5-12m range from the all-sky Tycho2 catalog, and periodically against primary standards. Similar measurements are made for all our science images, with typical fields of view of ˜0.5 degrees. These are matched against Landolt, Stetson and Sloan standards, and against calibrators in the 10-17m range from the all-sky APASS catalog. Such measurements provide pretty good instantaneous flux calibration, often to better than 5%, even in cloudy conditions. Zero-point and transparency measurements can be used to characterize, monitor and inter-compare sites and equipment. When accurate calibrations of Target against Standard fields are required, monitoring measurements can be used to select truly photometric periods when accurate calibrations can be automatically scheduled and performed.

Next generation x-ray all-sky monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Priedhorsky, W. C.; Peele, A. G.; Nugent, K. A.

1997-01-01

We set forth a conceptual design for x-ray all-sky monitor based on lobster-eye wide-field telescopes. This instrument, suitable for a small satellite, would monitor the flux of objects as faint as 2x10 -15 W/m 2 (0.5-2.4 keV) on a daily basis with a signal-to-noise of 5. Sources would be located to 1-2 arc-minutes. Detailed simulations show that crosstalk from the cruciform lobster images would not significantly compromise performance. At this sensitivity limit, we could monitor not just x-ray binaries but fainter classes of x-ray sources. Hundreds of active galactic nuclei, coronal sources, and cataclysmic variables could be tracked on a daily basis. Large numbers of fast transients should be visible, including gamma-ray bursts and the soft x-ray breakout of nearby type II supernovae. Long-term x-ray measurements will advance our understanding of the geometries and perhaps masses of AGN, and coronal energy sources in stars

The California All-sky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) System

Science.gov (United States)

Gural, P. S.

2011-01-01

A unique next generation multi-camera, multi-site video meteor system is being developed and deployed in California to provide high accuracy orbits of simultaneously captured meteors. Included herein is a description of the goals, concept of operations, hardware, and software development progress. An appendix contains a meteor camera performance trade study made for video systems circa 2010.

Seasonal Variations of Mesospheric Gravity Waves Observed with an Airglow All-sky Camera at Mt. Bohyun, Korea (36° N

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Ha Kim

2010-09-01

Full Text Available We have carried out all-sky imaging of OH Meinel, O2 atmospheric and OI 557.7 nm airglow layers in the period from July of 2001 through September of 2005 at Mt. Bohyun, Korea (36.2° N, 128.9° E, Alt = 1,124 m. We analyzed the images observed during a total of 153 clear moonless nights and found 97 events of band-type waves. The characteristics of the observed waves (wavelengths, periods, and phase speeds are consistent with internal gravity waves. The wave occurrence shows an approximately semi-annual variation, with maxima near solstices and minima near equinoxes, which is consistent with other studies of airglow wave observations, but not with those of mesospheric radar/lidar observations. The observed waves tended to propagate westward during fall and winter, and eastward during spring and summer. Our ray tracing study of the observed waves shows that majority of the observed waves seemed to originate from mesospheric altitudes. The preferential directions and the apparent source altitudes can be explained if the observed waves are secondary waves generated from primary waves that have been selected by the filtering process and break up at the mesospheric altitudes.

Design of a Day/Night Star Camera System

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Cheryl; Swift, Wesley; Ghosh, Kajal; Ramsey, Brian

1999-01-01

This paper describes the design of a camera system capable of acquiring stars during both the day and night cycles of a high altitude balloon flight (35-42 km). The camera system will be filtered to operate in the R band (590-810 nm). Simulations have been run using MODTRAN atmospheric code to determine the worse case sky brightness at 35 km. With a daytime sky brightness of 2(exp -05) W/sq cm/str/um in the R band, the sensitivity of the camera system will allow acquisition of at least 1-2 stars/sq degree at star magnitude limits of 8.25-9.00. The system will have an F2.8, 64.3 mm diameter lens and a 1340X1037 CCD array digitized to 12 bits. The CCD array is comprised of 6.8 X 6.8 micron pixels with a well depth of 45,000 electrons and a quantum efficiency of 0.525 at 700 nm. The camera's field of view will be 6.33 sq degree and provide attitude knowledge to 8 arcsec or better. A test flight of the system is scheduled for fall 1999.

GASS: THE PARKES GALACTIC ALL-SKY SURVEY. I. SURVEY DESCRIPTION, GOALS, AND INITIAL DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Calabretta, M. R.; Ford, H. Alyson; Newton-McGee, K.

2009-01-01

The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS) is a survey of Galactic atomic hydrogen (H I) emission in the Southern sky covering declinations δ ≤ 1 0 using the Parkes Radio Telescope. The survey covers 2π steradians with an effective angular resolution of ∼16', at a velocity resolution of 1.0 km s -1 , and with an rms brightness temperature noise of 57 mK. GASS is the most sensitive, highest angular resolution survey of Galactic H I emission ever made in the Southern sky. In this paper, we outline the survey goals, describe the observations and data analysis, and present the first-stage data release. The data product is a single cube at full resolution, not corrected for stray radiation. Spectra from the survey and other data products are publicly available online.

Imaging the Southern Sky An Amateur Astronomer's Guide

CERN Document Server

Chadwick, Stephen

2012-01-01

"If you're looking for a handy reference guide to help you image and explore the many splendors of the southern sky, Imaging the Southern Sky is the book for you. The work features not only stunning color images, all taken by Stephen Chadwick, of the best galaxies, nebulae, and clusters available to astrophotographers, but also lesser-known objects, some of which have gone largely unexplored! Beginners and experienced observers alike should appreciate the book's remarkable imagery and simple text, which provides concise and accurate information on each object and its epoch 2000.0 position, and also expert testimony on its visual nature. Each object essay also includes a section on technical information that should help astrophotographers in their planning, including telescope aperture, focal length and ratio, camera used, exposure times, and field size. As a charming bonus, the authors have taken the liberty to name many of the lesser-known objects to reflect their New Zealand heritage. Constellation by con...

Inventory of terrestrial mammals in the Rincon Mountains using camera traps

Science.gov (United States)

Don E. Swann; Nic Perkins

2013-01-01

The Sky Island region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico is well-known for its diversity of mammals, including endemic species and species representing several different biogeographic provinces. Camera trap studies have provided important insight into mammalian distribution and diversity in the Sky Islands in recent years, but few studies have...

Family Of Calibrated Stereometric Cameras For Direct Intraoral Use

Science.gov (United States)

Curry, Sean; Moffitt, Francis; Symes, Douglas; Baumrind, Sheldon

1983-07-01

In order to study empirically the relative efficiencies of different types of orthodontic appliances in repositioning teeth in vivo, we have designed and constructed a pair of fixed-focus, normal case, fully-calibrated stereometric cameras. One is used to obtain stereo photography of single teeth, at a scale of approximately 2:1, and the other is designed for stereo imaging of the entire dentition, study casts, facial structures, and other related objects at a scale of approximately 1:8. Twin lenses simultaneously expose adjacent frames on a single roll of 70 mm film. Physical flatness of the film is ensured by the use of a spring-loaded metal pressure plate. The film is forced against a 3/16" optical glass plate upon which is etched an array of 16 fiducial marks which divide the film format into 9 rectangular regions. Using this approach, it has been possible to produce photographs which are undistorted for qualitative viewing and from which quantitative data can be acquired by direct digitization of conventional photographic enlargements. We are in the process of designing additional members of this family of cameras. All calibration and data acquisition and analysis techniques previously developed will be directly applicable to these new cameras.

Selecting a digital camera for telemedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Patricoski, Chris; Ferguson, A Stewart

2009-06-01

The digital camera is an essential component of store-and-forward telemedicine (electronic consultation). There are numerous makes and models of digital cameras on the market, and selecting a suitable consumer-grade camera can be complicated. Evaluation of digital cameras includes investigating the features and analyzing image quality. Important features include the camera settings, ease of use, macro capabilities, method of image transfer, and power recharging. Consideration needs to be given to image quality, especially as it relates to color (skin tones) and detail. It is important to know the level of the photographer and the intended application. The goal is to match the characteristics of the camera with the telemedicine program requirements. In the end, selecting a digital camera is a combination of qualitative (subjective) and quantitative (objective) analysis. For the telemedicine program in Alaska in 2008, the camera evaluation and decision process resulted in a specific selection based on the criteria developed for our environment.

Taking it all in : special camera films in 3-D

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrison, L.

2006-07-15

Details of a 360-degree digital camera designed by Immersive Media Telemmersion were presented. The camera has been employed extensively in the United States for homeland security and intelligence-gathering purposes. In Canada, the cameras are now being used by the oil and gas industry. The camera has 11 lenses pointing in all directions and generates high resolution movies that can be analyzed frame-by-frame from every angle. Global positioning satellite data can be gathered during filming so that operators can pinpoint any location. The 11 video streams use more than 100 million pixels per second. After filming, the system displays synchronized, high-resolution video streams, capturing a full motion spherical world complete with directional sound. It can be viewed on a computer monitor, video screen, or head-mounted display. Pembina Pipeline Corporation recently used the Telemmersion system to plot a proposed pipeline route between Alberta's Athabasca region and Edmonton. It was estimated that more than $50,000 was saved by using the camera. The resulting video has been viewed by Pembina's engineering, environmental and geotechnical groups who were able to accurately note the route's river crossings. The cameras were also used to estimate timber salvage. Footage was then given to the operations group, to help staff familiarize themselves with the terrain, the proposed route's right-of-way, and the number of water crossings and access points. Oil and gas operators have also used the equipment on a recently acquired block of land to select well sites. 4 figs.

SPHEREx: Probing the Physics of Inflation with an All-Sky Spectroscopic Galaxy Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Dore, Olivier; SPHEREx Science Team

2018-01-01

SPHEREx, a mission in NASA's Medium Explorer (MIDEX) program that was selected for Phase A in August 2017, is an all-sky survey satellite designed to address all three science goals in NASA’s astrophysics division: probe the origin and destiny of our Universe; explore whether planets around other stars could harbor life; and explore the origin and evolution of galaxies. These themes are addressed by a single survey, with a single instrument.In this poster, we describe how SPHEREx can probe the physics of inflationary non-Gaussianity by measuring large-scale structure with galaxy redshifts over a large cosmological volume at low redshifts, complementing high-redshift surveys optimized to constrain dark energy.SPHEREx will be the first all-sky near-infrared spectral survey, creating a legacy archive of spectra. In particular, it will measure the redshifts of over 500 million galaxies of all types, an unprecedented dataset. Using this catalog, SPHEREx will reduce the uncertainty in fNL -- a parameter describing the inflationary initial conditions -- by a factor of more than 10 compared with CMB measurements. At the same time, this catalog will enable strong scientific synergies with Euclid, WFIRST and LSST

Looking for an old aerial photograph

Science.gov (United States)

,

1997-01-01

Attempts to photograph the surface of the Earth date from the 1800's, when photographers attached cameras to balloons, kites, and even pigeons. Today, aerial photographs and satellite images are commonplace. The rate of acquiring aerial photographs and satellite images has increased rapidly in recent years. Views of the Earth obtained from aircraft or satellites have become valuable tools to Government resource planners and managers, land-use experts, environmentalists, engineers, scientists, and a wide variety of other users. Many people want historical aerial photographs for business or personal reasons. They may want to locate the boundaries of an old farm or a piece of family property. Or they may want a photograph as a record of changes in their neighborhood, or as a gift. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains the Earth Science Information Centers (ESIC?s) to sell aerial photographs, remotely sensed images from satellites, a wide array of digital geographic and cartographic data, as well as the Bureau?s wellknown maps. Declassified photographs from early spy satellites were recently added to the ESIC offerings of historical images. Using the Aerial Photography Summary Record System database, ESIC researchers can help customers find imagery in the collections of other Federal agencies and, in some cases, those of private companies that specialize in esoteric products.

LAMOST CCD camera-control system based on RTS2

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Yuan; Wang, Zheng; Li, Jian; Cao, Zi-Huang; Dai, Wei; Wei, Shou-Lin; Zhao, Yong-Heng

2018-05-01

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is the largest existing spectroscopic survey telescope, having 32 scientific charge-coupled-device (CCD) cameras for acquiring spectra. Stability and automation of the camera-control software are essential, but cannot be provided by the existing system. The Remote Telescope System 2nd Version (RTS2) is an open-source and automatic observatory-control system. However, all previous RTS2 applications were developed for small telescopes. This paper focuses on implementation of an RTS2-based camera-control system for the 32 CCDs of LAMOST. A virtual camera module inherited from the RTS2 camera module is built as a device component working on the RTS2 framework. To improve the controllability and robustness, a virtualized layer is designed using the master-slave software paradigm, and the virtual camera module is mapped to the 32 real cameras of LAMOST. The new system is deployed in the actual environment and experimentally tested. Finally, multiple observations are conducted using this new RTS2-framework-based control system. The new camera-control system is found to satisfy the requirements for automatic camera control in LAMOST. This is the first time that RTS2 has been applied to a large telescope, and provides a referential solution for full RTS2 introduction to the LAMOST observatory control system.

Design of a device for sky light polarization measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yujie; Hu, Xiaoping; Lian, Junxiang; Zhang, Lilian; Xian, Zhiwen; Ma, Tao

2014-08-14

Sky polarization patterns can be used both as indicators of atmospheric turbidity and as a sun compass for navigation. The objective of this study is to improve the precision of sky light polarization measurements by optimal design of the device used. The central part of the system is composed of a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera; a fish-eye lens and a linear polarizer. Algorithms for estimating parameters of the polarized light based on three images are derived and the optimal alignments of the polarizer are analyzed. The least-squares estimation is introduced for sky light polarization pattern measurement. The polarization patterns of sky light are obtained using the designed system and they follow almost the same patterns of the single-scattering Rayleigh model. Deviations of polarization angles between observation and the theory are analyzed. The largest deviations occur near the sun and anti-sun directions. Ninety percent of the deviations are less than 5° and 40% percent of them are less than 1°. The deviations decrease evidently as the degree of polarization increases. It also shows that the polarization pattern of the cloudy sky is almost identical as in the blue sky.

21 CFR 892.1620 - Cine or spot fluorographic x-ray camera.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Cine or spot fluorographic x-ray camera. 892.1620... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES RADIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 892.1620 Cine or spot fluorographic x-ray camera. (a) Identification. A cine or spot fluorographic x-ray camera is a device intended to photograph...

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) Light Curve Server v1.0

Science.gov (United States)

Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Stanek, K. Z.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Thompson, Todd A.; Prieto, J. L.; Dong, Subo; Shields, J. V.; Will, D.; Britt, C.; Perzanowski, D.; Pojmański, G.

2017-10-01

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) is working toward imaging the entire visible sky every night to a depth of V˜ 17 mag. The present data covers the sky and spans ˜2-5 years with ˜100-400 epochs of observation. The data should contain some ˜1 million variable sources, and the ultimate goal is to have a database of these observations publicly accessible. We describe here a first step, a simple but unprecedented web interface https://asas-sn.osu.edu/ that provides an up to date aperture photometry light curve for any user-selected sky coordinate. The V band photometry is obtained using a two-pixel (16.″0) radius aperture and is calibrated against the APASS catalog. Because the light curves are produced in real time, this web tool is relatively slow and can only be used for small samples of objects. However, it also imposes no selection bias on the part of the ASAS-SN team, allowing the user to obtain a light curve for any point on the celestial sphere. We present the tool, describe its capabilities, limitations, and known issues, and provide a few illustrative examples.

Errors induced in the measurement and azimuth directions of morphological features imaged on oblique Lunar Orbiter photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Siegal, B. S.

1974-01-01

Many quantitative lunar studies, e.g., the morphology and dimensions of craters, crater density and distribution, have been performed using oblique Lunar Orbiter photographs. If the inherent change in scale and azimuth direction of features imaged on these photographs are not corrected, the measurement can be in considerable error and the resulting statistical inferences may be invalid. The magnitude of this error is dependent upon: the depression angle of the camera, the flight height of the spacecraft, the focal length of the camera, and the position and orientation of the object on the ground. The errors introduced by using unrectified oblique photographs as though they were vertical photographs are examined for several Lunar Orbiter high resolution NASA LRC Enhancement photographic prints taken at various depression angles.

A Method for Deriving All-Sky Evapotranspiration From the Synergistic Use of Remotely Sensed Images and Meteorological Data

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Pei; Li, Zhao-Liang; Duan, Si-Bo; Tang, Ronglin; Gao, Mao-Fang

2017-12-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the water and energy cycle. The present study develops a practical approach for generating all-sky ET with the synergistic use of satellite images and meteorological data. In this approach, the ET over clear-sky pixels is estimated from a two-stage land surface temperature (LST)/fractional vegetation cover feature space method where the dry/wet edges are determined from theoretical calculations. For cloudy pixels, the Penman-Monteith equation is used to calculate the ET where no valid remotely sensed LST is available. An evaluation of the method with ET collected at ground-based large aperture scintillometer measurements at the Yucheng Comprehensive Experimental Station (YCES) in China is performed over a growth period from April to October 2010. The results show that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) and bias over clear-sky pixels are 57.3 W/m2 and 18.2 W/m2, respectively, whereas an RMSE of 69.3 W/m2 with a bias of 12.3 W/m2 can be found over cloudy pixels. Moreover, a reasonable overall RMSE of 65.3 W/m2 with a bias of 14.4 W/m2 at the YCES can be obtained under all-sky conditions, indicating a promising prospect for the derivation of all-sky ET using currently available satellite and meteorological data at a regional or global scale in future developments.

PhC-4 new high-speed camera with mirror scanning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daragan, A.O.; Belov, B.G.

1979-01-01

The description of the optical system and the construction of the high-speed PhC-4 photographic camera with mirror scanning of the continuously operating type is given. The optical system of the camera is based on the foursided rotating mirror, two optical inlets and two working sectors. The PhC-4 camera provides the framing rate up to 600 thousand frames per second. (author)

KIC 8462852: Maria Mitchell Observatory Photographic Photometry 1930 to 1985

Science.gov (United States)

Castelaz, Michael; Barker, Thurburn

2018-01-01

KIC 8462852 is an F3V star which decreased 20% in visual brightness twice from 5 to 20 days (Boyajian et al., 2016, MNRAS, 457, 3988) in 2011 and again in 2013. New observations show decreases of a few percent in May 2017 (Waagen 2017, AAVSO Alert Notice, 579), and reanalysis of Kepler data shows a variation of 928.25 days and 22 dimming events (Kiefer et al. 2017, accepted). Photometry from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae and the All-Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) indicate two brightening episodes and a steady decrease in magnitude of 6.3 +/- 1.4 mmag/yr (Simon et al 2017, accepted). Photometric studies from photographic plate collections include a light curve from 1338 Harvard College Observatory plates over the period 1890 to 1989 (Schaefer 2016, ApJ, 822, L34) that indicates KIC 8462852 is dimming 0.164 +/- 0.013 magnitudes per century. Hippke et al. (2016, ApJ, 825, 73) present B and V light curves from photometry from the Sonneberg Observatory photographic plate collection (Brauer and Fuhrmann 1992, Die Sterne, 68, 19) covering the period from 1934 to 1995. The light curve suggests less than 3% or 0.03 magnitude per century decrease in brightness, consistent with the ASAS light curve and Kepler data.Another consistent set of astronomical photographic plates with KIC 8462852 are in the Maria Mitchell Observatory (MMO) collection (Strelnitski 2009 in ASP Conference Series Vol. 410 p. 96). This collection is located in the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. We extracted the photographic magnitudes of KIC 8462852 from 743 plates from 1930 to 1988. We chose 8 nearby comparison stars within one spectral subclass and within 0.05 magnitudes of KIC 8462852, and not identified as variables. The photometry is calibrated to the USNO B filter, closest in bandpass to the emulsion wavelength sensitivity. The light curve of KIC 8462852 suggests a trend of about 0.1 +/- 0.07 magnitudes per century decrease, an

AMSR2 all-sky radiance assimilation and its impact on the analysis and forecast of Hurricane Sandy with a limited-area data assimilation system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun Yang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A method to assimilate all-sky radiances from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2 was developed within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model's data assimilation (WRFDA system. The four essential elements are: (1 extending the community radiative transform model's (CRTM interface to include hydrometeor profiles; (2 using total water Qt as the moisture control variable; (3 using a warm-rain physics scheme for partitioning the Qt increment into individual increments of water vapour, cloud liquid water and rain; and (4 adopting a symmetric observation error model for all-sky radiance assimilation.Compared to a benchmark experiment with no AMSR2 data, the impact of assimilating clear-sky or all-sky AMSR2 radiances on the analysis and forecast of Hurricane Sandy (2012 was assessed through analysis/forecast cycling experiments using WRF and WRFDA's three-dimensional variational (3DVAR data assimilation scheme. With more cloud/precipitation-affected data being assimilated around tropical cyclone (TC core areas in the all-sky AMSR2 assimilation experiment, better analyses were obtained in terms of the TC's central sea level pressure (CSLP, warm-core structure and cloud distribution. Substantial (>20 % error reduction in track and CSLP forecasts was achieved from both clear-sky and all-sky AMSR2 assimilation experiments, and this improvement was consistent from the analysis time to 72-h forecasts. Moreover, the all-sky assimilation experiment consistently yielded better track and CSLP forecasts than the clear-sky did for all forecast lead times, due to a better analysis in the TC core areas. Positive forecast impact from assimilating AMSR2 radiances is also seen when verified against the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF analysis and the Stage IV precipitation analysis, with an overall larger positive impact from the all-sky assimilation experiment.

Comparative study of the polaroid and digital non-mydriatic cameras in the detection of referrable diabetic retinopathy in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Phiri, R; Keeffe, J E; Harper, C A; Taylor, H R

2006-08-01

To show that the non-mydriatic retinal camera (NMRC) using polaroid film is as effective as the NMRC using digital imaging in detecting referrable retinopathy. A series of patients with diabetes attending the eye out-patients department at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital had single-field non-mydriatic fundus photographs taken using first a digital and then a polaroid camera. Dilated 30 degrees seven-field stereo fundus photographs were then taken of each eye as the gold standard. The photographs were graded in a masked fashion. Retinopathy levels were defined using the simplified Wisconsin Grading system. We used the kappa statistics for inter-reader and intrareader agreement and the generalized linear model to derive the odds ratio. There were 196 participants giving 325 undilated retinal photographs. Of these participants 111 (57%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 68.8 years. There were 298 eyes with all three sets of photographs from 154 patients. The digital NMRC had a sensitivity of 86.2%[95% confidence interval (CI) 65.8, 95.3], whilst the polaroid NMRC had a sensitivity of 84.1% (95% CI 65.5, 93.7). The specificities of the two cameras were identical at 71.2% (95% CI 58.8, 81.1). There was no difference in the ability of the polaroid and digital camera to detect referrable retinopathy (odds ratio 1.06, 95% CI 0.80, 1.40, P = 0.68). This study suggests that non-mydriatic retinal photography using polaroid film is as effective as digital imaging in the detection of referrable retinopathy in countries such as the USA and Australia or others that use the same criterion for referral.

Multiband photometry and spectroscopy of an all-sky sample of bright white dwarfs

Science.gov (United States)

Raddi, R.; Gentile Fusillo, N. P.; Pala, A. F.; Hermes, J. J.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Chote, P.; Hollands, M. A.; Henden, A.; Catalán, S.; Geier, S.; Koester, D.; Munari, U.; Napiwotzki, R.; Tremblay, P.-E.

2017-12-01

The upcoming NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will obtain space-based uninterrupted light curves for a large sample of bright white dwarfs distributed across the entire sky, providing a very rich resource for asteroseismological studies and the search for transits from planetary debris. We have compiled an all-sky catalogue of ultraviolet, optical and infrared photometry as well as proper motions, which we propose as an essential tool for the preliminary identification and characterization of potential targets. We present data for 1864 known white dwarfs and 305 high-probability white dwarf candidates brighter than 17 mag. We describe the spectroscopic follow-up of 135 stars, of which 82 are white dwarfs and 25 are hot subdwarfs. The new confirmed stars include six pulsating white dwarf candidates (ZZ Cetis), and nine white dwarf binaries with a cool main-sequence companion. We identify one star with a spectroscopic distance of only 25 pc from the Sun. Around the time TESS is launched, we foresee that all white dwarfs in this sample will have trigonometric parallaxes measured by the ESA Gaia mission next year.

A new all-sky map of Galactic high-velocity clouds from the 21-cm HI4PI survey

Science.gov (United States)

Westmeier, Tobias

2018-02-01

High-velocity clouds (HVCs) are neutral or ionized gas clouds in the vicinity of the Milky Way that are characterized by high radial velocities inconsistent with participation in the regular rotation of the Galactic disc. Previous attempts to create a homogeneous all-sky H I map of HVCs have been hampered by a combination of poor angular resolution, limited surface brightness sensitivity and suboptimal sampling. Here, a new and improved H I map of Galactic HVCs based on the all-sky HI4PI survey is presented. The new map is fully sampled and provides significantly better angular resolution (16.2 versus 36 arcmin) and column density sensitivity (2.3 versus 3.7 × 1018 cm-2 at the native resolution) than the previously available LAB survey. The new HVC map resolves many of the major HVC complexes in the sky into an intricate network of narrow H I filaments and clumps that were not previously resolved by the LAB survey. The resulting sky coverage fraction of high-velocity H I emission above a column density level of 2 × 1018 cm-2 is approximately 15 per cent, which reduces to about 13 per cent when the Magellanic Clouds and other non-HVC emission are removed. The differential sky coverage fraction as a function of column density obeys a truncated power law with an exponent of -0.93 and a turnover point at about 5 × 1019 cm-2. H I column density and velocity maps of the HVC sky are made publicly available as FITS images for scientific use by the community.

Some geometrical problems related to the rotation camera. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taupin, D.

1985-01-01

An algorithm for a safe generation of the table of expected reflections in the Arndt-Wonnacott rotation camera is given. It relies upon classic quadratic matrixalgebra. Some mathematical theorems are recalled. This algorithm is part of a series of programs developed at Orsay for the treatment of rotation-camera photographs. (orig.)

ECR plasma photographs as a plasma diagnostic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Racz, R; Biri, S; Palinkas, J [Institute of Nuclear Research (ATOMKI), H-4026 Debrecen, Bem ter 18/c (Hungary)

2011-04-15

Low, medium or highly charged ions delivered by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources all are produced in the ECR plasma. In order to study such plasmas, high-resolution visible light plasma photographs were taken at the ATOMKI ECR ion source. An 8 megapixel digital camera was used to photograph plasmas made from He, methane, N, O, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe gases and from their mixtures. The analysis of the photo series gave many qualitative and some valuable physical information on the nature of ECR plasmas. A comparison was made between the plasma photos and computer simulations, and conclusions were drawn regarding the cold electron component of the plasma. The warm electron component of similar simulation was compared with x-ray photos emitted by plasma ions. While the simulations are in good agreement with the photos, a significant difference was found between the spatial distribution of the cold and warm electrons.

Enhanced solar global irradiance during cloudy sky conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schade, N.H.; Sandmann, H.; Stick, C. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Medizinische Klimatologie; Macke, A. [Kiel Univ. (DE). Leibniz Inst. fuer Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR)

2007-06-15

The impact of cloudiness on the shortwave downwelling radiation (SDR) at the surface is investigated by means of collocated pyranometer radiation measurements and all-sky imager observations. The measurements have been performed in Westerland, a seaside resort on the North Sea island of Sylt, Germany, during summer 2004 and 2005. A main improvement to previous studies on this subject resulted from the very high temporal resolution of cloud images and radiation measurements and, therefore, a more robust statistical analysis of the occurrence of this effect. It was possible to observe an excess of solar irradiation compared to clear sky irradiation by more than 500 W/m{sup 2}, the largest observed excess irradiation to our knowledge so far. Camera images reveal that largest excess radiation is reached close to overcast situations with altocumulus clouds partly obscuring the solar disk, and preferably with cumulus clouds in lower levels. The maximum duration of the enhancements depends on its strength and ranges from 20 seconds (enhancements > 400 W/m{sup 2}) up to 140 seconds (enhancements > 200 W/m{sup 2}). (orig.)

RXTE All-Sky Monitor Localization of SGR 1627-41

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, D. A.; Bradt, H. V.; Levine, A. M.

1999-09-01

The fourth unambiguously identified Soft Gamma Repeater (SGR), SGR 1627--41, was discovered with the BATSE instrument on 1998 June 15 (Kouveliotou et al. 1998). Interplanetary Network (IPN) measurements and BATSE data constrained the location of this new SGR to a 6(deg) segment of a narrow (19('') ) annulus (Hurley et al. 1999; Woods et al. 1998). We report on two bursts from this source observed by the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on RXTE. We use the ASM data to further constrain the source location to a 5(') long segment of the BATSE/IPN error box. The ASM/IPN error box lies within 0.3(') of the supernova remnant (SNR) G337.0--0.1. The probability that a SNR would fall so close to the error box purely by chance is ~ 5%.

DIGITAL ACCESS TO A SKY CENTURY AT HARVARD: INITIAL PHOTOMETRY AND ASTROMETRY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laycock, S.; Tang, S.; Grindlay, J.; Los, E.; Simcoe, R.; Mink, D.

2010-01-01

Digital Access to a Sky Century at Harvard (DASCH) is a project to digitize the collection of ∼500,000 glass photographic plates held at Harvard College Observatory. The collection spans the time period from 1880 to 1985, during which time every point on the sky was been observed from 500 to 1000 times. In this paper, we describe the DASCH commissioning run, during which we developed the data-reduction pipeline, characterized the plates and fine-tuned the digitizer's performance and operation. This initial run consisted of 500 plates taken from a variety of different plate series, all containing the open cluster Praeseppe (M44). We report that accurate photometry at the 0.1 mag level is possible on the majority of plates, and demonstrate century-long light curves of various types of variable stars in and around M44. DASCH will generate a public online archive of the entire plate collection, including images, source catalogs, and light curves for nearly all astronomical objects brighter than about 17th magnitude.

Digital Access to a Sky Century at Harvard: Initial Photometry and Astrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Laycock, S.; Tang, S.; Grindlay, J.; Los, E.; Simcoe, R.; Mink, D.

2010-10-01

Digital Access to a Sky Century at Harvard (DASCH) is a project to digitize the collection of ~500,000 glass photographic plates held at Harvard College Observatory. The collection spans the time period from 1880 to 1985, during which time every point on the sky was been observed from 500 to 1000 times. In this paper, we describe the DASCH commissioning run, during which we developed the data-reduction pipeline, characterized the plates and fine-tuned the digitizer's performance and operation. This initial run consisted of 500 plates taken from a variety of different plate series, all containing the open cluster Praeseppe (M44). We report that accurate photometry at the 0.1 mag level is possible on the majority of plates, and demonstrate century-long light curves of various types of variable stars in and around M44. DASCH will generate a public online archive of the entire plate collection, including images, source catalogs, and light curves for nearly all astronomical objects brighter than about 17th magnitude.

The ROSAT All-Sky Survey view of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)

Science.gov (United States)

Pietsch, W.; Denner, K.; Kahabka, P.; Pakull, M.; Schaeidt, S.

1996-01-01

During the Rosat all sky survey, centered on the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), 516 X-ray sources were detected. The field was covered from July 1990 to January 1991. The X-ray parameters of the sources, involving position, count rates, hardness ratios, extent, and time variability during the observations, are discussed. Identifications with objects from optical, radio and infrared wavelength allow the LMC candidates to be separated from the foreground stars and the background objects.

A direct-view customer-oriented digital holographic camera

Science.gov (United States)

Besaga, Vira R.; Gerhardt, Nils C.; Maksimyak, Peter P.; Hofmann, Martin R.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a direct-view digital holographic camera system consisting mostly of customer-oriented components. The camera system is based on standard photographic units such as camera sensor and objective and is adapted to operate under off-axis external white-light illumination. The common-path geometry of the holographic module of the system ensures direct-view operation. The system can operate in both self-reference and self-interference modes. As a proof of system operability, we present reconstructed amplitude and phase information of a test sample.

Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars. IV. An all-sky search

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astone, Pia; Borkowski, Kazimierz M.; Jaranowski, Piotr; Krolak, Andrzej

2002-01-01

We develop a set of data analysis tools for a realistic all-sky search for continuous gravitational-wave signals and we test our tools against simulated data. The aim of the paper is to prepare for an analysis of the real data from the EXPLORER bar detector; however, the methods that we present apply both to data from the resonant bar detectors that are currently in operation and the laser interferometric detectors that are in the final stages of construction and commissioning. With our techniques we shall be able to perform an all-sky coherent search of 2 days of data from the EXPLORER detector for a frequency bandwidth of 0.76 Hz in one month with 250 Mflops computing power. This search will detect all the continuous gravitational-wave signals with the dimensionless amplitude larger than 2.8x10 -23 with 99% confidence, assuming that the noise in the detector is Gaussian

SKYMONITOR: A Global Network for Sky Brightness Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Donald R.; Mckenna, D.; Pulvermacher, R.; Everett, M.

2010-01-01

We are implementing a global network to measure sky brightness at dark-sky critical sites with the goal of creating a multi-decade database. The heart of this project is the Night Sky Brightness Monitor (NSBM), an autonomous 2 channel photometer which measures night sky brightness in the visual wavelengths (Mckenna et al, AAS 2009). Sky brightness is measured every minute at two elevation angles typically zenith and 20 degrees to monitor brightness and transparency. The NSBM consists of two parts, a remote unit and a base station with an internet connection. Currently these devices use 2.4 Ghz transceivers with a range of 100 meters. The remote unit is battery powered with daytime recharging using a solar panel. Data received by the base unit is transmitted via email protocol to IDA offices in Tucson where it will be collected, archived and made available to the user community via a web interface. Two other versions of the NSBM are under development: one for radio sensitive areas using an optical fiber link and the second that reads data directly to a laptop for sites without internet access. NSBM units are currently undergoing field testing at two observatories. With support from the National Science Foundation, we will construct and install a total of 10 units at astronomical observatories. With additional funding, we will locate additional units at other sites such as National Parks, dark-sky preserves and other sites where dark sky preservation is crucial. We will present the current comparison with the National Park Service sky monitoring camera. We anticipate that the SKYMONITOR network will be functioning by the end of 2010.

Cryptography Would Reveal Alterations In Photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Gary L.

1995-01-01

Public-key decryption method proposed to guarantee authenticity of photographic images represented in form of digital files. In method, digital camera generates original data from image in standard public format; also produces coded signature to verify standard-format image data. Scheme also helps protect against other forms of lying, such as attaching false captions.

All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the first Advanced LIGO run

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Belgin, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canepa, M.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, H. -P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Costa, C. F. Da Silva; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Alvarez, M. Dovale; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.C.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Galiana, A. Fernandez; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fong, H.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, R.G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, Whansun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kraemer, H.C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Luck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGrath Hoareau, C.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, F.A.; Miller, B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Castro-Perez, J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerner, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Rhoades, E.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, D.M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J.R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson-Moore, P.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tippens, T.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Torya, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.G.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D.S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S.J.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.

2017-01-01

We present the results from an all-sky search for short-duration gravitational waves in the data of the first run of the Advanced LIGO detectors between September 2015 and January 2016. The search algorithms use minimal assumptions on the signal morphology, so they are sensitive to a wide range of

Long term variability of Cygnus X-1. V. State definitions with all sky monitors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grinberg, V.; Hell, N.; Pottschmidt, K.; Böck, M.; Nowak, M.A.; Rodriguez, J.; Bodaghee, A.; Cadolle Bel, M.; Case, G.L.; Hanke, M.; Kühnel, M.; Markoff, S.; Pooley, G.G.; Rothschild, R.E.; Tomsick, J.A.; Wilson-Hodge, C.A.; Wilms, J.

2013-01-01

We present a scheme for determining the spectral state of the canonical black hole Cyg X-1 using data from previous and current X-ray all sky monitors (RXTE-ASM, Swift-BAT, MAXI, and Fermi-GBM). Determinations of the hard/intermediate and soft state agree to better than 10% between different

The night sky companion a yearly guide to sky-watching 2008-2009

CERN Document Server

Plotner, Tammy

2007-01-01

The Night Sky Companion is a comprehensive guide to what can be explored in the heavens on a nightly basis. Designed to appeal to readers at all skill levels, it provides a digest for sky watchers interested in all types of astronomical information.

Cloud Screening and Quality Control Algorithm for Star Photometer Data: Assessment with Lidar Measurements and with All-sky Images

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, Daniel Perez; Lyamani, H.; Olmo, F. J.; Whiteman, D. N.; Navas-Guzman, F.; Alados-Arboledas, L.

2012-01-01

This paper presents the development and set up of a cloud screening and data quality control algorithm for a star photometer based on CCD camera as detector. These algorithms are necessary for passive remote sensing techniques to retrieve the columnar aerosol optical depth, delta Ae(lambda), and precipitable water vapor content, W, at nighttime. This cloud screening procedure consists of calculating moving averages of delta Ae() and W under different time-windows combined with a procedure for detecting outliers. Additionally, to avoid undesirable Ae(lambda) and W fluctuations caused by the atmospheric turbulence, the data are averaged on 30 min. The algorithm is applied to the star photometer deployed in the city of Granada (37.16 N, 3.60 W, 680 ma.s.l.; South-East of Spain) for the measurements acquired between March 2007 and September 2009. The algorithm is evaluated with correlative measurements registered by a lidar system and also with all-sky images obtained at the sunset and sunrise of the previous and following days. Promising results are obtained detecting cloud-affected data. Additionally, the cloud screening algorithm has been evaluated under different aerosol conditions including Saharan dust intrusion, biomass burning and pollution events.

Development of an all-optical framing camera and its application on the Z-pinch.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yan; Peng, Bodong; Wang, Hong-Xing; Song, Guzhou; Li, Binkang; Yue, Zhiqin; Li, Yang; Sun, Tieping; Xu, Qing; Ma, Jiming; Sheng, Liang; Han, Changcai; Duan, Baojun; Yao, Zhiming; Yan, Weipeng

2017-12-11

An all-optical framing camera has been developed which measures the spatial profile of photons flux by utilizing a laser beam to probe the refractive index change in an indium phosphide semiconductor. This framing camera acquires two frames with the time resolution of about 1.5 ns and the inter frame separation time of about 13 ns by angularly multiplexing the probe beam on to the semiconductor. The spatial resolution of this camera has been estimated to be about 140 μm and the spectral response of this camera has also been theoretically investigated in 5 eV-100 KeV range. This camera has been applied in investigating the imploding dynamics of the molybdenum planar wire array Z-pinch on the 1-MA "QiangGuang-1" facility. This framing camera can provide an alternative scheme for high energy density physics experiments.

Polarization patterns of the twilight sky

Science.gov (United States)

Cronin, Thomas W.; Warrant, Eric J.; Greiner, Birgit

2005-08-01

Although natural light sources produce depolarized light, patterns of partially linearly polarized light appear in the sky due to scattering from air molecules, dust, and aerosols. Many animals, including bees and ants, orient themselves to patterns of polarization that are present in daytime skies, when the intensity is high and skylight polarization is strong and predictable. The halicitid bee Megalopta genalis inhabits rainforests in Central America. Unlike typical bees, it forages before sunrise and after sunset, when light intensities under the forest canopy are very low, and must find its way to food sources and return to its nest in visually challenging circumstances. An important cue for the orientation could be patterns of polarization in the twilight sky. Therefore, we used a calibrated digital camera to image skylight polarization in an overhead patch of sky, 87.6° across, before dawn on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where the bees are found. We simultaneously measured the spectral properties of polarized light in a cloudless patch of sky 15° across centered on the zenith. We also performed full-sky imaging of polarization before dawn and after dusk on Lizard Island in Australia, another tropical island. During twilight, celestial polarized light occurs in a wide band stretching perpendicular to the location of the hidden sun and reaching typical degrees of polarization near 80% at wavelengths >600 nm. This pattern appears about 45 minutes before local sunrise or disappears 45 minutes after local sunset (about 20 minutes after the onset of astronomical twilight at dawn, or before its end at dusk) and extends with little change through the entire twilight period. Such a strong and reliable orientation cue could be used for flight orientation by any animal with polarization sensitivity that navigates during twilight.

Astronaut Ronald Evans photographed during transearth coast EVA

Science.gov (United States)

1972-01-01

Astronaut Ronald E. Evans is photographed performing extravehicular activity (EVA) during the Apollo 17 spacecraft's transearth coast. During his EVA Command Module pilot Evans retrieved film cassettes from the Lunar Sounder, Mapping Camera, and Panoramic Camera. The total time for the transearth EVA was one hour seven minutes 19 seconds, starting at ground elapsed time of 257:25 (2:28 p.m.) amd ending at ground elapsed time of 258:42 (3:35 p.m.) on Sunday, December 17, 1972.

Martin Parr in Mexico: Does Photographic Style Translate?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy R. Gleason

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes Martin Parr’s 2006 photobook, Mexico. Parr is a British documentary photographer best known for a direct photographic style that reflects upon “Englishness.”Mexico is his attempt to understand this foreign country via his camera. Mexico, as a research subject, is not a problem to solve but an opportunity to understand a photographer’s work. Parr’s Mexico photography (technique, photographic content, and interest in globalization, economics, and culture is compared to his previous work to explain how Parr uses fashion and icons to represent a culture or class. This article argues Parr’s primary subjects, heads/hats, food, and Christs, are photographed without excessive aesthetic pretensions so that the thrust of Parr’s message about globalization can be more evident:Mexico maintains many of its traditions and icons while adopting American brands.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Northern Sky Variability Survey (Wozniak+, 2004)

Science.gov (United States)

Wozniak, P. R.; Vestrand, W. T.; Akerlof, C. W.; Balsano, R.; Bloch, J.; Casperson, D.; Fletcher, S.; Gisler, G.; Kehoe, R.; Kinemuchi, K.; Lee, B. C.; Marshall, S.; McGowan, K. E.; McKay, T. A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Smith, D. A.; Szymanski, J.; Wren, J.

2004-11-01

The Northern Sky Variability Survey (NSVS) is a temporal record of the sky over the optical magnitude range from 8 to 15.5. It was conducted in the course of the first-generation Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE-I) using a robotic system of four comounted unfiltered telephoto lenses equipped with CCD cameras. The survey was conducted from Los Alamos, New Mexico, and primarily covers the entire northern sky. Some data in southern fields between declinations 0{deg} and -38{deg} are also available, although with fewer epochs and noticeably lesser quality. The NSVS contains light curves for approximately 14 million objects. With a 1-yr baseline and typically 100-500 measurements per object, the NSVS is the most extensive record of stellar variability across the bright sky available today. In a median field, bright unsaturated stars attain a point-to-point photometric scatter of ~0.02mag and position errors within 2. At Galactic latitudes |b|public access from the Sky Database for Objects in Time-Domain (SkyDOT) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Copies of the full survey photometry may also be requested on tape. (7 data files).

What Colour Is a Shadow?

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, S. W.

2009-01-01

What colour is a shadow? Black, grey, or some other colour? This article describes how to use a digital camera to test the hypothesis that a shadow under a clear blue sky has a blue tint. A white sheet of A4 paper was photographed in full sunlight and in shadow under a clear blue sky. The images were analysed using a shareware program called…

SkyProbeBV: dual-color absolute sky transparency monitor to optimize science operations

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, Jean-Charles; Magnier, Eugene; Sabin, Dan; Mahoney, Billy

2008-07-01

Mauna Kea (4200 m elevation, Hawaii) is known for its pristine seeing conditions, but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations: 25% of the nights are not photometric, a cloud coverage mostly due to high-altitude thin cirrus. The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is upgrading its real-time sky transparency monitor in the optical domain (V-band) into a dual-color system by adding a B-band channel and redesigning the entire optical and mechanical assembly. Since 2000, the original single-channel SkyProbe has gathered one exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera with a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (30 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tychos catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). A key advantage of SkyProbe over direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds, is that it allows an accurate absolute measurement, within 5%, of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument. This system has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO), representing today 95% of the telescope time: science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for being re-observed later on (at 1/10th of the original exposure time per pointing in the observed filters) to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. If the absorption is too high, exposures can be repeated, or the observing can be done for a lower ranked science program. The new dual color system (simultaneous B & V bands) will allow a better characterization of the sky properties above Mauna Kea and should enable a better detection of the thinner cirrus (absorption down to 0.02 mag., i.e. 2%). SkyProbe is operated within the Elixir pipeline, a collection of tools

"Objects and Places” – Photographs by Alan Trachtenberg


Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Géraldine Chouard

2011-04-01

Full Text Available  “Black-and-white images of diverse scenes in America—ranging from a Mississippi ���ghost” town to rooftops in Pennsylvania to an upper New York state racetrack—are featured in a new exhibition of photographs by Yale professor Alan Trachtenberg at the Henry Koerner Center for Emeritus Faculty. The exhibit, titled “Objects and Places,” is a selection of 22 photographs that Trachtenberg made over the past 30 years using a large-format (8×10 camera.” [Excerpt from the Yale Daily Bulletin]The foll...

RELIABLE IDENTIFICATIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI FROM THE WISE, 2MASS, AND ROSAT ALL-SKY SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edelson, R. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States); Malkan, M., E-mail: rickedelson@gmail.com [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States)

2012-05-20

We have developed the ''S{sub IX}'' statistic to identify bright, highly likely active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates solely on the basis of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), and ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS) data. This statistic was optimized with data from the preliminary WISE survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and tested with Lick 3 m Kast spectroscopy. We find that sources with S{sub IX} < 0 have a {approx}>95% likelihood of being an AGN (defined in this paper as a Seyfert 1, quasar, or blazar). This statistic was then applied to the full WISE/2MASS/RASS dataset, including the final WISE data release, to yield the ''W2R'' sample of 4316 sources with S{sub IX} < 0. Only 2209 of these sources are currently in the Veron-Cetty and Veron (VCV) catalog of spectroscopically confirmed AGNs, indicating that the W2R sample contains nearly 2000 new, relatively bright (J {approx}< 16) AGNs. We utilize the W2R sample to quantify biases and incompleteness in the VCV catalog. We find that it is highly complete for bright (J < 14), northern AGNs, but the completeness drops below 50% for fainter, southern samples and for sources near the Galactic plane. This approach also led to the spectroscopic identification of 10 new AGNs in the Kepler field, more than doubling the number of AGNs being monitored by Kepler. The W2R sample contains better than 1 bright AGN every 10 deg{sup 2}, permitting construction of AGN samples in any sufficiently large region of sky.

Photographing travel of classical windturbines in Europe; Oshu Koen fusha satsuei ryoko

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzuki, H.

1997-03-01

Travel in Europe for taking photographs of classical windturbines is reported. The Netherlands which is a representative windturbine country, Spain which is a theme country of this travel, Greece which is a root country of the windmills, and the UK with the Windturbine Museum were visited. In the Netherlands, photographs of Kinder d`eiche Windturbine, Leiden de Valk Windturbine Museum, and a windturbine in the south end of Amstle Park were taken. Photographs of don Quijote Windturbine at Campo de Criptana in Spain, and Crete Windturbine and sail-type windturbine in the Rhodes Island, Greece were taken. In the UK, the Windturbine Museum was visited at Wimbledon. After coming back to Japan, films were exposed. The walls of windturbines were dark due to insufficient exposure against the light sky. In spite of consideration of the exposure, 70% of the photographs of windturbine walls were still dark. Only 10% of them can be available. This may be a limit of amateur photographer. Professional photographer may be complete. 12 figs.

Verification of the ISO calibration method for field pyranometers under tropical sky conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Janjai, Serm; Tohsing, Korntip; Pattarapanitchai, Somjet; Detkhon, Pasakorn

2017-02-01

Field pyranomters need to be annually calibrated and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has defined a standard method (ISO 9847) for calibrating these pyranometers. According to this standard method for outdoor calibration, the field pyranometers have to be compared to a reference pyranometer for the period of 2 to 14 days, depending on sky conditions. In this work, the ISO 9847 standard method was verified under tropical sky conditions. To verify the standard method, calibration of field pyranometers was conducted at a tropical site located in Nakhon Pathom (13.82o N, 100.04o E), Thailand under various sky conditions. The conditions of the sky were monitored by using a sky camera. The calibration results for different time periods used for the calibration under various sky conditions were analyzed. It was found that the calibration periods given by this standard method could be reduced without significant change in the final calibration result. In addition, recommendation and discussion on the use of this standard method in the tropics were also presented.

The Other Dark Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Pazmino, John

In previous demonstrations of New York's elimination of luminous graffiti from its skies, I focused attention on large-scale projects in the showcase districts of Manhattan. Although these works earned passionate respect in the dark sky movement, they by the same token were disheartening. New York was in some quarters of the movement regarded more as an unachievable Shangri-La than as a role model to emulate. This presentation focuses on scenes of light abatement efforts in parts of New York which resemble other towns in scale and density. I photographed these scenes along a certain bus route in Brooklyn on my way home from work during October 2001. This route circulates through various "bedroom communities," each similar to a mid-size to large town elsewhere in the United States. The sujbects included individual structures - stores, banks, schools - and streetscapes mimicking downtowns. The latter protrayed a mix of atrocious and excellent lighting practice, being that these streets are in transition by the routine process of replacement and renovation. The fixtures used - box lamps, fluted or Fresnel globes, subdued headsigns, indirect lighting - are casually obtainable by property managers at local outlets for lighting apparatus. They are routinely offered to the property managers by storefront designers, security services, contractors, and the community improvement or betterment councils.

Planck intermediate results XXIX. All-sky dust modelling with Planck, IRAS, and WISE observations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Alves, M. I. R.

2016-01-01

We present all-sky modelling of the high resolution Planck, IRAS, andWISE infrared (IR) observations using the physical dust model presented by Draine & Li in 2007 (DL, ApJ, 657, 810). We study the performance and results of this model, and discuss implications for future dust modelling....... The present work extends the DL dust modelling carried out on nearby galaxies using Herschel and Spitzer data to Galactic dust emission. We employ the DL dust model to generate maps of the dust mass surface density Sigma(Md), the dust optical extinction A(V), and the starlight intensity heating the bulk...... of the dust, parametrized by U-min. The DL model reproduces the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) satisfactorily over most of the sky, with small deviations in the inner Galactic disk and in low ecliptic latitude areas, presumably due to zodiacal light contamination. In the Andromeda galaxy (M31...

Modulated electron-multiplied fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope: all-solid-state camera for fluorescence lifetime imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Qiaole; Schelen, Ben; Schouten, Raymond; van den Oever, Rein; Leenen, René; van Kuijk, Harry; Peters, Inge; Polderdijk, Frank; Bosiers, Jan; Raspe, Marcel; Jalink, Kees; Geert Sander de Jong, Jan; van Geest, Bert; Stoop, Karel; Young, Ian Ted

2012-12-01

We have built an all-solid-state camera that is directly modulated at the pixel level for frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) measurements. This novel camera eliminates the need for an image intensifier through the use of an application-specific charge coupled device design in a frequency-domain FLIM system. The first stage of evaluation for the camera has been carried out. Camera characteristics such as noise distribution, dark current influence, camera gain, sampling density, sensitivity, linearity of photometric response, and optical transfer function have been studied through experiments. We are able to do lifetime measurement using our modulated, electron-multiplied fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope (MEM-FLIM) camera for various objects, e.g., fluorescein solution, fixed green fluorescent protein (GFP) cells, and GFP-actin stained live cells. A detailed comparison of a conventional microchannel plate (MCP)-based FLIM system and the MEM-FLIM system is presented. The MEM-FLIM camera shows higher resolution and a better image quality. The MEM-FLIM camera provides a new opportunity for performing frequency-domain FLIM.

Science, conservation, and camera traps

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, James D.; Karanth, K. Ullas; O'Connel, Allan F.; O'Connell, Allan F.; Nichols, James D.; Karanth, K. Ullas

2011-01-01

Biologists commonly perceive camera traps as a new tool that enables them to enter the hitherto secret world of wild animals. Camera traps are being used in a wide range of studies dealing with animal ecology, behavior, and conservation. Our intention in this volume is not to simply present the various uses of camera traps, but to focus on their use in the conduct of science and conservation. In this chapter, we provide an overview of these two broad classes of endeavor and sketch the manner in which camera traps are likely to be able to contribute to them. Our main point here is that neither photographs of individual animals, nor detection history data, nor parameter estimates generated from detection histories are the ultimate objective of a camera trap study directed at either science or management. Instead, the ultimate objectives are best viewed as either gaining an understanding of how ecological systems work (science) or trying to make wise decisions that move systems from less desirable to more desirable states (conservation, management). Therefore, we briefly describe here basic approaches to science and management, emphasizing the role of field data and associated analyses in these processes. We provide examples of ways in which camera trap data can inform science and management.

A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF ISOLATED NEUTRON STARS DETECTED IN THE ROSAT ALL-SKY-SURVEY BRIGHT SOURCE CATALOG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, Monica L.; Rutledge, Robert E.; Letcavage, Ryan; Shevchuk, Andrew S. H.; Fox, Derek B.

2010-01-01

Using new and archival observations made with the Swift satellite and other facilities, we examine 147 X-ray sources selected from the ROSAT All-Sky-Survey Bright Source Catalog (RASS/BSC) to produce a new limit on the number of isolated neutron stars (INSs) in the RASS/BSC, the most constraining such limit to date. Independent of X-ray spectrum and variability, the number of INSs is ≤48 (90% confidence). Restricting attention to soft (kT eff < 200 eV), non-variable X-ray sources-as in a previous study-yields an all-sky limit of ≤31 INSs. In the course of our analysis, we identify five new high-quality INS candidates for targeted follow-up observations. A future all-sky X-ray survey with eROSITA, or another mission with similar capabilities, can be expected to increase the detected population of X-ray-discovered INSs from the 8-50 in the BSC, to (for a disk population) 240-1500, which will enable a more detailed study of neutron star population models.

CFHT's SkyProbe: True Atmospheric Attenuation Measurement in the Telescope Field

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, J.-C.; Magnier, E. A.; Isani, S.; Sabin, D.; Knight, W.; Kras, S.; Lai, K.

Developed at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), SkyProbe is a system that allows the direct measurement of the true attenuation by clouds. This measurement is performed approximately once per min, directly on the field viewed by the telescope. It has been possible to make this system relatively inexpensively due to low cost CCD cameras available on the amateur market. A crucial addition to this hardware is the recent availability of a full-sky photometry catalog at the appropriate depth: the Tycho catalog from the Hipparcos mission. A very important element in the SkyProbe data set creation is the automatic data analysis pipeline, Elixir, developed at CFHT for the improved operation of the CFHT wide-field imagers CFH12K and MegaCam. SkyProbe's FITS images are processed in real time, and the pipeline output (a zero point attenuation) provides the current sky transmission to the observers and aids immediate decision making. These measurements are also attached to the archived data, adding a key tool for future use by other astronomers. Specific features of the detector, such as intra pixel quantum efficiency variations, must be taken into consideration since the data are strongly undersampled.

SCANDI – an all-sky Doppler imager for studies of thermospheric spatial structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. L. Aruliah

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A new all-sky Fabry-Perot Interferometer called the Scanning Doppler Imager (SCANDI was built and installed at Longyearbyen in December 2006. Observations have been made of the Doppler shifts and Doppler broadening of the 630 nm airglow and aurora, from which upper thermospheric winds and temperatures are calculated. SCANDI allows measurements over a field-of-view (FOV with a horizontal radius of nearly 600 km for observations at an altitude of 250 km using a time resolution of 8 min. The instrument provides the ability to observe thermospheric spatial structure within a FOV which overlaps that of the EISCAT Svalbard radar and CUTLASS SuperDARN radars. Coordinating with these instruments provides an important opportunity for studying ion-neutral coupling. The all-sky image is divided into several sectors to provide a horizontal spatial resolution of between 100–300 km. This is a powerful extension in observational capability but requires careful calibration and data analysis, as described here. Two observation modes were used: a fixed and a scanning etalon gap. SCANDI results are corroborated using the Longyearbyen single look direction FPI, and ESR measurements of the ion temperatures. The data show thermospheric temperature gradients of a few Kelvins per kilometre, and a great deal of meso-scale variability on spatial scales of several tens of kilometres.

A new high-speed IR camera system

Science.gov (United States)

Travis, Jeffrey W.; Shu, Peter K.; Jhabvala, Murzy D.; Kasten, Michael S.; Moseley, Samuel H.; Casey, Sean C.; Mcgovern, Lawrence K.; Luers, Philip J.; Dabney, Philip W.; Kaipa, Ravi C.

1994-01-01

A multi-organizational team at the Goddard Space Flight Center is developing a new far infrared (FIR) camera system which furthers the state of the art for this type of instrument by the incorporating recent advances in several technological disciplines. All aspects of the camera system are optimized for operation at the high data rates required for astronomical observations in the far infrared. The instrument is built around a Blocked Impurity Band (BIB) detector array which exhibits responsivity over a broad wavelength band and which is capable of operating at 1000 frames/sec, and consists of a focal plane dewar, a compact camera head electronics package, and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP)-based data system residing in a standard 486 personal computer. In this paper we discuss the overall system architecture, the focal plane dewar, and advanced features and design considerations for the electronics. This system, or one derived from it, may prove useful for many commercial and/or industrial infrared imaging or spectroscopic applications, including thermal machine vision for robotic manufacturing, photographic observation of short-duration thermal events such as combustion or chemical reactions, and high-resolution surveillance imaging.

Meteor Film Recording with Digital Film Cameras with large CMOS Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Slansky, P. C.

2016-12-01

In this article the author combines his professional know-how about cameras for film and television production with his amateur astronomy activities. Professional digital film cameras with high sensitivity are still quite rare in astronomy. One reason for this may be their costs of up to 20 000 and more (camera body only). In the interim, however,consumer photo cameras with film mode and very high sensitivity have come to the market for about 2 000 EUR. In addition, ultra-high sensitive professional film cameras, that are very interesting for meteor observation, have been introduced to the market. The particular benefits of digital film cameras with large CMOS sensors, including photo cameras with film recording function, for meteor recording are presented by three examples: a 2014 Camelopardalid, shot with a Canon EOS C 300, an exploding 2014 Aurigid, shot with a Sony alpha7S, and the 2016 Perseids, shot with a Canon ME20F-SH. All three cameras use large CMOS sensors; "large" meaning Super-35 mm, the classic 35 mm film format (24x13.5 mm, similar to APS-C size), or full format (36x24 mm), the classic 135 photo camera format. Comparisons are made to the widely used cameras with small CCD sensors, such as Mintron or Watec; "small" meaning 12" (6.4x4.8 mm) or less. Additionally, special photographic image processing of meteor film recordings is discussed.

Cloud cover detection combining high dynamic range sky images and ceilometer measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Román, R.; Cazorla, A.; Toledano, C.; Olmo, F. J.; Cachorro, V. E.; de Frutos, A.; Alados-Arboledas, L.

2017-11-01

This paper presents a new algorithm for cloud detection based on high dynamic range images from a sky camera and ceilometer measurements. The algorithm is also able to detect the obstruction of the sun. This algorithm, called CPC (Camera Plus Ceilometer), is based on the assumption that under cloud-free conditions the sky field must show symmetry. The symmetry criteria are applied depending on ceilometer measurements of the cloud base height. CPC algorithm is applied in two Spanish locations (Granada and Valladolid). The performance of CPC retrieving the sun conditions (obstructed or unobstructed) is analyzed in detail using as reference pyranometer measurements at Granada. CPC retrievals are in agreement with those derived from the reference pyranometer in 85% of the cases (it seems that this agreement does not depend on aerosol size or optical depth). The agreement percentage goes down to only 48% when another algorithm, based on Red-Blue Ratio (RBR), is applied to the sky camera images. The retrieved cloud cover at Granada and Valladolid is compared with that registered by trained meteorological observers. CPC cloud cover is in agreement with the reference showing a slight overestimation and a mean absolute error around 1 okta. A major advantage of the CPC algorithm with respect to the RBR method is that the determined cloud cover is independent of aerosol properties. The RBR algorithm overestimates cloud cover for coarse aerosols and high loads. Cloud cover obtained only from ceilometer shows similar results than CPC algorithm; but the horizontal distribution cannot be obtained. In addition, it has been observed that under quick and strong changes on cloud cover ceilometers retrieve a cloud cover fitting worse with the real cloud cover.

High Precision Sunphotometer using Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) Camera Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Liss, J.; Dunagan, S. E.; Johnson, R. R.; Chang, C. S.; LeBlanc, S. E.; Shinozuka, Y.; Redemann, J.; Flynn, C. J.; Segal-Rosenhaimer, M.; Pistone, K.; Kacenelenbogen, M. S.; Fahey, L.

2016-12-01

High Precision Sunphotometer using Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) Camera TrackingThe NASA Ames Sun-photometer-Satellite Group, DOE, PNNL Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, and NASA Goddard's AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) team recently collaborated on the development of a new airborne sunphotometry instrument that provides information on gases and aerosols extending far beyond what can be derived from discrete-channel direct-beam measurements, while preserving or enhancing many of the desirable AATS features (e.g., compactness, versatility, automation, reliability). The enhanced instrument combines the sun-tracking ability of the current 14-Channel NASA Ames AATS-14 with the sky-scanning ability of the ground-based AERONET Sun/sky photometers, while extending both AATS-14 and AERONET capabilities by providing full spectral information from the UV (350 nm) to the SWIR (1,700 nm). Strengths of this measurement approach include many more wavelengths (isolated from gas absorption features) that may be used to characterize aerosols and detailed (oversampled) measurements of the absorption features of specific gas constituents. The Sky Scanning Sun Tracking Airborne Radiometer (3STAR) replicates the radiometer functionality of the AATS-14 instrument but incorporates modern COTS technologies for all instruments subsystems. A 19-channel radiometer bundle design is borrowed from a commercial water column radiance instrument manufactured by Biospherical Instruments of San Diego California (ref, Morrow and Hooker)) and developed using NASA funds under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The 3STAR design also incorporates the latest in robotic motor technology embodied in Rotary actuators from Oriental motor Corp. having better than 15 arc seconds of positioning accuracy. Control system was designed, tested and simulated using a Hybrid-Dynamical modeling methodology. The design also replaces the classic quadrant detector tracking sensor with a

An open-access platform for camera-trapping data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario César Lavariega

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In southern Mexico, local communities have been playing important roles in the design and collection of wildlife data through camera-trapping in community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects. However, the methods used to store the data have limited their use in matters of decision-making and research. Thus, we present the Platform for Community-based Monitoring of Biodiversity (PCMB, a repository, which allows storage, visualization, and downloading of photographs captured by community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects in protected areas of southern Mexico. The platform was developed using agile software development with extensive interaction between computer scientists and biologists. System development included gathering data, design, built, database and attributes creation, and quality control. The PCMB currently contains 28,180 images of 6478 animals (69.4% mammals and 30.3% birds. Of the 32 species of mammals recorded in 18 PA since 2012, approximately a quarter of all photographs were of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus. Platforms permitting access to camera-trapping data are a valuable step in opening access to data of biodiversity; the PCMB is a practical new tool for wildlife management and research with data generated through local participation. Thus, this work encourages research on the data generated through the community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects in protected areas, to provide an important information infrastructure for effective management and conservation of wildlife.

How to Photograph the Moon and Planets with Your Digital Camera

CERN Document Server

Buick, Tony

2011-01-01

Although our Moon and the planets have not changed much in the five years since the first edition of this book was published, the technology allowing you to photograph them has changed dramatically. And the costs for equipment have come down significantly, opening all kinds of possibilities to the amateur and practical astronomer. With this practical guide to taking quality shots in your own backyard, with all the light pollution found in cities and towns today and using only very basic equipment, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. Whether you want to dazzle friends or contribute to the scientific understanding of a particular body, whether you are a fan of solar photography or craters on the Moon, the rings of Saturn, or the bands of clouds that color Jupiter, in this book you will find help and support, and clear explanations of how best to proceed. This is a hobby you can stay with for a lifetime and keep on improving. You can get fancier equipment or just learn how to better post process your ...

Lasers and laser applications. Imaging implosion dynamics: The x-ray pinhole/streak camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attwood, D.T.

1976-01-01

A Livermore-developed x-ray-sensitive streak camera was combined with a unique x-ray pinhole camera to make dynamic photographs of laser-irradiated fusion target implosions. These photographs show x radiation emitted from the imploding shell during its 100-ps implosion; they are the first continuous observations of an imploding laser-driven fusion capsule. The diagnostic system has a time resolution of 15 ps and a spatial resolution of about 6 μm. Results agree very well with those predicted by our LASNEX calculations, confirming that the essential physics are correctly described in the code and providing further confidence in the soundness of this approach to inertial confinement fusion

The cloud monitor by an infrared camera at the Telescope Array experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, F.

2011-01-01

The mesurement of the extensive air shower using the fluorescence detectors (FDs) is affected by the condition of the atmosphere. In particular, FD aperture is limited by cloudiness. If cloud exists on the light path from extensive air shower to FDs, fluorescence photons will be absorbed drastically. Therefore cloudiness of FD's field of view (FOV) is one of important quality cut condition in FD analysis. In the Telescope Array (TA), an infrared (IR) camera with 320x236 pixels and a filed of view of 25.8 deg. x19.5 deg. has been installed at an observation site for cloud monitoring during FD observations. This IR camera measures temperature of the sky every 30 min during FD observation. IR camera is mounted on steering table, which can be changed in elevation and azimuthal direction. Clouds can be seen at a higher temperature than areas of cloudless sky from these temperature maps. In this paper, we discuss the quality of the cloud monitoring data, the analysis method, and current quality cut condition of cloudiness in FD analysis.

Derivation of Sky-View Factors from LIDAR Data

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, Christopher; Chapman, Lee

2013-01-01

The use of Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), an active light-emitting instrument, is becoming increasingly common for a range of potential applications. Its ability to provide fine resolution spatial and vertical resolution elevation data makes it ideal for a wide range of studies. This paper demonstrates the capability of Lidar data to measure sky view factors (SVF). The Lidar data is used to generate a spatial map of SVFs which are then compared against photographically-derived SVF at selected point locations. At each location three near-surface elevations measurements were taken and compared with collocated Lidar-derived estimated. It was found that there was generally good agreement between the two methodologies, although with decreasing SVF the Lidar-derived technique tended to overestimate the SVF: this can be attributed in part to the spatial resolution of the Lidar sampling. Nevertheless, airborne Lidar systems can map sky view factors over a large area easily, improving the utility of such data in atmospheric and meteorological models.

Infrared Sky Imager (IRSI) Instrument Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morris, Victor R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-04-01

The Infrared Sky Imager (IRSI) deployed at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility is a Solmirus Corp. All Sky Infrared Visible Analyzer. The IRSI is an automatic, continuously operating, digital imaging and software system designed to capture hemispheric sky images and provide time series retrievals of fractional sky cover during both the day and night. The instrument provides diurnal, radiometrically calibrated sky imagery in the mid-infrared atmospheric window and imagery in the visible wavelengths for cloud retrievals during daylight hours. The software automatically identifies cloudy and clear regions at user-defined intervals and calculates fractional sky cover, providing a real-time display of sky conditions.

Secondary side photographic techniques used in characterization of Surry steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, R.B.

1984-10-01

Characterization of the generator's secondary side prior to destructive removal of tubing presents a significant challenge. Information must be obtained in a radioactive field (up to 15 R/h) throughout the tightly spaced bundle of steam generator tubes. This report discusses the various techniques employed, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages. The most successful approach to nondestructive secondary side characterization and documentation was through use of in-house developed pinhole cameras. These devices provided accurate photographic documentation of generator condition. They could be fabricated in geometries allowing access to all parts of the generator. Semi-remote operation coupled with large area coverage per investigation and short at-location times resulted in significant personnel exposure advantages. The fabrication and use of pinhole cameras for remote inspection is discussed in detail

101 amazing sights of the night sky a guided tour for beginners

CERN Document Server

Moromisato, George

2017-01-01

Is there anything more wondrous and alluring than the night sky? You've seen the stars, and you know about the constellations--but there's so much more to discover! George Moromisato's magnificent full-color guide introduces you to 101 amazing sights, from Saturn's famous rings to the Andromeda Galaxy. Learn what to look for and when and where to find it! This astronomy book is perfect for beginners, so many objects can be seen with the unaided eye or binoculars, while others simply require a small telescope. Book Features: Guide to 101 phenomena and objects of the night sky, ranked by beauty, accessibility and historical importance Information about equipment needed, from binoculars to small telescopes Full-color photographs, including many from NASA Astrophotography tips on taking pictures of the night sky, such as snapping shots with a phone through a telescope Charts to know when to look for solar eclipses, meteor showers and other notable events.

Current Status of The Low Frequency All Sky Monitor

Science.gov (United States)

Dartez, Louis; Creighton, Teviet; Jenet, Fredrick; Dolch, Timothy; Boehler, Keith; Bres, Luis; Cole, Brent; Luo, Jing; Miller, Rossina; Murray, James; Reyes, Alex; Rivera, Jesse

2018-01-01

The Low Frequency All Sky Monitor (LoFASM) is a distributed array of cross-dipole antennas that are sensitive to radio frequencies from 10 to 88 MHz. LoFASM consists of antennas and front end electronics that were originally developed for the Long Wavelength Array by the U.S. Naval Research Lab, the University of New Mexico, Virginia Tech, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. LoFASM, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, will initially consist of 4 stations, each consisting of 12 dual- polarization dipole antenna stands. The primary science goals of LoFASM will be the detection and study of low-frequency radio transients, a high priority science goal as deemed by the National Research Council’s ASTRO2010 decadal survey. The data acquisition system for the LoFASM antenna array uses Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to implement a real time full Stokes spectrometer and data recorder. This poster presents an overview of the LoFASM Radio Telescope as well as the status of data analysis of initial commissioning observations.

First low-frequency Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Afrough, M.; Agarwal, B.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allen, G.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; AultONeal, K.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Bae, S.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Banagiri, S.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bawaj, M.; Bazzan, M.; Becsy, B.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canizares, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Carney, M. F.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H. -P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, A. K. W.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Ciolfi, R.; Cirelli, C. E.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L. R.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Costa, C. F. Da Silva; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Deelman, E.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Alvarez, M. Dovale; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Duncan, J.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z. B.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gabel, M.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, S.; Gonzalez, G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Horst, C.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Intini, G.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katolik, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kemball, A. J.; Kennedy, R.; Kent, C.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y. -M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kraemer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwang, S.; Lackey, B. D.; Lai, K. H.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lo, R. K. L.; Lockerbie, N. A.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Lueck, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Hernandez, I. Magana; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mayani, R.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Ng, K. K. Y.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nichols, D.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R.; Ortega, L. F.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Page, M. A.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pang, B.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramirez, K. E.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Ricker, P. M.; Rieger, S.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romel, C. L.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Ross, M. P.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Rynge, M.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schulte, B. W.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Seidel, E.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shah, A. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shao, L.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sonnenberg, J. A.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, J. A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tsang, K. W.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ueno, K.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahi, K.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walet, R.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y. -F.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Wessel, E. K.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Wofford, J.; Wong, K. W. K.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zanolin, M.; Zelenova, T.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y. -H.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S. J.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; Anderson, D. P.

2017-01-01

We report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO.

Instrumentation for comparing night sky quality and atmospheric conditions of CTA site candidates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fruck, C.; Schweizer, T.; Häfner, D.; Lorentz, E.; Teshima, M.; Gaug, M.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Costantini, H.; Mandát, D.; Pech, M.; Bulik, T.; Cieslar, M.; Dominik, M.; Ebr, J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Pareschi, G.; Puerto-Giménez, I.

2015-01-01

Many atmospheric and climatic criteria have to be taken into account for the selection of a suitable site for the next generation of imaging air-shower Cherenkov telescopes, the ''Cherenkov Telescope Array'' CTA. Such data are not available with sufficient precision, thus a comparison of the proposed sites and final decision based on a comprehensive characterization is impossible. Identical cross-calibrated instruments have been developed which allow for precise comparison between sites, the cross-validation of existing data, and the ground-validation of satellite data. The site characterization work package of the CTA consortium opted to construct and deploy 9 copies of an autonomous multi-purpose weather sensor, incorporating an infrared cloud sensor, a newly developed sensor for measuring the light of the night sky, and an All-Sky-Camera, the whole referred to as Autonomous Tool for Measuring Observatory Site COnditions PrEcisely (ATMOSCOPE). We present here the hardware that was combined into the ATMOSCOPE and characterize its performance

Recent Advances and Achievements at The Catalina Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Gregory J.; Christensen, Eric J.; Fuls, Carson; Gibbs, Alex; Grauer, Al; Johnson, Jess A.; Kowalski, Richard; Larson, Stephen M.; Matheny, Rose; Seaman, Rob; Shelly, Frank

2017-10-01

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) is a NASA-funded project fully dedicated to discover and track near-Earth objects (NEOs). Since its founding nearly 20 years ago CSS remains at the forefront of NEO surveys, and recent improvements in both instrumentation and software have increased both survey productivity and data quality. In 2016 new large-format (10K x 10K) cameras were installed on both CSS survey telescopes, the 1.5-m reflector and the 0.7-m Schmidt, increasing the field of view, and hence nightly sky coverage by 4x and 2.4x respectively. The new cameras, coupled with improvements in the reduction and detection pipelines, and revised sky-coverage strategies have yielded a dramatic upward trend of NEO discovery rates. CSS has also developed a custom adaptive queue manager for scheduling NEO follow-up astrometry using a remotely operated and recently renovated 1-m Cassegrain reflector telescope, improvements that have increased the production of follow-up astrometry for newly discovered NEOs and arc extensions for previously discovered objects by CSS and other surveys. Additionally, reprocessing of archival CSS data (which includes some 46 million individual astrometric measurements) through the new reduction and detection pipeline will allow for improved orbit determinations and increased arc extensions for hundreds of thousands of asteroids. Reprocessed data will soon feed into a new public archive of CSS images and catalog data products made available through NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS). For the future, CSS is working towards improved NEO follow-up capabilities through a combination of access to larger telescopes, instrument upgrades and follow-up scheduling tools.

Photographs of quantized vortex lines in rotating superfluid helium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, G.A.

1974-01-01

The spatial positions of quantized vortex lines in rotating He II have been determined using a photographic technique. Electrons are trapped on the vortices and then extracted through the liquid surface and accelerated into a phosphor screen. The light from the phosphor is transmitted to room temperature with coherent fiber optics and photographed with an image intensifier camera. Photographs taken with pure 4 He at T = 0.3 K were complete blurs. These blurs are attributed to nonequilibrium motion of the vortices, arising from the lack of normal fluid damping at this temperature. To resolve the individual vortex lines it was found necessary to add 3 He to the 4 He sample to damp the vortex motion. Photographs are presented for 3 He concentrations up to 1.6 percent. The number of vortices visible varies linearly with rotation speed, but is only about one-half the number expected from theory. The vortex lines in the apparatus were not observed to form a stable array

Planck early results. XXIII. The first all-sky survey of Galactic cold clumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poutanen, T.; Natoli, P.; Polenta, G.

2011-01-01

We present the statistical properties of the Cold Clump Catalogue of Planck Objects (C3PO), the first all-sky catalogue of cold objects, in terms of their spatial distribution, dust temperature, distance, mass, and morphology. We have combined Planck and IRAS data to extract 10342 cold sources...... dark clouds where the latter have been catalogued. These cold clumps are not isolated but clustered in groups. Dust temperature and emissivity spectral index values are derived from their spectral energy distributions using both Planck and IRAS data. The temperatures range from 7K to 19K...

1,001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers

CERN Document Server

Bakich, Michael E

2010-01-01

Many deep-sky objects that can appear quite wonderful in photographs can be hard to observe in the telescope. This book is your guide to the more interesting nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies, objects that will bring gasps when you see them through a telescope. Author Michael E. Bakich shows you how to spot constellations you’ve heard of but haven’t been able to find. He gives you lists of bright deep-sky objects to target on clear nights. And he guides your search for the famous named splendors you’ve heard of — and perhaps seen a picture of — and would like to see through your own telescope. Bakich, an observer since he was in third grade, knows the sky better than most. In his current position as senior editor and also photo editor for the highly regarded Astronomy magazine, he has the technical expertise and finely honed communication skills to help you easily locate the best sites in the sky. His more than 250 astroimages help you identify the detail in these sky wonders. Bakich organizes hi...

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers The Ultimate Workshop

CERN Document Server

Evening, Martin

2010-01-01

If you already have a good knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and are looking to advance your skills, Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop is the book you've been waiting for.  Renowned photographers Martin Evening and Jeff Schewe impart their Photoshop tips and workflow, showing you how to use a vast array of rarely seen advanced Photoshop techniques.  Whether the subject is serious retouching work, weird and wonderful compositions, or planning a shoot before you've even picked up a camera, you can be sure that the advice is based on years of practical experience.

A catalogue of clusters of galaxies identified from all sky surveys of 2MASS, WISE, and SuperCOSMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Z. L.; Han, J. L.; Yang, F.

2018-03-01

We identify 47 600 clusters of galaxies from photometric data of Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and SuperCOSMOS, among which 26 125 clusters are recognized for the first time and mostly in the sky outside the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) area. About 90 per cent of massive clusters of M500 > 3 × 1014 M⊙ in the redshift range of 0.025 < z < 0.3 have been detected from such survey data, and the detection rate drops down to 50 per cent for clusters with a mass of M500 ˜ 1 × 1014 M⊙. Monte Carlo simulations show that the false detection rate for the whole cluster sample is less than 5 per cent. By cross-matching with ROSAT and XMM-Newton sources, we get 779 new X-ray cluster candidates which have X-ray counterparts within a projected offset of 0.2 Mpc.

Assimilating All-Sky Himawari-8 Satellite Infrared Radiances: A Case of Typhoon Soudelor (2015)

OpenAIRE

Honda, Takumi; Miyoshi, Takemasa; Lien, Guo-Yuan; Nishizawa, Seiya; Yoshida, Ryuji; Adachi, Sachiho A.; Terasaki, Koji; Okamoto, Kozo; Tomita, Hirofumi; Bessho, Kotaro

2018-01-01

Japan’s new geostationary satellite Himawari-8, the first of a series of the third-generation geostationary meteorological satellites includingGOES-16, has been operational since July 2015. Himawari-8 produces highresolution observations with 16 frequency bands every 10 min for full disk, and every 2.5 min for local regions. This study aims to assimilate all-sky every-10-min infrared (IR) radiances from Himawari-8 with a regional numerical weather prediction model and to investigate its impac...

Rhodamine-Injected Eggs to Photographically Identify Small Nest-Predators

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas J. Maier; Richard M. DeGraaf

2000-01-01

Photographs that clearly disclose avian-nest predators are difficult to obtain, particularly when predators are small and exhibit subtle depredatory behavior. We exposed House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) eggs injected with Rhodamine B dye in camera-monitored ground nests for 12-d periods at 76 sites within mixed-hardwood forest stands in central...

Can we Use Low-Cost 360 Degree Cameras to Create Accurate 3d Models?

Science.gov (United States)

Barazzetti, L.; Previtali, M.; Roncoroni, F.

2018-05-01

360 degree cameras capture the whole scene around a photographer in a single shot. Cheap 360 cameras are a new paradigm in photogrammetry. The camera can be pointed to any direction, and the large field of view reduces the number of photographs. This paper aims to show that accurate metric reconstructions can be achieved with affordable sensors (less than 300 euro). The camera used in this work is the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere 360, which has a cost of about 300 USD (January 2018). Experiments demonstrate that millimeter-level accuracy can be obtained during the image orientation and surface reconstruction steps, in which the solution from 360° images was compared to check points measured with a total station and laser scanning point clouds. The paper will summarize some practical rules for image acquisition as well as the importance of ground control points to remove possible deformations of the network during bundle adjustment, especially for long sequences with unfavorable geometry. The generation of orthophotos from images having a 360° field of view (that captures the entire scene around the camera) is discussed. Finally, the paper illustrates some case studies where the use of a 360° camera could be a better choice than a project based on central perspective cameras. Basically, 360° cameras become very useful in the survey of long and narrow spaces, as well as interior areas like small rooms.

Equatorial All Sky Imager Images from the Seychelles during the March 17th, 2015 geomagnetic storm.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, B.

2015-12-01

An all sky imager was installed in the Seychelles earlier this year. The Seychelles islands are located northeast of Madagascar and east of Somalia in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The all sky imager is located on the island of Mahe (4.6667°S, 55.4667°E geographic), (10.55°S, 127.07°E geomagnetic), with filters of 557.7, 620.0, 630.0, 765.0 and 777.4 nm. Images with a 90 second exposure from Seychelles in 777.4nm and 630.0nm from the night before and night of the March 17th geomagnetic storm are discussed in comparison to solar wind measurements at ACE and the disturbance storm time (Dst) index. These images show line-of-sight intensities of photons received dependent on each filters wavelength. A time series of these images sometimes will show the movement of relatively dark areas, or depletions, in each emission. The depletion regions are known to cause scintillation in GPS signals. The direction and speed of movement of these depletions are related to changes observed in the solar wind.

Search for GRB related prompt optical emission and other fast varying objects with ``Pi of the Sky'' detector

Science.gov (United States)

Ćwiok, M.; Dominik, W.; Małek, K.; Mankiewicz, L.; Mrowca-Ciułacz, J.; Nawrocki, K.; Piotrowski, L. W.; Sitek, P.; Sokołowski, M.; Wrochna, G.; Żarnecki, A. F.

2007-06-01

Experiment “Pi of the Sky” is designed to search for prompt optical emission from GRB sources. 32 CCD cameras covering 2 steradians will monitor the sky continuously. The data will be analysed on-line in search for optical flashes. The prototype with 2 cameras operated at Las Campanas (Chile) since 2004 has recognised several outbursts of flaring stars and has given limits for a few GRB.

Cameras for Public Health Surveillance: A Methods Protocol for Crowdsourced Annotation of Point-of-Sale Photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ilakkuvan, Vinu; Tacelosky, Michael; Ivey, Keith C; Pearson, Jennifer L; Cantrell, Jennifer; Vallone, Donna M; Abrams, David B; Kirchner, Thomas R

2014-04-09

Photographs are an effective way to collect detailed and objective information about the environment, particularly for public health surveillance. However, accurately and reliably annotating (ie, extracting information from) photographs remains difficult, a critical bottleneck inhibiting the use of photographs for systematic surveillance. The advent of distributed human computation (ie, crowdsourcing) platforms represents a veritable breakthrough, making it possible for the first time to accurately, quickly, and repeatedly annotate photos at relatively low cost. This paper describes a methods protocol, using photographs from point-of-sale surveillance studies in the field of tobacco control to demonstrate the development and testing of custom-built tools that can greatly enhance the quality of crowdsourced annotation. Enhancing the quality of crowdsourced photo annotation requires a number of approaches and tools. The crowdsourced photo annotation process is greatly simplified by decomposing the overall process into smaller tasks, which improves accuracy and speed and enables adaptive processing, in which irrelevant data is filtered out and more difficult targets receive increased scrutiny. Additionally, zoom tools enable users to see details within photographs and crop tools highlight where within an image a specific object of interest is found, generating a set of photographs that answer specific questions. Beyond such tools, optimizing the number of raters (ie, crowd size) for accuracy and reliability is an important facet of crowdsourced photo annotation. This can be determined in a systematic manner based on the difficulty of the task and the desired level of accuracy, using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. Usability tests of the zoom and crop tool suggest that these tools significantly improve annotation accuracy. The tests asked raters to extract data from photographs, not for the purposes of assessing the quality of that data, but rather to

The ArTéMiS wide-field sub-millimeter camera: preliminary on-sky performance at 350 microns

Science.gov (United States)

Revéret, Vincent; André, Philippe; Le Pennec, Jean; Talvard, Michel; Agnèse, Patrick; Arnaud, Agnès.; Clerc, Laurent; de Breuck, Carlos; Cigna, Jean-Charles; Delisle, Cyrille; Doumayrou, Eric; Duband, Lionel; Dubreuil, Didier; Dumaye, Luc; Ercolani, Eric; Gallais, Pascal; Groult, Elodie; Jourdan, Thierry; Leriche, Bernadette; Maffei, Bruno; Lortholary, Michel; Martignac, Jérôme; Rabaud, Wilfried; Relland, Johan; Rodriguez, Louis; Vandeneynde, Aurélie; Visticot, François

2014-07-01

ArTeMiS is a wide-field submillimeter camera operating at three wavelengths simultaneously (200, 350 and 450 μm). A preliminary version of the instrument equipped with the 350 μm focal plane, has been successfully installed and tested on APEX telescope in Chile during the 2013 and 2014 austral winters. This instrument is developed by CEA (Saclay and Grenoble, France), IAS (France) and University of Manchester (UK) in collaboration with ESO. We introduce the mechanical and optical design, as well as the cryogenics and electronics of the ArTéMiS camera. ArTeMiS detectors consist in Si:P:B bolometers arranged in 16×18 sub-arrays operating at 300 mK. These detectors are similar to the ones developed for the Herschel PACS photometer but they are adapted to the high optical load encountered at APEX site. Ultimately, ArTeMiS will contain 4 sub-arrays at 200 μm and 2×8 sub-arrays at 350 and 450 μm. We show preliminary lab measurements like the responsivity of the instrument to hot and cold loads illumination and NEP calculation. Details on the on-sky commissioning runs made in 2013 and 2014 at APEX are shown. We used planets (Mars, Saturn, Uranus) to determine the flat-field and to get the flux calibration. A pointing model was established in the first days of the runs. The average relative pointing accuracy is 3 arcsec. The beam at 350 μm has been estimated to be 8.5 arcsec, which is in good agreement with the beam of the 12 m APEX dish. Several observing modes have been tested, like "On- The-Fly" for beam-maps or large maps, spirals or raster of spirals for compact sources. With this preliminary version of ArTeMiS, we concluded that the mapping speed is already more than 5 times better than the previous 350 μm instrument at APEX. The median NEFD at 350 μm is 600 mJy.s1/2, with best values at 300 mJy.s1/2. The complete instrument with 5760 pixels and optimized settings will be installed during the first half of 2015.

Validity of scoring caries and primary molar hypomineralization (DMH) on intraoral photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Elfrink, M E C; Veerkamp, J S J; Aartman, I H A; Moll, H A; Ten Cate, J M

2009-11-01

The aims of this study were to assess whether intraoral photographs could be used to score caries and hypomineralization on primary molars (Using adapted Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH)-criteria), and also to assess the reliability and validity in 3-7 year-old Dutch children of these scores by comparing them to direct clinical scorings. Cross-sectional study. In this study 62 children (38.7% girls) with a mean age of 4.96 years (SD 1.27) participated. The children were rated clinically by their own dentist (authors JV or ME) for caries reaching the dentine in their primary molars (WHO criteria) and also for primary molar hypomineralization using the adapted MIH-criteria. For the intraoral photographs, a digital intraoral camera was used. The two paediatric dentists rated all the intraoral photographs on caries and hypomineralizations on the second primary molars, using the same criteria for the clinical scoring as for the scoring of the photographs. They scored independently, at least 2 weeks after the initial clinical scoring to avoid observational bias with the clinical scoring. This clinical observation was used as the gold standard from which sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Negative Predictive Value (NPV) and the Positive and Negative Likelihood Ratio were computed. To test the intra-observer agreement 25 % of the photographs were scored again, at least 2 weeks after the initial scoring of the images. Inter- and intra-observer agreement were tested using Cohen's Kappa. The mean prevalence of clinically detected caries at tooth level was 46.7% and the mean prevalence of clinically detected hypomineralizations in second primary molars at tooth level was 21.8%. The sensitivity of assessing caries using intraoral photographs was 85.5%, the specificity 83.6%, the positive likelihood ratio 5.2 and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.17. For Primary Molar Hypomineralization (DMH) the sensitivity was 72.3%, the specificity 92.8%, the

The First Year of Croatian Meteor Network

Science.gov (United States)

Andreic, Zeljko; Segon, Damir

2010-08-01

The idea and a short history of Croatian Meteor Network (CMN) is described. Based on use of cheap surveillance cameras, standard PC-TV cards and old PCs, the Network allows schools, amateur societies and individuals to participate in photographic meteor patrol program. The network has a strong educational component and many cameras are located at or around teaching facilities. Data obtained by these cameras are collected and processed by the scientific team of the network. Currently 14 cameras are operable, covering a large part of the croatian sky, data gathering is fully functional, and data reduction software is in testing phase.

The Fermi All-Sky Variability Analysis: A List of Flaring Gamma-Ray Sources and the Search for Transients in our Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Allafort, A.; Antolini, E.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.;

Selecting the right digital camera for telemedicine-choice for 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Patricoski, Chris; Ferguson, A Stewart; Brudzinski, Jay; Spargo, Garret

2010-03-01

Digital cameras are fundamental tools for store-and-forward telemedicine (electronic consultation). The choice of a camera may significantly impact this consultative process based on the quality of the images, the ability of users to leverage the cameras' features, and other facets of the camera design. The goal of this research was to provide a substantive framework and clearly defined process for reviewing digital cameras and to demonstrate the results obtained when employing this process to review point-and-shoot digital cameras introduced in 2009. The process included a market review, in-house evaluation of features, image reviews, functional testing, and feature prioritization. Seventy-two cameras were identified new on the market in 2009, and 10 were chosen for in-house evaluation. Four cameras scored very high for mechanical functionality and ease-of-use. The final analysis revealed three cameras that had excellent scores for both color accuracy and photographic detail and these represent excellent options for telemedicine: Canon Powershot SD970 IS, Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. Additional features of the Canon Powershot SD970 IS make it the camera of choice for our Alaska program.

Spatial capture–recapture with partial identity: An application to camera traps

Science.gov (United States)

Augustine, Ben C.; Royle, J. Andrew; Kelly, Marcella J.; Satter, Christopher B.; Alonso, Robert S.; Boydston, Erin E.; Crooks, Kevin R.

2018-01-01

Camera trapping surveys frequently capture individuals whose identity is only known from a single flank. The most widely used methods for incorporating these partial identity individuals into density analyses discard some of the partial identity capture histories, reducing precision, and, while not previously recognized, introducing bias. Here, we present the spatial partial identity model (SPIM), which uses the spatial location where partial identity samples are captured to probabilistically resolve their complete identities, allowing all partial identity samples to be used in the analysis. We show that the SPIM outperforms other analytical alternatives. We then apply the SPIM to an ocelot data set collected on a trapping array with double-camera stations and a bobcat data set collected on a trapping array with single-camera stations. The SPIM improves inference in both cases and, in the ocelot example, individual sex is determined from photographs used to further resolve partial identities—one of which is resolved to near certainty. The SPIM opens the door for the investigation of trapping designs that deviate from the standard two camera design, the combination of other data types between which identities cannot be deterministically linked, and can be extended to the problem of partial genotypes.

The simple method to co-register planar image with photograph

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Sung June; Kim, Seok Ki; Kang, Keon Wook

2005-01-01

Generally scintigraphic image presents the highly specific functional information. Sometimes, there can be limited information of patients anatomical landmark required to identify the lesion in planar nuclear medicine image. In this study, we applied the simple fusion method of planar scintigraphy and plain photography and validated the techniques with our own software. We used three fiducial marks which were comprised with Tc-99m. We obtained planar image with single head gamma camera (ARGUS ADAC laboratory, USA) and photograph using a general digital camera (CANON JAPAN). The coordinates of three marks were obtained in photograph and planar scintigraphy image. Based on these points, we took affine transformation and then fused these two images. To evaluate the precision, we compared with different depth. To find out the depth of lesion, the images were acquired in different angles and we compared the real depth and the geometrically calculated depth. At the same depth with mark, the each discordance was less than 1 mm. When the photograph were taken at the distance with 1 m and 2 m, the point 30 cm off the center were discordant in 5 mm and 2 mm each. We used this method in the localization of the remnant thyroid tissue on I-131 whole body scan with photo image. The simple method to co-register planar image with photography was reliable and easy to use. By this method, we could localize the lesion on the planar scintigraphy more accurately with other planar images (i.e. photograph) and predict the depth of the lesion without tomographic image

Disaggregation of remotely sensed soil moisture under all sky condition using machine learning approach in Northeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S.; Kim, H.; Choi, M.; Kim, K.

2016-12-01

Estimating spatiotemporal variation of soil moisture is crucial to hydrological applications such as flood, drought, and near real-time climate forecasting. Recent advances in space-based passive microwave measurements allow the frequent monitoring of the surface soil moisture at a global scale and downscaling approaches have been applied to improve the spatial resolution of passive microwave products available at local scale applications. However, most downscaling methods using optical and thermal dataset, are valid only in cloud-free conditions; thus renewed downscaling method under all sky condition is necessary for the establishment of spatiotemporal continuity of datasets at fine resolution. In present study Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique was utilized to downscale a satellite-based soil moisture retrievals. The 0.1 and 0.25-degree resolution of daily Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) L3 soil moisture datasets from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) were disaggregated over Northeast Asia in 2015. Optically derived estimates of surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and its cloud products were obtained from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the purpose of downscaling soil moisture in finer resolution under all sky condition. Furthermore, a comparison analysis between in situ and downscaled soil moisture products was also conducted for quantitatively assessing its accuracy. Results showed that downscaled soil moisture under all sky condition not only preserves the quality of AMSR2 LPRM soil moisture at 1km resolution, but also attains higher spatial data coverage. From this research we expect that time continuous monitoring of soil moisture at fine scale regardless of weather conditions would be available.

Improved analysis of all-sky meteor radar measurements of gravity wave variances and momentum fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Andrioli

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The advantages of using a composite day analysis for all-sky interferometric meteor radars when measuring mean winds and tides are widely known. On the other hand, problems arise if this technique is applied to Hocking's (2005 gravity wave analysis for all-sky meteor radars. In this paper we describe how a simple change in the procedure makes it possible to use a composite day in Hocking's analysis. Also, we explain how a modified composite day can be constructed to test its ability to measure gravity wave momentum fluxes. Test results for specified mean, tidal, and gravity wave fields, including tidal amplitudes and gravity wave momentum fluxes varying strongly with altitude and/or time, suggest that the modified composite day allows characterization of monthly mean profiles of the gravity wave momentum fluxes, with good accuracy at least at the altitudes where the meteor counts are large (from 89 to 92.5 km. In the present work we also show that the variances measured with Hocking's method are often contaminated by the tidal fields and suggest a method of empirical correction derived from a simple simulation model. The results presented here greatly increase our confidence because they show that our technique is able to remove the tide-induced false variances from Hocking's analysis.

Search for neutrino point sources with an all-sky autocorrelation analysis in IceCube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turcati, Andrea; Bernhard, Anna; Coenders, Stefan [TU, Munich (Germany); Collaboration: IceCube-Collaboration

2016-07-01

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic kilometre scale neutrino telescope located in the Antarctic ice. Its full-sky field of view gives unique opportunities to study the neutrino emission from the Galactic and extragalactic sky. Recently, IceCube found the first signal of astrophysical neutrinos with energies up to the PeV scale, but the origin of these particles still remains unresolved. Given the observed flux, the absence of observations of bright point-sources is explainable with the presence of numerous weak sources. This scenario can be tested using autocorrelation methods. We present here the sensitivities and discovery potentials of a two-point angular correlation analysis performed on seven years of IceCube data, taken between 2008 and 2015. The test is applied on the northern and southern skies separately, using the neutrino energy information to improve the effectiveness of the method.

THE FERMI ALL-SKY VARIABILITY ANALYSIS: A LIST OF FLARING GAMMA-RAY SOURCES AND THE SEARCH FOR TRANSIENTS IN OUR GALAXY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ackermann, M. [Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Ajello, M. [Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Albert, A. [Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bottacini, E. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Antolini, E.; Bonamente, E. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy); Baldini, L. [Universita di Pisa and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Barbiellini, G. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy); Bastieri, D. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy); Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bouvier, A. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Brandt, T. J. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Brigida, M. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' ' M. Merlin' ' dell' Universita e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy); Bruel, P., E-mail: majello@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: allafort@stanford.edu, E-mail: rolf.buehler@desy.de [Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau (France); and others

2013-07-01

In this paper, we present the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool to systematically study the variability of the gamma-ray sky measured by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For each direction on the sky, FAVA compares the number of gamma-rays observed in a given time window to the number of gamma-rays expected for the average emission detected from that direction. This method is used in weekly time intervals to derive a list of 215 flaring gamma-ray sources. We proceed to discuss the 27 sources found at Galactic latitudes smaller than 10 Degree-Sign and show that, despite their low latitudes, most of them are likely of extragalactic origin.

THE FERMI ALL-SKY VARIABILITY ANALYSIS: A LIST OF FLARING GAMMA-RAY SOURCES AND THE SEARCH FOR TRANSIENTS IN OUR GALAXY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bottacini, E.; Antolini, E.; Bonamente, E.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Bouvier, A.; Brandt, T. J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.

2013-01-01

In this paper, we present the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool to systematically study the variability of the gamma-ray sky measured by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For each direction on the sky, FAVA compares the number of gamma-rays observed in a given time window to the number of gamma-rays expected for the average emission detected from that direction. This method is used in weekly time intervals to derive a list of 215 flaring gamma-ray sources. We proceed to discuss the 27 sources found at Galactic latitudes smaller than 10° and show that, despite their low latitudes, most of them are likely of extragalactic origin.

An Alternative View of the Thirties: The Industrial Photographs of Lewis Wickes Hine and Margaret Bourke-White.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C. Zoe

The photographs of Margaret Bourke-White and Lewis Wickes Hine are graphic accounts of the urban industrial United States during the Depression of the 1930s. Hine was a sociologist who initially used his camera to promote social reform and is best remembered for his photographs of immigrants at Ellis Island, New York, and of children laboring in…

Observation of the Coma cluster of galaxies with ROSAT during the all-sky survey

Science.gov (United States)

Briel, U. G.; Henry, J. P.; Boehringer, H.

1992-01-01

The Coma cluster of galaxies was observed with the position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) during the ROSAT all sky survey. We find evidence for substructure in this cluster. Diffuse X-ray emission is detected from the regions of the NGC 4839 and 4911 subgroups at 6 percent and 1 percent of the total cluster emission respectively. There may be emission associated with the NGC 4874 and 4889 subgroups as well. The NGC 4839 group appears to be in the process of merging with the cluster. These X-ray data show that at least some of the groups previously found in projection are in fact physical objects possessing potential wells deep enough to trap their own X-ray gas. Because of the unlimited field of view of the all sky survey and the low background of the PSPC, we were able to measure the azimuthally averaged surface brightness of Coma out to approximately 100 arcmin, twice as far as was previously possible. Given the validity of our mass models, these new X-ray data imply that within 5/h(50) Mpc the binding mass of the Coma cluster is 1.8 +/- 0.6 x 10 exp 15/h(50) solar mass, and the fraction of cluster mass contained in hot gas is 0.30 +/- 0.14h(50) exp -3/2. Furthermore, the binding mass is more centrally concentrated than is the X-ray gas.

First all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown sources in binary systems

OpenAIRE

Aasi, J.; Abbott, B.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T.; Abernathy, M.; Accadia, T.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Aggarwal, N.

2014-01-01

We present the first results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown spinning neutron stars in binary systems using LIGO and Virgo data. Using a specially developed analysis program, the TwoSpect algorithm, the search was carried out on data from the sixth LIGO Science Run and the second and third Virgo Science Runs. The search covers a range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 520 Hz, a range of orbital periods from 2 to ~2,254 h and a frequency- and period-dependent ra...

Petyarre and Moffat: 'Looking from the Sky'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linnell Secomb

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Moffatt’s Up in the Sky series draws attention to the relation between sky and earth, through the content and camera angles of the images. Similarly, Kathleen Petyarre’s Central Desert acrylic dot painting evokes this relation representing country and Dreaming from a celestial perspective—as she says ‘looking from the sky’. Yet here any association between these artists seems to end with the urban artist refusing to engage Aboriginal tradition and the desert artist focused on Dreaming, country and heritage. However, a further connection between these disparate works may also be discerned as each, in differing ways, transforms our conventional perceptions of space and time. Reading these images in relation to Walter Benjamin’s concepts of the auratic and of messianic time, I suggest that each restructures dimension and duration putting in question the (postmodern calibrations of our space/time experience. This paper stages an engagement between these artists’ works and Benjamin’s concepts exploring the variations and modifications of the spatial and the temporal that hybrid cross-cultural exchanges require and facilitate.

Predicting Downward Longwave Radiation for Various Land Use in All-Sky Condition: Northeast Florida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi-Han Cheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate estimate of the surface longwave radiation is important for the surface radiation budget, which in turn controls evaporation and sensible heat fluxes. Regional land use changes can impact local weather conditions; for example, heterogeneous land use patterns and temporal changes in atmospheric circulation patterns would affect air temperature and water vapor pressure, which are more commonly used as inputs in existing models for estimating downward longwave radiation (LWd. In this study, first, we analyzed the cloud cover and land use covers impacts on LWd. Next, LWd on all-sky conditions were developed by using the existing land use-adapted model and cloud cover data from the region of Saint Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD, FL. The results show that factors, such as, seasonal effects, cloud cover, and land use, are of importance in the estimation of LWd and they cannot be ignored when developing a model for LWd prediction. The all-sky land use-adapted model with all factors taken into account performs better than other existing models statistically. The results of the statistical analyses indicated that the BIAS, RMSE, MAE, and PMRE are −0.18 Wm−2, 10.81 Wm−2, 8.00 Wm−2, and 2.30%; −2.61 Wm−2, 14.45 Wm−2, 10.64 Wm−2, and 3.19%; −0.07 Wm−2, 10.53 Wm−2, 8.03 Wm−2, and 2.27%; and −0.62 Wm−2, 13.97 Wm−2, 9.76 Wm−2, and 2.87% for urban, rangeland, agricultural, and wetland areas, respectively.

Candidate isolated neutron stars and other optically blank x-ray fields identified from the rosat all-sky and sloan digital sky surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agueros, Marcel A.; Anderson, Scott F.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Margon, Bruce; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Haberl, Frank; Voges, Wolfgang; /Garching,; Annis, James; /Fermilab; Schneider, Donald P.; /Penn State U., Astron. Astrophys.; Brinkmann, Jonathan; /Apache Point Observ.

2005-11-01

Only seven radio-quiet isolated neutron stars (INSs) emitting thermal X rays are known, a sample that has yet to definitively address such fundamental issues as the equation of state of degenerate neutron matter. We describe a selection algorithm based on a cross-correlation of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) that identifies X-ray error circles devoid of plausible optical counterparts to the SDSS g {approx} 22 magnitudes limit. We quantitatively characterize these error circles as optically blank; they may host INSs or other similarly exotic X-ray sources such as radio-quiet BL Lacs, obscured AGN, etc. Our search is an order of magnitude more selective than previous searches for optically blank RASS error circles, and excludes the 99.9% of error circles that contain more common X-ray-emitting subclasses. We find 11 candidates, nine of which are new. While our search is designed to find the best INS candidates and not to produce a complete list of INSs in the RASS, it is reassuring that our number of candidates is consistent with predictions from INS population models. Further X-ray observations will obtain pinpoint positions and determine whether these sources are entirely optically blank at g {approx} 22, supporting the presence of likely isolated neutron stars and perhaps enabling detailed follow-up studies of neutron star physics.

Image processing and data reduction of Apollo low light level photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Alvord, G. C.

1975-01-01

The removal of the lens induced vignetting from a selected sample of the Apollo low light level photographs is discussed. The methods used were developed earlier. A study of the effect of noise on vignetting removal and the comparability of the Apollo 35mm Nikon lens vignetting was also undertaken. The vignetting removal was successful to about 10% photometry, and noise has a severe effect on the useful photometric output data. Separate vignetting functions must be used for different flights since the vignetting function varies from camera to camera in size and shape.

Self-luminous event photography with the Marco M-4 image converter camera system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, T.O.

1980-02-01

The camera system is shown to be applicable to selfluminous events, such as the flasher-gap-enhanced shock waves which are depicted. Successive photographs of the detonation wavefront progressing across disc of high explosive (PBX 9404) are used for the determination of detonation velocity. Time intervals between film exposures for the four individual camera heads are easily measured and may extend from a few nanoseconds to ten milliseconds

Inferences of all-sky solar irradiance using Terra and Aqua MODIS satellite data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Houborg, Rasmus Møller; Søgaard, Henrik; Emmerich, W.

2007-01-01

-sky solar irradiance components, which links a physically based clear-sky model with a neural network version of a rigorous radiative transfer model. The scheme exploits the improved cloud characterization and retrieval capabilities of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard...... contrasting climates and cloud environments. Information on the atmospheric state was provided by MODIS data products and verifications against AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) data demonstrated usefulness of MODIS aerosol optical depth and total precipitable water vapour retrievals for the delineation...... and become unusable above approximately 60° latitude. However, in principle, the scheme can be applied anywhere on the globe, and a synergistic use of MODIS and geostationary satellite datasets may be envisaged for some applications....

VLITE Surveys the Sky: A 340 MHz Companion to the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Wendy; Clarke, Tracy; Brisken, Walter; Cotton, William; Richards, Emily E.; Giacintucci, Simona; Kassim, Namir

2018-01-01

The VLA Low Band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (VLITE; ) is a commensal observing system on the Karl G. Janksy Very Large Array (VLA) which was developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and NRAO. A 64 MHz sub-band from the prime focus 240-470 MHz dipoles is correlated during nearly all regular VLA observations. VLITE uses dedicated samplers and fibers, as well as a custom designed, real-time DiFX software correlator, and requires no additional resources from the VLA system running the primary science program. The experiment has been operating since November 2014 with 10 antennas; a recent expansion in summer 2017 increased that number to 16 and more than doubled the number of baselines.The VLA Sky Survey (VLASS; ), is an ongoing survey of the entire sky visible to the VLA at a frequency of 2-4 GHz. The observations are made using an "on-the-fly" (OTF) continuous RA scanning technique which fills in the sky by observing along rows of constant declination. VLITE breaks the data into 2-second integrations and correlates these at a central position every 1.5 degrees. All data for each correlator position is imaged separately, corrected and weighted by an appropriately elongated primary beam model, and then combined in the image plane to create a mosaic of the sky. A catalog of the sources is extracted to provide a 340 MHz sky model.We present preliminary images and catalogs from the 2017 VLASS observations which began in early September, 2017, and continued on a nearly daily basis throughout the fall. In addition to providing a unique sky model at 340 MHz, these data complement VLASS by providing spectral indices for all cataloged sources.

First all-sky upper limits from LIGO on the strength of periodic gravitational waves using the Hough transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, B.; Adhikari, R.; Agresti, J.; Anderson, S.B.; Araya, M.; Armandula, H.; Asiri, F.; Barish, B.C.; Barnes, M.; Barton, M.A.; Bhawal, B.; Billingsley, G.; Black, E.; Blackburn, K.; Bork, R.; Brown, D.A.; Busby, D.; Cardenas, L.; Chandler, A.; Chapsky, J.

2005-01-01

We perform a wide parameter-space search for continuous gravitational waves over the whole sky and over a large range of values of the frequency and the first spin-down parameter. Our search method is based on the Hough transform, which is a semicoherent, computationally efficient, and robust pattern recognition technique. We apply this technique to data from the second science run of the LIGO detectors and our final results are all-sky upper limits on the strength of gravitational waves emitted by unknown isolated spinning neutron stars on a set of narrow frequency bands in the range 200-400 Hz. The best upper limit on the gravitational-wave strain amplitude that we obtain in this frequency range is 4.43x10 -23

Sky cover from MFRSR observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Kassianov

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The diffuse all-sky surface irradiances measured at two nearby wavelengths in the visible spectral range and their modeled clear-sky counterparts are the main components of a new method for estimating the fractional sky cover of different cloud types, including cumuli. The performance of this method is illustrated using 1-min resolution data from a ground-based Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR. The MFRSR data are collected at the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF Southern Great Plains (SGP site during the summer of 2007 and represent 13 days with cumuli. Good agreement is obtained between estimated values of the fractional sky cover and those provided by a well-established independent method based on broadband observations.

SkyNet: Modular nuclear reaction network library

Science.gov (United States)

Lippuner, Jonas; Roberts, Luke F.

2017-10-01

The general-purpose nuclear reaction network SkyNet evolves the abundances of nuclear species under the influence of nuclear reactions. SkyNet can be used to compute the nucleosynthesis evolution in all astrophysical scenarios where nucleosynthesis occurs. Any list of isotopes can be evolved and SkyNet supports various different types of nuclear reactions. SkyNet is modular, permitting new or existing physics, such as nuclear reactions or equations of state, to be easily added or modified.

Fireballs in the Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Day, B. H.; Bland, P.

2016-12-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly app. To date, more than 23,000 people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in planetary science. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000×36Megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million km^2. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

Underwater television camera for monitoring inner side of pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takayama, Kazuhiko.

1997-01-01

An underwater television support device equipped with a rotatable and vertically movable underwater television camera and an underwater television camera controlling device for monitoring images of the inside of the reactor core photographed by the underwater television camera to control the position of the underwater television camera and the underwater light are disposed on an upper lattice plate of a reactor pressure vessel. Both of them are electrically connected with each other by way of a cable to rapidly observe the inside of the reactor core by the underwater television camera. The reproducibility is extremely satisfactory by efficiently concentrating the position of the camera and image information upon inspection and observation. As a result, the steps for periodical inspection can be reduced to shorten the days for the periodical inspection. Since there is no requirement to withdraw fuel assemblies over a wide reactor core region, and the device can be used with the fuel assemblies being left as they are in the reactor, it is suitable for inspection of detectors for nuclear instrumentation. (N.H.)

Photographic and video techniques used in the 1/5-scale Mark I boiling water reactor pressure suppression experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dixon, D.; Lord, D.

1978-01-01

The report provides a description of the techniques and equipment used for the photographic and video recordings of the air test series conducted on the 1/5 scale Mark I boiling water reactor (BWR) pressure suppression experimental facility at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) between March 4, 1977, and May 12, 1977. Lighting and water filtering are discussed in the photographic system section and are also applicable to the video system. The appendices contain information from the photographic and video camera logs

Technical Note: Asteroid Detection Demonstration from SkySat-3 - B612 Data Using Synthetic Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, C.; Shao, M.; Lai, S.; Boerner, P.; Dyer, J.; Lu, E.; Reitsema, H.; Buie, M.

2018-01-01

We report results from analyzing the data taken by the sCMOS cameras on board of SkySat3 using the synthetic tracking technique. The analysis demonstrates the expected sensitivity improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of the faint asteroids from properly stacking up the short exposure images in post-processing.

Planck 2013 results. XXI. Power spectrum and high-order statistics of the Planck all-sky Compton parameter map

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Armitage-Caplan, C.

2014-01-01

We have constructed the first all-sky map of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect by applying specifically tailored component separation algorithms to the 100 to 857 GHz frequency channel maps from the Planck survey. This map shows an obvious galaxy cluster tSZ signal that is well matched w...

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for photographers

CERN Document Server

Evening, Martin

2010-01-01

With the new edition of this proven bestseller, Photoshop users can master the power of Photoshop CS5 with internationally renowned photographer and Photoshop hall-of-famer Martin Evening by their side.  In this acclaimed reference work, Martin covers everything from the core aspects of working in Photoshop to advanced techniques for professional results. Subjects covered include organizing a digital workflow, improving creativity, output, automating Photoshop, and using Camera RAW. The style of the book is extremely clear, with real examples, diagrams, illustrations, and step-by-step ex

PROBING THE DARK AGES AT z ∼ 20: THE SCI-HI 21 cm ALL-SKY SPECTRUM EXPERIMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voytek, Tabitha C.; Natarajan, Aravind; Peterson, Jeffrey B. [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Jáuregui García, José Miguel; López-Cruz, Omar, E-mail: tcv@andrew.cmu.edu [Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica (INAOE), Coordinación de Astrofísica, Luis Enrique Erro No. 1 Sta. Ma. Tonantzintla, Puebla, 72840 Mexico (Mexico)

2014-02-10

We present first results from the SCI-HI experiment, which we used to measure the all-sky-averaged 21 cm brightness temperature in the redshift range 14.8 < z < 22.7. The instrument consists of a single broadband sub-wavelength size antenna and a sampling system for real-time data processing and recording. Preliminary observations were completed in 2013 June at Isla Guadalupe, a Mexican biosphere reserve located in the Pacific Ocean. The data was cleaned to excise channels contaminated by radio frequency interference, and the system response was calibrated by comparing the measured brightness temperature to the Global Sky Model of the Galaxy and by independent measurement of Johnson noise from a calibration terminator. We present our results, discuss the cosmological implications, and describe plans for future work.

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Sky Imager Cloud Position Study Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kleissl, J. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Urquhart, B. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Ghonima, M. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Dahlin, E. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Nguyen, A. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Kurtz, B. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Chow, C. W. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Mejia, F. A. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

2016-04-01

During the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Sky Imager Cloud Position Study, two University of California, San Diego Sky Imagers (USI) (Figure 1) were deployed the U.S. Department of Energy(DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Southern Great Plains SGP) research facility. The UCSD Sky Imagers were placed 1.7 km apart to allow for stereographic determination of the cloud height for clouds over approximately 1.5 km. Images with a 180-degree field of view were captured from both systems during daylight hours every 30 seconds beginning on March 11, 2013 and ending on November 4, 2013. The spatial resolution of the images was 1,748 × 1,748, and the intensity resolution was 16 bits using a high-dynamic-range capture process. The cameras use a fisheye lens, so the images are distorted following an equisolid angle projection.

Camera-trap monitoring of Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica in southwest Primorsky Krai, 2013–2016: preliminary results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dina S. Matiukhina

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Southwest Primorsky Krai retains the sole remaining population of critically endangered Amur leopards, but and also holds an isolated population of Amur tigers. This small group of tigers plays a key role as a core breeding population for potential Amur tiger recovery in neighboring Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces of Northeast China. A large scale camera-trap monitoring program initiated by the United Administration of the State Nature Biosphere Reserve Kedrovaya Pad and Land of the Leopard National Park in 2013 provides a more precise means of tracking dynamics of animals' abundance than previous snow-track counts and is to act «early warning system» in a case of dramatic decreases in tiger numbers. Surveys were conducted over three years, beginning in August 2013 and ending in July 2016. During each survey year, we planned to select a survey period of no more than 92 days when no less than 80% of camera-trap stations were active. However, as the camera-trap stations were not simultaneously deployed and checked during the last year (2015–2016, using the 80% cut point substantially was not feasible, so we lowered the limit to 55%. To estimate detection rates for adults, we used only those animals that were present in a given year both before and after the survey period, with the assumption that if a tiger were present both before and after, most likely it was present during the survey period as well. From the 320 photographic captures obtained over three years we identified 39 adult Amur tigers and 22 cubs. Among them only seven adult individuals (18% were captured in all three years, while sixteen adult individuals (41% were captured only in one of the three years; the rest (41% were captured in two of the three years. Females demonstrate greater fidelity, and a greater likelihood or being present in all three years. Tigers were more frequently captured during the cold season from October to March with the peak numbers recorded in December

COLIBRI: partial camera readout and sliding trigger for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naumann, C L; Tejedor, L A; Martínez, G

2013-01-01

Plans for the future Cherenkov telescope array CTA include replacing the monolithic camera designs used in H.E.S.S. and MAGIC-I by one that is built up from a number of identical segments. These so-called clusters will be relatively autonomous, each containing its own triggering and readout hardware. While this choice was made for reasons of flexibility and ease of manufacture and maintenance, such a concept with semi-independent sub-units lends itself quite naturally to the possibility of new, and more flexible, readout modes. In all previously-used concepts, triggering and readout of the camera is centralised, with a single camera trigger per event that starts the readout of all pixels in the camera at the same time and within the same integration time window. The limitations of such a trigger system can reduce the performance of a large array such as CTA, due to the huge amount of useless data created by night-sky background if trigger thresholds are set low enough to achieve the desired 20 GeV energy threshold, and to image losses at high energies due to the rigid readout window. In this study, an alternative concept (''COLIBRI'' = Concept for an Optimised Local Image Building and Readout Infrastructure) is presented, where only those parts of the camera which are likely to actually contain image data (usually a small percentage of the total pixels) are read out. This leads to a significant reduction of the expected data rate and the dead-times incurred in the camera. Furthermore, the quasi-independence of the individual clusters can be used to read different parts of the camera at slightly different times, thus allowing the readout to follow the slow development of the shower image across the camera field of view. This concept of flexible, partial camera readout is presented in the following, together with a description of Monte-Carlo studies performed to evaluate its performance as well as a hardware implementation proposed for CTA.

SPIDERS: selection of spectroscopic targets using AGN candidates detected in all-sky X-ray surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Dwelly, T.; Salvato, M.; Merloni, A.; Brusa, M.; Buchner, J.; Anderson, S. F.; Boller, Th.; Brandt, W. N.; Budavári, T.; Clerc, N.; Coffey, D.; Del Moro, A.; Georgakakis, A.; Green, P. J.; Jin, C.; Menzel, M.-L.; Myers, A. D.; Nandra, K.; Nichol, R. C.; Ridl, J.; Schwope, A. D.; Simm, T.

2017-07-01

SPIDERS (SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources) is a Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) survey running in parallel to the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) cosmology project. SPIDERS will obtain optical spectroscopy for large numbers of X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) and galaxy cluster members detected in wide-area eROSITA, XMM-Newton and ROSAT surveys. We describe the methods used to choose spectroscopic targets for two sub-programmes of SPIDERS X-ray selected AGN candidates detected in the ROSAT All Sky and the XMM-Newton Slew surveys. We have exploited a Bayesian cross-matching algorithm, guided by priors based on mid-IR colour-magnitude information from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer survey, to select the most probable optical counterpart to each X-ray detection. We empirically demonstrate the high fidelity of our counterpart selection method using a reference sample of bright well-localized X-ray sources collated from XMM-Newton, Chandra and Swift-XRT serendipitous catalogues, and also by examining blank-sky locations. We describe the down-selection steps which resulted in the final set of SPIDERS-AGN targets put forward for spectroscopy within the eBOSS/TDSS/SPIDERS survey, and present catalogues of these targets. We also present catalogues of ˜12 000 ROSAT and ˜1500 XMM-Newton Slew survey sources that have existing optical spectroscopy from SDSS-DR12, including the results of our visual inspections. On completion of the SPIDERS programme, we expect to have collected homogeneous spectroscopic redshift information over a footprint of ˜7500 deg2 for >85 per cent of the ROSAT and XMM-Newton Slew survey sources having optical counterparts in the magnitude range 17 < r < 22.5, producing a large and highly complete sample of bright X-ray-selected AGN suitable for statistical studies of AGN evolution and clustering.

Long Baseline Stereovision for Automatic Detection and Ranging of Moving Objects in the Night Sky

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlad Turcu

2012-09-01

Full Text Available As the number of objects in Earth’s atmosphere and in low Earth orbit is continuously increasing; accurate surveillance of these objects has become important. This paper presents a generic, low cost sky surveillance system based on stereovision. Two cameras are placed 37 km apart and synchronized by a GPS-controlled external signal. The intrinsic camera parameters are calibrated before setup in the observation position, the translation vectors are determined from the GPS coordinates and the rotation matrices are continuously estimated using an original automatic calibration methodology based on following known stars. The moving objects in the sky are recognized as line segments in the long exposure images, using an automatic detection and classification algorithm based on image processing. The stereo correspondence is based on the epipolar geometry and is performed automatically using the image detection results. The resulting experimental system is able to automatically detect moving objects such as planes, meteors and Low Earth Orbit satellites, and measure their 3D position in an Earth-bound coordinate system.

Yasuní - a hotspot for jaguars Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae? Camera-traps and jaguar activity at Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John G. Blake

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Jaguars (Panthera onca are the largest predator in lowland forests of Amazonia but there have been few studies on their occurrence and activity in such forests. Here, we used camera traps to document the occurrence and activity of jaguars within a local area (~650ha of lowland forest of Eastern Ecuador, over two sample periods (2005-2008, 7 222 trap days; 2010-2012, 6 199 trap days. We accumulated 151 independent photos of jaguars (189 total photographs that represented 21 different individuals, including 11 males (114 photographs, seven females (32 photographs, and three that could not be assigned to a sex. Individual jaguars varied in the number of months they were recorded in the area; ten were photographed in only one month; five were photographed over periods of 8 to 22 months; and five from 45 to 81 months. Capture rates across all camera stations averaged 10.6/1 000 trap days; capture rates did not differ between the two sample periods. Male jaguars were more active during the day (06:00am-18:00pm; 71% of photographs, whereas females were equally active during the day and night. Monthly activity was variable but showed no consistent pattern. Although the study area is much smaller than typical home ranges of jaguars, the area is clearly visited by a large number of different individuals, some of whom repeatedly visit the area, indicating that it forms part of their home range. Other individuals likely were simply passing through the area. Based on the number of jaguars recorded during this study, it is clear that the region is an important area for conservation. Continued protection will be needed to ensure that populations of jaguars and other species remain viable. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (2: 689-698. Epub 2014 June 01.

A Versatile Time-Lapse Camera System Developed by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for Use at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Science.gov (United States)

Orr, Tim R.; Hoblitt, Richard P.

2008-01-01

Volcanoes can be difficult to study up close. Because it may be days, weeks, or even years between important events, direct observation is often impractical. In addition, volcanoes are often inaccessible due to their remote location and (or) harsh environmental conditions. An eruption adds another level of complexity to what already may be a difficult and dangerous situation. For these reasons, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) have, for years, built camera systems to act as surrogate eyes. With the recent advances in digital-camera technology, these eyes are rapidly improving. One type of photographic monitoring involves the use of near-real-time network-enabled cameras installed at permanent sites (Hoblitt and others, in press). Time-lapse camera-systems, on the other hand, provide an inexpensive, easily transportable monitoring option that offers more versatility in site location. While time-lapse systems lack near-real-time capability, they provide higher image resolution and can be rapidly deployed in areas where the use of sophisticated telemetry required by the networked cameras systems is not practical. This report describes the latest generation (as of 2008) time-lapse camera system used by HVO for photograph acquisition in remote and hazardous sites on Kilauea Volcano.

Finding counterparts for all-sky X-ray surveys with NWAY: a Bayesian algorithm for cross-matching multiple catalogues

Science.gov (United States)

Salvato, M.; Buchner, J.; Budavári, T.; Dwelly, T.; Merloni, A.; Brusa, M.; Rau, A.; Fotopoulou, S.; Nandra, K.

2018-02-01

We release the AllWISE counterparts and Gaia matches to 106 573 and 17 665 X-ray sources detected in the ROSAT 2RXS and XMMSL2 surveys with |b| > 15°. These are the brightest X-ray sources in the sky, but their position uncertainties and the sparse multi-wavelength coverage until now rendered the identification of their counterparts a demanding task with uncertain results. New all-sky multi-wavelength surveys of sufficient depth, like AllWISE and Gaia, and a new Bayesian statistics based algorithm, NWAY, allow us, for the first time, to provide reliable counterpart associations. NWAY extends previous distance and sky density based association methods and, using one or more priors (e.g. colours, magnitudes), weights the probability that sources from two or more catalogues are simultaneously associated on the basis of their observable characteristics. Here, counterparts have been determined using a Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) colour-magnitude prior. A reference sample of 4524 XMM/Chandra and Swift X-ray sources demonstrates a reliability of ∼94.7 per cent (2RXS) and 97.4 per cent (XMMSL2). Combining our results with Chandra-COSMOS data, we propose a new separation between stars and AGN in the X-ray/WISE flux-magnitude plane, valid over six orders of magnitude. We also release the NWAY code and its user manual. NWAY was extensively tested with XMM-COSMOS data. Using two different sets of priors, we find an agreement of 96 per cent and 99 per cent with published Likelihood Ratio methods. Our results were achieved faster and without any follow-up visual inspection. With the advent of deep and wide area surveys in X-rays (e.g. SRG/eROSITA, Athena/WFI) and radio (ASKAP/EMU, LOFAR, APERTIF, etc.) NWAY will provide a powerful and reliable counterpart identification tool.

Cost effective system for monitoring of fish migration with a camera

Science.gov (United States)

Sečnik, Matej; Brilly, Mitja; Vidmar, Andrej

2016-04-01

Within the European LIFE project Ljubljanica connects (LIFE10 NAT/SI/000142) we have developed a cost-effective solution for the monitoring of fish migration through the fish passes with the underwater camera. In the fish pass at Ambrožev trg and in the fish pass near the Fužine castle we installed a video camera called "Fishcam" to be able to monitor the migration of fish through the fish passes and success of its reconstruction. Live stream from fishcams installed in the fishpassesis available on our project website (http://ksh.fgg.uni-lj.si/ljubljanicaconnects/ang/12_camera). The system for the fish monitoring is made from two parts. First is the waterproof box for the computer with charger and the second part is the camera itself. We used a high sensitive Sony analogue camera. The advantage of this camera is that it has very good sensitivity in low light conditions, so it can take good quality pictures even at night with a minimum additional lighting. For the night recording we use additional IR reflector to illuminate passing fishes. The camera is connected to an 8-inch tablet PC. We decided to use a tablet PC because it is quite small, cheap, it is relatively fast and has a low power consumption. On the computer we use software which has advanced motion detection capabilities, so we can also detect the small fishes. When the fish is detected by a software, its photograph is automatically saved to local hard drive and for backup also on Google drive. The system for monitoring of fish migration has turned out to work very well. From the beginning of monitoring in June 2015 to end of the year there were more than 100.000 photographs produced. The first analysis of them was already prepared estimating fish species and their frequency in passing the fish pass.

All-sky search for high-energy neutrinos from gravitational wave event GW170104 with the Antares neutrino telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albert, A.; André, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J.-J.; Avgitas, T.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Martí, J.; Basa, S.; Belhorma, B.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bormuth, R.; Bourret, S.; Bouwhuis, M.C.; Brânzas, H.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, A.; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Celli, S.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coelho, J.A.B.; Coleiro, A.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Díaz, A.F.; Deschamps, A.; De Bonis, G.; Distefano, C.; Di Palma, I.; Domi, A.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Eberl, T.; El Bojaddaini, I.; El Khayati, N.; Elsässer, D.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Ettahiri, A.; Fassi, F.; Felis, I.; Fusco, L.A.; Gay, P.; Giordano, V.; Glotin, H.; Grégoire, T.; Gracia-Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Hallmann, S.; van Haren, H.; Heijboer, A.J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez-Rey, J.J.; Hößl, J.; Hofestädt, J.; Hugon, C.; Illuminati, G.; James, C.W.; de Jong, M.; Jongen, M.; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kouchner, A.; Kreter, M.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachaud, C.; Lahmann, R.; Lefèvre, D.; Leonora, E.; Lotze, M.; Loucatos, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Marinelli, A.; Martínez-Mora, J.A.; Mele, R.; Melis, K.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Navas, S.; Nezri, E.; Organokov, M.; Pavalas, G.E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, C.; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Quinn, L.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Sánchez-Losa, A.; Saldaña, M.; Salvadori, I.; Samtleben, D.F.E.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schüssler, F.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Taiuti, M.; Tayalati, Y.; Trovato, A.; Turpin, D.; Tönnis, C.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Versari, F.; Vivolo, D.; Vizzoca, A.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J.D.; Zúñiga, J.

2017-01-01

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4th, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the Antares neutrino telescope,

The complete raw workflow guide how to get the most from your raw images in Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom, Photoshop, and Elements

CERN Document Server

Andrews, Philip

2007-01-01

One of the most important technologies a photographer can master is shooting and working with raw images. However, figuring out the best way to work with raw files can be confusing and overwhelming. What's the advantage to working in raw? How do you manage, organize, and store raw files? What's the best way to process your files to meet your photographic needs? How do Photoshop, Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw work together? Is it possible to keep your photos in the raw format and still enhance them extensively? Philip Andrews answers these questions and more in his all-new essential raw workfl

Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer All-Sky Monitor Localization of SGR 1627-41

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Donald A.; Bradt, Hale V.; Levine, Alan M.

1999-07-01

The fourth unambiguously identified soft gamma repeater (SGR), SGR 1627-41, was discovered with the BATSE instrument on 1998 June 15. Interplanetary Network (IPN) measurements and BATSE data constrained the location of this new SGR to a 6° segment of a narrow (19") annulus. We present two bursts from this source observed by the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. We use the ASM data to further constrain the source location to a 5' long segment of the BATSE/IPN error box. The ASM/IPN error box lies within 0.3 arcmin of the supernova remnant G337.0-0.1. The probability that a supernova remnant would fall so close to the error box purely by chance is ~5%.

Photometric Assessment of Night Sky Quality over Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Li-Wei; Duriscoe, Dan M.; White, Jeremy M.; Meadows, Bob; Anderson, Sharolyn J.

2018-06-01

The US National Park Service (NPS) characterizes night sky conditions over Chaco Culture National Historical Park using measurements in the park and satellite data. The park is located near the geographic center of the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico and the adjacent Four Corners state. In the park, we capture a series of night sky images in V-band using our mobile camera system on nine nights from 2001 to 2016 at four sites. We perform absolute photometric calibration and determine the image placement to obtain multiple 45-million-pixel mosaic images of the entire night sky. We also model the regional night sky conditions in and around the park based on 2016 VIIRS satellite data. The average zenith brightness is 21.5 mag/arcsec2, and the whole sky is only ~16% brighter than the natural conditions. The faintest stars visible to naked eyes have magnitude of approximately 7.0, reaching the sensitivity limit of human eyes. The main impacts to Chaco’s night sky quality are the light domes from Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington, Bloomfield, Gallup, Santa Fe, Grants, and Crown Point. A few of these light domes exceed the natural brightness of the Milky Way. Additionally, glare sources from oil and gas development sites are visible along the north and east horizons. Overall, the night sky quality at Chaco Culture National Historical Park is very good. The park preserves to a large extent the natural illumination cycles, providing a refuge for crepuscular and nocturnal species. During clear and dark nights, visitors have an opportunity to see the Milky Way from nearly horizon to horizon, complete constellations, and faint astronomical objects and natural sources of light such as the Andromeda Galaxy, zodiacal light, and airglow.

Six-frame picosecond radiation camera based on hydrated electron photoabsorption phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coutts, G.W.; Olk, L.B.; Gates, H.A.; St Leger-Barter, G.

1977-01-01

To obtain picosecond photographs of nanosecond radiation sources, a six-frame ultra-high speed radiation camera based on hydrated electron absorption phenomena has been developed. A time-dependent opacity pattern is formed in an acidic aqueous cell by a pulsed radiation source. Six time-resolved picosecond images of this changing opacity pattern are transferred to photographic film with the use of a mode-locked dye laser and six electronically gated microchannel plate image intensifiers. Because the lifetime of the hydrated electron absorption centers can be reduced to picoseconds, the opacity patterns represent time-space pulse profile images

On the influence of cloud fraction diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability on all-sky direct aerosol radiative forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Min; Zhang, Zhibo

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to understand how cloud fraction diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability influence the all-sky direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF). We focus on the southeast Atlantic region where transported smoke is often observed above low-level water clouds during burning seasons. We use the CALIOP observations to derive the optical properties of aerosols. We developed two diurnal cloud fraction variation models. One is based on sinusoidal fitting of MODIS observations from Terra and Aqua satellites. The other is based on high-temporal frequency diurnal cloud fraction observations from SEVIRI on board of geostationary satellite. Both models indicate a strong cloud fraction diurnal cycle over the southeast Atlantic region. Sensitivity studies indicate that using a constant cloud fraction corresponding to Aqua local equatorial crossing time (1:30 PM) generally leads to an underestimated (less positive) diurnal mean DARF even if solar diurnal variation is considered. Using cloud fraction corresponding to Terra local equatorial crossing time (10:30 AM) generally leads overestimation. The biases are a typically around 10–20%, but up to more than 50%. The influence of sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability on DARF is studied utilizing the cloud optical thickness histogram available in MODIS Level-3 daily data. Similar to previous studies, we found the above-cloud smoke in the southeast Atlantic region has a strong warming effect at the top of the atmosphere. However, because of the plane-parallel albedo bias the warming effect of above-cloud smoke could be significantly overestimated if the grid-mean, instead of the full histogram, of cloud optical thickness is used in the computation. This bias generally increases with increasing above-cloud aerosol optical thickness and sub-grid cloud optical thickness inhomogeneity. Our results suggest that the cloud diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud variability are important factors

Integrating motion-detection cameras and hair snags for wolverine identification

Science.gov (United States)

Audrey J. Magoun; Clinton D. Long; Michael K. Schwartz; Kristine L. Pilgrim; Richard E. Lowell; Patrick Valkenburg

2011-01-01

We developed an integrated system for photographing a wolverine's (Gulo gulo) ventral pattern while concurrently collecting hair for microsatellite DNA genotyping. Our objectives were to 1) test the system on a wild population of wolverines using an array of camera and hair-snag (C&H) stations in forested habitat where wolverines were known to occur, 2)...

Passive auto-focus for digital still cameras and camera phones: Filter-switching and low-light techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Gamadia, Mark Noel

In order to gain valuable market share in the growing consumer digital still camera and camera phone market, camera manufacturers have to continually add and improve existing features to their latest product offerings. Auto-focus (AF) is one such feature, whose aim is to enable consumers to quickly take sharply focused pictures with little or no manual intervention in adjusting the camera's focus lens. While AF has been a standard feature in digital still and cell-phone cameras, consumers often complain about their cameras' slow AF performance, which may lead to missed photographic opportunities, rendering valuable moments and events with undesired out-of-focus pictures. This dissertation addresses this critical issue to advance the state-of-the-art in the digital band-pass filter, passive AF method. This method is widely used to realize AF in the camera industry, where a focus actuator is adjusted via a search algorithm to locate the in-focus position by maximizing a sharpness measure extracted from a particular frequency band of the incoming image of the scene. There are no known systematic methods for automatically deriving the parameters such as the digital pass-bands or the search step-size increments used in existing passive AF schemes. Conventional methods require time consuming experimentation and tuning in order to arrive at a set of parameters which balance AF performance in terms of speed and accuracy ultimately causing a delay in product time-to-market. This dissertation presents a new framework for determining an optimal set of passive AF parameters, named Filter- Switching AF, providing an automatic approach to achieve superior AF performance, both in good and low lighting conditions based on the following performance measures (metrics): speed (total number of iterations), accuracy (offset from truth), power consumption (total distance moved), and user experience (in-focus position overrun). Performance results using three different prototype cameras

ARIADNE, a Photographic LAr TPC at the CERN Neutrino Platform

CERN Document Server

Mavrokoridis, K; Nessi, M; Roberts, A; Smith, N A; Touramanis, C; CERN. Geneva. SPS and PS Experiments Committee; SPSC

2016-01-01

This letter of intent describes a novel and innovative two-phase LAr TPC with photographic capabilities as an attractive alternative readout method to the currently accepted segmented THGEMs which will require many thousands of charge readout channels for kton-scale two-phase TPCs. These colossal LAr TPCs will be used for the future long-baseline-neutrino-oscillation experiments. Optical readout also presents many other clear advantages over current readout techniques such as ease of scalability, upgrade, installation and maintenance, and cost effectiveness. This technology has already been demonstrated at the Liverpool LAr facility with the photographic capturing of cosmic muon tracks and single gammas using a 40-litre prototype. We have now secured ERC funding to develop this further with the ARIADNE programme. ARIADNE will be a 1-ton two-phase LAr TPC utilizing THGEM and EMCCD camera readouts in order to photograph interactions, allowing for track reconstruction and particle identification. We are request...

The status of MUSIC: the multiwavelength sub-millimeter inductance camera

Science.gov (United States)

Sayers, Jack; Bockstiegel, Clint; Brugger, Spencer; Czakon, Nicole G.; Day, Peter K.; Downes, Thomas P.; Duan, Ran P.; Gao, Jiansong; Gill, Amandeep K.; Glenn, Jason; Golwala, Sunil R.; Hollister, Matthew I.; Lam, Albert; LeDuc, Henry G.; Maloney, Philip R.; Mazin, Benjamin A.; McHugh, Sean G.; Miller, David A.; Mroczkowski, Anthony K.; Noroozian, Omid; Nguyen, Hien Trong; Schlaerth, James A.; Siegel, Seth R.; Vayonakis, Anastasios; Wilson, Philip R.; Zmuidzinas, Jonas

2014-08-01

The Multiwavelength Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera (MUSIC) is a four-band photometric imaging camera operating from the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). MUSIC is designed to utilize 2304 microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), with 576 MKIDs for each observing band centered on 150, 230, 290, and 350 GHz. MUSIC's field of view (FOV) is 14' square, and the point-spread functions (PSFs) in the four observing bands have 45'', 31'', 25'', and 22'' full-widths at half maximum (FWHM). The camera was installed in April 2012 with 25% of its nominal detector count in each band, and has subsequently completed three short sets of engineering observations and one longer duration set of early science observations. Recent results from on-sky characterization of the instrument during these observing runs are presented, including achieved map- based sensitivities from deep integrations, along with results from lab-based measurements made during the same period. In addition, recent upgrades to MUSIC, which are expected to significantly improve the sensitivity of the camera, are described.

A-Train Aerosol Observations Preliminary Comparisons with AeroCom Models and Pathways to Observationally Based All-Sky Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Redemann, J.; Livingston, J.; Shinozuka, Y.; Kacenelenbogen, M.; Russell, P.; LeBlanc, S.; Vaughan, M.; Ferrare, R.; Hostetler, C.; Rogers, R.;

Painterly rendered portraits from photographs using a knowledge-based approach

Science.gov (United States)

DiPaola, Steve

2007-02-01

Portrait artists using oils, acrylics or pastels use a specific but open human vision methodology to create a painterly portrait of a live sitter. When they must use a photograph as source, artists augment their process, since photographs have: different focusing - everything is in focus or focused in vertical planes; value clumping - the camera darkens the shadows and lightens the bright areas; as well as color and perspective distortion. In general, artistic methodology attempts the following: from the photograph, the painting must 'simplify, compose and leave out what's irrelevant, emphasizing what's important'. While seemingly a qualitative goal, artists use known techniques such as relying on source tone over color to indirect into a semantic color temperature model, use brush and tonal "sharpness" to create a center of interest, lost and found edges to move the viewers gaze through the image towards the center of interest as well as other techniques to filter and emphasize. Our work attempts to create a knowledge domain of the portrait painter process and incorporate this knowledge into a multi-space parameterized system that can create an array of NPR painterly rendering output by analyzing the photographic-based input which informs the semantic knowledge rules.

ForestCrowns: a transparency estimation tool for digital photographs of forest canopies

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew Winn; Jeff Palmer; S.-M. Lee; Philip Araman

2016-01-01

ForestCrowns is a Windows®-based computer program that calculates forest canopy transparency (light transmittance) using ground-based digital photographs taken with standard or hemispherical camera lenses. The software can be used by forest managers and researchers to monitor growth/decline of forest canopies; provide input for leaf area index estimation; measure light...

Photographic coronagraph, Skylab particulate experiment T025. [earth atmospheric pollution and Kohoutek Comet monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Giovane, F.; Schuerman, D. W.; Greenberg, J. M.

1977-01-01

A photographic coronagraph, built to monitor Skylab's extravehicular contamination, is described. This versatile instrument was used to observe the earth's vertical aerosol distribution and Comet Kohoutek (1973f) near perihelion. Although originally designed for deployment from the solar airlock, the instrument was modified for EVA operation when the airlock was rendered unusable. The results of the observations made in four EVA's were almost completely ruined by the failure of a Skylab operational camera used with the coronagraph. Nevertheless, an aerosol layer at 48 km was discovered in the southern hemisphere from the few useful photographs.

PANIC: A General-purpose Panoramic Near-infrared Camera for the Calar Alto Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Cárdenas Vázquez, M.-C.; Dorner, B.; Huber, A.; Sánchez-Blanco, E.; Alter, M.; Rodríguez Gómez, J. F.; Bizenberger, P.; Naranjo, V.; Ibáñez Mengual, J.-M.; Panduro, J.; García Segura, A. J.; Mall, U.; Fernández, M.; Laun, W.; Ferro Rodríguez, I. M.; Helmling, J.; Terrón, V.; Meisenheimer, K.; Fried, J. W.; Mathar, R. J.; Baumeister, H.; Rohloff, R.-R.; Storz, C.; Verdes-Montenegro, L.; Bouy, H.; Ubierna, M.; Fopp, P.; Funke, B.

2018-02-01

PANIC7 is the new PAnoramic Near-Infrared Camera for Calar Alto and is a project jointly developed by the MPIA in Heidelberg, Germany, and the IAA in Granada, Spain, for the German-Spanish Astronomical Center at Calar Alto Observatory (CAHA; Almería, Spain). This new instrument works with the 2.2 m and 3.5 m CAHA telescopes covering a field of view of 30 × 30 arcmin and 15 × 15 arcmin, respectively, with a sampling of 4096 × 4096 pixels. It is designed for the spectral bands from Z to K S , and can also be equipped with narrowband filters. The instrument was delivered to the observatory in 2014 October and was commissioned at both telescopes between 2014 November and 2015 June. Science verification at the 2.2 m telescope was carried out during the second semester of 2015 and the instrument is now at full operation. We describe the design, assembly, integration, and verification process, the final laboratory tests and the PANIC instrument performance. We also present first-light data obtained during the commissioning and preliminary results of the scientific verification. The final optical model and the theoretical performance of the camera were updated according to the as-built data. The laboratory tests were made with a star simulator. Finally, the commissioning phase was done at both telescopes to validate the camera real performance on sky. The final laboratory test confirmed the expected camera performances, complying with the scientific requirements. The commissioning phase on sky has been accomplished.

SkyProbe, monitoring the absolute atmospheric transmission in the optical

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, Jean-charles; Magnier, Eugene; Mahoney, William

2011-03-01

Mauna Kea is known for its pristine seeing conditions, but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations since 25% of the night are not photometric, mostly due to high-altitude cirrus. Since 2001, the original single-channel SkyProbe has gathered one exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera with a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (40 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tychos catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). A key advantage of SkyProbe over direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds, is that it allows an accurate absolute measurement, within 5%, of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument. This system has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO), representing today 80% of the telescope time: science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for being re-observed later on (at 1/10th of the original exposure time per pointing in the observed filters) to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. The new dual color system (simultaneous B&V bands) will allow a better characterization of the sky properties atop Mauna Kea and will enable a better detection of the thinner cirrus (absorption down to 0.02 mag., i.e. 2%). SkyProbe is operated within the Elixir pipeline, a collection of tools used for handling the CFHT CCD mosaics (CFH12K and MegaCam), from data pre-processing to astrometric and photometric calibration.

Counting neutrons with a commercial S-CMOS camera

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, Van Esch; Paolo, Mutti; Emilio, Ruiz-Martinez; Estefania, Abad Garcia; Marita, Mosconi; Jon, Ortega

2018-01-01

It is possible to detect individual flashes from thermal neutron impacts in a ZnS scintillator using a CMOS camera looking at the scintillator screen, and off line image processing. Some preliminary results indicated that the efficiency of recognition could be improved by optimizing the light collection and the image processing. We will report on this ongoing work which is a result from the collaboration between ESS Bilbao and the ILL. The main progress to be reported is situated on the level of the on-line treatment of the imaging data. If this technology is to work on a genuine scientific instrument, it is necessary that all the processing happens on line, to avoid the accumulation of large amounts of image data to be analyzed off line. An FPGA-based real-time full-deca mode VME-compatible CameraLink board has been developed at the SCI of the ILL, which is able to manage the data flow from the camera and convert it in a reasonable "neutron impact" data flow like from a usual neutron counting detector. The main challenge of the endeavor is the optical light collection from the scintillator. While the light yield of a ZnS scintillator is a priori rather important, the amount of light collected with a photographic objective is small. Different scintillators and different light collection techniques have been experimented with and results will be shown for different setups improving upon the light recuperation on the camera sensor. Improvements on the algorithm side will also be presented. The algorithms have to be at the same time efficient in their recognition of neutron signals, in their rejection of noise signals (internal and external to the camera) but also have to be simple enough to be easily implemented in the FPGA. The path from the idea of detecting individual neutron impacts with a CMOS camera to a practical working instrument detector is challenging, and in this paper we will give an overview of the part of the road that has already been walked.

Counting neutrons with a commercial S-CMOS camera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Van Esch

2018-01-01

Full Text Available It is possible to detect individual flashes from thermal neutron impacts in a ZnS scintillator using a CMOS camera looking at the scintillator screen, and off line image processing. Some preliminary results indicated that the efficiency of recognition could be improved by optimizing the light collection and the image processing. We will report on this ongoing work which is a result from the collaboration between ESS Bilbao and the ILL. The main progress to be reported is situated on the level of the on-line treatment of the imaging data. If this technology is to work on a genuine scientific instrument, it is necessary that all the processing happens on line, to avoid the accumulation of large amounts of image data to be analyzed off line. An FPGA-based real-time full-deca mode VME-compatible CameraLink board has been developed at the SCI of the ILL, which is able to manage the data flow from the camera and convert it in a reasonable “neutron impact” data flow like from a usual neutron counting detector. The main challenge of the endeavor is the optical light collection from the scintillator. While the light yield of a ZnS scintillator is a priori rather important, the amount of light collected with a photographic objective is small. Different scintillators and different light collection techniques have been experimented with and results will be shown for different setups improving upon the light recuperation on the camera sensor. Improvements on the algorithm side will also be presented. The algorithms have to be at the same time efficient in their recognition of neutron signals, in their rejection of noise signals (internal and external to the camera but also have to be simple enough to be easily implemented in the FPGA. The path from the idea of detecting individual neutron impacts with a CMOS camera to a practical working instrument detector is challenging, and in this paper we will give an overview of the part of the road that has

Culture and importance of backgrounds: a cross-cultural study of photograph taking.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jie; Li, Chen; Smithson, Adam; Spann, Ethan; Ruan, Fang

2010-10-01

To compare the focus on targeted people while taking a photograph, samples of American and Chinese college students were randomly selected and asked to take casual pictures of people around them with digital cameras. About 200 photographs were rated for the focus on the intended target in the picture. American students were more likely to focus on the targeted individual, while the Chinese students were more likely to attend to the background and the environment of the targeted individual. The findings imply that for the Chinese college students, the environment can be equally important as the person. Possibly for Americans the environment is less important due to the more individualistic culture.

Design and realization of an AEC&AGC system for the CCD aerial camera

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hai ying; Feng, Bing; Wang, Peng; Li, Yan; Wei, Hao yun

2015-08-01

An AEC and AGC(Automatic Exposure Control and Automatic Gain Control) system was designed for a CCD aerial camera with fixed aperture and electronic shutter. The normal AEC and AGE algorithm is not suitable to the aerial camera since the camera always takes high-resolution photographs in high-speed moving. The AEC and AGE system adjusts electronic shutter and camera gain automatically according to the target brightness and the moving speed of the aircraft. An automatic Gamma correction is used before the image is output so that the image is better for watching and analyzing by human eyes. The AEC and AGC system could avoid underexposure, overexposure, or image blurring caused by fast moving or environment vibration. A series of tests proved that the system meet the requirements of the camera system with its fast adjusting speed, high adaptability, high reliability in severe complex environment.

Apollo 16 lunar module 'Orion' photographed from distance during EVA

Science.gov (United States)

1972-01-01

The Apollo 16 Lunar Module 'Orion' is photographed from a distance by Astronaut Chares M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, aboard the moving Lunar Roving Vehicle. Astronauts Duke and John W. Young, commander, were returing from the third Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The RCA color television camera mounted on the LRV is in the foreground. A portion of the LRV's high-gain antenna is at top left.

SkyNet: A Modular Nuclear Reaction Network Library

Science.gov (United States)

Lippuner, Jonas; Roberts, Luke F.

2017-12-01

Almost all of the elements heavier than hydrogen that are present in our solar system were produced by nuclear burning processes either in the early universe or at some point in the life cycle of stars. In all of these environments, there are dozens to thousands of nuclear species that interact with each other to produce successively heavier elements. In this paper, we present SkyNet, a new general-purpose nuclear reaction network that evolves the abundances of nuclear species under the influence of nuclear reactions. SkyNet can be used to compute the nucleosynthesis evolution in all astrophysical scenarios where nucleosynthesis occurs. SkyNet is free and open source, and aims to be easy to use and flexible. Any list of isotopes can be evolved, and SkyNet supports different types of nuclear reactions. SkyNet is modular so that new or existing physics, like nuclear reactions or equations of state, can easily be added or modified. Here, we present in detail the physics implemented in SkyNet with a focus on a self-consistent transition to and from nuclear statistical equilibrium to non-equilibrium nuclear burning, our implementation of electron screening, and coupling of the network to an equation of state. We also present comprehensive code tests and comparisons with existing nuclear reaction networks. We find that SkyNet agrees with published results and other codes to an accuracy of a few percent. Discrepancies, where they exist, can be traced to differences in the physics implementations.

A comparison of photographic, replication and direct clinical examination methods for detecting developmental defects of enamel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pakshir Hamid-Reza

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Different methods have been used for detecting developmental defects of enamel (DDE. This study aimed to compare photographic and replication methods with the direct clinical examination method for detecting DDE in children's permanent incisors. Methods 110 8-10-year-old schoolchildren were randomly selected from an examined sample of 335 primary Shiraz school children. Modified DDE index was used in all three methods. Direct examinations were conducted by two calibrated examiners using flat oral mirrors and tongue blades. Photographs were taken using a digital SLR camera (Nikon D-80, macro lens, macro flashes, and matt flash filters. Impressions were taken using additional-curing silicon material and casts made in orthodontic stone. Impressions and models were both assessed using dental loupes (magnification=x3.5. Each photograph/impression/cast was assessed by two calibrated examiners. Reliability of methods was assessed using kappa agreement tests. Kappa agreement, McNemar's and two-sample proportion tests were used to compare results obtained by the photographic and replication methods with those obtained by the direct examination method. Results Of the 110 invited children, 90 were photographed and 73 had impressions taken. The photographic method had higher reliability levels than the other two methods, and compared to the direct clinical examination detected significantly more subjects with DDE (P = 0.002, 3.1 times more DDE (P Conclusion The photographic method was much more sensitive than direct clinical examination in detecting DDE and was the best of the three methods for epidemiological studies. The replication method provided less information about DDE compared to photography. Results of this study have implications for both epidemiological and detailed clinical studies on DDE.

ultra-Stable Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (5STAR)

Science.gov (United States)

Dunagan, S. E.; Johnson, R. R.; Redemann, J.; Holben, B. N.; Schmid, B.; Flynn, C. J.; Fahey, L.; LeBlanc, S. E.; Liss, J.; Kacenelenbogen, M. S.; Segal-Rosenhaimer, M.; Shinozuka, Y.; Dahlgren, R. P.; Pistone, K.; Karol, Y.

2017-12-01

The Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) combines airborne sun tracking and sky scanning with diffraction spectroscopy to improve knowledge of atmospheric constituents and their links to air pollution and climate. Direct beam hyperspectral measurement of optical depth improves retrievals of gas constituents and determination of aerosol properties. Sky scanning enhances retrievals of aerosol type and size distribution. Hyperspectral cloud-transmitted radiance measurements enable the retrieval of cloud properties from below clouds. These measurements tighten the closure between satellite and ground-based measurements. 4STAR incorporates a modular sun-tracking/ sky-scanning optical head with optical fiber signal transmission to rack mounted spectrometers, permitting miniaturization of the external optical tracking head, and future detector evolution. 4STAR has supported a broad range of flight experiments since it was first flown in 2010. This experience provides the basis for a series of improvements directed toward reducing measurement uncertainty and calibration complexity, and expanding future measurement capabilities, to be incorporated into a new 5STAR instrument. A 9-channel photodiode radiometer with AERONET-matched bandpass filters will be incorporated to improve calibration stability. A wide dynamic range tracking camera will provide a high precision solar position tracking signal as well as an image of sky conditions around the solar axis. An ultrasonic window cleaning system design will be tested. A UV spectrometer tailored for formaldehyde and SO2 gas retrievals will be added to the spectrometer enclosure. Finally, expansion capability for a 4 channel polarized radiometer to measure the Stokes polarization vector of sky light will be incorporated. This paper presents initial progress on this next-generation 5STAR instrument. Keywords: atmosphere; climate; pollution; radiometry; technology; hyperspectral; fiber optic

Dark Sky Protection and Education - Izera Dark Sky Park

Science.gov (United States)

Berlicki, Arkadiusz; Kolomanski, Sylwester; Mrozek, Tomasz; Zakowicz, Grzegorz

2015-08-01

Darkness of the night sky is a natural component of our environment and should be protected against negative effects of human activities. The night darkness is necessary for balanced life of plants, animals and people. Unfortunately, development of human civilization and technology has led to the substantial increase of the night-sky brightness and to situation where nights are no more dark in many areas of the World. This phenomenon is called "light pollution" and it can be rank among such problems as chemical pollution of air, water and soil. Besides the environment, the light pollution can also affect e.g. the scientific activities of astronomers - many observatories built in the past began to be located within the glow of city lights making the night observations difficult, or even impossible.In order to protect the natural darkness of nights many so-called "dark sky parks" were established, where the darkness is preserved, similar to typical nature reserves. The role of these parks is not only conservation but also education, supporting to make society aware of how serious the problem of the light pollution is.History of the dark sky areas in Europe began on November 4, 2009 in Jizerka - a small village situated in the Izera Mountains, when Izera Dark Sky Park (IDSP) was established - it was the first transboundary dark sky park in the World. The idea of establishing that dark sky park in the Izera Mountains originated from a need to give to the society in Poland and Czech Republic the knowledge about the light pollution. Izera Dark Sky Park is a part of the astro-tourism project "Astro Izery" that combines tourist attraction of Izera Valley and astronomical education under the wonderful starry Izera sky. Besides the IDSP, the project Astro Izery consists of the set of simple astronomical instruments (gnomon, sundial), natural educational trail "Solar System Model", and astronomical events for the public. In addition, twice a year we organize a 3-4 days

Passive unmanned sky spectroscopy for remote bird classification

Science.gov (United States)

Lundin, Patrik; Brydegaard, Mikkel; Cocola, Lorenzo; Runemark, Anna; Åkesson, Susanne; Svanberg, Sune

2011-11-01

We present a method based on passive spectroscopy with aim to remotely study flying birds. A compact spectrometer is continuously recording spectra of a small section of the sky, waiting for birds to obscure part of the field-of-view when they pass the field in flight. In such situations the total light intensity received through the telescope, looking straight up, will change very rapidly as compared to the otherwise slowly varying sky light. On passage of a bird, both the total intensity and the spectral shape of the captured light changes notably. A camera aimed in the same direction as the telescope, although with a wider field-of-view, is triggered by the sudden intensity changes in the spectrometer to record additional information, which may be used for studies of migration and orientation. Example results from a trial are presented and discussed. The study is meant to explore the information that could be gathered and extracted with the help of a spectrometer connected to a telescope. Information regarding the color, size and height of flying birds is discussed. Specifically, an application for passive distance determination utilizing the atmospheric oxygen A-band absorption at around 760 nm is discussed.

The taxonomic distribution of asteroids from multi-filter all-sky photometric surveys

Science.gov (United States)

DeMeo, F. E.; Carry, B.

2013-09-01

The distribution of asteroids across the main belt has been studied for decades to understand the current compositional distribution and what that tells us about the formation and evolution of our Solar System. All-sky surveys now provide orders of magnitude more data than targeted surveys. We present a method to bias-correct the asteroid population observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) according to size, distance, and albedo. We taxonomically classify this dataset consistent with the Bus and Binzel (Bus, S.J., Binzel, R.P. [2002]. Icarus 158, 146-177) and Bus-DeMeo et al. (DeMeo, F.E., Binzel, R.P., Slivan, S.M., Bus, S.J. [2009]. Icarus 202(July), 160-180) systems and present the resulting taxonomic distribution. The dataset includes asteroids as small as 5 km, a factor of three in diameter smaller than in previous work such as by Mothé-Diniz et al. (Mothé-Diniz, T., Carvano, J.M.Á., Lazzaro, D. [2003]. Icarus 162(March), 10-21). Because of the wide range of sizes in our sample, we present the distribution by number, surface area, volume, and mass whereas previous work was exclusively by number. While the distribution by number is a useful quantity and has been used for decades, these additional quantities provide new insights into the distribution of total material. We find evidence for D-types in the inner main belt where they are unexpected according to dynamical models of implantation of bodies from the outer Solar System into the inner Solar System during planetary migration (Levison, H.F., Bottke, W.F., Gounelle, M., Morbidelli, A., Nesvorný, D., Tsiganis, K. [2009]. Nature 460(July), 364-366). We find no evidence of S-types or other unexpected classes among Trojans and Hildas, albeit a bias favoring such a detection. Finally, we estimate for the first time the total amount of material of each class in the inner Solar System. The main belt’s most massive classes are C, B, P, V and S in decreasing order. Excluding the four most massive

Multifrequency observations of KAZ 102 during the ROSAT all-sky survey

Science.gov (United States)

Treves, A.; Fink, H. H.; Malkan, M.; Wilkes, B. J.; Baganoff, F.; Heidt, J.; Pian, E.; Sadun, A.; Schaeidt, S.; Bonnell, J. T.

1995-01-01

The bright quasar Kaz 102, which lies in the vicinity of the North Ecliptic Pole, was monitored during the ROSAT All Sky Survey for 121.5 days from 1990 July 30 to 1991 January 25. In the course of the survey, optical photometry with various filters was peformed at several epochs, together with UV (IUE) and optical spectrophotometry. The spectral energy distribution in the 3 x 10(exp 14) -3 x 10(exp 17) Hz range is obtained simultaneously among the various frequencies to less than or = 1 day. No clear case of variability can be made in the X-rays, while in the optical and UV variability of 10%-20% is apparent. An analysis of IUE and Einstein archives indicates a doubling timescale of years for the UV and soft X-ray flux. The X-ray photon index, which in 1979 was rather flat (Gamma = 0.8(+0.6 -0.4), in 1990/1991 was found to be Gamma = 2.22 +/- 0.13, a typical value for radio-quiet quasars in this energy range. The overall energy distribution and the variability are discussed.

D Photographs in Cultural Heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Schuhr, W.; Lee, J. D.; Kiel, St.

2013-07-01

This paper on providing "oo-information" (= objective object-information) on cultural monuments and sites, based on 3D photographs is also a contribution of CIPA task group 3 to the 2013 CIPA Symposium in Strasbourg. To stimulate the interest in 3D photography for scientists as well as for amateurs, 3D-Masterpieces are presented. Exemplary it is shown, due to their high documentary value ("near reality"), 3D photography support, e.g. the recording, the visualization, the interpretation, the preservation and the restoration of architectural and archaeological objects. This also includes samples for excavation documentation, 3D coordinate calculation, 3D photographs applied for virtual museum purposes and as educational tools. In addition 3D photography is used for virtual museum purposes, as well as an educational tool and for spatial structure enhancement, which in particular holds for inscriptions and in rock arts. This paper is also an invitation to participate in a systematic survey on existing international archives of 3D photographs. In this respect it is also reported on first results, to define an optimum digitization rate for analog stereo views. It is more than overdue, in addition to the access to international archives for 3D photography, the available 3D photography data should appear in a global GIS(cloud)-system, like on, e.g., google earth. This contribution also deals with exposing new 3D photographs to document monuments of importance for Cultural Heritage, including the use of 3D and single lense cameras from a 10m telescope staff, to be used for extremely low earth based airborne 3D photography, as well as for "underwater staff photography". In addition it is reported on the use of captive balloon and drone platforms for 3D photography in Cultural Heritage. It is liked to emphasize, the still underestimated 3D effect on real objects even allows, e.g., the spatial perception of extremely small scratches as well as of nuances in color differences

Learning High-Order Filters for Efficient Blind Deconvolution of Document Photographs

KAUST Repository

Xiao, Lei

2016-09-16

Photographs of text documents taken by hand-held cameras can be easily degraded by camera motion during exposure. In this paper, we propose a new method for blind deconvolution of document images. Observing that document images are usually dominated by small-scale high-order structures, we propose to learn a multi-scale, interleaved cascade of shrinkage fields model, which contains a series of high-order filters to facilitate joint recovery of blur kernel and latent image. With extensive experiments, we show that our method produces high quality results and is highly efficient at the same time, making it a practical choice for deblurring high resolution text images captured by modern mobile devices. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.

The role of camera-bundled image management software in the consumer digital imaging value chain

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Milton; Mundkur, Anuradha; Balasubramanian, Ashok; Chirania, Virat

2005-02-01

This research was undertaken by the Convergence Center at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (www.digital-convergence.info). Project ICONICA, the name for the research, focuses on the strategic implications of digital Images and the CONvergence of Image management and image CApture. Consumer imaging - the activity that we once called "photography" - is now recognized as in the throes of a digital transformation. At the end of 2003, market researchers estimated that about 30% of the households in the U.S. and 40% of the households in Japan owned digital cameras. In 2004, of the 86 million new cameras sold (excluding one-time use cameras), a majority (56%) were estimated to be digital cameras. Sales of photographic film, while still profitable, are declining precipitously.

A deep proper motion catalog within the Sloan digital sky survey footprint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munn, Jeffrey A.; Harris, Hugh C.; Tilleman, Trudy M.; Hippel, Ted von; Kilic, Mukremin; Liebert, James W.; Williams, Kurtis A.; DeGenarro, Steven; Jeffery, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

A new proper motion catalog is presented, combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with second epoch observations in the r band within a portion of the SDSS imaging footprint. The new observations were obtained with the 90prime camera on the Steward Observatory Bok 90 inch telescope, and the Array Camera on the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 1.3 m telescope. The catalog covers 1098 square degrees to r = 22.0, an additional 1521 square degrees to r = 20.9, plus a further 488 square degrees of lesser quality data. Statistical errors in the proper motions range from 5 mas year −1 at the bright end to 15 mas year −1 at the faint end, for a typical epoch difference of six years. Systematic errors are estimated to be roughly 1 mas year −1 for the Array Camera data, and as much as 2–4 mas year −1 for the 90prime data (though typically less). The catalog also includes a second epoch of r band photometry.

A deep proper motion catalog within the Sloan digital sky survey footprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munn, Jeffrey A.; Harris, Hugh C.; Tilleman, Trudy M. [US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 10391 West Naval Observatory Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86005-8521 (United States); Hippel, Ted von [Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Physical Sciences, 600 South Clyde Morris Boulevard Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900 (United States); Kilic, Mukremin [University of Oklahoma, Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, 440 West Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Liebert, James W. [University of Arizona, Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Williams, Kurtis A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University-Commerce, P.O. Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429 (United States); DeGenarro, Steven [Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1400, Austin, TX 78712-0259 (United States); Jeffery, Elizabeth, E-mail: jam@nofs.navy.mil, E-mail: hch@nofs.navy.mil, E-mail: trudy@nofs.navy.mil, E-mail: ted.vonhippel@erau.edu, E-mail: kilic@ou.edu, E-mail: jamesliebert@gmail.com, E-mail: kurtis.williams@tamuc.edu, E-mail: studiofortytwo@yahoo.com, E-mail: ejeffery@byu.edu [BYU Department of Physics and Astronomy, N283 ESC, Provo, UT 84602 (United States)

2014-12-01

A new proper motion catalog is presented, combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with second epoch observations in the r band within a portion of the SDSS imaging footprint. The new observations were obtained with the 90prime camera on the Steward Observatory Bok 90 inch telescope, and the Array Camera on the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 1.3 m telescope. The catalog covers 1098 square degrees to r = 22.0, an additional 1521 square degrees to r = 20.9, plus a further 488 square degrees of lesser quality data. Statistical errors in the proper motions range from 5 mas year{sup −1} at the bright end to 15 mas year{sup −1} at the faint end, for a typical epoch difference of six years. Systematic errors are estimated to be roughly 1 mas year{sup −1} for the Array Camera data, and as much as 2–4 mas year{sup −1} for the 90prime data (though typically less). The catalog also includes a second epoch of r band photometry.

2013 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2012-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly star maps, diagrams and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to determine when the Sun, Moon and planets will rise and set throughout the year. Also included is information on the latest astronomical findings from space probes and telescopes around the world. The Sky guide has been published annually by the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, since 1991. It is recommended for photogr

Imaging microchannel plate detectors for XUV sky survey experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barstow, M.A.; Fraser, G.W.; Milward, S.R.

1986-01-01

Attention is given to the development of microchannel plate detectors for the Wide Field Camera (WFC) XUV (50-300 A) sky survey experiment on Rosat. A novel feature of the detector design is that the microchannel plates and their resistive anode readout are curved to the same radius as the WFC telescope focal surface. It is shown that curving the channel plates is not detrimental to gain uniformity. The paper describes the design of a curved resistive anode readout element and contrasts the present measurements of spatial resolution, global and local uniformity and temperature coefficient of resistance with the poor performance recently ascribed to resistive anodes in the literature. 18 references

Night sky luminance under clear sky conditions: Theory vs. experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocifaj, Miroslav

2014-01-01

Sky glow is caused by both natural phenomena and factors of anthropogenic origin, and of the latter ground-based light sources are the most important contributors for they emit the spatially linked spectral radiant intensity distribution of artificial light sources, which are further modulated by local atmospheric optics and perceived as the diffuse light of a night sky. In other words, sky glow is closely related to a city's shape and pattern of luminaire distribution, in practical effect an almost arbitrary deployment of random orientation of heterogeneous electrical light sources. Thus the luminance gradation function measured in a suburban zone or near the edges of a city is linked to the City Pattern or vice versa. It is shown that clear sky luminance/radiance data recorded in an urban area can be used to retrieve the bulk luminous/radiant intensity distribution if some a-priori information on atmospheric aerosols is available. For instance, the single scattering albedo of aerosol particles is required under low turbidity conditions, as demonstrated on a targeted experiment in the city of Frýdek-Mistek. One of the main advantages of the retrieval method presented in this paper is that the single scattering approximation is satisfactorily accurate in characterizing the light field near the ground because the dominant contribution to the sky glow has originated from beams propagated along short optical paths. - Highlights: • Urban sky glow is interpreted in terms of city emission function. • Luminance function in a suburban zone is linked to the City Pattern. • Single scattering approximation is applicable in modeling urban sky glow. • Information on aerosols represents valuable inputs to the retrieval procedure. • Sky glow patterns vary with light source distribution and spectral emission

Infrared Sky Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Stephan D.

2009-02-01

A retrospective is given on infrared sky surveys from Thomas Edison’s proposal in the late 1870s to IRAS, the first sensitive mid- to far-infrared all-sky survey, and the mid-1990s experiments that filled in the IRAS deficiencies. The emerging technology for space-based surveys is highlighted, as is the prominent role the US Defense Department, particularly the Air Force, played in developing and applying detector and cryogenic sensor advances to early mid-infrared probe-rocket and satellite-based surveys. This technology was transitioned to the infrared astronomical community in relatively short order and was essential to the success of IRAS, COBE and ISO. Mention is made of several of the little known early observational programs that were superseded by more successful efforts.

Photography in Dermatologic Surgery: Selection of an Appropriate Camera Type for a Particular Clinical Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Brian R; Poon, Emily; Alam, Murad

2017-08-01

Photographs are an essential tool for the documentation and sharing of findings in dermatologic surgery, and various camera types are available. To evaluate the currently available camera types in view of the special functional needs of procedural dermatologists. Mobile phone, point and shoot, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR), digital medium format, and 3-dimensional cameras were compared in terms of their usefulness for dermatologic surgeons. For each camera type, the image quality, as well as the other practical benefits and limitations, were evaluated with reference to a set of ideal camera characteristics. Based on these assessments, recommendations were made regarding the specific clinical circumstances in which each camera type would likely be most useful. Mobile photography may be adequate when ease of use, availability, and accessibility are prioritized. Point and shoot cameras and DSLR cameras provide sufficient resolution for a range of clinical circumstances, while providing the added benefit of portability. Digital medium format cameras offer the highest image quality, with accurate color rendition and greater color depth. Three-dimensional imaging may be optimal for the definition of skin contour. The selection of an optimal camera depends on the context in which it will be used.

Dark Sky Education | CTIO

Science.gov (United States)

Calendar Activities NOAO-S EPO Programs CADIAS Astro Chile Hugo E. Schwarz Telescope Dark Sky Education ‹› You are here CTIO Home » Outreach » NOAO-S EPO Programs » Dark Sky Education Dark Sky Education Dark Sky Education (in progress) Is an EPO Program. It runs Globe at Night, an annual program to

Comparison of low-cost handheld retinal camera and traditional table top retinal camera in the detection of retinal features indicating a risk of cardiovascular disease

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, V.; Wigdahl, J.; Nemeth, S.; Zamora, G.; Ebrahim, E.; Soliz, P.

2018-02-01

Retinal abnormalities associated with hypertensive retinopathy are useful in assessing the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and stroke. Assessing these risks as part of primary care can lead to a decrease in the incidence of cardiovascular disease-related deaths. Primary care is a resource limited setting where low cost retinal cameras may bring needed help without compromising care. We compared a low-cost handheld retinal camera to a traditional table top retinal camera on their optical characteristics and performance to detect hypertensive retinopathy. A retrospective dataset of N=40 subjects (28 with hypertensive retinopathy, 12 controls) was used from a clinical study conducted at a primary care clinic in Texas. Non-mydriatic retinal fundus images were acquired using a Pictor Plus hand held camera (Volk Optical Inc.) and a Canon CR1-Mark II tabletop camera (Canon USA) during the same encounter. The images from each camera were graded by a licensed optometrist according to the universally accepted Keith-Wagener-Barker Hypertensive Retinopathy Classification System, three weeks apart to minimize memory bias. The sensitivity of the hand-held camera to detect any level of hypertensive retinopathy was 86% compared to the Canon. Insufficient photographer's skills produced 70% of the false negative cases. The other 30% were due to the handheld camera's insufficient spatial resolution to resolve the vascular changes such as minor A/V nicking and copper wiring, but these were associated with non-referable disease. Physician evaluation of the performance of the handheld camera indicates it is sufficient to provide high risk patients with adequate follow up and management.

Establishing imaging sensor specifications for digital still cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Kriss, Michael A.

2007-02-01

Digital Still Cameras, DSCs, have now displaced conventional still cameras in most markets. The heart of a DSC is thought to be the imaging sensor, be it Full Frame CCD, and Interline CCD, a CMOS sensor or the newer Foveon buried photodiode sensors. There is a strong tendency by consumers to consider only the number of mega-pixels in a camera and not to consider the overall performance of the imaging system, including sharpness, artifact control, noise, color reproduction, exposure latitude and dynamic range. This paper will provide a systematic method to characterize the physical requirements of an imaging sensor and supporting system components based on the desired usage. The analysis is based on two software programs that determine the "sharpness", potential for artifacts, sensor "photographic speed", dynamic range and exposure latitude based on the physical nature of the imaging optics, sensor characteristics (including size of pixels, sensor architecture, noise characteristics, surface states that cause dark current, quantum efficiency, effective MTF, and the intrinsic full well capacity in terms of electrons per square centimeter). Examples will be given for consumer, pro-consumer, and professional camera systems. Where possible, these results will be compared to imaging system currently on the market.

SkyProbe: Real-Time Precision Monitoring in the Optical of the Absolute Atmospheric Absorption on the Telescope Science and Calibration Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Cuillandre, J.-C.; Magnier, E.; Sabin, D.; Mahoney, B.

2016-05-01

Mauna Kea is known for its pristine seeing conditions but sky transparency can be an issue for science operations since at least 25% of the observable (i.e. open dome) nights are not photometric, an effect mostly due to high-altitude cirrus. Since 2001, the original single channel SkyProbe mounted in parallel on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) has gathered one V-band exposure every minute during each observing night using a small CCD camera offering a very wide field of view (35 sq. deg.) encompassing the region pointed by the telescope for science operations, and exposures long enough (40 seconds) to capture at least 100 stars of Hipparcos' Tycho catalog at high galactic latitudes (and up to 600 stars at low galactic latitudes). The measurement of the true atmospheric absorption is achieved within 2%, a key advantage over all-sky direct thermal infrared imaging detection of clouds. The absolute measurement of the true atmospheric absorption by clouds and particulates affecting the data being gathered by the telescope's main science instrument has proven crucial for decision making in the CFHT queued service observing (QSO) representing today all of the telescope time. Also, science exposures taken in non-photometric conditions are automatically registered for a new observation at a later date at 1/10th of the original exposure time in photometric conditions to ensure a proper final absolute photometric calibration. Photometric standards are observed only when conditions are reported as being perfectly stable by SkyProbe. The more recent dual color system (simultaneous B & V bands) will offer a better characterization of the sky properties above Mauna Kea and should enable a better detection of the thinnest cirrus (absorption down to 0.01 mag., or 1%).

The Python Sky Model: software for simulating the Galactic microwave sky

Science.gov (United States)

Thorne, B.; Dunkley, J.; Alonso, D.; Næss, S.

2017-08-01

We present a numerical code to simulate maps of Galactic emission in intensity and polarization at microwave frequencies, aiding in the design of cosmic microwave background experiments. This python code builds on existing efforts to simulate the sky by providing an easy-to-use interface and is based on publicly available data from the WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) and Planck satellite missions. We simulate synchrotron, thermal dust, free-free and anomalous microwave emission over the whole sky, in addition to the cosmic microwave background, and include a set of alternative prescriptions for the frequency dependence of each component, for example, polarized dust with multiple temperatures and a decorrelation of the signals with frequency, which introduce complexity that is consistent with current data. We also present a new prescription for adding small-scale realizations of these components at resolutions greater than current all-sky measurements. The usefulness of the code is demonstrated by forecasting the impact of varying foreground complexity on the recovered tensor-to-scalar ratio for the LiteBIRD satellite. The code is available at: https://github.com/bthorne93/PySM_public.

Modelling and Display of the Ultraviolet Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Daniels, J.; Henry, R.; Murthy, J.; Allen, M.; McGlynn, T. A.; Scollick, K.

1994-12-01

A computer program is currently under development to model in 3D - one dimension of which is wavelength - all the known and major speculated sources of ultraviolet (900 A - 3100 A ) radiation over the celestial sphere. The software is being written in Fortran 77 and IDL and currently operates under IRIX (the operating system of the Silicon Graphics Iris Machine); all output models are in FITS format. Models along with display software will become available to the astronomical community. The Ultraviolet Sky Model currently includes the Zodiacal Light, Point Sources of Emission, and the Diffuse Galactic Light. The Ultraviolet Sky Model is currently displayed using SkyView: a package under development at NASA/ GSFC, which allows users to retrieve and display publically available all-sky astronomical survey data (covering many wavebands) over the Internet. We present a demonstration of the SkyView display of the Ultraviolet Model. The modelling is a five year development project: the work illustrated here represents product output at the end of year one. Future work includes enhancements to the current models and incorporation of the following models: Galactic Molecular Hydrogen Fluorescence; Galactic Highly Ionized Atomic Line Emission; Integrated Extragalactic Light; and speculated sources in the intergalactic medium such as Ionized Plasma and radiation from Non-Baryonic Particle Decay. We also present a poster which summarizes the components of the Ultraviolet Sky Model and outlines a further package that will be used to display the Ultraviolet Model. This work is supported by United States Air Force Contract F19628-93-K-0004. Dr J. Daniels is supported with a post-doctoral Fellowship from the Leverhulme Foundation, London, United Kingdom. We are also grateful for the encouragement of Dr Stephen Price (Phillips Laboratory, Hanscomb Air Force Base, MA)

PePSS - A portable sky scanner for measuring extremely low night-sky brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Kocifaj, Miroslav; Kómar, Ladislav; Kundracik, František

2018-05-01

A new portable sky scanner designed for low-light-level detection at night is developed and employed in night sky brightness measurements in a rural region. The fast readout, adjustable sensitivity and linear response guaranteed in 5-6 orders of magnitude makes the device well suited for narrow-band photometry in both dark areas and bright urban and suburban environments. Quasi-monochromatic night-sky brightness data are advantageous in the accurate characterization of spectral power distribution of scattered and emitted light and, also allows for the possibility to retrieve light output patterns from whole-city light sources. The sky scanner can operate in both night and day regimes, taking advantage of the complementarity of both radiance data types. Due to its inherent very high sensitivity the photomultiplier tube could be used in night sky radiometry, while the spectrometer-equipped system component capable of detecting elevated intensities is used in daylight monitoring. Daylight is a source of information on atmospheric optical properties that in turn are necessary in processing night sky radiances. We believe that the sky scanner has the potential to revolutionize night-sky monitoring systems.

Spectral and Spatial UV Sky Radiance Measurements at a Seaside Resort Under Clear Sky and Slightly Overcast Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandmann, Henner; Stick, Carsten

2014-01-01

Spatial measurements of the diffusely scattered sky radiance at a seaside resort under clear sky and slightly overcast conditions have been used to calculate the sky radiance distribution across the upper hemisphere. The measurements were done in the summer season when solar UV radiation is highest. The selected wavelengths were 307, 350 and 550 nm representing the UVB, UVA and VIS band. Absolute values of radiance differ considerably between the wavelengths. Normalizing the measured values by use of direct solar radiance made the spatial distributions of unequal sky radiance comparable. The results convey a spatial impression of the different distributions of the radiance at the three wavelengths. Relative scattered radiance intensity is one order of magnitude greater in UVB than in VIS, whereas in UVA lies roughly in between. Under slightly overcast conditions scattered radiance is increased at all three wavelengths by about one order of magnitude. These measurements taken at the seaside underline the importance of diffuse scattered radiance. The effect of shading parts of the sky can be estimated from the distribution of sky radiance. This knowledge might be useful for sun seekers and in the treatment of people staying at the seaside for therapeutic purposes. © 2013 The American Society of Photobiology.

A sampling ultra-high-speed streak camera based on the use of a unique photomultiplier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marode, Emmanuel

An apparatus reproducing the ''streak'' mode of a high-speed camera is proposed for the case of a slit AB whose variations in luminosity are repetitive. A photomultiplier, analysing the object AB point by point, and a still camera, photographing a slit fixed on the oscilloscope screen parallel to the sweep direction are placed on a mobile platform P. The movement of P assures a time-resolved analysis of AB. The resolution is of the order of 2.10 -9 s, and can be improved [fr

THE 37 MONTH MAXI/GSC SOURCE CATALOG OF THE HIGH GALACTIC-LATITUDE SKY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiroi, Kazuo; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Hayashida, Masaaki; Shidatsu, Megumi; Sato, Ryosuke; Kawamuro, Taiki [Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Sugizaki, Mutsumi; Serino, Motoko; Matsuoka, Masaru; Mihara, Tatehiro [Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Nakahira, Satoshi; Tomida, Hiroshi; Ueno, Shiro [ISS Science Project Office, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 2-1-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8505 (Japan); Kawai, Nobuyuki; Morii, Mikio [Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Nakajima, Motoki [School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Nihon University, 2-870-1 Sakaecho-nishi, Matsudo, Chiba 101-8308 (Japan); Negoro, Hitoshi [Department of Physics, Nihon University, 1-8-14 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8308 (Japan); Sakamoto, Takanori [Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama Gakuin University, 5-10-1 Fuchinobe, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5258 (Japan); Tsuboi, Yohko [Department of Physics, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551 (Japan); Tsunemi, Hiroshi, E-mail: hiroi@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043 (Japan); and others

2013-08-15

We present a catalog of high Galactic-latitude (|b| > 10 Degree-Sign ) X-ray sources detected in the first 37 months of data of the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image/Gas Slit Camera (MAXI/GSC). To achieve the best sensitivity, we develop a background model of the GSC that well reproduces the data based on the detailed on-board calibration. Source detection is performed through image fits with a Poisson likelihood algorithm. The catalog contains 500 objects detected with significances of s{sub D,4-10keV} {>=} 7 in the 4-10 keV band. The limiting sensitivity is Almost-Equal-To 7.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} ( Almost-Equal-To 0.6 mCrab) in the 4-10 keV band for 50% of the survey area, which is the highest ever achieved in an all-sky survey mission covering this energy band. We summarize the statistical properties of the catalog and results from cross matching with the Swift/BAT 70 month catalog, the meta-catalog of X-ray detected clusters of galaxies, and the MAXI/GSC 7 month catalog. Our catalog lists the source name (2MAXI), position and its error, detection significances and fluxes in the 4-10 keV and 3-4 keV bands, the hardness ratio, and the basic information of the likely counterpart available for 296 sources.

The GMRT 150 MHz all-sky radio survey. First alternative data release TGSS ADR1

Science.gov (United States)

Intema, H. T.; Jagannathan, P.; Mooley, K. P.; Frail, D. A.

2017-02-01

We present the first full release of a survey of the 150 MHz radio sky, observed with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) between April 2010 and March 2012 as part of the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) project. Aimed at producing a reliable compact source survey, our automated data reduction pipeline efficiently processed more than 2000 h of observations with minimal human interaction. Through application of innovative techniques such as image-based flagging, direction-dependent calibration of ionospheric phase errors, correcting for systematic offsets in antenna pointing, and improving the primary beam model, we created good quality images for over 95 percent of the 5336 pointings. Our data release covers 36 900 deg2 (or 3.6 π steradians) of the sky between -53° and +90° declination (Dec), which is 90 percent of the total sky. The majority of pointing images have a noise level below 5 mJy beam-1 with an approximate resolution of 25''×25'' (or 25''×25''/ cos(Dec-19°) for pointings south of 19° declination). We have produced a catalog of 0.62 Million radio sources derived from an initial, high reliability source extraction at the seven sigma level. For the bulk of the survey, the measured overall astrometric accuracy is better than two arcseconds in right ascension and declination, while the flux density accuracy is estimated at approximately ten percent. Within the scope of the TGSS alternative data release (TGSS ADR) project, the source catalog, as well as 5336 mosaic images (5°×5°) and an image cutout service, are made publicly available at the CDS as a service to the astronomical community. Next to enabling a wide range of different scientific investigations, we anticipate that these survey products will provide a solid reference for various new low-frequency radio aperture array telescopes (LOFAR, LWA, MWA, SKA-low), and can play an important role in characterizing the epoch-of-reionisation (EoR) foreground. The TGSS ADR project aims at

Transcultural, Resistant, Everyday: New Photographic Histories of China and Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shana J. Brown

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Luke Gartlan and Roberta Wue, eds. Portraiture and Early Studio Photography in China and Japan. New York: Routledge, 2017. 252 pp. $150 (cloth. David Odo. The Journey of “A Good Type”: From Artistry to Ethnography in Early Japanese Studies. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum Press, Harvard University, 2015. 144 pp. $45 (cloth. Kerry Ross. Photography for Everyone: The Cultural Lives of Cameras and Consumers in Early Twentieth-Century Japan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2015. 256 pp. $85.00 (cloth, $25 (paper/e-book. These three books shed light on how much there is to celebrate in the trajectory from the Western-dominated photography of the mid-nineteenth century to the much more diffuse, diverse, and democratized photography of the twentieth. Not all photographers, or photographs, are benign. Just because an image is more similar to a selfie than an ethnographic type does not eliminate the potential for abuse. But few technologies have tied the world together so closely in our ability to imagine ourselves in affirming ways, as well as to preserve and complement others. Despite very dark chapters in the technology’s past, sometimes we take pictures because we like what we see...

Observations of the Perseids 2013 using SPOSH cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Margonis, A.; Elgner, S.; Christou, A.; Oberst, J.; Flohrer, J.

2013-09-01

Earth is constantly bombard by debris, most of which disintegrates in the upper atmosphere. The collision of a dust particle, having a mass of approximately 1g or larger, with the Earth's atmosphere results into a visible streak of light in the night sky, called meteor. Comets produce new meteoroids each time they come close to the Sun due to sublimation processes. These fresh particles are moving around the Sun in orbits similar to their parent comet forming meteoroid streams. For this reason, the intersection of Earth's orbital path with different comets, gives rise to anumber of meteor showers throughout the year. The Perseids are one of the most prominent annual meteor showers occurring every summer, having its origin in Halley-type comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The dense core of this stream passes Earth's orbit on the 12th of August when more than 100 meteors per hour can been seen by a single observer under ideal conditions. The Technical University of Berlin (TUB) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) together with the Armagh observatory organize meteor campaigns every summer observing the activity of the Perseids meteor shower. The observations are carried out using the Smart Panoramic Optical Sensor Head (SPOSH) camera system [2] which has been developed by DLR and Jena-Optronik GmbH under an ESA/ESTEC contract. The camera was designed to image faint, short-lived phenomena on dark planetary hemispheres. The camera is equipped with a highly sensitive back-illuminated CCD chip having a pixel resolution of 1024x1024. The custom-made fish-eye lens offers a 120°x120° field-of-view (168° over the diagonal) making the monitoring of nearly the whole night sky possible (Fig. 1). This year the observations will take place between 3rd and 10th of August to cover the meteor activity of the Perseids just before their maximum. The SPOSH cameras will be deployed at two remote sites located in high altitudes in the Greek Peloponnese peninsula. The baseline of ∼50km

Construction of tomographic head model using sectioned photographic images of cadaver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Choon Sik; Lee, Jai Ki; Park, Jin Seo; Chung, Min Suk

2004-01-01

Tomographic models are currently the most complete, developed and realistic models of the human anatomy. They have been used to estimate organ doses for diagnostic radiation examination and radiotherapy treatment planning, and radiation protection. The quality of original anatomic images is a key factor to build a quality tomographic model. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, from which most of current tomographic models are constructed, have their inherent shortcomings. In this study, a tomographic model of Korean adult male head was constructed by using serially sectioned photographs of cadaver. The cadaver was embedded, frozen, serially sectioned and photographed by high resolution digital camera at 0.2 mm interval. The contours of organs and tissues in photographs were segmented by several trained anatomists. The 120 segmented images of head at 2mm interval were converted into binary files and ported into Monte Carlo code to perform an example calculation of organ dose. Whole body tomographic model will be constructed by using the procedure developed in this study

The Sky at Night

CERN Document Server

Moore, Patrick

2010-01-01

For more than 50 years now Sir Patrick Moore has presented the BBC Television series Sky at Night; not a month has been missed – a record for any television series, and a record which may never be broken. Every three years or so a book is published covering the main events in both astronomy and space research. This is the 13th volume, not only a record of the programmes but also of the great advances and discoveries during the period covered - eclipses, comets, and the strange chemical lakes of Titan, for instance, but also anniversaries such as the fifteenth “birthday” of the Hubble Space Telescope, and not forgetting the programme celebrating the Sky at Night’s 50th year, attended by astronaut Piers Sellars and many others who appeared on the programme over the years. All the chapters are self-contained, and fully illustrated. In this new Sky at Night book you will find much to entertain you. It will appeal to amateurs and professionals alike.

Photosynthetically-active radiation: sky radiance distributions under clear and overcast conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grant, R.H.; Heisler, G.M.; Gao, W.

1996-01-01

The photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), defined as the wavelength band of 0.400 μm to 0.700 μm, represents most of the visible solar radiation. Although the proportion of global irradiance that originates from diffuse sky radiation is higher for PAR than for all solar shortwave radiation, it is often assumed that the PAR diffuse sky radiation is distributed identically to that of all shortwave solar radiation. This assumption has not been tested. PAR sky radiance measurements were made in a rural area over a wide range of solar zenith angles. The distribution of PAR sky radiance was modeled using physically-based, non-linear equations.For clear skies, the normalized sky radiance distribution (N) was best modeled using the scattering angle (ψ) and the zenith position in the sky (Θ) as N (Θ, ψ) = 0.0361 [6.3 + (1 + cos 2 Θ / (1 - cos ψ)] [1-e -0.31 sec ( Θ]. The angle Ψ is defined by cos ψ = cos Θ cos Θ * + sin Θ sin Θ * cos Φ, where solar zenith angle is Θ* and the difference in azimuth between the sun and the position in the sky is Φ. Modeling of the overcast sky depended on the visibility of the solar disk. The translucent middle/high cloud overcast conditions (cloud base greater than 300 m above ground level) were best modeled as: N(Θ∗, ψ) = 0.149 + 0.084Θ∗ + 1.305e −2.5ψ while the translucent low cloud overcast conditions (cloud base less than 300 m above ground level) were best modeled as: N(Θ∗, ψ) = 0.080 + 0.058Θ∗ + 0.652e −2.1ψ . The obscured overcast sky condition (solar disk obscured) was best modeled as: N(Θ) = 0.441 [1 + 4.6cos Θ] /[1 + 4.6]. The unit of N for all equations is π Sr −1 , so that integration of each function over the sky hemisphere yields 1.0.These equations can be applied directly to the sky diffuse irradiance on the horizontal, I diff , to provide radiance distributions for the sky. Estimates of actual sky radiance distribution can be estimated from N a (Θ, ψ) = I diff N(Θ, �

Sky Detection in Hazy Image.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yingchao; Luo, Haibo; Ma, Junkai; Hui, Bin; Chang, Zheng

2018-04-01

Sky detection plays an essential role in various computer vision applications. Most existing sky detection approaches, being trained on ideal dataset, may lose efficacy when facing unfavorable conditions like the effects of weather and lighting conditions. In this paper, a novel algorithm for sky detection in hazy images is proposed from the perspective of probing the density of haze. We address the problem by an image segmentation and a region-level classification. To characterize the sky of hazy scenes, we unprecedentedly introduce several haze-relevant features that reflect the perceptual hazy density and the scene depth. Based on these features, the sky is separated by two imbalance SVM classifiers and a similarity measurement. Moreover, a sky dataset (named HazySky) with 500 annotated hazy images is built for model training and performance evaluation. To evaluate the performance of our method, we conducted extensive experiments both on our HazySky dataset and the SkyFinder dataset. The results demonstrate that our method performs better on the detection accuracy than previous methods, not only under hazy scenes, but also under other weather conditions.

"CANDID CAMERA?" (FROM THE PRESENCE AND USES OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IN SOME CONTEMPORANEOUS PORTUGUESE POETRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Alexandre Pereira

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This article aims to examine the presence and functions of the photographic paradigm in some Portuguese contemporary poetry, so as to shed some light both on its thematic diversity and on the strategies of poetic composition encompassed by it.

Development of digital shade guides for color assessment using a digital camera with ring flashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, Oi-Hong; Lai, Yu-Lin; Ho, Yi-Ching; Chou, I-Chiang; Lee, Shyh-Yuan

2011-02-01

Digital photographs taken with cameras and ring flashes are commonly used for dental documentation. We hypothesized that different illuminants and camera's white balance setups shall influence color rendering of digital images and affect the effectiveness of color matching using digital images. Fifteen ceramic disks of different shades were fabricated and photographed with a digital camera in both automatic white balance (AWB) and custom white balance (CWB) under either light-emitting diode (LED) or electronic ring flash. The Commission Internationale d'Éclairage L*a*b* parameters of the captured images were derived from Photoshop software and served as digital shade guides. We found significantly high correlation coefficients (r² > 0.96) between the respective spectrophotometer standards and those shade guides generated in CWB setups. Moreover, the accuracy of color matching of another set of ceramic disks using digital shade guides, which was verified by ten operators, improved from 67% in AWB to 93% in CWB under LED illuminants. Probably, because of the inconsistent performance of the flashlight and specular reflection, the digital images captured under electronic ring flash in both white balance setups revealed less reliable and relative low-matching ability. In conclusion, the reliability of color matching with digital images is much influenced by the illuminants and camera's white balance setups, while digital shade guides derived under LED illuminants with CWB demonstrate applicable potential in the fields of color assessments.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey COADD: 275 deg2 of deep Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging on stripe 82

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Annis, James; Soares-Santos, Marcelle; Dodelson, Scott; Hao, Jiangang; Jester, Sebastian; Johnston, David E.; Kubo, Jeffrey M.; Lampeitl, Hubert; Lin, Huan; Miknaitis, Gajus; Yanny, Brian; Strauss, Michael A.; Gunn, James E.; Lupton, Robert H.; Becker, Andrew C.; Ivezić, Željko; Fan, Xiaohui; Jiang, Linhua; Seo, Hee-Jong; Simet, Melanie

2014-01-01

We present details of the construction and characterization of the coaddition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 ugriz imaging data. This survey consists of 275 deg 2 of repeated scanning by the SDSS camera over –50° ≤ α ≤ 60° and –1.°25 ≤ δ ≤ +1.°25 centered on the Celestial Equator. Each piece of sky has ∼20 runs contributing and thus reaches ∼2 mag fainter than the SDSS single pass data, i.e., to r ∼ 23.5 for galaxies. We discuss the image processing of the coaddition, the modeling of the point-spread function (PSF), the calibration, and the production of standard SDSS catalogs. The data have an r-band median seeing of 1.''1 and are calibrated to ≤1%. Star color-color, number counts, and PSF size versus modeled size plots show that the modeling of the PSF is good enough for precision five-band photometry. Structure in the PSF model versus magnitude plot indicates minor PSF modeling errors, leading to misclassification of stars as galaxies, as verified using VVDS spectroscopy. There are a variety of uses for this wide-angle deep imaging data, including galactic structure, photometric redshift computation, cluster finding and cross wavelength measurements, weak lensing cluster mass calibrations, and cosmic shear measurements.

The Innisfree meteorite fall - A photographic analysis of fragmentation, dynamics and luminosity

Science.gov (United States)

Halliday, I.; Griffin, A. A.; Blackwell, A. T.

1981-06-01

The Innisfree meteorite was the third fall for which accurate orbital data were secured from a camera network. Nine fragments were found within three months of the fall with a total mass of 4.58 kg. The ellipse of fall is unusually small because of the steep path in the atmosphere. The photograph from the Vegreville station reveals six trails below 26 km and these are correlated with the six main fragments, all with masses in excess of 300 g. A photometric study indicates that Innisfree had a peak absolute magnitude Mpan = - 12.1 at a height of 36 km. The recovered meteorites provide known masses for the late stages of the photographic trails which, combined with dynamical data, allow luminous efficiencies to be derived with unusual confidence. Late in the flight where shock wave effects dominate ablation, luminous efficiencies vary from 3 × 10-5 to 5 × 10-2 velocities between 3 and 10 km 1 and masses from 0.3 to 2.0 kg. The mean luminous efficiency for the entire flight is estimated between 4 × 10-2 and 8 × 10-2.

Influence of seabed topography on the distribution of manganese nodules and associated features in the Central Indian Basin: A study based on photographic observations

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sharma, R.; Kodagali, V.N.

, intermedi- ate=4-10 cm, thick= > l0 cm), from the impact of the camera triggerweight as observed in the photographs. The relative abundance (R), i.e. the ratio of nodule abundance from the photographs tO that of grabs at the same location was estimated... was made from seabed photographs at 1034 locations. The single beam echosounding data were col- lected using hull-mounted transducers, operated at 3.5 and 12 kHz. Positional data was obtained from the dual channel satellite navigation system...

3D PHOTOGRAPHS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Schuhr

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper on providing "oo-information" (= objective object-information on cultural monuments and sites, based on 3D photographs is also a contribution of CIPA task group 3 to the 2013 CIPA Symposium in Strasbourg. To stimulate the interest in 3D photography for scientists as well as for amateurs, 3D-Masterpieces are presented. Exemplary it is shown, due to their high documentary value ("near reality", 3D photography support, e.g. the recording, the visualization, the interpretation, the preservation and the restoration of architectural and archaeological objects. This also includes samples for excavation documentation, 3D coordinate calculation, 3D photographs applied for virtual museum purposes and as educational tools. In addition 3D photography is used for virtual museum purposes, as well as an educational tool and for spatial structure enhancement, which in particular holds for inscriptions and in rock arts. This paper is also an invitation to participate in a systematic survey on existing international archives of 3D photographs. In this respect it is also reported on first results, to define an optimum digitization rate for analog stereo views. It is more than overdue, in addition to the access to international archives for 3D photography, the available 3D photography data should appear in a global GIS(cloud-system, like on, e.g., google earth. This contribution also deals with exposing new 3D photographs to document monuments of importance for Cultural Heritage, including the use of 3D and single lense cameras from a 10m telescope staff, to be used for extremely low earth based airborne 3D photography, as well as for "underwater staff photography". In addition it is reported on the use of captive balloon and drone platforms for 3D photography in Cultural Heritage. It is liked to emphasize, the still underestimated 3D effect on real objects even allows, e.g., the spatial perception of extremely small scratches as well as of nuances in

An accuracy assessment of an empirical sine model, a novel sine model and an artificial neural network model for forecasting illuminance/irradiance on horizontal plane of all sky types at Mahasarakham, Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pattanasethanon, Singthong; Lertsatitthanakorn, Charoenporn; Atthajariyakul, Surat; Soponronnarit, Somchart

2008-01-01

The results of a study on all sky modeling and forecasting daylight availability for the tropical climate found in the central region of the northeastern part of Thailand (16 deg. 14' N, 103 deg. 15' E) is presented. The required components of sky quantities, namely, global and diffuse horizontal irradiance and global horizontal illuminance for saving energy used in buildings are estimated. The empirical sinusoidal models are validated. A and B values of the empirical sinusoidal model for all sky conditions are determined and developed to become a form of the sky conditions. In addition, a novel sinusoidal model, which consists of polynomial or exponential functions, is validated. A and B values of the empirical sinusoidal model for all sky conditions are determined and developed to become a new function in the polynomial or exponential form of the sky conditions. Novelettes, an artificial intelligent agent, namely, artificial neural network (ANN) model is also identified. Back propagation learning algorithms were used in the networks. Moreover, a one year data set and a next half year data set were used in order to train and test the neural network, respectively. Observation results from one year's round data indicate that luminosity and energy from the sky on horizontal in the area around Mahasarakham are frequently brighter than those of Bangkok. The accuracy of the validated model is determined in terms of the mean bias deviation (MBD), the root-mean-square-deviation (RMSD) and the coefficient of correlation (R 2 ) values. A comparison of the estimated solar irradiation values and the observed values revealed a small error slide in the empirical sinusoidal model as well. In addition, some results of the sky quantity forecast by the ANN model indicate that the ANN model is more accurate than the empirical models and the novel sinusoidal models. This study confirms the ability of the ANN to predict highly accurate solar radiance/illuminance values. We believe

The Mythology of the Night Sky

Science.gov (United States)

Falkner, David E.

The word "planet" comes from the Latin word planeta and the Greek word planes, which means "wanderer." When the ancient Greeks studied the night sky they noticed that most of the stars remained in the same position relative to all the other stars, but a few stars seem to move in the sky from day to day, week to week, and month to month. The Greeks called these rogue stars "wanderers" because they wandered through the starry background.

Educating for the Preservation of Dark Skies

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Sandra Lee; Cianciolo, Frank; Wetzel, Marc; Finkelstein, Keely; Wren, William; Nance, Craig

2015-08-01

The stars at night really are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. Each year 80,000 visitors from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the Observatory to attend one of the three-times-a-week star parties. Many experience, for the first time, the humbling, splendor of a truly dark night sky. Over the last several years, the Observatory has experienced dramatic increases in visitation demonstrating the public’s appetite for science education, in general, and interest in the night sky, in particular. This increasing interest in astronomy is, ironically, occurring at a time when most of humanity’s skies are becoming increasingly light-polluted frustrating this natural interest. Dark skies and knowledgeable education and outreach staff are an important resource in maintaining the public’s interest in astronomy, support for astronomical research, and local tourism.This year Observatory educators were inspired by the observance of the International Year of Light to promote healthy outdoor lighting through its popular Astronomy Day distance learning program. This program reaches tens of thousands of K-12 students in Texas and other states with a message of how they can take action to preserve dark skies. As well, more than a thousand Boy Scouts visiting during the summer months receive a special program, which includes activities focusing on good lighting practices, thereby earning them credits toward an astronomy badge.The Observatory also offers a half-a-dozen K-12 teacher professional development workshops onsite each year, which provide about 90 teachers with dark skies information, best-practice lighting demonstrations, and red flashlights. Multi-year workshops for National Park and State of Texas Parks personnel are offered on dark sky preservation and sky interpretation at McDonald and a Dark Skies fund for retrofitting lights in the surrounding area has been established. The Observatory also uses

Role of the Economic Commission for Africa as a principal investigator in the metric camera experiment and reports of the result of the assessment for topographic and revision of maps in populated and developed areas of the world

Science.gov (United States)

Olujohungbe, O.

1985-04-01

Spacelab metric camera photographs of the irrigation areas of the Al Gezira region of Sudan were used to assess the feasibility of using the camera for map revision and making in Africa. Results confirm the high resolution of the images, particularly details registered in the infrared, favorable for observation and identification of features, and rapid stereoplotting from space photographs for topographic and small scale mapping.

36 CFR 702.4 - Photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 702.4 Parks, Forests, and Public Property LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONDUCT ON LIBRARY PREMISES § 702.4 Photographs. (a) The policy set out herein applies to all individuals who are photographing Library of... conditions may include provision for a fee for services rendered consistent with the Library's policies and...

Art with an iPhone a photographer's guide to creating altered realities

CERN Document Server

Sloma, Kat

2015-01-01

iPhone boasts a powerful and highly capable camera that is always at the ready, allowing you to document the people, places, and things that surround you. Kat Sloma teaches you how to harness natural light, both indoors and out, to create high-quality images—and then she details some of the amazing, inexpensive, and powerful apps that can be used to finesse every aspect of the image—from capture to output. You'll learn how to choose and use apps that mimic the controls offered on professional-level cameras to take control over focus and exposure. You'll also discover apps that boost your camera's resolution, improve stability, and more. Of course, you'll also delve into the myriad apps on the market that will allow you to manipulate color and contrast, add special effects, and implement image-editing strategies that were once the exclusive domain of professional editing programs aimed at serious professional photographers and graphic designers.

Black-and-white photographic chemistry: A reference

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, E. D. (Compiler)

1986-01-01

This work is intended as a reference of black-and-white photographic chemistry. Included is a basic history of the photographic processes and a complete description of all chemicals used, formulas for the development and fixation process, and associated formulas such as cleaners, hardeners, and toners. The work contains a complete glossary of photographic terms, a trouble-shooting section listing causes and effects regarding photographic film and papers, and various conversion charts.

Remote diagnosis of traumatic dental injuries using digital photographs captured via a mobile phone.

Science.gov (United States)

de Almeida Geraldino, Rogério; Rezende, Liliana Vicente Melo de Lucas; da-Silva, Cibele Queiroz; Almeida, Júlio César Franco

2017-10-01

Intra-oral photographs have been aided diagnosis of several pathologies in teledentistry. Mobile phone cameras may produce high-quality photographs, presenting itself as a viable tool for remote diagnosis of traumatic dental injuries. To evaluate the levels of interexaminer agreement in cases of traumatic dental injuries when comparing diagnoses conducted in person and remotely. The sample included 40 patients with 73 traumatized teeth, and a total of 90 diagnoses, who had presented to two dental clinics, one private, and the other public, in Brazil's Federal District. The dental history and clinical examination data were registered in electronic forms, and digital photographs were captured with a mobile phone camera and uploaded to a cloud drive. Six remote examiners formulated their diagnoses based solely on photographic analysis. Thereafter, they were provided with additional clinical data and asked to provide a second round of diagnoses. These diagnoses were compared to those conducted in person, which were considered the gold standard. The data were analyzed with Gwet's AC1 interexaminers' measure to evaluate the agreement between the in-surgery and remote diagnoses. The levels of interexaminer agreement between the in-surgery and remote diagnoses formulated exclusively with images were 0.83 or higher (95% confidence interval: 0.73-0.91), and 0.93 or higher (95% confidence interval: 0.88-0.97), when clinical information was available. The precision of the remote diagnoses was comparable to the diagnoses conducted in person. The levels of interexaminer agreement were higher when clinical data were included with the images. Mobile phones may be an effective tool for capturing images that assist in the remote diagnosis of traumatic dental injuries. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dwarfs Cooler Than M: The Definition of Spectral Type L Using Discoveries from the 2-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkpatrick, J.; Reid, I.; Liebert, J.; Cutri, R.; Nelson, B.; Beichman, C.; Dahn, C.; Monet, D.; Gizis, J.; Skrutskie, M.

1998-01-01

Before the 2-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) began, only six objects were known with spectral types later than M9.5 V. In the first 371 sq. deg. of actual 2MASS survey data, we have identified another twenty such objects spectroscopically confirmed using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (LRIS) at the W.M. Keck Observatory.

BANYAN. V. A SYSTEMATIC ALL-SKY SURVEY FOR NEW VERY LATE-TYPE LOW-MASS STARS AND BROWN DWARFS IN NEARBY YOUNG MOVING GROUPS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gagné, Jonathan; Lafrenière, David; Doyon, René; Malo, Lison; Artigau, Étienne [Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada)

2015-01-10

We present the BANYAN All-Sky Survey (BASS) catalog, consisting of 228 new late-type (M4-L6) candidate members of nearby young moving groups (YMGs) with an expected false-positive rate of ∼13%. This sample includes 79 new candidate young brown dwarfs and 22 planetary-mass objects. These candidates were identified through the first systematic all-sky survey for late-type low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in YMGs. We cross-matched the Two Micron All Sky Survey and AllWISE catalogs outside of the galactic plane to build a sample of 98,970 potential ≥M5 dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and calculated their proper motions with typical precisions of 5-15 mas yr{sup –1}. We selected highly probable candidate members of several YMGs from this sample using the Bayesian Analysis for Nearby Young AssociatioNs II tool (BANYAN II). We used the most probable statistical distances inferred from BANYAN II to estimate the spectral type and mass of these candidate YMG members. We used this unique sample to show tentative signs of mass segregation in the AB Doradus moving group and the Tucana-Horologium and Columba associations. The BASS sample has already been successful in identifying several new young brown dwarfs in earlier publications, and will be of great interest in studying the initial mass function of YMGs and for the search of exoplanets by direct imaging; the input sample of potential close-by ≥M5 dwarfs will be useful to study the kinematics of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs and search for new proper motion pairs.

Polarization optics of the Brewster's dark patch visible on water surfaces versus solar height and sky conditions: theory, computer modeling, photography, and painting.

Science.gov (United States)

Takács, Péter; Barta, András; Pye, David; Horváth, Gábor

2017-10-20

When the sun is near the horizon, a circular band with approximately vertically polarized skylight is formed at 90° from the sun, and this skylight is only weakly reflected from the region of the water surface around the Brewster's angle (53° from the nadir). Thus, at low solar heights under a clear sky, an extended dark patch is visible on the water surface when one looks toward the north or south quarter perpendicular to the solar vertical. In this work, we study the radiance distribution of this so-called Brewster's dark patch (BDP) in still water as functions of the solar height and sky conditions. We calculate the pattern of reflectivity R of a water surface for a clear sky and obtain from this idealized situation the shape of the BDP. From three full-sky polarimetric pictures taken about a clear, a partly cloudy, and an overcast sky, we determine the R pattern and compose from that synthetic color pictures showing how the radiance distribution of skylight reflected at the water surface and the BDPs would look under these sky conditions. We also present photographs taken without a linearly polarizing filter about the BDP. Finally, we show a 19th century painting on which a river is seen with a dark region of the water surface, which can be interpreted as an artistic illustration of the BDP.

Making Ceramic Cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Squibb, Matt

2009-01-01

This article describes how to make a clay camera. This idea of creating functional cameras from clay allows students to experience ceramics, photography, and painting all in one unit. (Contains 1 resource and 3 online resources.)

SURVEYING THE DYNAMIC RADIO SKY WITH THE LONG WAVELENGTH DEMONSTRATOR ARRAY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazio, T. Joseph W.; Clarke, Tracy E.; Lane, W. M.; Gross, C.; Kassim, N. E.; Hicks, B.; Polisensky, E.; Stewart, K.; Ray, P. S.; Wood, D.; York, J. A.; Kerkhoff, A.; Dalal, N. Paravastu; Cohen, A. S.; Erickson, W. C.

2010-01-01

This paper presents a search for radio transients at a frequency of 73.8 MHz (4 m wavelength) using the all-sky imaging capabilities of the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array (LWDA). The LWDA was a 16-dipole phased array telescope, located on the site of the Very Large Array in New Mexico. The field of view of the individual dipoles was essentially the entire sky, and the number of dipoles was sufficiently small that a simple software correlator could be used to make all-sky images. From 2006 October to 2007 February, we conducted an all-sky transient search program, acquiring a total of 106 hr of data; the time sampling varied, being 5 minutes at the start of the program and improving to 2 minutes by the end of the program. We were able to detect solar flares, and in a special-purpose mode, radio reflections from ionized meteor trails during the 2006 Leonid meteor shower. We detected no transients originating outside of the solar system above a flux density limit of 500 Jy, equivalent to a limit of no more than about 10 -2 events yr -1 deg -2 , having a pulse energy density ∼>1.5 x 10 -20 J m -2 Hz -1 at 73.8 MHz for pulse widths of about 300 s. This event rate is comparable to that determined from previous all-sky transient searches, but at a lower frequency than most previous all-sky searches. We believe that the LWDA illustrates how an all-sky imaging mode could be a useful operational model for low-frequency instruments such as the Low Frequency Array, the Long Wavelength Array station, the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array, and potentially the Lunar Radio Array.

Failure of anthropometry as a facial identification technique using high-quality photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinberg, Krista F; Vanezis, Peter; Burton, A Mike

2007-07-01

Anthropometry can be used in certain circumstances to facilitate comparison of a photograph of a suspect with that of the potential offender from surveillance footage. Experimental research was conducted to determine whether anthropometry has a place in forensic practice in confirming the identity of a suspect from a surveillance video. We examined an existing database of photographic lineups, where one video image was compared against 10 photographs, which has previously been used in psychological research. Target (1) and test (10) photos were of high quality, although taken with a different camera. The anthropometric landmarks of right and left ectocanthions, nasion, and stomion were chosen, and proportions and angle values between these landmarks were measured to compare target with test photos. Results indicate that these measurements failed to accurately identify targets. There was also no indication that any of the landmarks made a better comparison than another. It was concluded that, for these landmarks, this method does not generate the consistent results necessary for use as evidence in a court of law.

Development of ultra high speed photographic system using high repetition rate visible laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Min; Cha, Byung Hun; Kim, Sung Ho; Kim, Jung Bog; Lim, Chang Hwan; Cha, Hyung Ki; Song, Kyu Seok; Lee, Byung Deok; Rhi, Jong Hoon; Baik, Dae Hyun; Han, Jae Min; Rho, Si Pyo; Lee, Byung Cheol; Jeong, Do Yung; Choi, An Seong; Jeong, Chan Ik; Park, Dae Ung; Jeong, Sung Min; Lee, Sang Kil; Kim, Heon Jun; Jang, Rae gak; Jo, Do Hun; Park, Min Young

1992-12-01

The goal of this project is to develop and commercialize a high speed photographic system equipped with a high repetition rate visible laser. The developed system provides the characteristics of high time resolution and large number of frames. The system consists of 10 W air cooled CVL or a 30 W water cooled CVL, a rotating drum-type high speed camera with the framing rate of 35,000 fps, and a automatic control device. The system has the performance of 10 nsec time resolution, 35,000 fps framing rate, and 250 picture frames. The high speed photographic systems are widely applied to the fields such as high-efficient engine development, high-speed vibration analysis, shock wave propagation study, flow visualization analysis, weapon development, etc. (Author)

A practical application of photogrammetry to performing rib characterization measurements in an underground coal mine using a DSLR camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Slaker, Brent A; Mohamed, Khaled M

2017-01-01

Understanding coal mine rib behavior is important for inferring pillar loading conditions as well as ensuring the safety of miners who are regularly exposed to ribs. Due to the variability in the geometry of underground openings and ground behavior, point measurements often fail to capture the true movement of mine workings. Photogrammetry is a potentially fast, cheap, and precise supplemental measurement tool in comparison to extensometers, tape measures, or laser range meters, but its application in underground coal has been limited. The practical use of photogrammetry was tested at the Safety Research Coal Mine, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A commercially available, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera was used to perform the photogrammetric surveys for the experiment. Several experiments were performed using different lighting conditions, distances to subject, camera settings, and photograph overlaps, with results summarized as follows: the lighting method was found to be insignificant if the scene was appropriately illuminated. It was found that the distance to the subject has a minimal impact on result accuracy, and that camera settings have a significant impact on the photogrammetric quality of images. An increasing photograph resolution was preferable when measuring plane orientations; otherwise a high point cloud density would likely be excessive. Focal ratio (F-stop) changes affect the depth of field and image quality in situations where multiple angles are necessary to survey cleat orientations. Photograph overlap is very important to proper three-dimensional reconstruction, and at least 60% overlap between photograph pairs is ideal to avoid unnecessary post-processing. The suggestions and guidelines proposed are designed to increase the quality of photogrammetry inputs and outputs as well as minimize processing time, and serve as a starting point for an underground coal photogrammetry study.

A luminescence imaging system based on a CCD camera

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duller, G.A.T.; Bøtter-Jensen, L.; Markey, B.G.

1997-01-01

Stimulated luminescence arising from naturally occurring minerals is likely to be spatially heterogeneous. Standard luminescence detection systems are unable to resolve this variability. Several research groups have attempted to use imaging photon detectors, or image intensifiers linked...... to photographic systems, in order to obtain spatially resolved data. However, the former option is extremely expensive and it is difficult to obtain quantitative data from the latter. This paper describes the use of a CCD camera for imaging both thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence. The system...

Measuring past glacier fluctuations from historic photographs geolocated using Structure from Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Vargo, L.; Anderson, B.; Horgan, H. J.; Mackintosh, A.; Lorrey, A.; Thornton, M.

2017-12-01

Quantifying glacier fluctuations is important for understanding how the cryosphere responds to climate variability and change. Photographs of past ice extents have become iconic images of climate change, but until now incorporating these images into quantitative estimates of glacier change has been problematic. We present a new method to quantitatively measure past glacier fluctuations from historic images. The method uses a large set of modern geolocated photographs and Structure from Motion (SfM) to calculate the camera parameters for the historic images, including the location from which they were taken. We initially apply this method to a small maritime New Zealand glacier (Brewster Glacier, 44°S, 2 km2), and quantify annual equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) and length changes from historic oblique aerial photographs (1981 - 2017). Results show that Brewster has retreated 364 ± 12 m since 1981 and, using independent field measurements of terminus positions (2005 - 2014), we show that this SfM-derived length record accurately captures glacier change. We calculate the uncertainties associated with this method using known coordinates of bedrock features surrounding the glacier. Mean uncertainties in the ELA and length records are 7 m and 11 m, respectively. In addition to Brewster, 49 other New Zealand glaciers have been monitored by aerial photographs since 1978. However, the length records for these glaciers only include years of relative advance or retreat, and no length changes have been quantified. We will ultimately apply this method to all 50 glaciers, expanding the database of New Zealand glacier fluctuations that until now included only a few glaciers. This method can be further applied to any glacier with historic images, and can be used to measure past changes in glacier width, area, and surface elevation in addition to ELA and length.

A hierarchical model for estimating density in camera-trap studies

Science.gov (United States)

Royle, J. Andrew; Nichols, James D.; Karanth, K.Ullas; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M.

2009-01-01

Estimating animal density using capture–recapture data from arrays of detection devices such as camera traps has been problematic due to the movement of individuals and heterogeneity in capture probability among them induced by differential exposure to trapping.We develop a spatial capture–recapture model for estimating density from camera-trapping data which contains explicit models for the spatial point process governing the distribution of individuals and their exposure to and detection by traps.We adopt a Bayesian approach to analysis of the hierarchical model using the technique of data augmentation.The model is applied to photographic capture–recapture data on tigers Panthera tigris in Nagarahole reserve, India. Using this model, we estimate the density of tigers to be 14·3 animals per 100 km2 during 2004.Synthesis and applications. Our modelling framework largely overcomes several weaknesses in conventional approaches to the estimation of animal density from trap arrays. It effectively deals with key problems such as individual heterogeneity in capture probabilities, movement of traps, presence of potential ‘holes’ in the array and ad hoc estimation of sample area. The formulation, thus, greatly enhances flexibility in the conduct of field surveys as well as in the analysis of data, from studies that may involve physical, photographic or DNA-based ‘captures’ of individual animals.

The pre-launch Planck Sky Model: a model of sky emission at submillimetre to centimetre wavelengths

CERN Document Server

Delabrouille, J.; Melin, J.-B.; Miville-Deschenes, M.-A.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Jeune, M.Le; Castex, G.; de Zotti, G.; Basak, S.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bouchet, F.R.; Clements, D.L.; da Silva, A.; Dickinson, C.; Dodu, F.; Dolag, K.; Elsner, F.; Fauvet, L.; Fay, G.; Giardino, G.; Leach, S.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Massardi, M.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; Montier, L.; Mottet, S.; Paladini, R.; Partridge, B.; Piffaretti, R.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Ricciardi, S.; Roman, M.; Schaefer, B.; Toffolatti, L.

2012-01-01

We present the Planck Sky Model (PSM), a parametric model for the generation of all-sky, few arcminute resolution maps of sky emission at submillimetre to centimetre wavelengths, in both intensity and polarisation. Several options are implemented to model the cosmic microwave background, Galactic diffuse emission (synchrotron, free-free, thermal and spinning dust, CO lines), Galactic H-II regions, extragalactic radio sources, dusty galaxies, and thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich signals from clusters of galaxies. Each component is simulated by means of educated interpolations/extrapolations of data sets available at the time of the launch of the Planck mission, complemented by state-of-the-art models of the emission. Distinctive features of the simulations are: spatially varying spectral properties of synchrotron and dust; different spectral parameters for each point source; modeling of the clustering properties of extragalactic sources and of the power spectrum of fluctuations in the cosmic infrared back...

Sky coverage modeling for the whole sky for laser guide star multiconjugate adaptive optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lianqi; Andersen, David; Ellerbroek, Brent

2012-06-01

The scientific productivity of laser guide star adaptive optics systems strongly depends on the sky coverage, which describes the probability of finding natural guide stars for the tip/tilt wavefront sensor(s) to achieve a certain performance. Knowledge of the sky coverage is also important for astronomers planning their observations. In this paper, we present an efficient method to compute the sky coverage for the laser guide star multiconjugate adaptive optics system, the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS), being designed for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. We show that NFIRAOS can achieve more than 70% sky coverage over most of the accessible sky with the requirement of 191 nm total rms wavefront.

Cameras in mobile phones

Science.gov (United States)

Nummela, Ville; Viinikanoja, Jarkko; Alakarhu, Juha

2006-04-01

One of the fastest growing markets in consumer markets today are camera phones. During past few years total volume has been growing fast and today millions of mobile phones with camera will be sold. At the same time resolution and functionality of the cameras has been growing from CIF towards DSC level. From camera point of view the mobile world is an extremely challenging field. Cameras should have good image quality but in small size. They also need to be reliable and their construction should be suitable for mass manufacturing. All components of the imaging chain should be well optimized in this environment. Image quality and usability are the most important parameters to user. The current trend of adding more megapixels to cameras and at the same time using smaller pixels is affecting both. On the other hand reliability and miniaturization are key drivers for product development as well as the cost. In optimized solution all parameters are in balance but the process of finding the right trade-offs is not an easy task. In this paper trade-offs related to optics and their effects to image quality and usability of cameras are discussed. Key development areas from mobile phone camera point of view are also listed.

Photographic materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamieson, P.B.

1980-01-01

Radiographic films based on silver halides are normally handled under red or orange safelights to prevent fogging due to their sensitivity to white light. The present invention relates to ultraviolet radiation sensitive material which can be handled under virtually white light without significant fogging. The film material is comprised of a base having at least one layer of a photographic silver halide emulsion and a yellow filter dye screening the emulsion from visible radiation. The silver halide emulsion contains 50-100 mole % of silver chloride, the higher the silver chloride content, the lower the visible light sensitivity. The nature and properties of the yellow filter dye are described. When recording an X-ray image, the film is loaded into the camera under white safelight conditions from which light of wavelength shorter than 400 nm is excluded. The film is in contact with one or more phosphor screens capable when struck by X-rays of emitting ultraviolet radiation, the screens having a peak ultraviolet emission within the wavelength range of 250-380 nm. After X-ray exposure, the film is removed and developed. Two examples illustrating the invention are given. (U.K.)

Planck 2013 results. XXI. All-sky Compton parameter power spectrum and high-order statistics

CERN Document Server

Ade, P.A.R.; Armitage-Caplan, C.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Bartlett, J.G.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoit, A.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bobin, J.; Bock, J.J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Bridges, M.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Cardoso, J.F.; Carvalho, P.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, L.Y.; Chiang, H.C.; Christensen, P.R.; Church, S.; Clements, D.L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Comis, B.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B.P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Da Silva, A.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.M.; Desert, F.X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J.M.; Dolag, K.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Dore, O.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Ensslin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Finelli, F.; Flores-Cacho, I.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Genova-Santos, R.T.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Heraud, Y.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorski, K.M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, T.R.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jones, W.C.; Juvela, M.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T.S.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Knox, L.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lacasa, F.; Lagache, G.; Lahteenmaki, A.; Lamarre, J.M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R.J.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leahy, J.P.; Leonardi, R.; Leon-Tavares, J.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Maffei, B.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Marcos-Caballero, A.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D.J.; Martin, P.G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; Melchiorri, A.; Melin, J.B.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschenes, M.A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C.B.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Oxborrow, C.A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Partridge, B.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Poutanen, T.; Pratt, G.W.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.L.; Rachen, J.P.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubino-Martin, J.A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M.D.; Shellard, E.P.S.; Spencer, L.D.; Starck, J.L.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sureau, F.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.S.; Sygnet, J.F.; Tauber, J.A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Varis, J.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L.A.; Wandelt, B.D.; White, S.D.M.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2014-01-01

We have constructed the first all-sky map of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect by applying specifically tailored component separation algorithms to the 100 to 857 GHz frequency channel maps from the Planck survey. These maps show an obvious galaxy cluster tSZ signal that is well matched with blindly detected clusters in the Planck SZ catalogue. To characterize the signal in the tSZ map we have computed its angular power spectrum. At large angular scales ($\\ell 500$) the clustered Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) and residual point sources are the major contaminants. These foregrounds are carefully modelled and subtracted. We measure the tSZ power spectrum in angular scales, $0.17^{\\circ} \\lesssim \\theta \\lesssim 3.0^{\\circ}$, that were previously unexplored. The measured tSZ power spectrum is consistent with that expected from the Planck catalogue of SZ sources, with additional clear evidence of signal from unresolved clusters and, potentially, diffuse warm baryons. We use the tSZ power spectrum to ...

Dark Skies are a Universal Resource. So are Quiet Skies!

Science.gov (United States)

Maddalena, Ronald J.; Heatherly, S.

2008-05-01

You've just purchased your first telescope. But where to set it up? Certainly not a WalMart parking lot. Too much light pollution! In the same way that man-made light obscures our night sky and blinds ground-based optical telescopes, man-made radio signals blind radio telescopes as well. NRAO developed the Quiet Skies project to increase awareness of radio frequency interference (RFI) and radio astronomy in general by engaging students in local studies of RFI. To do that we created a sensitive detector which measures RFI. We produced 20 of these, and assembled kits containing detectors and supplementary materials for loan to schools. Students conduct experiments to measure the properties of RFI in their area, and input their measurements into a web-based data base. The Quiet Skies project is a perfect complement to the IYA Dark Skies Awareness initiative. We hope to place 500 Quiet Skies detectors into the field through outreach to museums and schools around the world. Should we be successful, we will sustain this global initiative via a continuing loan program. One day we hope to have a publicly generated image of the Earth which shows RFI much as the Earth at Night image illustrates light pollution. The poster will present the components of the project in detail, including our plans for IYA, and various low-cost alternative strategies for introducing RFI and radio astronomy to the public. We will share the results of some of the experiments already being performed by high school students. Development of the Quiet Skies project was funded by a NASA IDEAS grant. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Students’ Digital Photography Behaviors during a Multiday Environmental Science Field Trip and Their Recollections of Photographed Science Content

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor R. Lee

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Taking photographs to document the experiences of an educational field trip is becoming a common activity for teachers and students alike. Considering the regular creation of photographic artifacts, our goal in this paper is to explore students’ picture taking behavior and their recollections of science content associated with their photographs. In this study, we partnered with a class of fifth-grade students in the United States and provided each student with a digital camera to document their experiences during an environmental science field trip at a national park. We report the frequency of photography behaviors according to which activities were most often documented by the students and specifically that students tended to document more of their experiences when they were in outdoor, natural spaces rather than inside of visitor centers or museums. Also, through an analysis of students’ comments about the science content captured in their photographs we observe that students’ comments about photographs of the outdoors tended to show greater depth and complexity than those that were taken in indoor, museum-like spaces.

Research on auto-calibration technology of the image plane's center of 360-degree and all round looking camera

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shaojun; Xu, Xiping

2015-10-01

The 360-degree and all round looking camera, as its characteristics of suitable for automatic analysis and judgment on the ambient environment of the carrier by image recognition algorithm, is usually applied to opto-electronic radar of robots and smart cars. In order to ensure the stability and consistency of image processing results of mass production, it is necessary to make sure the centers of image planes of different cameras are coincident, which requires to calibrate the position of the image plane's center. The traditional mechanical calibration method and electronic adjusting mode of inputting the offsets manually, both exist the problem of relying on human eyes, inefficiency and large range of error distribution. In this paper, an approach of auto- calibration of the image plane of this camera is presented. The imaging of the 360-degree and all round looking camera is a ring-shaped image consisting of two concentric circles, the center of the image is a smaller circle and the outside is a bigger circle. The realization of the technology is just to exploit the above characteristics. Recognizing the two circles through HOUGH TRANSFORM algorithm and calculating the center position, we can get the accurate center of image, that the deviation of the central location of the optic axis and image sensor. The program will set up the image sensor chip through I2C bus automatically, we can adjusting the center of the image plane automatically and accurately. The technique has been applied to practice, promotes productivity and guarantees the consistent quality of products.

INFN Camera demonstrator for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

CERN Document Server

Ambrosi, G; Aramo, C.; Bertucci, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Bitossi, M.; Brasolin, S.; Busetto, G.; Carosi, R.; Catalanotti, S.; Ciocci, M.A.; Consoletti, R.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; de Palma, F.; Desiante, R.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Giulio, C.; Doro, M.; D'Urso, D.; Ferraro, G.; Ferrarotto, F.; Gargano, F.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giraudo, G.; Iacovacci, M.; Ionica, M.; Iori, M.; Longo, F.; Mariotti, M.; Mastroianni, S.; Minuti, M.; Morselli, A.; Paoletti, R.; Pauletta, G.; Rando, R.; Fernandez, G. Rodriguez; Rugliancich, A.; Simone, D.; Stella, C.; Tonachini, A.; Vallania, P.; Valore, L.; Vagelli, V.; Verzi, V.; Vigorito, C.

2015-01-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array is a world-wide project for a new generation of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes of the Imaging class with the aim of exploring the highest energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum. With two planned arrays, one for each hemisphere, it will guarantee a good sky coverage in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV, with improved angular resolution and a sensitivity in the TeV energy region better by one order of magnitude than the currently operating arrays. In order to cover this wide energy range, three different telescope types are envisaged, with different mirror sizes and focal plane features. In particular, for the highest energies a possible design is a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical scheme, with a compact focal plane. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) based camera is being proposed as a solution to match the dimensions of the pixel (angular size of ~ 0.17 degrees). INFN is developing a camera demonstrator made by 9 Photo Sensor Modules (PSMs...

Automation of a Guinier camera for X-ray diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duijn, J.H.

1988-01-01

The automation of a Guinier X-ray diffraction camera is discussed. The photographic plate in the conventional setup has been replaced by a curved proportional counter (CPC) which has an electronic readout system. As a result the recording time has been reduced from a few hours to a few minutes. The construction and optimum dimensions of the CPC are discussed and the most essential parts of the readout electronics are highlighted. A linewidth of 200 μm FWHM and an accuracy of 30 μm are achieved. 45 refs.; 53 figs.; 4 tabs

New design for the UCO/Lick Observatory CCD guide camera

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Mingzhi; Stover, Richard J.

1996-03-01

A new CCD based field acquisition and telescope guiding camera is being designed and built at UCO/Lick Observatory. Our goal is a camera which is fully computer controllable, compact in size, versatile enough to provide a wide variety of image acquisition modes, and able to operate with a wide variety of CCD detectors. The camera will improve our remote-observing capabilities since it will be easy to control the camera and obtain images over the Observatory computer network. To achieve the desired level of operating flexibility, the design incorporates state-of-the-art technologies such as high density, high speed programmable logic devices and non-volatile static memory. Various types of CCDs can be used in this system without major modification of the hardware or software. Though fully computer controllable, the camera can be operated as a stand-alone unit with most operating parameters set locally. A stand-alone display subsystem is also available. A thermoelectric device is used to cool the CCD to about -45c. Integration times can be varied over a range of 0.1 to 1000 seconds. High speed pixel skipping in both horizontal and vertical directions allows us to quickly access a selected subarea of the detector. Three different read out speeds allow the astronomer to select between high-speed/high-noise and low-speed/low-noise operation. On- chip pixel binning and MPP operation are also selectable options. This system can provide automatic sky level measurement and subtraction to accommodate dynamically changing background levels.

Day/night whole sky imagers for 24-h cloud and sky assessment: history and overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Janet E; Karr, Monette E; Johnson, Richard W; Burden, Art R

2013-03-10

A family of fully automated digital whole sky imagers (WSIs) has been developed at the Marine Physical Laboratory over many years, for a variety of research and military applications. The most advanced of these, the day/night whole sky imagers (D/N WSIs), acquire digital imagery of the full sky down to the horizon under all conditions from full sunlight to starlight. Cloud algorithms process the imagery to automatically detect the locations of cloud for both day and night. The instruments can provide absolute radiance distribution over the full radiance range from starlight through daylight. The WSIs were fielded in 1984, followed by the D/N WSIs in 1992. These many years of experience and development have resulted in very capable instruments and algorithms that remain unique. This article discusses the history of the development of the D/N WSIs, system design, algorithms, and data products. The paper cites many reports with more detailed technical documentation. Further details of calibration, day and night algorithms, and cloud free line-of-sight results will be discussed in future articles.

X-ray streak camera for observation of tightly pinched relativistic electron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, D.J.

1977-01-01

A pinhole camera is coupled with a Pilot-B scintillator and image-intensified TRW streak camera to study pinched electron beam profiles via observation of anode target bremsstrahlung. Streak intensification is achieved with an EMI image intensifier operated at a gain of up to 10 6 which allows optimizing the pinhole configuration so that resolution is simultaneously limited by photon-counting statistics and pinhole geometry. The pinhole used is one-dimensional and is fabricated by inserting uranium shims with hyperbolic curved edges between two 5-cm-thick lead blocks. The loss of spatial resolution due to the x-ray transmission through the perimeter of the pinhole is calculated and a streak photograph of a Gamble I pinched beam interacting with a brass anode is presented

THE PPMXL CATALOG OF POSITIONS AND PROPER MOTIONS ON THE ICRS. COMBINING USNO-B1.0 AND THE TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY (2MASS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeser, S.; Demleitner, M.; Schilbach, E.

2010-01-01

USNO-B1.0 and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) are the most widely used all-sky surveys. However, 2MASS has no proper motions at all, and USNO-B1.0 published only relative, not absolute (i.e., on the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRS), proper motions. We performed a new determination of mean positions and proper motions on the ICRS system by combining USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS astrometry. This catalog is called PPMXL (VO access to the catalog is possible via http://vo.uni-hd.de/ppmxl), and it aims to be completed from the brightest stars down to about V ∼ 20 all sky. PPMXL contains about 900 million objects, some 410 million with 2MASS photometry, and is the largest collection of ICRS proper motions at present. As representative for the ICRS, we chose PPMX. The recently released UCAC3 could not be used because we found plate-dependent distortions in its proper motion system north of -20 0 declination. UCAC3 served as an intermediate system for δ ≤ -20 0 . The resulting typical individual mean errors of the proper motions range from 4 mas yr -1 to more than 10 mas yr -1 depending on observational history. The mean errors of positions at epoch 2000.0 are 80-120 mas, if 2MASS astrometry could be used, 150-300 mas else. We also give correction tables to convert USNO-B1.0 observations of, e.g., minor planets to the ICRS system.

An Innovative Collaboration on Dark Skies Education

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Mayer, M.; EPO Students, NOAO

2011-01-01

Dark night skies are being lost all over the globe, and hundreds of millions of dollars of energy are being wasted in the process.. Improper lighting is the main cause of light pollution. Light pollution is a concern on many fronts, affecting safety, energy conservation, cost, human health, and wildlife. It also robs us of the beauty of viewing the night sky. In the U.S. alone, over half of the population cannot see the Milky Way from where they live. To help address this, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory Education and Public Outreach (NOAO EPO) staff created two programs: Dark Skies Rangers and GLOBE at Night. Through the two programs, students learn about the importance of dark skies and experience activities that illustrate proper lighting, light pollution's effects on wildlife and how to measure the darkness of their skies. To disseminate the programs locally in an appropriate yet innovative venue, NOAO partnered with the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning in Tucson, Arizona. Operated by the largest school district in Tucson and the University of Arizona College of Education, the Cooper Center educates thousands of students and educators each year about ecology, science, and the beauty and wonders of the Sonoran Desert. During the first academic year (2009-2010), we achieved our goal of reaching nearly 20 teachers in 40 classrooms of 1000 students. We gave two 3-hour teacher-training sessions and provided nineteen 2.5-hour on-site evening sessions on dark skies activities for the students of the teachers trained. One outcome of the program was the contribution of 1000 "GLOBE at Night 2010” night-sky brightness measurements by Tucson students. Training sessions at similar levels are continuing this year. The partnership, planning, lesson learned, and outcomes of NOAO's collaboration with the environmental center will be presented.

First Light with a 67-Million-Pixel WFI Camera

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

The newest astronomical instrument at the La Silla observatory is a super-camera with no less than sixty-seven million image elements. It represents the outcome of a joint project between the European Southern Observatory (ESO) , the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPI-A) in Heidelberg (Germany) and the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC) near Naples (Italy), and was installed at the 2.2-m MPG/ESO telescope in December 1998. Following careful adjustment and testing, it has now produced the first spectacular test images. With a field size larger than the Full Moon, the new digital Wide Field Imager is able to obtain detailed views of extended celestial objects to very faint magnitudes. It is the first of a new generation of survey facilities at ESO with which a variety of large-scale searches will soon be made over extended regions of the southern sky. These programmes will lead to the discovery of particularly interesting and unusual (rare) celestial objects that may then be studied with large telescopes like the VLT at Paranal. This will in turn allow astronomers to penetrate deeper and deeper into the many secrets of the Universe. More light + larger fields = more information! The larger a telescope is, the more light - and hence information about the Universe and its constituents - it can collect. This simple truth represents the main reason for building ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory. However, the information-gathering power of astronomical equipment can also be increased by using a larger detector with more image elements (pixels) , thus permitting the simultaneous recording of images of larger sky fields (or more details in the same field). It is for similar reasons that many professional photographers prefer larger-format cameras and/or wide-angle lenses to the more conventional ones. The Wide Field Imager at the 2.2-m telescope Because of technological limitations, the sizes of detectors most commonly in use in

Toward long-term all-sky time domain surveys-SINDICS: a prospective concept for a Seismic INDICes Survey of half a million red giants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michel Eric

2015-01-01

Full Text Available CoRoT and Kepler have brought a new and deep experience in long-term photometric surveys and how to use them. This is true for exoplanets characterizing, stellar seismology and beyond for studying several other phenomena, like granulation or activity. Based on this experience, it has been possible to propose new generation projects, like TESS and PLATO, with more specific scientific objectives and more ambitious observational programs in terms of sky coverage and/or duration of the observations. In this context and as a prospective exercise, we explore here the possibility to set up an all-sky survey optimized for seismic indices measurement, providing masses, radii and evolution stages for half a million solar-type pulsators (subgiants and red giants, in our galactic neighborhood and allowing unprecedented stellar population studies.

Using Network Oriented Research Assistant (NORA) Technology to Compare Digital Photographic With In-Person Assessment of Acne Vulgaris.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Hannah M; Almazan, Timothy; Craft, Noah; David, Consuelo V; Eells, Samantha; Erfe, Crisel; Lazzaro, Cynthia; Nguyen, Kathy; Preciado, Katy; Tan, Belinda; Patel, Vishal A

2018-02-01

Teledermatology has undergone exponential growth in the past 2 decades. Many technological innovations are becoming available without necessarily undergoing validation studies for specific dermatologic applications. To determine whether patient-taken photographs of acne using Network Oriented Research Assistant (NORA) result in similar lesion counts and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) findings compared with in-person examination findings. This pilot reliability study enrolled consecutive patients with acne vulgaris from a single general dermatology practice in Los Angeles, California, who were able to use NORA on an iPhone 6 to take self-photographs. Patients were enrolled from January 1 through March 31, 2016. Each individual underwent in-person and digital evaluation of his or her acne by the same dermatologist. A period of at least 1 week separated the in-person and digital assessments of acne. All participants were trained on how to use NORA on the iPhone 6 and take photographs of their face with the rear-facing camera. Reliability of patient-taken photographs with NORA for acne evaluation compared with in-person examination findings. Acne assessment measures included lesion count (total, inflammatory, noninflammatory, and cystic) and IGA for acne severity. A total of 69 patients (37 male [54%] and 32 female [46%]; mean [SD] age, 22.7 [7.7] years) enrolled in the study. The intraclass correlation coefficients of in-person and photograph-based acne evaluations indicated strong agreement. The intraclass correlation coefficient for total lesion count was 0.81; for the IGA, 0.75. Inflammatory lesion count, noninflammatory lesion count, and cyst count had intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.72, 0.72, and 0.82, respectively. This study found agreement between acne evaluations performed in person and from self-photographs with NORA. As a reliable telehealth technology for acne, NORA can be used as a teledermatology platform for dermatology research and can

SkyMapper Southern Survey: First Data Release (DR1)

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Christian; Onken, Christopher A.; Luvaul, Lance C.; Schmidt, Brian P.; Bessell, Michael S.; Chang, Seo-Won; Da Costa, Gary S.; Mackey, Dougal; Martin-Jones, Tony; Murphy, Simon J.; Preston, Tim; Scalzo, Richard A.; Shao, Li; Smillie, Jon; Tisserand, Patrick; White, Marc C.; Yuan, Fang

2018-02-01

We present the first data release of the SkyMapper Southern Survey, a hemispheric survey carried out with the SkyMapper Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Here, we present the survey strategy, data processing, catalogue construction, and database schema. The first data release dataset includes over 66 000 images from the Shallow Survey component, covering an area of 17 200 deg2 in all six SkyMapper passbands uvgriz, while the full area covered by any passband exceeds 20 000 deg2. The catalogues contain over 285 million unique astrophysical objects, complete to roughly 18 mag in all bands. We compare our griz point-source photometry with Pan-STARRS1 first data release and note an RMS scatter of 2%. The internal reproducibility of SkyMapper photometry is on the order of 1%. Astrometric precision is better than 0.2 arcsec based on comparison with Gaia first data release. We describe the end-user database, through which data are presented to the world community, and provide some illustrative science queries.

Adobe Photoshop CC for photographers

CERN Document Server

Evening, Martin

2014-01-01

Adobe Photoshop for Photographers 2014 Release by Photoshop hall-of-famer and acclaimed digital imaging professional Martin Evening has been fully updated to include detailed instruction for all of the updates to Photoshop CC 2014 on Adobe's Creative Cloud, including significant new features, such as Focus Area selections, enhanced Content-Aware filling, and new Spin and Path blur gallery effects. This guide covers all the tools and techniques photographers and professional image editors need to know when using Photoshop, from workflow guidance to core skills to advanced techniques for profess

First Study on the Occurrence Frequency of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles over West Africa Using an All-Sky Airglow Imager and GNSS Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Okoh, Daniel; Rabiu, Babatunde; Shiokawa, Kazuo; Otsuka, Yuichi; Segun, Bolaji; Falayi, Elijah; Onwuneme, Sylvester; Kaka, Rafiat

2017-12-01

This is the first paper that reports the occurrence frequency of equatorial plasma bubbles and their dependences of local time, season, and geomagnetic activity based on airglow imaging observations at West Africa. The all-sky imager, situated in Abuja (Geographic: 8.99°N, 7.38°E; Geomagnetic: 1.60°S), has a 180° fisheye view covering almost the entire airspace of Nigeria. Plasma bubbles are observed for 70 nights of the 147 clear-sky nights from 9 June 2015 to 31 January 2017. Differences between nighttime and daytime ROTIs were also computed as a proxy of plasma bubbles using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers within the coverage of the all-sky imager. Most plasma bubble occurrences are found during equinoxes and least occurrences during solstices. The occurrence rate of plasma bubbles was highest around local midnight and lower for hours farther away. Most of the postmidnight plasma bubbles were observed around the months of December to March, a period that coincides with the harmattan period in Nigeria. The on/off status of plasma bubble in airglow and GNSS observations were in agreement for 67.2% of the total 768 h, while we suggest several reasons responsible for the remaining 32.8% when the airglow and GNSS bubble status are inconsistent. A majority of the plasma bubbles were observed under relatively quiet geomagnetic conditions (Dst ≥ -40 and Kp ≤ 3), but there was no significant pattern observed in the occurrence rate of plasma bubbles as a function of geomagnetic activity. We suggest that geomagnetic activities could have either suppressed or promoted the occurrence of plasma bubbles.

Improving the Photometry of the Pi of the Sky System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. F. Żarnecki

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The “Pi of the Sky” robotic telescope was designed to monitor a significant fraction of the sky with good time resolution and range. The main goal of the “Pi of the Sky” detector is to look for short timescale optical transients arising from various astrophysical phenomena, mainly for the optical counterparts of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB. The system design, the observation methodology and the algorithms that have been developed make this detector a sophisticated instrument for looking for novae and supernovae stars and for monitoring blasars and AGNs activity. The final detector will consist of two sets of 12 cameras, one camera covering a field of view of 20◦ ×20◦. For data taken with the prototype detector at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, photometry uncertainty of 0.018–0.024 magnitudo for stars 7–10m was obtained. With a new calibration algorithm taking into account the spectral type of reference stars, the stability of the photometry algorithm can be significantly improved. Preliminary results from the BGInd variable are presented, showing that uncertainty of the order of 0.013 can be obtained.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky-imager-based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Thomas; Kalisch, John; Lorenz, Elke; Heinemann, Detlev

2016-03-01

Clouds are the dominant source of small-scale variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the worldwide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a very short term global horizontal irradiance (GHI) forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A 2-month data set with images from one sky imager and high-resolution GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series into different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky-imager-based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depends strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1-2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability, which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky-imager-based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Schmidt

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Clouds are the dominant source of small-scale variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the worldwide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a very short term global horizontal irradiance (GHI forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A 2-month data set with images from one sky imager and high-resolution GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series into different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky-imager-based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depends strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1–2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability, which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky imager based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, T.; Kalisch, J.; Lorenz, E.; Heinemann, D.

2015-10-01

Clouds are the dominant source of variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the world-wide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a shortest-term global horizontal irradiance (GHI) forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A two month dataset with images from one sky imager and high resolutive GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series in different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky imager based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depend strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1-2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

A Survey of Variable Extragalactic Sources with XTE's All Sky Monitor (ASM)

Science.gov (United States)

Jernigan, Garrett

1998-01-01

The original goal of the project was the near real-time detection of AGN utilizing the SSC 3 of the ASM on XTE which does a deep integration on one 100 square degree region of the sky. While the SSC never performed sufficiently well to allow the success of this goal, the work on the project has led to the development of a new analysis method for coded aperture systems which has now been applied to ASM data for mapping regions near clusters of galaxies such as the Perseus Cluster and the Coma Cluster. Publications are in preparation that describe both the new method and the results from mapping clusters of galaxies.

Thermal Cameras and Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gade, Rikke; Moeslund, Thomas B.

2014-01-01

Thermal cameras are passive sensors that capture the infrared radiation emitted by all objects with a temperature above absolute zero. This type of camera was originally developed as a surveillance and night vision tool for the military, but recently the price has dropped, significantly opening up...... a broader field of applications. Deploying this type of sensor in vision systems eliminates the illumination problems of normal greyscale and RGB cameras. This survey provides an overview of the current applications of thermal cameras. Applications include animals, agriculture, buildings, gas detection......, industrial, and military applications, as well as detection, tracking, and recognition of humans. Moreover, this survey describes the nature of thermal radiation and the technology of thermal cameras....

Tomographic local 2D analyses of the WISExSuperCOSMOS all-sky galaxy catalogue

Science.gov (United States)

Novaes, C. P.; Bernui, A.; Xavier, H. S.; Marques, G. A.

2018-05-01

The recent progress in obtaining larger and deeper galaxy catalogues is of fundamental importance for cosmological studies, especially to robustly measure the large scale density fluctuations in the Universe. The present work uses the Minkowski Functionals (MF) to probe the galaxy density field from the WISExSuperCOSMOS (WSC) all-sky catalogue by performing tomographic local analyses in five redshift shells (of thickness δz = 0.05) in the total range of 0.10 methodology reveals 1 - 3 regions of the GNC maps in each redshift shell with an uncommon behaviour (extreme regions), i.e., p-value < 1.4%. Indeed, the resulting MF curves show signatures that suggest the uncommon behaviour to be associated with the presence of over- or under-densities there, but contamination due to residual foregrounds is not discarded. Additionally, even though our analyses indicate a good agreement among data and simulations, we identify 1 highly extreme region, seemingly associated to a large clustered distribution of galaxies. Our results confirm the usefulness of the MF to analyse GNC maps from photometric galaxy datasets.

Long term variability of Cygnus X-1. V. State definitions with all sky monitors

Science.gov (United States)

Grinberg, V.; Hell, N.; Pottschmidt, K.; Böck, M.; Nowak, M. A.; Rodriguez, J.; Bodaghee, A.; Cadolle Bel, M.; Case, G. L.; Hanke, M.; Kühnel, M.; Markoff, S. B.; Pooley, G. G.; Rothschild, R. E.; Tomsick, J. A.; Wilson-Hodge, C. A.; Wilms, J.

2013-06-01

We present a scheme for determining the spectral state of the canonical black hole Cyg X-1 using data from previous and current X-ray all sky monitors (RXTE-ASM, Swift-BAT, MAXI, and Fermi-GBM). Determinations of the hard/intermediate and soft state agree to better than 10% between different monitors, facilitating the determination of the state and its context for any observation of the source, potentially over the lifetimes of different individual monitors. A separation of the hard and the intermediate states, which strongly differ in their spectral shape and short-term timing behavior, is only possible when data in the soft X-rays (probability of Cyg X-1 remaining in a given state for at least one week to be larger than 85% in the hard state and larger than 75% in the soft state. Intermediate states are short lived, with a 50% probability that the source leaves the intermediate state within three days. Reliable detection of these potentially short-lived events is only possible with monitor data that have a time resolution better than 1 d.

Sky Subtraction with Fiber-Fed Spectrograph

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Myriam

2017-09-01

"Historically, fiber-fed spectrographs had been deemed inadequate for the observation of faint targets, mainly because of the difficulty to achieve high accuracy on the sky subtraction. The impossibility to sample the sky in the immediate vicinity of the target in fiber instruments has led to a commonly held view that a multi-object fibre spectrograph cannot achieve an accurate sky subtraction under 1% contrary to their slit counterpart. The next generation of multi-objects spectrograph at the VLT (MOONS) and the planed MOS for the E-ELT (MOSAIC) are fiber-fed instruments, and are aimed to observed targets fainter than the sky continuum level. In this talk, I will present the state-of-art on sky subtraction strategies and data reduction algorithm specifically developed for fiber-fed spectrographs. I will also present the main results of an observational campaign to better characterise the sky spatial and temporal variations ( in particular the continuum and faint sky lines)."

Adnyamathanha Night Skies

Science.gov (United States)

Curnow, Paul

2009-06-01

Aboriginal Australians have been viewing the night skies of Australia for some 45,000 years and possibly much longer. During this time they have been able to develop a complex knowledge of the night sky, the terrestrial environment in addition to seasonal changes. However, few of us in contemporary society have an in-depth knowledge of the nightly waltz of stars above.

Establishing Base Elements of Perspective in Order to Reconstruct Architectural Buildings from Photographs

Science.gov (United States)

Dzwierzynska, Jolanta

2017-12-01

The use of perspective images, especially historical photographs for retrieving information about presented architectural environment is a fast developing field recently. The photography image is a perspective image with secure geometrical connection with reality, therefore it is possible to reverse this process. The aim of the herby study is establishing requirements which a photographic perspective representation should meet for a reconstruction purpose, as well as determination of base elements of perspective such as a horizon line and a circle of depth, which is a key issue in any reconstruction. The starting point in the reconstruction process is geometrical analysis of the photograph, especially determination of the kind of perspective projection applied, which is defined by the building location towards a projection plane. Next, proper constructions can be used. The paper addresses the problem of establishing base elements of perspective on the basis of the photograph image in the case when camera calibration is impossible to establish. It presents different geometric construction methods selected dependently on the starting assumptions. Therefore, the methods described in the paper seem to be universal. Moreover, they can be used even in the case of poor quality photographs with poor perspective geometry. Such constructions can be realized with computer aid when the photographs are in digital form as it is presented in the paper. The accuracy of the applied methods depends on the photography image accuracy, as well as drawing accuracy, however, it is sufficient for further reconstruction. Establishing base elements of perspective presented in the paper is especially useful in difficult cases of reconstruction, when one lacks information about reconstructed architectural form and it is necessary to lean on solid geometry.

Utilization of a gamma camera in research of the concentration in marine products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Ryoichi

1981-01-01

A gamma camera was used for the study of the metabolism of micro elements in marine products. Hexagrammos otakii (rock trout) was put under anesthesia with MS-222. By cutting partly the abdomen, the internal organs were exposed. 1 - 2 mCi of technetium-99m was injected into the bulbus arteriosus. From immediately after the injection, photographs were taken consecutively, one picture every 0.5 second for 30 seconds, to a total of 60 pictures. Since the gamma camera has been developed solely for human beings, there is some inconvenience when it is applied to marine products. The advantages of using a gamma camera are the observation on the behavior of substances in a body while a marine product is alive, and the grasping of the variation in substance behavior at extremely brief intervals. The disadvantages are the low resolution of about 5 mm - 7 mm, and the difficulty in differentiating overlapping organs. (J.P.N.)

The Rainbow Sky

CERN Document Server

Buick, Tony

2010-01-01

The world is full of color, from the blue ocean and the yellow daffodils and sunflowers in green carpeted meadows to the majestic purple mountains in the distance and brightly hued coral reefs off the edges of tropical coasts. But what is color, exactly? Why do we see things in different colors? Do we all see the same colors? Like the surface of our planet, the sky above us offers us an endless palette of color, a visual feast for the eyes. Besides atmospheric phenomena such as sunsets and rainbows, there are the many varied worlds of the Solar System, which we can spy through our telescopes, with their subtle colorings of beige and blue and green. Faraway star systems have suns that come in shades ranging from red and yellow to blue and white. Scientists even often use "false colors" to enhance the features of images they take of structures, such as the rings of Saturn and Jupiter’s clouds. This book, with its clear explanations of what makes the sky such a colorful place and in its great wealth of picture...

SHOK—The First Russian Wide-Field Optical Camera in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Lipunov, V. M.; Gorbovskoy, E. S.; Kornilov, V. G.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Amelushkin, A. M.; Petrov, V. L.; Yashin, I. V.; Svertilov, S. I.; Vedenkin, N. N.

2018-02-01

Onboard the spacecraft Lomonosov is established two fast, fixed, very wide-field cameras SHOK. The main goal of this experiment is the observation of GRB optical emission before, synchronously, and after the gamma-ray emission. The field of view of each of the cameras is placed in the gamma-ray burst detection area of other devices located onboard the "Lomonosov" spacecraft. SHOK provides measurements of optical emissions with a magnitude limit of ˜ 9-10m on a single frame with an exposure of 0.2 seconds. The device is designed for continuous sky monitoring at optical wavelengths in the very wide field of view (1000 square degrees each camera), detection and localization of fast time-varying (transient) optical sources on the celestial sphere, including provisional and synchronous time recording of optical emissions from the gamma-ray burst error boxes, detected by the BDRG device and implemented by a control signal (alert trigger) from the BDRG. The Lomonosov spacecraft has two identical devices, SHOK1 and SHOK2. The core of each SHOK device is a fast-speed 11-Megapixel CCD. Each of the SHOK devices represents a monoblock, consisting of a node observations of optical emission, the electronics node, elements of the mechanical construction, and the body.

Planck early results. XIX. All-sky temperature and dust optical depth from Planck and IRAS. Constraints on the "dark gas" in our Galaxy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poutanen, T.; Natoli, P.; Polenta, G.

2011-01-01

An all sky map of the apparent temperature and optical depth of thermal dust emission is constructed using the Planck-HFI (350μm to 2 mm) andIRAS(100μm) data. The optical depth maps are correlated with tracers of the atomic (Hi) and molecular gas traced by CO. The correlation with the column dens...

Thermography hogging the limelight at Big Sky

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plastow, C. [Fluke Electronics Canada, Mississauga, ON (Canada)

2010-02-15

The high levels of humidity and ammonia found at hog farms can lead to premature corrosion of electrical systems and create potential hazards, such as electrical fires. Big Sky Farms in Saskatchewan has performed on-site inspections at its 44 farms and 16 feed mills using handheld thermography technology from Fluke Electronics. Ti thermal imaging units save time and simplify inspections. The units could be used for everything, from checking out the bearings at the feed mills to electrical circuits and relays. The Ti25 is affordable and has the right features for a preventative maintenance program. Operators of Big Sky Farms use the Ti25 to inspect all circuit breakers of 600 volts or lower as well as transformers where corrosion often causes connections to break off. The units are used to look at bearings, do scanning and thermal imaging on motors. To date, the Ti25 has detected and highlighted 5 or 6 problems on transformers alone that could have been major issues. At one site, the Ti25 indicated that all 30 circuit breakers had loose connections and were overeating. Big Sky Farms fixed the problem right away before a disaster happened. In addition to reducing inspection times, the Ti25 can record all measurements and keep a record of all the readings for downloading. 2 figs.

Camera Trajectory fromWide Baseline Images

Science.gov (United States)

Havlena, M.; Torii, A.; Pajdla, T.

2008-09-01

Camera trajectory estimation, which is closely related to the structure from motion computation, is one of the fundamental tasks in computer vision. Reliable camera trajectory estimation plays an important role in 3D reconstruction, self localization, and object recognition. There are essential issues for a reliable camera trajectory estimation, for instance, choice of the camera and its geometric projection model, camera calibration, image feature detection and description, and robust 3D structure computation. Most of approaches rely on classical perspective cameras because of the simplicity of their projection models and ease of their calibration. However, classical perspective cameras offer only a limited field of view, and thus occlusions and sharp camera turns may cause that consecutive frames look completely different when the baseline becomes longer. This makes the image feature matching very difficult (or impossible) and the camera trajectory estimation fails under such conditions. These problems can be avoided if omnidirectional cameras, e.g. a fish-eye lens convertor, are used. The hardware which we are using in practice is a combination of Nikon FC-E9 mounted via a mechanical adaptor onto a Kyocera Finecam M410R digital camera. Nikon FC-E9 is a megapixel omnidirectional addon convertor with 180° view angle which provides images of photographic quality. Kyocera Finecam M410R delivers 2272×1704 images at 3 frames per second. The resulting combination yields a circular view of diameter 1600 pixels in the image. Since consecutive frames of the omnidirectional camera often share a common region in 3D space, the image feature matching is often feasible. On the other hand, the calibration of these cameras is non-trivial and is crucial for the accuracy of the resulting 3D reconstruction. We calibrate omnidirectional cameras off-line using the state-of-the-art technique and Mičušík's two-parameter model, that links the radius of the image point r to the

Deep Full-sky Coadds from Three Years of WISE and NEOWISE Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meisner, A. M. [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, New Campbell Hall 341, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Lang, D. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Dunlap Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Schlegel, D. J., E-mail: ameisner@lbl.gov [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720 (United States)

2017-10-01

We have reprocessed over 100 terabytes of single-exposure Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE )/NEOWISE images to create the deepest ever full-sky maps at 3–5 microns. We include all publicly available W1 and W2 imaging—a total of ∼8 million exposures in each band—from ∼37 months of observations spanning 2010 January to 2015 December. Our coadds preserve the native WISE resolution and typically incorporate ∼3× more input frames than those of the AllWISE Atlas stacks. Our coadds are designed to enable deep forced photometry, in particular for the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Mayall z-Band Legacy Survey (MzLS), both of which are being used to select targets for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. We describe newly introduced processing steps aimed at leveraging added redundancy to remove artifacts, with the intent of facilitating uniform target selection and searches for rare/exotic objects (e.g., high-redshift quasars and distant galaxy clusters). Forced photometry depths achieved with these coadds extend 0.56 (0.46) magnitudes deeper in W1 (W2) than is possible with only pre-hibernation WISE imaging.

Causality and skies: is non-refocussing necessary?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bautista, A; Ibort, A; Lafuente, J

2015-01-01

The causal structure of a strongly causal, null pseudo-convex, space-time M is completely characterized in terms of a partial order on its space of skies defined by means of a class of non-negative Legendrian isotopies called sky isotopies. It is also shown that such partial order is determined by the class of future causal celestial curves, that is, curves in the space of light rays which are tangent to skies and such that they determine non-negative sky isotopies. It will also be proved that the space of skies Σ equipped with Low’s (or reconstructive) topology is homeomorphic and diffeomorphic to M under the only additional assumption that M separates skies, that is, that different events determine different skies. The sky-separating property of M is sharp and the previous result provides an answer to the question about the class of space-times whose causal structure, topological and differentiable structure can be reconstructed from their spaces of light rays and skies. These results can be understood as a Malament–Hawking-like theorem stated in terms of the partial order defined on the space of skies. (paper)

All-sky LIGO search for periodic gravitational waves in the early fifth-science-run data.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B P; Abbott, R; Adhikari, R; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Allen, G; Amin, R S; Anderson, S B; Anderson, W G; Arain, M A; Araya, M; Armandula, H; Armor, P; Aso, Y; Aston, S; Aufmuth, P; Aulbert, C; Babak, S; Baker, P; Ballmer, S; Bantilan, H; Barish, B C; Barker, C; Barker, D; Barr, B; Barriga, P; Barsotti, L; Barton, M A; Bartos, I; Bassiri, R; Bastarrika, M; Behnke, B; Benacquista, M; Betzwieser, J; Beyersdorf, P T; Bilenko, I A; Billingsley, G; Biswas, R; Black, E; Blackburn, J K; Blackburn, L; Blair, D; Bland, B; Bodiya, T P; Bogue, L; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Brady, P R; Braginsky, V B; Brau, J E; Brinkmann, M; Brooks, A F; Brown, D A; Brunet, G; Bullington, A; Buonanno, A; Burmeister, O; Byer, R L; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Camp, J B; Cannizzo, J; Cannon, K C; Cao, J; Cardenas, L; Cardoso, V; Caride, S; Casebolt, T; Castaldi, G; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cepeda, C; Chalkley, E; Charlton, P; Chatterji, S; Chelkowski, S; Chen, Y; Christensen, N; Clark, D; Clark, J; Clayton, J H; Cokelaer, T; Conte, R; Cook, D; Corbitt, T R C; Cornish, N; Coyne, D C; Creighton, J D E; Creighton, T D; Cruise, A M; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cutler, R M; Danzmann, K; Daudert, B; Davies, G; Debra, D; Degallaix, J; Dergachev, V; Desai, S; Desalvo, R; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M; Dickson, J; Dietz, A; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doomes, E E; Drever, R W P; Duke, I; Dumas, J-C; Dwyer, J; Echols, C; Edgar, M; Effler, A; Ehrens, P; Ely, G; Espinoza, E; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T; Fairhurst, S; Faltas, Y; Fan, Y; Fazi, D; Fejer, M M; Finn, L S; Flasch, K; Foley, S; Forrest, C; Fotopoulos, N; Franzen, A; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Fricke, T T; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fyffe, M; Garofoli, J A; Gholami, I; Giaime, J A; Giampanis, S; Giardina, K D; Goda, K; Goetz, E; Goggin, L M; González, G; Gossler, S; Gouaty, R; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Gray, M; Greenhalgh, R J S; Gretarsson, A M; Grimaldi, F; Grosso, R; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Guenther, M; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Hage, B; Hallam, J M; Hanna, C; Hanson, J; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harstad, E D; Haughian, E; Hayama, K; Hayler, T; Heefner, J; Heng, I S; Heptonstall, A; Hewitson, M; Hild, S; Hirose, E; Hoak, D; Holt, K; Hosken, D; Hough, J; Huttner, S H; Ingram, D; Ito, M; Ivanov, A; Johnson, B; Johnson, W W; Jones, D I; Jones, G; Jones, R; Ju, L; Kalmus, P; Kalogera, V; Kamat, S; Kanner, J; Kasprzyk, D; Katsavounidis, E; Kawabe, K; Kawamura, S; Kawazoe, F; Kells, W; Keppel, D G; Khalaidovski, A; Khalili, F Ya; Khan, R; Khazanov, E; King, P; Kissel, J S; Klimenko, S; Kocsis, B; Kokeyama, K; Kondrashov, V; Kopparapu, R; Koranda, S; Kozak, D; Kozhevatov, I; Krishnan, B; Kwee, P; Landry, M; Lantz, B; Lazzarini, A; Lei, M; Leonor, I; Li, C; Lin, H; Lindquist, P E; Littenberg, T B; Lockerbie, N A; Lodhia, D; Lormand, M; Lu, P; Lubinski, M; Lucianetti, A; Lück, H; Machenschalk, B; Macinnis, M; Mageswaran, M; Mailand, K; Mandel, I; Mandic, V; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markosyan, A; Markowitz, J; Maros, E; Martin, I W; Martin, R M; Marx, J N; Mason, K; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Matzner, R; Mavalvala, N; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McGuire, S C; McHugh, M; McIntyre, G; McKechan, D; McKenzie, K; Mehmet, M; Melissinos, A; Mendell, G; Mercer, R A; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C J; Meyers, D; Miller, A; Miller, J; Minelli, J; Mitra, S; Mitrofanov, V P; Mitselmakher, G; Mittleman, R; Miyakawa, O; Moe, B; Mohanty, S D; Moreno, G; Mors, K; Mossavi, K; Mowlowry, C; Mueller, G; Muhammad, D; Mukherjee, S; Mukhopadhyay, H; Mullavey, A; Müller-Ebhardt, H; Munch, J; Murray, P G; Myers, E; Myers, J; Nash, T; Nelson, J; Newton, G; Nishizawa, A; Numata, K; Ochsner, E; O'Dell, J; Ogin, G; O'Reilly, B; O'Shaughnessy, R; Ottaway, D J; Ottens, R S; Overmier, H; Owen, B J; Pan, Y; Pankow, C; Papa, M A; Parameshwaraiah, V; Patel, P; Pedraza, M; Penn, S; Perraca, A; Petrie, T; Pinto, I M; Pitkin, M; Pletsch, H J; Plissi, M V; Postiglione, F; Principe, M; Prix, R; Quetschke, V; Raab, F J; Rabeling, D S; Radkins, H; Raffai, P; Rainer, N; Rakhmanov, M; Ramsunder, M; Reed, T; Rehbein, H; Reid, S; Reitze, D H; Riesen, R; Riles, K; Rivera, B; Robertson, N A; Robinson, C; Robinson, E L; Roddy, S; Rogan, A M; Rollins, J; Romano, J D; Romie, J H; Rowan, S; Rüdiger, A; Ruet, L; Russell, P; Ryan, K; Sakata, S; Sancho de la Jordana, L; Sandberg, V; Sannibale, V; Santamaria, L; Saraf, S; Sarin, P; Sathyaprakash, B S; Sato, S; Saulson, P R; Savage, R; Savov, P; Scanlan, M; Schediwy, S W; Schilling, R; Schnabel, R; Schofield, R; Schutz, B F; Schwinberg, P; Scott, J; Scott, S M; Searle, A C; Sears, B; Seifert, F; Sellers, D; Sengupta, A S; Sergeev, A; Shapiro, B; Shawhan, P; Shoemaker, D H; Sibley, A; Siemens, X; Sigg, D; Sinha, S; Sintes, A M; Slagmolen, B J J; Slutsky, J; Smith, J R; Smith, M R; Smith, N D; Somiya, K; Sorazu, B; Stein, L C; Strain, K A; Stuver, A; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, K-X; Sung, M; Sutton, P J; Takahashi, H; Tanner, D B; Taylor, R; Taylor, R; Thacker, J; Thorne, K A; Thorne, K S; Thüring, A; Tokmakov, K V; Torres, C; Torrie, C; Traylor, G; Trias, M; Ugolini, D; Urbanek, K; Vahlbruch, H; Van Den Broeck, C; van der Sluys, M V; van Veggel, A A; Vass, S; Vaulin, R; Vecchio, A; Veitch, J D; Veitch, P; Villar, A; Vorvick, C; Vyachanin, S P; Waldman, S J; Wallace, L; Ward, H; Ward, R L; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Wen, L; Wen, S; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; Whitcomb, S E; Whiting, B F; Wilkinson, C; Willems, P A; Williams, H R; Williams, L; Willke, B; Wilmut, I; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wiseman, A G; Woan, G; Wooley, R; Worden, J; Wu, W; Yakushin, I; Yamamoto, H; Yan, Z; Yoshida, S; Zanolin, M; Zhang, J; Zhang, L; Zhao, C; Zotov, N; Zucker, M E; Zur Mühlen, H; Zweizig, J

2009-03-20

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1100 Hz and with the frequency's time derivative in the range -5 x 10{-9}-0 Hz s{-1}. Data from the first eight months of the fifth LIGO science run (S5) have been used in this search, which is based on a semicoherent method (PowerFlux) of summing strain power. Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report 95% confidence-level upper limits on radiation emitted by any unknown isolated rotating neutron stars within the search range. Strain limits below 10{-24} are obtained over a 200-Hz band, and the sensitivity improvement over previous searches increases the spatial volume sampled by an average factor of about 100 over the entire search band. For a neutron star with nominal equatorial ellipticity of 10{-6}, the search is sensitive to distances as great as 500 pc.

Dark-Skies Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2009-05-01

The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's natural heritage. More than one fifth of the world population, two thirds of the United States population and one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a serious and growing issue that impacts astronomical research, the economy, ecology, energy conservation, human health, public safety and our shared ability to see the night sky. For this reason, "Dark Skies” is a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people worldwide involved in a variety of programs that: 1. Teach about dark skies using new technology (e.g., an activity-based planetarium show on DVD, podcasting, social networking on Facebook and MySpace, a Second Life presence) 2. Provide thematic events on light pollution at star parties and observatory open houses (Dark Skies Discovery Sites, Nights in the (National) Parks, Sidewalk Astronomy) 3. Organize events in the arts (e.g., a photography contest) 4. Involve citizen-scientists in naked-eye and digital-meter star hunting programs (e.g., GLOBE at Night, "How Many Stars?", the Great World Wide Star Count and the radio frequency interference equivalent: "Quiet Skies") and 5. Raise awareness about the link between light pollution and public health, economic issues, ecological consequences, energy conservation, safety and security, and astronomy (e.g., The Starlight Initiative, World Night in Defense of Starlight, International Dark Sky Week, International Dark-Sky Communities, Earth Hour, The Great Switch Out, a traveling exhibit, downloadable posters and brochures). The presentation will provide an update, describe how people can become involved and take a look ahead at the program's sustainability. For more information, visit www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Nobels Nobels laureates photographed by Peter Badge

CERN Document Server

2008-01-01

A unique photographic record of all living Nobel laureates. In this handsome coffee-table book, photographer Peter Badge captures the likeness of every living Nobel laureate in a lasting black-and-white image -- more than 300 striking portraits in all. Brief biographical sketches accompanying the large-scale photographs pay homage to each laureate's singular contribution to science, literature or world peace. Bringing readers face-to-face with Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, James Watson, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Linda Buck, and Paul Samuelson among many others, NOBELS offers an intimate and compelling look at well-known honorees as well as lesser-known recipients. A fascinating word/image tableau.

Variable high-resolution color CCD camera system with online capability for professional photo studio application

Science.gov (United States)

Breitfelder, Stefan; Reichel, Frank R.; Gaertner, Ernst; Hacker, Erich J.; Cappellaro, Markus; Rudolf, Peter; Voelk, Ute

1998-04-01

Digital cameras are of increasing significance for professional applications in photo studios where fashion, portrait, product and catalog photographs or advertising photos of high quality have to be taken. The eyelike is a digital camera system which has been developed for such applications. It is capable of working online with high frame rates and images of full sensor size and it provides a resolution that can be varied between 2048 by 2048 and 6144 by 6144 pixel at a RGB color depth of 12 Bit per channel with an also variable exposure time of 1/60s to 1s. With an exposure time of 100 ms digitization takes approx. 2 seconds for an image of 2048 by 2048 pixels (12 Mbyte), 8 seconds for the image of 4096 by 4096 pixels (48 Mbyte) and 40 seconds for the image of 6144 by 6144 pixels (108 MByte). The eyelike can be used in various configurations. Used as a camera body most commercial lenses can be connected to the camera via existing lens adaptors. On the other hand the eyelike can be used as a back to most commercial 4' by 5' view cameras. This paper describes the eyelike camera concept with the essential system components. The article finishes with a description of the software, which is needed to bring the high quality of the camera to the user.

Photographic Observations of Solar System Bodies at the Main Astronomical Observatory of NAS of Ukraine: Final Results

Science.gov (United States)

Golovnia, V.; Yizhakevych, O.; Shatokhina, S.; Andruk, V.

Astrometric photographic observations of Solar system bodies in the frame of different programs were made at MAO NAN of Ukraine during 1950-2005. 9245 plates with the images of planets and their natural satellite, Moon, minor planets, comets and artificial satellites were obtained and processed in the late 20th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, the UkrVO Joint Digital Archive (JDA) was created, which is accessible at the MAO NAS resources (http://gua.db.ukr-vo.org/archivespecial.php). To digitize the plate archive for the JDA database, flat bed scanners were used and the software was specially de-veloped on the basis of the LINUX/MIDAS/ROMAFOT software for the processing of wide-field images, as well as searching for the images of minor planets and comets on the Northern sky survey program plates. Up to the present time, the photographic plates with images of outer planets and their satellites have been re-processed. The final result of the long-lasting program of the photographic positional observations of Solar system bodies are summarized and presented in this publication.

IS THE TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY CLUSTERING DIPOLE CONVERGENT?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilicki, Maciej; Chodorowski, Michal; Jarrett, Thomas; Mamon, Gary A.

2011-01-01

There is a long-standing controversy about the convergence of the dipole moment of the galaxy angular distribution (the so-called clustering dipole). Is the dipole convergent at all, and if so, what is the scale of the convergence? We study the growth of the clustering dipole of galaxies as a function of the limiting flux of the sample from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Contrary to some earlier claims, we find that the dipole does not converge before the completeness limit of the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog, i.e., up to 13.5 mag in the near-infrared K s band (equivalent to an effective distance of 300 Mpc h -1 ). We compare the observed growth of the dipole with the theoretically expected, conditional one (i.e., given the velocity of the Local Group relative to the cosmic microwave background), for the ΛCDM power spectrum and cosmological parameters constrained by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The observed growth turns out to be within 1σ confidence level of its theoretical counterpart once the proper observational window of the 2MASS flux-limited catalog is included. For a contrast, if the adopted window is a top hat, then the predicted dipole grows significantly faster and converges (within the errors) to its final value for a distance of about 300 Mpc h -1 . By comparing the observational windows, we show that for a given flux limit and a corresponding distance limit, the 2MASS flux-weighted window passes less large-scale signal than the top-hat one. We conclude that the growth of the 2MASS dipole for effective distances greater than 200 Mpc h -1 is only apparent. On the other hand, for a distance of 80 Mpc h -1 (mean depth of the 2MASS Redshift Survey) and the ΛCDM power spectrum, the true dipole is expected to reach only ∼80% of its final value. Eventually, since for the window function of 2MASS the predicted growth is consistent with the observed one, we can compare the two to evaluate β ≡ Ω m 0.55 /b. The result is β = 0.38 �

ROV seafloor surveys combining 5-cm lateral resolution multibeam bathymetry with color stereo photographic imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Caress, D. W.; Hobson, B.; Thomas, H. J.; Henthorn, R.; Martin, E. J.; Bird, L.; Rock, S. M.; Risi, M.; Padial, J. A.

2013-12-01

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is developing a low altitude, high-resolution seafloor mapping capability that combines multibeam sonar with stereo photographic imagery. The goal is to obtain spatially quantitative, repeatable renderings of the seafloor with fidelity at scales of 5 cm or better from altitudes of 2-3 m. The initial test surveys using this sensor system are being conducted from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Ultimately we intend to field this survey system from an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). This presentation focuses on the current sensor configuration, methods for data processing, and results from recent test surveys. Bathymetry data are collected using a 400-kHz Reson 7125 multibeam sonar. This configuration produces 512 beams across a 135° wide swath; each beam has a 0.5° acrosstrack by 1.0° alongtrack angular width. At a 2-m altitude, the nadir beams have a 1.7-cm acrosstrack and 3.5 cm alongtrack footprint. Dual Allied Vision Technology GX1920 2.8 Mpixel color cameras provide color stereo photography of the seafloor. The camera housings have been fitted with corrective optics achieving a 90° field of view through a dome port. Illumination is provided by dual 100J xenon strobes. Position, depth, and attitude data are provided by a Kearfott SeaDevil Inertial Navigation System (INS) integrated with a 300 kHz RDI Doppler velocity log (DVL). A separate Paroscientific pressure sensor is mounted adjacent to the INS. The INS Kalman filter is aided by the DVL velocity and pressure data, achieving navigational drift rates less than 0.05% of the distance traveled during surveys. The sensors are mounted onto a toolsled fitted below MBARI's ROV Doc Ricketts with the sonars, cameras and strobes all pointed vertically down. During surveys the ROV flies at a 2-m altitude at speeds of 0.1-0.2 m/s. During a four-day R/V Western Flyer cruise in June 2013, we successfully collected multibeam and camera survey data from a 2-m altitude

Dark Skies as a Universal Resource: Citizen Scientists Measuring Sky Brightness

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Isbell, D.; Pompea, S. M.

2007-12-01

The international star-hunting event known as GLOBE at Night returned March 8-21, 2007 in two flavors: the classic GLOBE at Night activity incorporating unaided-eye observations which debuted last year, and a new effort to obtain precise measurements of urban dark skies using digital sky-brightness meters. Both flavors of the program were designed to aid in heightening the awareness about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments, and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much of the world's population. To make possible the digital GLOBE at Night program, NSF funded 135 low-cost, digital sky-quality meter (manufactured by Unihedron). With these, citizen-scientists took direct measurements of the integrated sky brightness across a wide swath of night sky. Along with related materials developed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the meters were distributed to citizen-scientists in 21 U.S. states plus Washington DC, and in 5 other countries, including Chile, where NOAO has a major observatory. The citizen- scientists were selected from teachers, their students, astronomers at mountain-top observatories, International Dark-Sky Association members and staff from 19 small science centers. Most sites had a coordinator, who instructed local educators in the proper use of the meters and develop a plan to share them as widely as possible during the 2-week window. The local teams pooled their data for regional analysis and in some cases shared the results with their schools and local policymakers. Building upon the worldwide participation sparked by the first GLOBE at Night campaign in March 2006, the observations this year approached 8500 (from 60 countries), 85% higher than the number from last year. The success of GLOBE at Night 2007 is a major step toward the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, when one goal is to make the digital data collection into a worldwide activity. In this presentation, we will outline

Lateral organisation in nineteenth-century studio photographs is influenced by the direction of writing: a comparison of Iranian and Spanish photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez González, Carmen

2012-01-01

The direction of reading has been found to have a significant effect upon aesthetic preference, with left-to-right readers showing a preference for stimuli with a rightward directionality while right-to-left readers prefer stimuli with a leftward directionality. This study looks at a large set of posed, studio photographs to study the cultural interaction between direction of reading and lateral organisation, comparing a corpus of 735 nineteenth-century photographs from Iran (right-to-left reading) with a similar corpus of 898 photographs from Spain (left-to-right readers). Five separate types of composition were studied: linear ordering, usually by height; couples; individuals posing by a chair; individuals posing by a table; and portraits. Lateral preferences were found for all five types of photograph, with the lateral organisation of Iranian photographs being the reverse of that in the Spanish photographs. These data provide support for the influence of direction of reading upon aesthetic organisation in naturalistically produced photographs.

The First Data Release of the All-sky NOAO Source Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Nidever, David L.; NOAO Data Lab

2018-06-01

Roughly three quarters of the sky has been imaged with NOAO's telescopes from both hemispheres. While the large majority of these data were obtained for PI-led projects and surveys only a fraction have been released to the community via well-calibrated and easily accessible catalogs. We have remedied this by creating a catalog of sources from most of the public data taken on CTIO-4m+DECam as well as KPNO 4m+Mosaic3. The first data release (DR1) of this catalog, called the NOAO Source Catalog (NSC), contains 2.9 billion unique objects, 34 billion individual measurements, covers ~30,000 square degrees, has depths of ~23rd magnitude in most broadband filters with ~1-2% photometric accuracy and astrometric accuracy of ~2 mas. The NSC will be useful for exploring stellar streams, dwarf satellite galaxies, distant galaxies as well as variable stars and other transients. DR1 is now available through the NOAO Data Lab (datalab.noao.edu).

Deep sky observing an astronomical tour

CERN Document Server

Coe, Steven R

2016-01-01

This updated second edition has all of the information needed for your successful forays into deep sky observing. Coe uses his years of experience to give detailed practical advice about how to find the best observing site, how to make the most of the time spent there, and what equipment and instruments to take along. There are comprehensive lists of deep sky objects of all kinds, along with Steve's own observations describing how they look through telescopes with apertures ranging from 4 inches to 36 inches (0.1 - 0.9 meters). Binocular observing also gets its due, while the lists of objects have been amended to highlight only the best targets. A new index makes finding targets easier than ever before, while the selection of viewing targets has been revised from the first edition. Most of all, this book is all about how to enjoy astronomy. The author's enthusiasm and sense of wonder shine through every page as he invites you along on a tour of some of the most beautiful and fascinating sites in the deep ...

Light pollution: Assessment of sky glow on two dark sky regions of Portugal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Raul Cerveira; Pinto da Cunha, José; Peixinho, Nuno

2016-01-01

Artificial light at night (ALAN), producing light pollution (LP), is not a matter restricted to astronomy anymore. Light is part of modern societies and, as a consequence, the natural cycle day-night (bright-dark) has been interrupted in a large segment of the global population. There is increasing evidence that exposure to certain types of light at night and beyond threshold levels may produce hazardous effects to humans and the environment. The concept of "dark skies reserves" is a step forward in order to preserve the night sky and a means of enhancing public awareness of the problem of spread of light pollution worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the skyglow at two sites in Portugal, the Peneda-Gerês National Park (PNPG) and the region now known as Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve. The latter site was classified as a "Starlight Tourism Destination" by the Starlight Foundation (the first in the world to achieve this classification) following a series of night sky measurements in situ described herein. The measurements at PNPG also contributed to the new set of regulations concerning light pollution at this national park. This study presents the first in situ systematic measurements of night sky brightness, showing that at the two sites the skies are mostly in levels 3 to 4 of the Bortle 9-level scale (with level 1 being the best achievable). The results indicate that the sources of light pollution and skyglow can be attributed predominantly to contamination from nearby urban regions.

Education for Life in the Sky.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Charles E.

1981-01-01

The need to educate people about the sky as both a psychological and physical environment is discussed, including a formal curriculum schema (sky as habitat, sky as transport, influence on culture) and informal curriculum, with such topics as recreation, pollution, mythology, and clouds. (DC)

The Malaysian Robotic Solar Observatory (P29)

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, M.; Asillam, M. F.; Ismail, M. K. H.

2006-11-01

Robotic observatory with small telescopes can make significant contributions to astronomy observation. They provide an encouraging environment for astronomers to focus on data analysis and research while at the same time reducing time and cost for observation. The observatory will house the primary 50cm robotic telescope in the main dome which will be used for photometry, spectroscopy and astrometry observation activities. The secondary telescope is a robotic multi-apochromatic refractor (maximum diameter: 15 cm) which will be housed in the smaller dome. This telescope set will be used for solar observation mainly in three different wavelengths simultaneously: the Continuum, H-Alpha and Calcium K-line. The observatory is also equipped with an automated weather station, cloud & rain sensor and all-sky camera to monitor the climatic condition, sense the clouds (before raining) as well as to view real time sky view above the observatory. In conjunction with the Langkawi All-Sky Camera, the observatory website will also display images from the Malaysia - Antarctica All-Sky Camera used to monitor the sky at Scott Base Antarctica. Both all-sky images can be displayed simultaneously to show the difference between the equatorial and Antarctica skies. This paper will describe the Malaysian Robotic Observatory including the systems available and method of access by other astronomers. We will also suggest possible collaboration with other observatories in this region.

Secrets to Successful Earth and Sky Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Tafreshi, Babak A.

In the absolute silence of a desert night, surrounded by an arena of celestial beauties, a gentle breeze shifts the tiny grains of sand around me. There is a patchy glow of light visible all across the eastern horizon. It is gradually ascending over the sand dunes. The glow represents billions of stars in our home galaxy rising above the horizon of our planet. I have seen such dream-like starry scenes from many locations; from the boundless dark skies of the African Sahara when the summer Milky Way was arching over giant sandstones, to the shimmering beauty of the Grand Canyon under moonlight, and the transparent skies of the Himalayas when the bright stars of winter were rising above where the highest peak on Earth (Mt. Everest) meets the sky. These are forever-engraved moments in my memory. Astrophotography is not only about recording the celestial world. It can lead you to a life of adventure and discovery (Fig. 1).

All-sky-imaging capabilities for ionospheric space weather research using geomagnetic conjugate point observing sites

Science.gov (United States)

Martinis, C.; Baumgardner, J.; Wroten, J.; Mendillo, M.

2018-04-01

Optical signatures of ionospheric disturbances exist at all latitudes on Earth-the most well known case being visible aurora at high latitudes. Sub-visual emissions occur equatorward of the auroral zones that also indicate periods and locations of severe Space Weather effects. These fall into three magnetic latitude domains in each hemisphere: (1) sub-auroral latitudes ∼40-60°, (2) mid-latitudes (20-40°) and (3) equatorial-to-low latitudes (0-20°). Boston University has established a network of all-sky-imagers (ASIs) with sites at opposite ends of the same geomagnetic field lines in each hemisphere-called geomagnetic conjugate points. Our ASIs are autonomous instruments that operate in mini-observatories situated at four conjugate pairs in North and South America, plus one pair linking Europe and South Africa. In this paper, we describe instrument design, data-taking protocols, data transfer and archiving issues, image processing, science objectives and early results for each latitude domain. This unique capability addresses how a single source of disturbance is transformed into similar or different effects based on the unique "receptor" conditions (seasonal effects) found in each hemisphere. Applying optical conjugate point observations to Space Weather problems offers a new diagnostic approach for understanding the global system response functions operating in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Results of the deepest all-sky survey for continuous gravitational waves on LIGO S6 data running on the Einstein@Home volunteer distributed computing project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acemese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwa, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Arker, Bd.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Be, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitoss, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Boutfanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, O.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, C.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S. S. Y.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, Laura; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Costa, C. F. Da Silva; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M. Di; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Dreyer, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Egizenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholel, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, O.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Far, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.M.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, J. -D; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritsche, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garuti, F.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gi, K.; Glaetke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Granta, A.; Gras, S.; Cray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonsta, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howel, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, O.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Lyer, B. R.; Fzumi, K.; Jaccimin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Wads, k; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Keh, M. S.; Keite, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Namjun; Kim, W.; Kimbre, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kisse, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringe, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Liick, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ivia, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; Maclnnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magafia-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magafia; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Manse, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matiehard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mende, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Miche, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecehia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Hang, S.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Ram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, . J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powel, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, .; Punturo, M.; Purrer, PuppoM.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rowan, RosiliskaS.; Ruggi, RiidigerP.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, Perminder S; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabe, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schonbeck, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Sielleez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazus, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sunil, Suns; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepariczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tomasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Tome, C.; Tot, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifire, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozz, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Valente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bake, N.; Van Beuzekom, Martin; Van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; Van Heilningen, J. V.; Van Vegge, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vaslith, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Vvang, G.; Wang, O.; Wang, X.; Wiang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Wiarner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Weliels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; WilIke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Whinkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; De Witte, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S.J.; Zhu, X.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

We report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the S6 LIGO science run. The search was possible thanks to the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home distributed computing project. We find no significant

Accurate and cost-effective MTF measurement system for lens modules of digital cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Gao-Wei; Liao, Chia-Cheng; Yeh, Zong-Mu

2007-01-01

For many years, the widening use of digital imaging products, e.g., digital cameras, has given rise to much attention in the market of consumer electronics. However, it is important to measure and enhance the imaging performance of the digital ones, compared to that of conventional cameras (with photographic films). For example, the effect of diffraction arising from the miniaturization of the optical modules tends to decrease the image resolution. As a figure of merit, modulation transfer function (MTF) has been broadly employed to estimate the image quality. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to design and implement an accurate and cost-effective MTF measurement system for the digital camera. Once the MTF of the sensor array is provided, that of the optical module can be then obtained. In this approach, a spatial light modulator (SLM) is employed to modulate the spatial frequency of light emitted from the light-source. The modulated light going through the camera under test is consecutively detected by the sensors. The corresponding images formed from the camera are acquired by a computer and then, they are processed by an algorithm for computing the MTF. Finally, through the investigation on the measurement accuracy from various methods, such as from bar-target and spread-function methods, it appears that our approach gives quite satisfactory results.

Device to take facial photographs in frankfort horizontal plane in a standardized manner at repeated intervals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorantla Suresh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Very little attention has been given in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning regarding appropriate facial orientation during photographic recordings. Analysis of facial profile using standardized photographs is a valuable tool for orthodontic diagnosis. Materials and Methods: We have worked on a new way to position the patient's head with Frankfort horizontal parallel to the floor by use of a a specially fabricated device. It consists of a vertically adjustable scale attached to metal framework. The shadow of the scale is projected as a horizontal line onto the face by means of a light source. The patient's head is positioned such that the Frankfort horizontal lies along the projected line. Twenty-five (13 males and 12 females people aged between 15 and 25 years were photographed using the above method with a digital single-lens reflex camera. The photographs were taken again after a 15-day interval using the same protocol and checked for reliability. Results: Statistical analysis was done using paired student t-test and Kappa test. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean angles at the initial (76.92 ± 4.77 and 15-day interval (76.72 ± 4.67 in profile view and between the mean angles at the initial (90.88 ± 2.06 and 15-day interval (90.96 ± 1.96 in the frontal view. Conclusion: This method allows us to take facial photographs by positioning the patient's head such that the FH plane is parallel to the floor. This method also helped us in standardization of facial photographs when photographs are taken in successive visits.

SKY BRIGHTNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE i-BAND AT DOME A, ANTARCTICA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Hu; Zhou Xu; Jiang Zhaoji; Hu Jingyao; Ma Jun; Ashley, M. C. B.; Luong-Van, D. M.; Storey, J. W. V.; Cui Xiangqun; Feng Longlong; Gong Xuefei; Kulesa, C. A.; Lawrence, J. S.; Liu Genrong; Moore, A. M.; Pennypacker, C. R.; Travouillon, T.; Qin Weijia; Sun Bo; Shang Zhaohui

2010-01-01

The i-band observing conditions at Dome A on the Antarctic plateau have been investigated using data acquired during 2008 with the Chinese Small Telescope Array. The sky brightness, variations in atmospheric transparency, cloud cover, and the presence of aurorae are obtained from these images. The median sky brightness of moonless clear nights is 20.5 mag arcsec -2 in the SDSS i band at the south celestial pole (which includes a contribution of about 0.06 mag from diffuse Galactic light). The median over all Moon phases in the Antarctic winter is about 19.8 mag arcsec -2 . There were no thick clouds in 2008. We model contributions of the Sun and the Moon to the sky background to obtain the relationship between the sky brightness and transparency. Aurorae are identified by comparing the observed sky brightness to the sky brightness expected from this model. About 2% of the images are affected by relatively strong aurorae.

Predicting daylight illuminance on inclined surfaces using sky luminance data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, D.H.W.; Lau, C.C.S.; Lam, J.C. [City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon (China). Dept. of Building and Construction

2005-07-01

Daylight illuminance, particularly on vertical surfaces, plays a major role in determining and evaluating the daylighting performance of a building. In many parts of the world, however, the basic daylight illuminance data for various vertical planes are not always readily available. The usual method to obtain diffuse illuminance on tilted planes would be based on inclined surface models using data from the horizontal measurements. Alternatively, the diffuse illuminance on a sloping plane can be computed by integrating the luminance distribution of the sky 'seen' by the plane. This paper presents an approach to estimate the vertical outdoor illuminance from sky luminance data and solar geometry. Sky luminance data recorded from January 1999 to December 2001 in Hong Kong and generated by two well-known sky luminance models (Kittler and Perez) were used to compute the outdoor illuminance for the four principal vertical planes (N, E, S and W). The performance of this approach was evaluated against data measured in the same period. Statistical analysis indicated that using sky luminance distributions to predict outdoor illuminance can give reasonably good agreement with measured data for all vertical surfaces. The findings provide an accurate alternative to determine the amount of daylight on vertical as well as other inclined surfaces when sky luminance data are available. (author)

A mobile device-based imaging spectrometer for environmental monitoring by attaching a lightweight small module to a commercial digital camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Fuhong; Lu, Wen; Shi, Wuxiong; He, Sailing

2017-11-15

Spatially-explicit data are essential for remote sensing of ecological phenomena. Lately, recent innovations in mobile device platforms have led to an upsurge in on-site rapid detection. For instance, CMOS chips in smart phones and digital cameras serve as excellent sensors for scientific research. In this paper, a mobile device-based imaging spectrometer module (weighing about 99 g) is developed and equipped on a Single Lens Reflex camera. Utilizing this lightweight module, as well as commonly used photographic equipment, we demonstrate its utility through a series of on-site multispectral imaging, including ocean (or lake) water-color sensing and plant reflectance measurement. Based on the experiments we obtain 3D spectral image cubes, which can be further analyzed for environmental monitoring. Moreover, our system can be applied to many kinds of cameras, e.g., aerial camera and underwater camera. Therefore, any camera can be upgraded to an imaging spectrometer with the help of our miniaturized module. We believe it has the potential to become a versatile tool for on-site investigation into many applications.

Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing from Combined A-Train Observations - Preliminary Comparisons with AeroCom Models and Pathways to Observationally Based All-sky Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Redemann, J.; Livingston, J. M.; Shinozuka, Y.; Kacenelenbogen, M. S.; Russell, P. B.; LeBlanc, S. E.; Vaughan, M.; Ferrare, R. A.; Hostetler, C. A.; Rogers, R. R.; Burton, S. P.; Torres, O.; Remer, L. A.; Stier, P.; Schutgens, N.

2014-12-01

We describe a technique for combining CALIOP aerosol backscatter, MODIS spectral AOD (aerosol optical depth), and OMI AAOD (absorption aerosol optical depth) retrievals for the purpose of estimating full spectral sets of aerosol radiative properties, and ultimately for calculating the 3-D distribution of direct aerosol radiative forcing. We present results using one year of data collected in 2007 and show comparisons of the aerosol radiative property estimates to collocated AERONET retrievals. Use of the recently released MODIS Collection 6 data for aerosol optical depths derived with the dark target and deep blue algorithms has extended the coverage of the multi-sensor estimates towards higher latitudes. Initial calculations of seasonal clear-sky aerosol radiative forcing based on our multi-sensor aerosol retrievals compare well with over-ocean and top of the atmosphere IPCC-2007 model-based results, and with more recent assessments in the "Climate Change Science Program Report: Atmospheric Aerosol Properties and Climate Impacts" (2009). For the first time, we present comparisons of our multi-sensor aerosol direct radiative forcing estimates to values derived from a subset of models that participated in the latest AeroCom initiative. We discuss the major challenges that exist in extending our clear-sky results to all-sky conditions. On the basis of comparisons to suborbital measurements, we present some of the limitations of the MODIS and CALIOP retrievals in the presence of adjacent or underlying clouds. Strategies for meeting these challenges are discussed.

Full band all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the O1 LIGO data

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Afrough, M.; Agarwal, B.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allen, G.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Angelova, S. V.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Atallah, D. V.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; AultONeal, K.; Austin, C.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Bae, S.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Banagiri, S.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barkett, K.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Bawaj, M.; Bayley, J. C.; Bazzan, M.; Bécsy, B.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Bero, J. J.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Biscoveanu, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonilla, E.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bossie, K.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderón; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canepa, M.; Canizares, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Carney, M. F.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerdá-Durán, P.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chase, E.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, X.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H.-P.; Chia, H. Y.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, A. K. W.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Ciecielag, P.; Ciolfi, R.; Cirelli, C. E.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Clearwater, P.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Cohen, D.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L. R.; Constancio, M.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cordero-Carrión, I.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, E. T.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Canton, T. Dal; Dálya, G.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Demos, N.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; De Pietri, R.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; De Rossi, C.; DeSalvo, R.; de Varona, O.; Devenson, J.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorosh, O.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Dovale Álvarez, M.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Dreissigacker, C.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dupej, P.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Estevez, D.; Etienne, Z. B.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fee, C.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Finstad, D.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fishbach, M.; Fisher, R. P.; Fitz-Axen, M.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Font, J. A.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garcia-Quiros, C.; Garufi, F.; Gateley, B.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, S.; Goncharov, B.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Gretarsson, E. M.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Halim, O.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hamilton, E. Z.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hinderer, T.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Horst, C.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hreibi, A.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Inta, R.; Intini, G.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kamai, B.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katolik, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kemball, A. J.; Kennedy, R.; Kent, C.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, K.; Kim, W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinley-Hanlon, M.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Knowles, T. D.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwang, S.; Lackey, B. D.; Lai, K. H.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Linker, S. D.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lo, R. K. L.; Lockerbie, N. A.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macas, R.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña Hernandez, I.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magaña Zertuche, L.; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Markowitz, A.; Maros, E.; Marquina, A.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Massera, E.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McNeill, L.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Mehmet, M.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Milovich-Goff, M. C.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moffa, D.; Moggi, A.; Mogushi, K.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muñiz, E. A.; Muratore, M.; Murray, P. G.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Neilson, J.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Nevin, L.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Ng, K. Y.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nichols, D.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; North, C.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; O'Dea, G. D.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Okada, M. A.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R.; Ortega, L. F.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ossokine, S.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Page, M. A.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, Howard; Pan, Huang-Wei; Pang, B.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Parida, A.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patil, M.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pirello, M.; Pisarski, A.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Pratten, G.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rajbhandari, B.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramirez, K. E.; Ramos-Buades, A.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Ren, W.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Ricker, P. M.; Rieger, S.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romel, C. L.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Ross, M. P.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Rutins, G.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sanchez, L. E.; Sanchis-Gual, N.; Sandberg, V.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheel, M.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schulte, B. W.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Seidel, E.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shah, A. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaner, M. B.; Shao, L.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Somala, S.; Son, E. J.; Sonnenberg, J. A.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staats, K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stevenson, S. P.; Stone, R.; Stops, D. J.; Strain, K. A.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Strunk, A.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Suresh, J.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Tait, S. C.; Talbot, C.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tao, D.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Tasson, J. D.; Taylor, J. A.; Taylor, R.; Tewari, S. V.; Theeg, T.; Thies, F.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres-Forné, A.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tsang, K. W.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Tsukada, L.; Tsuna, D.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ueno, K.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walet, R.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, W. H.; Wang, Y. F.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Wessel, E. K.; Weßels, P.; Westerweck, J.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Wilken, D.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Wofford, J.; Wong, W. K.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wysocki, D. M.; Xiao, S.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yang, L.; Yap, M. J.; Yazback, M.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; Zadroźny, A.; Zanolin, M.; Zelenova, T.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.-H.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S. J.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2018-05-01

We report on a new all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 475-2000 Hz and with a frequency time derivative in the range of [-1.0 ,+0.1 ] ×1 0-8 Hz /s . Potential signals could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly nonaxisymmetric isolated neutron star in our Galaxy. This search uses the data from Advanced LIGO's first observational run O1. No gravitational-wave signals were observed, and upper limits were placed on their strengths. For completeness, results from the separately published low-frequency search 20-475 Hz are included as well. Our lowest upper limit on worst-case (linearly polarized) strain amplitude h0 is ˜4 ×1 0-25 near 170 Hz, while at the high end of our frequency range, we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 1.3 ×1 0-24. For a circularly polarized source (most favorable orientation), the smallest upper limit obtained is ˜1.5 ×1 0-25.

Final Report for LDRD Project 02-FS-009 Gigapixel Surveillance Camera

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marrs, R E; Bennett, C L

2010-04-20

The threats of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction add urgency to the development of new techniques for surveillance and intelligence collection. For example, the United States faces a serious and growing threat from adversaries who locate key facilities underground, hide them within other facilities, or otherwise conceal their location and function. Reconnaissance photographs are one of the most important tools for uncovering the capabilities of adversaries. However, current imaging technology provides only infrequent static images of a large area, or occasional video of a small area. We are attempting to add a new dimension to reconnaissance by introducing a capability for large area video surveillance. This capability would enable tracking of all vehicle movements within a very large area. The goal of our project is the development of a gigapixel video surveillance camera for high altitude aircraft or balloon platforms. From very high altitude platforms (20-40 km altitude) it would be possible to track every moving vehicle within an area of roughly 100 km x 100 km, about the size of the San Francisco Bay region, with a gigapixel camera. Reliable tracking of vehicles requires a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 0.5 to 1 m and a framing rate of approximately two frames per second (fps). For a 100 km x 100 km area the corresponding pixel count is 10 gigapixels for a 1-m GSD and 40 gigapixels for a 0.5-m GSD. This is an order of magnitude beyond the 1 gigapixel camera envisioned in our LDRD proposal. We have determined that an instrument of this capacity is feasible.

a Uav-Based Low-Cost Stereo Camera System for Archaeological Surveys - Experiences from Doliche (turkey)

Science.gov (United States)

Haubeck, K.; Prinz, T.

2013-08-01

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveying archaeological sites is becoming more and more common due to their advantages in rapidity of data acquisition, cost-efficiency and flexibility. One possible usage is the documentation and visualization of historic geo-structures and -objects using UAV-attached digital small frame cameras. These monoscopic cameras offer the possibility to obtain close-range aerial photographs, but - under the condition that an accurate nadir-waypoint flight is not possible due to choppy or windy weather conditions - at the same time implicate the problem that two single aerial images not always meet the required overlap to use them for 3D photogrammetric purposes. In this paper, we present an attempt to replace the monoscopic camera with a calibrated low-cost stereo camera that takes two pictures from a slightly different angle at the same time. Our results show that such a geometrically predefined stereo image pair can be used for photogrammetric purposes e.g. the creation of digital terrain models (DTMs) and orthophotos or the 3D extraction of single geo-objects. Because of the limited geometric photobase of the applied stereo camera and the resulting base-height ratio the accuracy of the DTM however directly depends on the UAV flight altitude.

Seasonality of Central Amazon Forest Leaf Flush Using Tower-Mounted RGB Camera

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, J.; Nelson, B. W.; Tavares, J. V.; Valeriano, D. M.; Lopes, A. P.; Marostica, S. F.; Martins, G.; Prohaska, N.; Albert, L.; De Araujo, A. C.; Manzi, A. O.; Saleska, S. R.; Huete, A. R.

2014-12-01

Tower-mounted RGB cameras can contribute data to the debate on seasonality of photosynthesis in Amazon upland forests and to improved modelling of forest response to climate change. In late 2010 we began monitoring upper crown surfaces of ~65 living trees or vines from a 54m tall eddy-flux tower on a well-drained clay-soil plateau. This Central Amazon site (60.2091 W, 2.6092 S) is in a large forest reserve. We deployed a Stardot Netcam XL RGB camera with a 1024 x 768 resolution CMOS sensor, 66o HFOV lens, fixed oblique south view, fixed iris, fixed white balance and auto-exposure. Images were logged every 15 seconds to a passively cooled FitPC2i with heat-tolerant SSD drive. Camera and PC automatically rebooted after power outages. Here we report results for two full years, from 1 Dec 2011 through 30 Nov 2013. Images in six day intervals were selected near local noon for homogeneous diffuse lighting under cloudy sky and for a standard reflected radiance (± 10%). Crowns showing two easily recognized phenophases were tallied: (1) massive flushing of new light-green leaves and (2) complete or nearly complete leaf loss. On average, 60% of live crowns flushed a massive amount of new leaves each year. Each crown flush was completed within 30 days. During the five driest months (Jun-Oct), 44% of all live crowns, on average, exhibited such massive leaf flush. In the five wettest months (Dec-Apr) only 11% of live crowns mass-flushed new leaves. In each year 23% of all live crowns became deciduous, usually a brief (1-2 week) preamble to flushing. Additional crowns lost old dark-green leaves partially and more gradually, becoming semi-deciduous prior to flushing. From these two years of camera data we infer that highly efficient leaves of 2-6 months age (high maximum carboxylation rate) are most abundant from the late dry season (October) through the mid wet season (March). This coincides with peak annual photosynthesis (Gross Ecosystem Productivity) reported for this same

The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers

CERN Document Server

Story, Derrick

2009-01-01

"Derrick shows that Photoshop can be friendly as well as powerful. In part, he does that by focusing photographers on the essential steps of an efficient workflow. With this guide in hand, you'll quickly learn how to leverage Photoshop CS4's features to organize and improve your pictures."-- John Nack, Principal Product Manager, Adobe Photoshop & BridgeMany photographers -- even the pros -- feel overwhelmed by all the editing options Photoshop provides. The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers pares it down to only the tools you'll need most often, and shows you how to use those tools as

DISCOVERY OF A HALO AROUND THE HELIX NEBULA NGC 7293 IN THE WISE ALL-SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yong; Hsia, Chih-Hao; Kwok, Sun

2012-01-01

We report the discovery of an extended halo (∼40' in diameter) around the planetary nebula NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) observed in the 12 μm band from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer all-sky survey. The mid-infrared halo has an axisymmetric structure with a sharp boundary to the northeast and a more diffuse boundary to the southwest, suggesting an interaction between the stellar wind and the interstellar medium (ISM). The symmetry axis of the halo is well aligned with that of a northeast arc, suggesting that the two structures are physically associated. We have attempted to fit the observed geometry with a model of a moving steady-state stellar wind interacting with the ISM. Possible combinations of the ISM density and the stellar velocity are derived from these fittings. The discrepancies between the model and the observations suggest that the stellar mass loss has a more complicated history, including possible time and angle dependences.

Accuracy of the hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation versus sky conditions: revealing solar elevations and cloudinesses favourable for this navigation method

Science.gov (United States)

Száz, Dénes; Farkas, Alexandra; Barta, András; Kretzer, Balázs; Blahó, Miklós; Egri, Ádám; Szabó, Gyula; Horváth, Gábor

2017-09-01

According to Thorkild Ramskou's theory proposed in 1967, under overcast and foggy skies, Viking seafarers might have used skylight polarization analysed with special crystals called sunstones to determine the position of the invisible Sun. After finding the occluded Sun with sunstones, its elevation angle had to be measured and its shadow had to be projected onto the horizontal surface of a sun compass. According to Ramskou's theory, these sunstones might have been birefringent calcite or dichroic cordierite or tourmaline crystals working as polarizers. It has frequently been claimed that this method might have been suitable for navigation even in cloudy weather. This hypothesis has been accepted and frequently cited for decades without any experimental support. In this work, we determined the accuracy of this hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation for 1080 different sky situations characterized by solar elevation θ and cloudiness ρ, the sky polarization patterns of which were measured by full-sky imaging polarimetry. We used the earlier measured uncertainty functions of the navigation steps 1, 2 and 3 for calcite, cordierite and tourmaline sunstone crystals, respectively, and the newly measured uncertainty function of step 4 presented here. As a result, we revealed the meteorological conditions under which Vikings could have used this hypothetical navigation method. We determined the solar elevations at which the navigation uncertainties are minimal at summer solstice and spring equinox for all three sunstone types. On average, calcite sunstone ensures a more accurate sky-polarimetric navigation than tourmaline and cordierite. However, in some special cases (generally at 35° ≤ θ ≤ 40°, 1 okta ≤ ρ ≤ 6 oktas for summer solstice, and at 20° ≤ θ ≤ 25°, 0 okta ≤ ρ ≤ 4 oktas for spring equinox), the use of tourmaline and cordierite results in smaller navigation uncertainties than that of calcite. Generally, under clear or less cloudy

AHP 44: DPAL RGYAL: ARTIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klu thar rgyal ཀླུ་ཐར་རྒྱལ།

2017-02-01

Full Text Available One sweltering summer afternoon in 2016, my family was enjoying yogurt while sitting in order of age around a table at my home. Father suddenly clapped his leg and blurted out "Oh! I remember!" took his cell phone from his coat pocket and said, "Klu kho, please translate these new Chinese messages for me." "China Mobile is really your best friend! It texts you almost every day!" I joked, taking the phone from his hand. One message was for my older brother, Dpal rgyal. The prefecture government informed Brother (b. 1980 that he was chosen to represent Mtsho lho (Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture for the 2016 Mtsho sngon (Qinghai Province Disabled Persons vocational skills competition in the photography category. Photography contestants were required to bring their own camera and would take photographs at the competition venue. ...

Species richness and conservation status of medium and large terrestrial mammals from four Sky Islands in Sonora, northwestern Mexico

OpenAIRE

Coronel-Arellano, Helí; Lara-Díaz, Nalleli; Jiménez-Maldonado, Rosa; López-González, Carlos

2016-01-01

We present the first systematic checklist of medium and large terrestrial mammals on four mountain ranges known as Sky Islands, in northeastern Sonora, Mexico. We used camera traps for recording mammals, with which we documented 25 wild species. Two of the native species are in the IUCN Red List and four are threatened at the national level. We did not document seven wild species with potential distribution at study sites, probably due to limited availability of habitat and/or local extirpati...

Promoting Dark Sky Protection in Chile: the Gabriel Mistral IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary and Other AURA Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. Chris; Smith, Malcolm; Pompea, Stephen; Sanhueza, Pedro; AURA-Chile EPO Team

2018-01-01

For over 20 years, AURA has been leading efforts promoting the protection of dark skies in northern Chile. Efforts began in the early 1990s at AURA's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), working in collaboration with other international observatories in Chile including Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). CTIO also partnered with local communities, for example supporting Vicuña's effort to establish the first municipal observatory in Chile. Today we have developed a multifaceted effort of dark sky protection, including proactive government relations at national and local levels, a strong educational and public outreach program, and a program of highlighting international recognition of the dark skies through the IDA Dark Sky Places program. Work on international recognition has included the declaration of the Gabriel Mistral IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary, the first such IDA sanctuary in the world.

A Chinese sky trust?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brenner, Mark [Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: brenner@econs.umass.edu; Riddle, Matthew [Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: mriddle@econs.umass.edu; Boyce, James K. [Political Economy Research Institute and Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)]. E-mail: boyce@econs.umass.edu

2007-03-15

The introduction of carbon charges on the use of fossil fuels in China would have a progressive impact on income distribution. This outcome, which contrasts to the regressive distributional impact found in most studies of carbon charges in industrialized countries, is driven primarily by differences between urban and rural expenditure patterns. If carbon revenues were recycled on an equal per capita basis via a 'sky trust,' the progressive impact would be further enhanced: low-income (mainly rural) households would receive more in sky-trust dividends than they pay in carbon charges, and high-income (mainly urban) households would pay more than they receive in dividends. Thus a Chinese sky trust would contribute to both lower fossil fuel consumption and greater income equality.

A Chinese sky trust?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, Mark; Riddle, Matthew; Boyce, James K.

2007-01-01

The introduction of carbon charges on the use of fossil fuels in China would have a progressive impact on income distribution. This outcome, which contrasts to the regressive distributional impact found in most studies of carbon charges in industrialized countries, is driven primarily by differences between urban and rural expenditure patterns. If carbon revenues were recycled on an equal per capita basis via a 'sky trust,' the progressive impact would be further enhanced: low-income (mainly rural) households would receive more in sky-trust dividends than they pay in carbon charges, and high-income (mainly urban) households would pay more than they receive in dividends. Thus a Chinese sky trust would contribute to both lower fossil fuel consumption and greater income equality

Image compensation for camera and lighting variability

Science.gov (United States)

Daley, Wayne D.; Britton, Douglas F.

1996-12-01

With the current trend of integrating machine vision systems in industrial manufacturing and inspection applications comes the issue of camera and illumination stabilization. Unless each application is built around a particular camera and highly controlled lighting environment, the interchangeability of cameras of fluctuations in lighting become a problem as each camera usually has a different response. An empirical approach is proposed where color tile data is acquired using the camera of interest, and a mapping is developed to some predetermined reference image using neural networks. A similar analytical approach based on a rough analysis of the imaging systems is also considered for deriving a mapping between cameras. Once a mapping has been determined, all data from one camera is mapped to correspond to the images of the other prior to performing any processing on the data. Instead of writing separate image processing algorithms for the particular image data being received, the image data is adjusted based on each particular camera and lighting situation. All that is required when swapping cameras is the new mapping for the camera being inserted. The image processing algorithms can remain the same as the input data has been adjusted appropriately. The results of utilizing this technique are presented for an inspection application.

A simple formula for determining globally clear skies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Long, C.N.; George, A.T.; Mace, G.G. [Penn State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

Surface measurements to serve as {open_quotes}ground truth{close_quotes} are of primary importance in the development of retrieval algorithms using satellite measurements to predict surface irradiance. The most basic algorithms of this type deal with clear sky (i.e., cloudless) top-to-surface shortwave (SW) transfer, serving as a necessary prerequisite towards treating both clear and cloudy conditions. Recently, atmosphere SW cloud forcing to infer the possibility of excess atmospheric absorption (compared with model results) in cloudy atmospheres. The surface component of this ratio relies on inferring the expected clear sky SW irradiance to determine the effects of clouds on the SW energy budget. Solar renewable energy applications make use of clear and cloud fraction climatologies to assess solar radiation resources. All of the above depend to some extent on the identification of globally clear sky conditions and the attendant measurements of downwelling SW irradiance.

Providing Diurnal Sky Cover Data at ARM Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klebe, Dimitri I. [Solmirus Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO (United States)

2015-03-06

The Solmirus Corporation was awarded two-year funding to perform a comprehensive data analysis of observations made during Solmirus’ 2009 field campaign (conducted from May 21 to July 27, 2009 at the ARM SGP site) using their All Sky Infrared Visible Analyzer (ASIVA) instrument. The objective was to develop a suite of cloud property data products for the ASIVA instrument that could be implemented in real time and tailored for cloud modelers. This final report describes Solmirus’ research and findings enabled by this grant. The primary objective of this award was to develop a diurnal sky cover (SC) data product utilizing the ASIVA’s infrared (IR) radiometrically-calibrated data and is described in detail. Other data products discussed in this report include the sky cover derived from ASIVA’s visible channel and precipitable water vapor, cloud temperature (both brightness and color), and cloud height inferred from ASIVA’s IR channels.

The 60 Month All-Sky Burst Alert Telescope Survey of Active Galactic Nucleus and the Anisotropy of Nearby AGNs

Science.gov (United States)

Ajello, M.; Alexander, D. M.; Greiner, J.; Madejeski, G. M.; Gehrels, N.; Burlon, D.

2014-01-01

Surveys above 10 keV represent one of the best resources to provide an unbiased census of the population of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We present the results of 60 months of observation of the hard X-ray sky with Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT). In this time frame, BAT-detected (in the 15-55 keV band) 720 sources in an all-sky survey of which 428 are associated with AGNs, most of which are nearby. Our sample has negligible incompleteness and statistics a factor of approx. 2 larger over similarly complete sets of AGNs. Our sample contains (at least) 15 bona fide Compton-thick AGNs and 3 likely candidates. Compton-thick AGNs represent approx. 5% of AGN samples detected above 15 keV. We use the BAT data set to refine the determination of the log N-log S of AGNs which is extremely important, now that NuSTAR prepares for launch, toward assessing the AGN contribution to the cosmic X-ray background. We show that the log N-log S of AGNs selected above 10 keV is now established to approx. 10% precision. We derive the luminosity function of Compton-thick AGNs and measure a space density of 7.9(+4.1/-2.9)× 10(exp -5)/cubic Mpc for objects with a de-absorbed luminosity larger than 2 × 10(exp 42) erg / s. As the BAT AGNs are all mostly local, they allow us to investigate the spatial distribution of AGNs in the nearby universe regardless of absorption. We find concentrations of AGNs that coincide spatially with the largest congregations of matter in the local (much < 85 Mpc) universe. There is some evidence that the fraction of Seyfert 2 objects is larger than average in the direction of these dense regions..

Predicting Clear-Sky Reflectance Over Snow/Ice in Polar Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yan; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Arduini, Robert F.; Hong, Gang; Minnis, Patrick

2015-01-01

Satellite remote sensing of clouds requires an accurate estimate of the clear-sky radiances for a given scene to detect clouds and aerosols and to retrieve their microphysical properties. Knowing the spatial and angular variability of clear-sky albedo is essential for predicting clear-sky radiance at solar wavelengths. The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Project uses the nearinfrared (NIR; 1.24, 1.6 or 2.13 micrometers), visible (VIS; 0.63 micrometers) and vegetation (VEG; 0.86 micrometers) channels available on the Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to help identify clouds and retrieve their properties in both snow-free and snow-covered conditions. Thus, it is critical to have reliable distributions of clear-sky albedo for all of these channels. In CERES Edition 4 (Ed4), the 1.24-micrometer channel is used to retrieve cloud optical depth over snow/ice-covered surfaces. Thus, it is especially critical to accurately predict the 1.24-micrometer clear-sky albedo alpha and reflectance rho for a given location and time. Snow albedo and reflectance patterns are very complex due to surface texture, particle shapes and sizes, melt water, and vegetation protrusions from the snow surface. To minimize those effects, this study focuses on the permanent snow cover of Antarctica where vegetation is absent and melt water is minimal. Clear-sky albedos are determined as a function of solar zenith angle (SZA) from observations over all scenes determined to be cloud-free to produce a normalized directional albedo model (DRM). The DRM is used to develop alpha(SZA=0 degrees) on 10 foot grid for each season. These values provide the basis for predicting r at any location and set of viewing & illumination conditions. This paper examines the accuracy of this approach for two theoretical snow surface reflectance models.

Fireballs in the Sky: An Augmented Reality Citizen Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Brian

2017-01-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly augmented reality mobile app. Tens of thousands of people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in the science of meteoritics. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000 by 36 megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million square kilometers. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

Fireballs in the Sky: an Augmented Reality Citizen Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Day, B. H.; Bland, P.; Sayers, R.

2017-12-01

Fireballs in the Sky is an innovative Australian citizen science program that connects the public with the research of the Desert Fireball Network (DFN). This research aims to understand the early workings of the solar system, and Fireballs in the Sky invites people around the world to learn about this science, contributing fireball sightings via a user-friendly augmented reality mobile app. Tens of thousands of people have downloaded the app world-wide and participated in the science of meteoritics. The Fireballs in the Sky app allows users to get involved with the Desert Fireball Network research, supplementing DFN observations and providing enhanced coverage by reporting their own meteor sightings to DFN scientists. Fireballs in the Sky reports are used to track the trajectories of meteors - from their orbit in space to where they might have landed on Earth. Led by Phil Bland at Curtin University in Australia, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) uses automated observatories across Australia to triangulate trajectories of meteorites entering the atmosphere, determine pre-entry orbits, and pinpoint their fall positions. Each observatory is an autonomous intelligent imaging system, taking 1000×36Megapixel all-sky images throughout the night, using neural network algorithms to recognize events. They are capable of operating for 12 months in a harsh environment, and store all imagery collected. We developed a completely automated software pipeline for data reduction, and built a supercomputer database for storage, allowing us to process our entire archive. The DFN currently stands at 50 stations distributed across the Australian continent, covering an area of 2.5 million km^2. Working with DFN's partners at NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, the team is expanding the network beyond Australia to locations around the world. Fireballs in the Sky allows a growing public base to learn about and participate in this exciting research.

Automatic inference of geometric camera parameters and inter-camera topology in uncalibrated disjoint surveillance cameras

Science.gov (United States)

den Hollander, Richard J. M.; Bouma, Henri; Baan, Jan; Eendebak, Pieter T.; van Rest, Jeroen H. C.

2015-10-01

Person tracking across non-overlapping cameras and other types of video analytics benefit from spatial calibration information that allows an estimation of the distance between cameras and a relation between pixel coordinates and world coordinates within a camera. In a large environment with many cameras, or for frequent ad-hoc deployments of cameras, the cost of this calibration is high. This creates a barrier for the use of video analytics. Automating the calibration allows for a short configuration time, and the use of video analytics in a wider range of scenarios, including ad-hoc crisis situations and large scale surveillance systems. We show an autocalibration method entirely based on pedestrian detections in surveillance video in multiple non-overlapping cameras. In this paper, we show the two main components of automatic calibration. The first shows the intra-camera geometry estimation that leads to an estimate of the tilt angle, focal length and camera height, which is important for the conversion from pixels to meters and vice versa. The second component shows the inter-camera topology inference that leads to an estimate of the distance between cameras, which is important for spatio-temporal analysis of multi-camera tracking. This paper describes each of these methods and provides results on realistic video data.

Food photographs in nutritional surveillance: errors in portion size estimation using drawings of bread and photographs of margarine and beverages consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keyzer, de W.; Huybrechts, I.; Maeyer, de M.; Ocke, M.C.; Slimani, N.; Veer, van 't P.; Henauw, de S.

2011-01-01

Food photographs are widely used as instruments to estimate portion sizes of consumed foods. Several food atlases are available, all developed to be used in a specific context and for a given study population. Frequently, food photographs are adopted for use in other studies with a different context

Observing floods from space: Experience gained from COSMO-SkyMed observations

Science.gov (United States)

Pierdicca, N.; Pulvirenti, L.; Chini, M.; Guerriero, L.; Candela, L.

2013-03-01

The COSMO-SkyMed mission offers a unique opportunity to obtain all weather radar images characterized by short revisit time, thus being useful for flood evolution mapping. The COSMO-SkyMed system has been activated several times in the last few years in occasion of flood events all over the world in order to provide very high resolution X-band SAR images useful for flood detection purposes. This paper discusses the major outcomes of the experience gained, within the framework of the OPERA Pilot Project funded by the Italian Space Agency, from using COSMO-SkyMed data for the purpose of near real time generation of flood maps. A review of the mechanisms which determine the imprints of the inundation on the radar images and of the fundamental simulation tools able to predict these imprints and help image interpretation is provided. The approach developed to process the data and to generate the flood maps is also summarized. Then, the paper illustrates the experience gained with COSMO-SkyMed by describing and discussing a number of significant examples. These examples demonstrate the potential of the COSMO-SkyMed system and the suitability of the approach developed for generating the final products, but they also highlight some critical aspects that require further investigations to improve the reliability of the flood maps.

Clear-sky classification procedures and models using a world-wide data-base

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Younes, S.; Muneer, T.

2007-01-01

Clear-sky data need to be extracted from all-sky measured solar-irradiance dataset, often by using algorithms that rely on other measured meteorological parameters. Current procedures for clear-sky data extraction have been examined and compared with each other to determine their reliability and location dependency. New clear-sky determination algorithms are proposed that are based on a combination of clearness index, diffuse ratio, cloud cover and Linke's turbidity limits. Various researchers have proposed clear-sky irradiance models that rely on synoptic parameters; four of these models, MRM, PRM, YRM and REST2 have been compared for six world-wide-locations. Based on a previously-developed comprehensive accuracy scoring method, the models MRM, REST2 and YRM were found to be of satisfactory performance in decreasing order. The so-called Page radiation model (PRM) was found to underestimate solar radiation, even though local turbidity data were provided for its operation

Non-sky polarization-based dehazing algorithm for non-specular objects using polarization difference and global scene feature.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Yufu; Zou, Zhaofan

2017-10-16

Photographic images taken in foggy or hazy weather (hazy images) exhibit poor visibility and detail because of scattering and attenuation of light caused by suspended particles, and therefore, image dehazing has attracted considerable research attention. The current polarization-based dehazing algorithms strongly rely on the presence of a "sky area", and thus, the selection of model parameters is susceptible to external interference of high-brightness objects and strong light sources. In addition, the noise of the restored image is large. In order to solve these problems, we propose a polarization-based dehazing algorithm that does not rely on the sky area ("non-sky"). First, a linear polarizer is used to collect three polarized images. The maximum- and minimum-intensity images are then obtained by calculation, assuming the polarization of light emanating from objects is negligible in most scenarios involving non-specular objects. Subsequently, the polarization difference of the two images is used to determine a sky area and calculate the infinite atmospheric light value. Next, using the global features of the image, and based on the assumption that the airlight and object radiance are irrelevant, the degree of polarization of the airlight (DPA) is calculated by solving for the optimal solution of the correlation coefficient equation between airlight and object radiance; the optimal solution is obtained by setting the right-hand side of the equation to zero. Then, the hazy image is subjected to dehazing. Subsequently, a filtering denoising algorithm, which combines the polarization difference information and block-matching and 3D (BM3D) filtering, is designed to filter the image smoothly. Our experimental results show that the proposed polarization-based dehazing algorithm does not depend on whether the image includes a sky area and does not require complex models. Moreover, the dehazing image except specular object scenarios is superior to those obtained by Tarel

2012 Australasian sky guide

CERN Document Server

Lomb, Nick

2011-01-01

Compact, easy to use and reliable, this popular guide contains everything you need to know about the southern night sky with monthly star maps, diagrams and details of all the year's exciting celestial events. Wherever you are in Australia or New Zealand, easy calculations allow you to determine when the Sun, Moon and planets will rise and set throughout the year. Also included is information on the latest astronomical findings from space probes and telescopes around the world.

Technique for improving the quality of images from digital cameras using ink-jet printers and smoothed RGB transfer curves

Science.gov (United States)

Sampat, Nitin; Grim, John F.; O'Hara, James E.

1998-04-01

The digital camera market is growing at an explosive rate. At the same time, the quality of photographs printed on ink- jet printers continues to improve. Most of the consumer cameras are designed with the monitor as the target output device and ont the printer. When a user is printing his images from a camera, he/she needs to optimize the camera and printer combination in order to maximize image quality. We describe the details of one such method for improving image quality using a AGFA digital camera and an ink jet printer combination. Using Adobe PhotoShop, we generated optimum red, green and blue transfer curves that match the scene content to the printers output capabilities. Application of these curves to the original digital image resulted in a print with more shadow detail, no loss of highlight detail, a smoother tone scale, and more saturated colors. The image also exhibited an improved tonal scale and visually more pleasing images than those captured and printed without any 'correction'. While we report the results for one camera-printer combination we tested this technique on numbers digital cameras and printer combinations and in each case produced a better looking image. We also discuss the problems we encountered in implementing this technique.

Guidelines for the Standardization of Genital Photography.

Science.gov (United States)

Joumblat, Natalie R; Chim, Jimmy; Sanchez Aguirre, Priscila Gisselle; Bedolla, Edgar; Salgado, Christopher J

2018-02-06

Plastic surgery relies on photography for both clinical practice and research. The Photographic Standards in Plastic Surgery laid the foundation for standardized photography in plastic surgery. Despite these advancements, the current literature lacks guidelines for genital photography, thus resulting in a discordance of documentation. The authors propose photographic standards for the male and female genitalia to establish homogeneity in which information can be accurately exchanged. All medical photographs include a sky-blue background, proper lighting, removal of distractors, consistent camera framing, and standard camera angles. We propose the following guidelines to standardize genital photography. In the anterior upright position, feet are shoulder-width apart and arms are placed posteriorly. The frame is bounded superiorly by the xiphoid-umbilicus midpoint and inferiorly by the patella. For circumferential documentation, frontal 180 degree capture via 45 degree intervals is often sufficient. Images in standard lithotomy position should be captured at both parallel and 45 degrees above the horizontal. Images of the phallus should include both the flaccid and erect states. Despite the increasing incidence of genital procedures, there lacks a standardized methodology in which to document the genitalia, resulting in a substantial heterogeneity in the current literature. Our standardized techniques for genital photography set forth to establish a uniform language that promotes more effective communication with both the patient as well as with colleagues. The proposed photography guidelines provide optimal visualization and standard documentation of the genitalia, allowing for accurate education, meaningful collaborations, and advancement in genital surgery. © 2018 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Camera system considerations for geomorphic applications of SfM photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Mosbrucker, Adam; Major, Jon J.; Spicer, Kurt R.; Pitlick, John

2017-01-01

The availability of high-resolution, multi-temporal, remotely sensed topographic data is revolutionizing geomorphic analysis. Three-dimensional topographic point measurements acquired from structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry have been shown to be highly accurate and cost-effective compared to laser-based alternatives in some environments. Use of consumer-grade digital cameras to generate terrain models and derivatives is becoming prevalent within the geomorphic community despite the details of these instruments being largely overlooked in current SfM literature. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.A practical discussion of camera system selection, configuration, and image acquisition is presented. The hypothesis that optimizing source imagery can increase digital terrain model (DTM) accuracy is tested by evaluating accuracies of four SfM datasets conducted over multiple years of a gravel bed river floodplain using independent ground check points with the purpose of comparing morphological sediment budgets computed from SfM- and lidar-derived DTMs. Case study results are compared to existing SfM validation studies in an attempt to deconstruct the principle components of an SfM error budget. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Greater information capacity of source imagery was found to increase pixel matching quality, which produced 8 times greater point density and 6 times greater accuracy. When propagated through volumetric change analysis, individual DTM accuracy (6–37 cm) was sufficient to detect moderate geomorphic change (order 100,000 m3) on an unvegetated fluvial surface; change detection determined from repeat lidar and SfM surveys differed by about 10%. Simple camera selection criteria increased accuracy by 64%; configuration settings or image post-processing techniques increased point density by 5–25% and decreased processing time by 10–30%. This article is protected by copyright. All rights

Model for the angular distribution of sky radiance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooper, F C; Brunger, A P

1979-08-01

A flexible mathematical model is introduced which describes the radiance of the dome of the sky under various conditions. This three-component continuous distribution (TCCD) model is compounded by the superposition of three separate terms, the isotropic, circumsolar and horizon brightening terms, each representing the contribution of a particular sky characteristic. In use a particular sky condition is characterized by the values of the coefficients of each of these three terms, defining the distribution of the total diffuse component. The TCCD model has been demonstrated to fit both the normalized clear sky data and the normalized overcast sky data with an RMS error of about ten percent of the man overall sky radiance. By extension the model could describe variable or partly clouded sky conditions. The model can aid in improving the prediction of solar collector performance.

Digital camera image analysis of faeces in detection of cholestatic jaundice in infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Parinyanut, Parinya; Bandisak, Tai; Chiengkriwate, Piyawan; Tanthanuch, Sawit; Sangkhathat, Surasak

2016-01-01

Stool colour assessment is a screening method for biliary tract obstruction in infants. This study is aimed to be a proof of concept work of digital photograph image analysis of stool colour compared to colour grading by a colour card, and the stool bilirubin level test. The total bilirubin (TB) level contents in stool samples from 17 infants aged less than 1 year, seven with confirmed cholestatic jaundice and ten healthy subjects was measured, and outcome correlated with the physical colour of the stool. The seven infants with cholestasis included 6 cases of biliary atresia and 1 case of pancreatic mass. All pre-operative stool samples in these cases were indicated as grade 1 on the stool card (stool colour in healthy infants ranges from 4 to 6). The average stool TB in the pale stool group was 43.07 μg/g compared to 101.78 μg/g in the non-pale stool group. Of the 3 colour channels assessed in the digital photographs, the blue and green light were best able to discriminate accurately between the pre-operative stool samples from infants with cholestasis and the samples from the healthy controls. With red, green, and blue (RGB) image analysis using wave level as the ANN input, the system predicts the stool TB with a relationship coefficient of 0.96, compared to 0.61 when stool colour card grading was used. Input from digital camera images of stool had a higher predictive capability compared to the standard stool colour card, indicating using digital photographs may be a useful tool for detection of cholestasis in infants.

Digital camera image analysis of faeces in detection of cholestatic jaundice in infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parinya Parinyanut

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Stool colour assessment is a screening method for biliary tract obstruction in infants. This study is aimed to be a proof of concept work of digital photograph image analysis of stool colour compared to colour grading by a colour card, and the stool bilirubin level test. Materials and Methods: The total bilirubin (TB level contents in stool samples from 17 infants aged less than 1 year, seven with confirmed cholestatic jaundice and ten healthy subjects was measured, and outcome correlated with the physical colour of the stool. Results: The seven infants with cholestasis included 6 cases of biliary atresia and 1 case of pancreatic mass. All pre-operative stool samples in these cases were indicated as grade 1 on the stool card (stool colour in healthy infants ranges from 4 to 6. The average stool TB in the pale stool group was 43.07 μg/g compared to 101.78 μg/g in the non-pale stool group. Of the 3 colour channels assessed in the digital photographs, the blue and green light were best able to discriminate accurately between the pre-operative stool samples from infants with cholestasis and the samples from the healthy controls. With red, green, and blue (RGB image analysis using wave level as the ANN input, the system predicts the stool TB with a relationship coefficient of 0.96, compared to 0.61 when stool colour card grading was used. Conclusion: Input from digital camera images of stool had a higher predictive capability compared to the standard stool colour card, indicating using digital photographs may be a useful tool for detection of cholestasis in infants.

"Photographers Are the Devil": An Essay in the Historiography of Photographing Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hardcastle, John

2013-01-01

Today, the use of photographs in publications and exhibitions is commonplace, but this was not always so. This article shows how photographs of certain schools that have had lasting impact on design stand in ambiguous relationships to the buildings themselves. Photographs function as part of the design process; they record details of construction…

Distribution to the Astronomy Community of the Compressed Digitized Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Postman, Marc

1996-03-01

The Space Telescope Science Institute has compressed an all-sky collection of ground-based images and has printed the data on a two volume, 102 CD-ROM disc set. The first part of the survey (containing images of the southern sky) was published in May 1994. The second volume (containing images of the northern sky) was published in January 1995. Software which manages the image retrieval is included with each volume. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is handling the distribution of the lOx compressed data and has sold 310 sets as of October 1996. ASP is also handling the distribution of the recently published 100x version of the northern sky survey which is publicly available at a low cost. The target markets for the 100x compressed data set are the amateur astronomy community, educational institutions, and the general public. During the next year, we plan to publish the first version of a photometric calibration database which will allow users of the compressed sky survey to determine the brightness of stars in the images.

The Infrared Sky - Science from 2MASS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skrutskie, Michael

2002-01-01

The Two Micron All Sky Survey has imaged 100% of the celestial sphere in the near-infrared J (1.2 μm), H (1.6 μm) and Ks (2.2 μm) photometric bands. Pipeline processing of these data has produced catalogs containing 500 million stars and 1.5 million extended sources which will be released later this year. The catalogs are characterized by great photometric uniformity (1%) and precision (2-3%) around the sky as well as good astrometric accuracy (100 mas). This talk will focus on some of the initial scientific results enabled by this database ranging from brown dwarfs in the solar neighborhood to large scale structure in the early universe.

The Universe of Digital Sky Surveys : Meeting to Honour the 70th Birthday of Massimo Capaccioli

CERN Document Server

Longo, Giuseppe; Marconi, Marcella; Paolillo, Maurizio; Iodice, Enrichetta

2016-01-01

These are the proceedings of a meeting in honour of Massimo Capaccioli at the occasion of his 70th birthday. The conference aimed at summarizing the results from the main current and past digital sky survey projects and at discussing how these can be used to inspire ongoing projects and better plan the future ones. Over the last decades, digital sky surveys performed with dedicated telescopes and finely-tuned wide-field cameras, have revolutionized astronomy. They have become the main tool to investigate the nearby and far away universe, thus providing new insights in the understanding of the galaxy structure and assembly across time, the dark components of the universe, as well as the history of our own galaxy. They have also opened the time domain leading to a new understanding of the transient phenomena in the universe. By providing public access to top quality data, digital surveys have also changed the everyday practice of astronomers who have become less dependent on direct access to large observing ...

Computing camera heading: A study

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, John Jiaxiang

2000-08-01

An accurate estimate of the motion of a camera is a crucial first step for the 3D reconstruction of sites, objects, and buildings from video. Solutions to the camera heading problem can be readily applied to many areas, such as robotic navigation, surgical operation, video special effects, multimedia, and lately even in internet commerce. From image sequences of a real world scene, the problem is to calculate the directions of the camera translations. The presence of rotations makes this problem very hard. This is because rotations and translations can have similar effects on the images, and are thus hard to tell apart. However, the visual angles between the projection rays of point pairs are unaffected by rotations, and their changes over time contain sufficient information to determine the direction of camera translation. We developed a new formulation of the visual angle disparity approach, first introduced by Tomasi, to the camera heading problem. Our new derivation makes theoretical analysis possible. Most notably, a theorem is obtained that locates all possible singularities of the residual function for the underlying optimization problem. This allows identifying all computation trouble spots beforehand, and to design reliable and accurate computational optimization methods. A bootstrap-jackknife resampling method simultaneously reduces complexity and tolerates outliers well. Experiments with image sequences show accurate results when compared with the true camera motion as measured with mechanical devices.

Daytime Water Detection Based on Sky Reflections

Science.gov (United States)

Rankin, Arturo; Matthies, Larry; Bellutta, Paolo

2011-01-01

A water body s surface can be modeled as a horizontal mirror. Water detection based on sky reflections and color variation are complementary. A reflection coefficient model suggests sky reflections dominate the color of water at ranges > 12 meters. Water detection based on sky reflections: (1) geometrically locates the pixel in the sky that is reflecting on a candidate water pixel on the ground (2) predicts if the ground pixel is water based on color similarity and local terrain features. Water detection has been integrated on XUVs.

Beauty is in the eye of the photographer

CERN Multimedia

Roberto Cantoni

2010-01-01

On Saturday 7 August, over 200 amateur photographers took part in the first “Particle Physics Photowalk”, a photo contest organized by CERN in collaboration with DESY in Germany, Fermilab in the USA, KEK in Japan and TRIUMF in Canada. As of mid-September you will be able to discover on a dedicated website the five particle physics laboratories as seen through the lenses of the participants.   Photographers at the photowalk. The Photowalk was a unique opportunity for the participants to photograph state-of-the-art accelerators and detectors in all their beauty and complexity. At CERN, the photographers were able to visit and take pictures of Linac4, the Computing Centre, SM18 and CLIC. Photographers came to CERN from Switzerland, France, the UK and Germany (one even came from the USA just for the event). “The 48 places available for the Photowalk at CERN were snatched up within days through the dedicated website”, says Sophie Tesauri from the Communication G...

H I Clouds in the Lower Halo. I. The Galactic All-Sky Survey Pilot Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, H. Alyson; McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Calabretta, M. R.; Lockman, Felix J.; Pisano, D. J.; Bailin, J.; Kalberla, P. M. W.; Murphy, T.

2008-01-01

We have detected over 400 H I clouds in the lower halo of the Galaxy within the pilot region of the Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS), a region of the fourth quadrant that spans 18 deg. in longitude, 40 deg. in latitude, and is centered on the Galactic equator. These clouds have a median peak brightness temperature of 0.6 K, a median velocity width of 12.8 km s -1 , and angular sizes ∼ -1 . A sample of clouds likely to be near tangent points was analyzed in detail. These clouds have radii on the order of 30 pc and a median H I mass of 630 M sun . The population has a vertical scale height of 400 pc and is concentrated in Galactocentric radius, peaking at R = 3.8 kpc. This confined structure suggests that the clouds are linked to spiral features, while morphological evidence that many clouds are aligned with loops and filaments is suggestive of a relationship with star formation. The clouds might result from supernovae and stellar winds in the form of fragmenting shells and gas that has been pushed into the halo rather than from a galactic fountain.

Comparison of monthly nighttime cloud fraction products from MODIS and AIRS and ground-based camera over Manila Observatory (14.64N, 121.07E)

Science.gov (United States)

Gacal, G. F. B.; Lagrosas, N.

2017-12-01

Cloud detection nowadays is primarily achieved by the utilization of various sensors aboard satellites. These include MODIS Aqua, MODIS Terra, and AIRS with products that include nighttime cloud fraction. Ground-based instruments are, however, only secondary to these satellites when it comes to cloud detection. Nonetheless, these ground-based instruments (e.g., LIDARs, ceilometers, and sky-cameras) offer significant datasets about a particular region's cloud cover values. For nighttime operations of cloud detection instruments, satellite-based instruments are more reliably and prominently used than ground-based ones. Therefore if a ground-based instrument for nighttime operations is operated, it ought to produce reliable scientific datasets. The objective of this study is to do a comparison between the results of a nighttime ground-based instrument (sky-camera) and that of MODIS Aqua and MODIS Terra. A Canon Powershot A2300 is placed ontop of Manila Observatory (14.64N, 121.07E) and is configured to take images of the night sky at 5min intervals. To detect pixels with clouds, the pictures are converted to grayscale format. Thresholding technique is used to screen pixels with cloud and pixels without clouds. If the pixel value is greater than 17, it is considered as a cloud; otherwise, a noncloud (Gacal et al., 2016). This algorithm is applied to the data gathered from Oct 2015 to Oct 2016. A scatter plot between satellite cloud fraction in the area covering the area 14.2877N, 120.9869E, 14.7711N and 121.4539E and ground cloud cover is graphed to find the monthly correlation. During wet season (June - November), the satellite nighttime cloud fraction vs ground measured cloud cover produce an acceptable R2 (Aqua= 0.74, Terra= 0.71, AIRS= 0.76). However, during dry season, poor R2 values are obtained (AIRS= 0.39, Aqua & Terra = 0.01). The high correlation during wet season can be attributed to a high probability that the camera and satellite see the same clouds

Dual cameras acquisition and display system of retina-like sensor camera and rectangular sensor camera

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Nan; Cao, Fengmei; Lin, Yabin; Bai, Tingzhu; Song, Shengyu

2015-04-01

For a new kind of retina-like senor camera and a traditional rectangular sensor camera, dual cameras acquisition and display system need to be built. We introduce the principle and the development of retina-like senor. Image coordinates transformation and interpolation based on sub-pixel interpolation need to be realized for our retina-like sensor's special pixels distribution. The hardware platform is composed of retina-like senor camera, rectangular sensor camera, image grabber and PC. Combined the MIL and OpenCV library, the software program is composed in VC++ on VS 2010. Experience results show that the system can realizes two cameras' acquisition and display.

Photometric Analysis of the Pi of the Sky Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Siudek

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A database containing star measurements from the period 2006–2009 taken by the Pi of the Sky detector located in Las Campanas Observatory in Chile contains more than 2 billion measurements of almost 17 million objects. All measurements are available on the Pi of the Sky web site through a dedicated interface, which also allows users to download selected data. Accurate analysis of Pi of the Sky data is a real challenge, because of a number of factors that can influence the measurements. Possible sources of errors in our measurements include: reading the chip with the shutter open, strong and varying sky background, passing planets or planetoids, and clouds and hot pixels. In order tofacilitate the analysis of variable stars we have developed a system of dedicated filters to remove bad measurements or frames. The spectral sensitivity of the detector is taken into account by appropriate corrections based on the spectral type of reference stars. This process is illustrated by an analysis of the BG Ind system, where we have been able to reduce the systematic uncertainty to about 0.05 magnitudo.

Nature and culture in Amazonian landscape: a photographic experience echoing Amerindian cosmology and historical ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Pardini

2012-08-01

Full Text Available As an artistic experience, the photographic research "Arborescence - plant physiognomy in Amazonian landscape" conduces the author to discover landscape as an interpenetration of Nature and Culture (man's indirect presence; being face to face with vegetable subjects; continuity, undifferentiation and equivalence between the 'natural' (heterogeneous, spontaneous, native, rural and the 'cultural' (homogeneous, cultivated, exotic, urban in the experience of landscape; arborescence as a "cosmic image" (Gaston Bachelard, where the high (sky, light, branches, sky water and the low (earth, shade, roots, land water are equivalent and reversible poles. Such experience echoes the eco-cosmology of forest societies in Amazonia. The Amerindian cosmology is a "symbolic ecology" (Philippe Descola, that is, "a complex dynamics of social intercourse and transformations between humans and non-humans, visible and invisible subjects" (Bruce Albert; the Amerindian ecology is "a cosmology put into practice" (Kaj Århem, wherein hunted animals and cultivated plants are 'relatives' to be seduced or coerced. Such model appears to be a form of "socialization of nature" (Descola, "humanization of the forest" (Evaristo Eduardo de Miranda and "indirect anthropization" of Amazonian ecosystems (Descola which produces "cultural forests" (William Balée.

First low-frequency Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO data

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Afrough, M.; Agarwal, B.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allen, G.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; AultONeal, K.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Bae, S.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Banagiri, S.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bawaj, M.; Bazzan, M.; Bécsy, B.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canizares, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Carney, M. F.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H.-P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, A. K. W.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Ciolfi, R.; Cirelli, C. E.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L. R.; Constancio, M.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Deelman, E.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Dovale Álvarez, M.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Duncan, J.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z. B.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gabel, M.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, S.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Horst, C.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Intini, G.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katolik, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kemball, A. J.; Kennedy, R.; Kent, C.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Kwang, S.; Lackey, B. D.; Lai, K. H.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lo, R. K. L.; Lockerbie, N. A.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña Hernandez, I.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magaña Zertuche, L.; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mayani, R.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Ng, K. K. Y.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nichols, D.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R.; Ortega, L. F.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pace, A. E.; Page, J.; Page, M. A.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pang, B.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Ramirez, K. E.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Ricker, P. M.; Rieger, S.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romel, C. L.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Ross, M. P.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Rynge, M.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schulte, B. W.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Seidel, E.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shah, A. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shao, L.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sonnenberg, J. A.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Stratta, G.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, J. A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tsang, K. W.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ueno, K.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahi, K.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walet, R.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, J. Z.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.-F.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Wessel, E. K.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Wofford, J.; Wong, K. W. K.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zanolin, M.; Zelenova, T.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.-H.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S. J.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zweizig, J.; Anderson, D. P.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2017-12-01

We report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO. The search was made possible by the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to a sensitivity depth of 48.7 [1 /√{Hz }] . At the frequency of best strain sensitivity, near 100 Hz, we set 90% confidence upper limits of 1.8 ×1 0-25. At the low end of our frequency range, 20 Hz, we achieve upper limits of 3.9 ×1 0-24. At 55 Hz we can exclude sources with ellipticities greater than 1 0-5 within 100 pc of Earth with fiducial value of the principal moment of inertia of 1038 kg m2 .

Characterizing Sky Spectra Using SDSS BOSS Data

Science.gov (United States)

Florez, Lina Maria; Strauss, Michael A.

2018-01-01

In the optical/near-infrared spectra gathered by a ground-based telescope observing very faint sources, the strengths of the emission lines due to the Earth’s atmosphere can be many times larger than the fluxes of the sources we are interested in. Thus the limiting factor in faint-object spectroscopy is the degree to which systematics in the sky subtraction can be minimized. Longwards of 6000 Angstroms, the night-sky spectrum is dominated by multiple vibrational/rotational transitions of the OH radical from our upper atmosphere. While the wavelengths of these lines are the same in each sky spectrum, their relative strengths vary considerably as a function of time and position on the sky. The better we can model their strengths, the better we can hope to subtract them off. We expect that the strength of lines from common upper energy levels will be correlated with one another. We used flux-calibrated sky spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS BOSS) to explore these correlations. Our aim is to use these correlations for creating improved sky subtraction algorithms for the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope. When PFS starts gathering data in 2019, it will be the most powerful multi-object spectrograph in the world. Since PFS will be gathering data on sources as faint as 24th magnitude and fainter, it's of upmost importance to be able to accurately measure and subtract sky spectra from the data that we receive.

Glacier Photograph Collection

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Glacier Photograph Collection is a database of photographs of glaciers from around the world, some dating back to the mid-1850's, that provide an historical...

The Catalina Sky Survey for Near-Earth Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, E.

The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) specializes in the detection of the closest transients in our transient universe: near-Earth objects (NEOs). CSS is the leading NEO survey program since 2005, with a discovery rate of 500-600 NEOs per year. This rate is set to substantially increase starting in 2014 with the deployment of wider FOV cameras at both survey telescopes, while a proposed 3-telescope system in Chile would provide a new and significant capability in the Southern Hemisphere beginning as early as 2015. Elements contributing to the success of CSS may be applied to other surveys, and include 1) Real-time processing, identification, and reporting of interesting transients; 2) Human-assisted validation to ensure a clean transient stream that is efficient to the limits of the system (˜ 1σ); 3) an integrated follow-up capability to ensure threshold or high-priority transients are properly confirmed and followed up. Additionally, the open-source nature of the CSS data enables considerable secondary science (i.e. CRTS), and CSS continues to pursue collaborations to maximize the utility of the data.

Food photographs in nutritional surveillance: errors in portion size estimation using drawings of bread and photographs of margarine and beverages consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

De Keyzer, Willem; Huybrechts, Inge; De Maeyer, Mieke; Ocké, Marga; Slimani, Nadia; van 't Veer, Pieter; De Henauw, Stefaan

2011-04-01

Food photographs are widely used as instruments to estimate portion sizes of consumed foods. Several food atlases are available, all developed to be used in a specific context and for a given study population. Frequently, food photographs are adopted for use in other studies with a different context or another study population. In the present study, errors in portion size estimation of bread, margarine on bread and beverages by two-dimensional models used in the context of a Belgian food consumption survey are investigated. A sample of 111 men and women (age 45-65 years) were invited for breakfast; two test groups were created. One group was asked to estimate portion sizes of consumed foods using photographs 1-2 d after consumption, and a second group was asked the same after 4 d. Also, real-time assessment of portion sizes using photographs was performed. At the group level, large overestimation of margarine, acceptable underestimation of bread and only small estimation errors for beverages were found. Women tended to have smaller estimation errors for bread and margarine compared with men, while the opposite was found for beverages. Surprisingly, no major difference in estimation error was found after 4 d compared with 1-2 d. Individual estimation errors were large for all foods. The results from the present study suggest that the use of food photographs for portion size estimation of bread and beverages is acceptable for use in nutrition surveys. For photographs of margarine on bread, further validation using smaller amounts corresponding to actual consumption is recommended.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mast cameras and Descent imager: Investigation and instrument descriptions

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Michal C.; Ravine, Michael A.; Caplinger, Michael A.; Tony Ghaemi, F.; Schaffner, Jacob A.; Maki, Justin N.; Bell, James F.; Cameron, James F.; Dietrich, William E.; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Edwards, Laurence J.; Garvin, James B.; Hallet, Bernard; Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Heydari, Ezat; Kah, Linda C.; Lemmon, Mark T.; Minitti, Michelle E.; Olson, Timothy S.; Parker, Timothy J.; Rowland, Scott K.; Schieber, Juergen; Sletten, Ron; Sullivan, Robert J.; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Aileen Yingst, R.; Duston, Brian M.; McNair, Sean; Jensen, Elsa H.

2017-08-01

The Mars Science Laboratory Mast camera and Descent Imager investigations were designed, built, and operated by Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, CA. They share common electronics and focal plane designs but have different optics. There are two Mastcams of dissimilar focal length. The Mastcam-34 has an f/8, 34 mm focal length lens, and the M-100 an f/10, 100 mm focal length lens. The M-34 field of view is about 20° × 15° with an instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of 218 μrad; the M-100 field of view (FOV) is 6.8° × 5.1° with an IFOV of 74 μrad. The M-34 can focus from 0.5 m to infinity, and the M-100 from 1.6 m to infinity. All three cameras can acquire color images through a Bayer color filter array, and the Mastcams can also acquire images through seven science filters. Images are ≤1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels tall. The Mastcams, mounted on the 2 m tall Remote Sensing Mast, have a 360° azimuth and 180° elevation field of regard. Mars Descent Imager is fixed-mounted to the bottom left front side of the rover at 66 cm above the surface. Its fixed focus lens is in focus from 2 m to infinity, but out of focus at 66 cm. The f/3 lens has a FOV of 70° by 52° across and along the direction of motion, with an IFOV of 0.76 mrad. All cameras can acquire video at 4 frames/second for full frames or 720p HD at 6 fps. Images can be processed using lossy Joint Photographic Experts Group and predictive lossless compression.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Wisconsin soft X-ray diffuse background all-sky Survey (McCammon+ 1983)

Science.gov (United States)

McCammon, D.; Burrows, D. N.; Sanders, W. T.; Kraushaar, W. L.

1997-10-01

The catalog contains all-sky survey of the soft X-ray diffuse background and the count-rate data from which the maps were made for the ten flights included in the survey. It contains 40 files in the machine-readable version and includes documentation and utility subroutines. The data files contain different band maps (B, C, M, M1, M2, I, J, 2-6 keV) in a 0 degree-centered Aitoff projection, in a 180-degree-centered Aitoff projection, in a north polar projection, and in a south polar projection. Lookup tables in the form of FITS images are provided for conversion between pixel coordinates and Galactic coordinates for the various projections. The bands are: B = 130-188eV C = 160-284eV M1 = 440-930eV M2 = 600-1100eV I = 770-1500eV J = 1100-2200eV 2-6keV = 1800-6300eV (51 data files).

Quantifying the clear-sky bias of satellite-derived infrared LST

Science.gov (United States)

Ermida, S. L.; Trigo, I. F.; DaCamara, C.

2017-12-01

Land surface temperature (LST) is one of the most relevant parameters when addressing the physical processes that take place at the surface of the Earth. Satellite data are particularly appropriate for measuring LST over the globe with high temporal resolution. Remote-sensed LST estimation from space-borne sensors has been systematically performed over the Globe for nearly 3 decades and geostationary LST climate data records are now available. The retrieval of LST from satellite observations generally relies on measurements in the thermal infrared (IR) window. Although there is a large number of IR sensors on-board geostationary satellites and polar orbiters suitable for LST retrievals with different temporal and spatial resolutions, the use of IR observations limits LST estimates to clear sky conditions. As a consequence, climate studies based on IR LST are likely to be affected by the restriction of LST data to cloudless conditions. However, such "clear sky bias" has never been quantified and, therefore, the actual impact of relying only on clear sky data is still to be determined. On the other hand, an "all-weather" global LST database may be set up based on passive microwave (MW) measurements which are much less affected by clouds. An 8-year record of all-weather MW LST is here used to quantify the clear-sky bias of IR LST at global scale based on MW observations performed by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite. Selection of clear-sky and cloudy pixels is based on information derived from measurements performed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on-board the same satellite.

Preliminary field evaluation of solid state cameras for security applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

Recent developments in solid state imager technology have resulted in a series of compact, lightweight, all-solid-state closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Although it is widely known that the various solid state cameras have less light sensitivity and lower resolution than their vacuum tube counterparts, the potential for having a much longer Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) for the all-solid-state cameras is generating considerable interest within the security community. Questions have been raised as to whether the newest and best of the solid state cameras are a viable alternative to the high maintenance vacuum tube cameras in exterior security applications. To help answer these questions, a series of tests were performed by Sandia National Laboratories at various test sites and under several lighting conditions. In general, all-solid-state cameras need to be improved in four areas before they can be used as wholesale replacements for tube cameras in exterior security applications: resolution, sensitivity, contrast, and smear. However, with careful design some of the higher performance cameras can be used for perimeter security systems, and all of the cameras have applications where they are uniquely qualified. Many of the cameras are well suited for interior assessment and surveillance uses, and several of the cameras are well designed as robotics and machine vision devices

Accuracy of the hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation versus sky conditions: revealing solar elevations and cloudinesses favourable for this navigation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Száz, Dénes; Farkas, Alexandra; Barta, András; Kretzer, Balázs; Blahó, Miklós; Egri, Ádám; Szabó, Gyula; Horváth, Gábor

2017-09-01

According to Thorkild Ramskou's theory proposed in 1967, under overcast and foggy skies, Viking seafarers might have used skylight polarization analysed with special crystals called sunstones to determine the position of the invisible Sun. After finding the occluded Sun with sunstones, its elevation angle had to be measured and its shadow had to be projected onto the horizontal surface of a sun compass. According to Ramskou's theory, these sunstones might have been birefringent calcite or dichroic cordierite or tourmaline crystals working as polarizers. It has frequently been claimed that this method might have been suitable for navigation even in cloudy weather. This hypothesis has been accepted and frequently cited for decades without any experimental support. In this work, we determined the accuracy of this hypothetical sky-polarimetric Viking navigation for 1080 different sky situations characterized by solar elevation θ and cloudiness ρ , the sky polarization patterns of which were measured by full-sky imaging polarimetry. We used the earlier measured uncertainty functions of the navigation steps 1, 2 and 3 for calcite, cordierite and tourmaline sunstone crystals, respectively, and the newly measured uncertainty function of step 4 presented here. As a result, we revealed the meteorological conditions under which Vikings could have used this hypothetical navigation method. We determined the solar elevations at which the navigation uncertainties are minimal at summer solstice and spring equinox for all three sunstone types. On average, calcite sunstone ensures a more accurate sky-polarimetric navigation than tourmaline and cordierite. However, in some special cases (generally at 35° ≤  θ  ≤ 40°, 1 okta ≤  ρ  ≤ 6 oktas for summer solstice, and at 20° ≤  θ  ≤ 25°, 0 okta ≤  ρ  ≤ 4 oktas for spring equinox), the use of tourmaline and cordierite results in smaller navigation uncertainties than that of calcite

Clear-sky narrowband albedos derived from VIRS and MODIS

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Chen, Yan; Arduini, Robert F.

2004-02-01

The Clouds and Earth"s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project is using multispectral imagers, the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on the tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra, operating since spring 2000, and Aqua, operating since summer 2002, to provide cloud and clear-sky properties at various wavelengths. This paper presents the preliminary results of an analysis of the CERES clear-sky reflectances to derive a set top-of-atmosphere clear sky albedo for 0.65, 0.86, 1.6, 2.13 μm, for all major surface types using the combined MODIS and VIRS datasets. The variability of snow albedo with surface type is examined using MODIS data. Snow albedo was found to depend on the vertical structure of the vegetation. At visible wavelengths, it is least for forested areas and greatest for smooth desert and tundra surfaces. At 1.6 and 2.1-μm, the snow albedos are relatively insensitive to the underlying surface because snow decreases the reflectance. Additional analyses using all of the MODIS results will provide albedo models that should be valuable for many remote sensing, simulation and radiation budget studies.

Using routine meteorological data to derive sky conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Pagès

2003-03-01

Full Text Available Sky condition is a matter of interest for public and weather predictors as part of weather analyses. In this study, we apply a method that uses total solar radiation and other meteorological data recorded by an automatic station for deriving an estimation of the sky condition. The impetus of this work is the intention of the Catalan Meteorological Service (SMC to provide the public with real-time information about the sky condition. The methodology for deriving sky conditions from meteorological records is based on a supervised classification technique called maximum likelihood method. In this technique we first need to define features which are derived from measured variables. Second, we must decide which sky conditions are intended to be distinguished. Some analyses have led us to use four sky conditions: (a cloudless or almost cloudless sky, (b scattered clouds, (c mostly cloudy – high clouds, (d overcast – low clouds. An additional case, which may be treated separately, corresponds to precipitation (rain or snow. The main features for estimating sky conditions are, as expected, solar radiation and its temporal variability. The accuracy of this method of guessing sky conditions compared with human observations is around 70% when applied to four sites in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula. The agreement increases if we take into account the uncertainty both in the automatic classifier and in visual observations.Key words. Meteorological and atmospheric dynamics (instruments and techniques; radiative processes – Atmospheric composition and structure (cloud physics and chemistry

Dark Skies: Local Success, Global Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, G. W.

2009-01-01

The Flagstaff, Arizona 1987 lighting code reduced the growth rate of man-made sky glow by a third. Components of the code include requirements for full cutoff lighting, lumens per acre limits in radial zones around observatories, and use of low-pressure sodium monochromatic lighting for roadways and parking lots. Broad public acceptance of Flagstaff's lighting code demonstrates that dark sky preservation has significant appeal and few visibility or public safety negatives. An inventory by C. Luginbuhl et al. of the light output and shielding of a sampling of various zoning categories (municipal, commercial, apartments, single-family residences, roadways, sports facilities, industrial, etc.), extrapolated over the entire city, yields a total output of 139 million lumens. Commercial and industrial sources account for 62% of the total. Outdoor sports lighting increases the total by 24% on summer evenings. Flagstaff's per capita lumen output is 2.5 times greater than the nominal 1,000 lumens per capita assumed by R. Garstang in his early sky glow modeling work. We resolved the discrepancy with respect to Flagstaff's measured sky glow using an improved model that includes substantial near ground attenuation by foliage and structures. A 2008 university study shows that astronomy contributes $250M annually to Arizona's economy. Another study showed that the application of lighting codes throughout Arizona could reduce energy consumption significantly. An ongoing effort led by observatory directors statewide will encourage lighting controls in currently unregulated metropolitan areas whose growing sky glow threatens observatory facilities more than 100 miles away. The national press (New York Times, the New Yorker, the Economist, USA Today, etc.) have publicized dark sky issues but frequent repetition of the essential message and vigorous action will be required to steer society toward darker skies and less egregious waste.